Jan 5th Pictures

We woke up to a beautiful day. Breakfast is included in the rate at La Mariposa, so we went up to enjoy ourselves. They make omelets with a variety of ingredients. Also, they had hash browns, pineapple, mango, sausage, bacon, toast, honey buns, croissants, pancakes, muffins, scrambled eggs, cereal, yogurt, watermelon, papaya, orange juice and grapefruit juice. Certainly, a very nice spread in an amazing location.
 

Today, we are going on a mangrove boat tour. Our guide, Alex, picks us up around 11:30 AM, as well as two other couples from our hotel. We take a quick drive north out of Quepos, wait for a while at the bridge under construction, then turn left off the main road towards the ocean. In just a few minutes, we were at our dock. Once there, we made our order for lunch, used the bathroom, and got on our boat. It's a little tourist boat with seating for about twenty. Alex's English was very good, but our driver's English wasn't so good.
 

Our cruise started along the mangroves with a snowy egret and a blue heron. We quickly came upon a troop of capuchin (white-faced) monkeys. Apparently, this troop was very familiar with the tourist boats. They came down to the boat and were happy to eat smashed bananas from the hand of gringos. I'm sure feeding the monkeys is not good, but it made for some good pictures.
 

Next, we make a turn into a small canal for a little exploring. We immediately come upon an eagle. Unfortunately, one of the guys was leaning over the boat for a look and his sunglasses fell off his head and to the bottom of the water. Bummer.
 

Along the canal, we see many Jesus Christ Lizards - so named because of their ability to run on water. Also, we see raccoons, Halloween Crabs, and some small birds. Since Lisa is sitting near the driver, he points out many things to her.
 

Back out onto the mangrove, we head towards islands with more birds. Another iguana is spotted. Then, our boat driver sees a very small snake hanging on a tree. Alex picks it up and shows it to us. 
 

As we head back towards our boat dock, our driver spots a large crocodile. The croc hang around long enough for us to get a lot of pictures. Crikey.
 

Once back on land, it was time for our lunch, which was included with our tour. I think Restaurante Cuyuga, was owned by Alex's family. We all had fried fish with rice, beans, and fried plantains. It was this point I was took a chance. I tried some Lizano Salsa and found one of the best things in the world. Yummy! The food and the salsa was great.
 

We got back to the hotel around 3:30 PM and sat around the pool for quite some time. We had a lovely meal at the hotel. A really fun day. 

Home

Next Day