These pictures are from my May 2007 trip through Central America. This set of pictures is from Costa Rica. Hit "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page to see more photos.

This is a typical scene in a cloud forest, where mist is ever present in the air, vines and aerial roots hang from every tree, and birdlife thrives.

Waterfall in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. The area around the falls was covered in ferns, mosses and wild impatients and begonias.

At Ecocentro Danaus a wildlife reserve outside of La Fortuna Costa Rica. This reserve was created 9 years ago by allowing farm land to revert back to forest and it already is filled with wildlife. The reserve also includes a butterfly farm (Danaus means Monarch Butterfly). These are two Long-eared Bats - they bite the rib of large leaves causing the leaves to fold over and create a little rain shelter for the bats. At this reserve we also saw a mother Three-toed sloth with a baby clinging to her back, agouti (think large guinea pig), and Broad-billed Herons.

"Blue Jeans" poison dart frog, very small, less than an inch long.

A very handsome Green Iguana getting a little sun. Some locals eat iguana in soup. This one was quite spectacular - it was between four and five feet long.

Sugar cane being brought to a factory to be processed. Also saw several pineapple, orange, teak, guava and coffee plantations - a lot of these places smell really good when you drive by.

During a motorized canoe trip down the Rio Frio through the Cano Negro Reserve we saw lots of different types of mammals such as this White-faced Capuchin Monkey eating palm fruits. Also saw Long-nosed Bats, Black Howler Monkeys (including one set of playful twins), both Two and Three-toed Sloth, River Turtles, Green Iguana and Emerald Basilisk (Google this lizard because it is absolutely crazy looking.) Soggy wet sloths have to be some of the saddest looking critters on this planet. We saw several sloth climbing in trees while we travelled down river to within a few miles of the border with Nicaragua.

Black vultures eating a dead caiman. Along this river we also saw Great Kisskadee, Broadbilled Flycatcher, Limpkin, Spotted Sandpiper, Nothern Waterthrush, Tri-color Heron, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Amazon Kingfisher, Ringed Kingfisher, Groove-billed Ani, Cattle Egret, Jacana, Anhinga, Scarlet Tananger, Turkey Vulture, Yellow Warbler, Green Heron, Olivaceous Cormorant, Wood Stork, Great Egret and Mangrove Swallow.

View of both primary and secondary rain forest, along with an algae covered lake on the flanks of an active volcano. Much of this trip was spent hiking around, to, and on top of volcanos which are found throughout Costa Rica. On this hike we also saw Crested Juan, Grey Chacalacas, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers and Common Parakeets.

Arenal Volcano at night. Photo by Marietta Nagtzaam, a fellow traveller from the Netherlands.

Arenal Volcano which is still active, seen at dusk. After sunsets you can see lava rolling down the sides of this volcano. Seeing this while drinking a cold rum drink after hiking to this viewing spot was fantastic. Before this volcano started erupting in the 1960's, streams in the local area began to run very warm and there are still many hot springs nearby.

Very early morning in th main plaza in La Fortuna Costa Rica. Beautifully maintained and packed with people later in the day. In the background, behind the clouds is Arenal a large volcano that was thought to be a mountain until it erupted in 1968. Even now you can hear it rumble from La Fortuna.

Enjoyed a coffee tour of Don Juan Coffee Plantation. This is a detail from a painted mule cart - a traditional status symbol for coffee plantation owners. Many new plantations are being built in the cloud forest regions where the elevation is higher, and climate cooler and damper. We learned all about the growing, harvesting, fermenting, and roasting process. Coffee is now Costa Rica's only significant export, the majority of the economy depends on tourism.

Coffee in Costa Rica is picked mainly by laborers from Nicaragua and Panama who are willing to pick one basket (shown in picture) for 92 cents - it takes an experienced picker 1 1/2 hours to fill a basket. Most Costa Ricans get paid far more per hour working in the tourism industry.

Female Green Hermit Hummingbird - she made this hanging nest out of spiderwebs and moss. We watched her adding more moss to this nest before settling in on her eggs.

Tree fern at Santa Elena Ecological Reserve. It was in this reserve that I saw several fabulous bird species for the first time, including Questzals (males in full plumage calling for mates), Three-wattled Bellbird (incredible call that sounds like a rusty gate being opened), purple throated mountain gem humming birds, green hermit humminbird, black juan, blackfaced solitare, collared redstarts, and mountain robins.

Black howler monkey along the Monteverde Skywalk. A troop of about 20 monkeys, including several with babies, stopped for a lunch break about 5 feet from us. We were on an elevated skybridge in the cloud forest canopy. The largest male shared his vocal prowess with us - thrilling! Also saw Emerald Toucanettes eating fig fruits, and several Swallow-tailed Kites both soaring and perching in nearby trees.

To see other pictures from my trip to Central America, go to www.lstark-nicaragua.blogspot.com and www.lstark-centralamerica.blogspot.com.