Week 14

Warning...this is a picture heavy post!!

Kirstin and I left the station early on July 28th, it was so hard to say goodbye to everyone and the place we called home for three months but we were looking forward to enjoying the comforts of civilization!

We met up with a couple of friends from Toronto and drove to Manuel Antonio National Park, on the Pacific side of the country.  On the way, we passed the Tarcoles River, which is famous for it's numerous crocodiles that hang out under the bridge. 

We spent a couple of days at Manuel Antonio and hiked some of the trails. The views of the Pacific ocean were beautiful!

 We also saw the park's white faced capuchins, which were a little more used to people than the ones at the station. We got to see this baby up close.

After a few days in Manuel Antonio, we took a ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula to a small surfing town called Montezuma. 

Somehow I had contracted a terrible flu (which I feared might be dengue) so the ferry ride was treacherous for me. Turns out it wasn't dengue and I only lost one day at our hostel laying in bed wanting to die. Who would have guessed that surfing is an awesome cure for the flu. 

 On our way to Monteverde, we stopped at El Manantial Parrot Sanctuary, an organization that is working to protect Costa Rica's endangered parrot species, such as the Great Green Macaw (Ara Ambiguus) and the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

The sanctuary acts as a rehabilitation centre for many parrots that are threatened by habitat loss and exploitation from the illegal pet trade. Unfortunately, pet macaws that are confiscated by the Ministry of the Environment become too used to people to ever be released into the wild again. Through a breeding program, their offspring are raised and released, and many of them return to the sanctuary year after year to nest (sometimes bringing their wild mates with them!) Programs such as this have allowed Costa Rica's pacific population of Scarlet Macaws to thrive since their severe decline just a few decades ago.

The sanctuary also takes in non-native species confiscated  in Costa Rica:

Sun Conures (Aratinga solstitialis) from South America

 Goffin's Cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana) from Australasia

Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara arauna) from South America

African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus), which have the intelligence of a 5 year old human child

The endangered Hyacinth Macaw (Andodorhynchus hyacinthinus), from South America, the largest parrot in the world. 

From Montezuma we drove into the mountains to Monteverde (for some reason all the places we chose started with 'M"). The drive was beautiful but a little unnerving, given the gravel roads, steep drop offs and lack of a guard rail. 

We even spotted the elusive Resplendant Quetzal (Pharomachrus moccino) at the Curichancha reserve. I was especially happy because I've wanted  to see one since my first visit to Costa Rica in 2008.

A strangler fig, a type of ficus that begins as an epiphyte but grows quickly over top of its host tree, preventing it from obtaining light and nutrients. I'm standing in the empty column where the original tree once was.

Anyway, that's all for now, more blogs and reflections on being home will be posted soon!