Day 6: Ensenada, Carara, and back to San José

There was an outing planned for the crack of dawn to go back to the water and look for birds in the early morning. As someone who doesn't do anything before breakfast, I forewent (is that a word?) this outing and instead had breakfast at the usual time. Eating solo, I ran the risk of having my food nabbed by a magpie jay, and only the quick reactions of the server at the buffet saved it when I stepped away to refill my milk glass.

I had a little bit of time to play with Sarah some more, then we were on the road again. Our primary stop enroute was Carara National Park - surprisingly, the first government-owned preserve we visited. All the others were private.

At Carara, the most striking thing was how absolutely enormous the trees were - they were unbelievably tall! I tried to take photographs showing this, but I don't know if I succeeded. The other high point, in an amusing sort of way, was when our Pedro, our birding-mad guide, heard a three-wattled bellbird and went charging halfway back down the trail in order to sight it. Unfortunately, none of us ever did, the bellbird being, along with the quetzal, one of the great prizes of Costa Rican birdwatching.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that seemed to cater to the tourist trade, though there was even some wildlife there, including an iguana I frightened (and who then frightened me) and drove down a sewer, and several lizards. We also crossed a bridge that overlooked a haven for crocodiles, and stopped to take photos.

After a stomach-churning ride on Route 3, through Atenos and over the mountains west of San Jose, we made it back to the Melia Cariari. We also had our most exciting experience of the notorious Costa Rican drivers: on a curvy two-lane road, a driver going the other way tried to pass half-a-dozen cars at once. Graven slammed on the brakes, bringing us to a complete halt, and the front car coming the other way did likewise. And still the offending car only barely made it through the resulting gap. Whew!

Once back at the hotel, it was goodbye to Graven and Pedro, and hello (at dinner that evening) to the full tour group, our new guides for the next few days, and Meg Symington, the WWF representative accompanying us.

Another magnificent Costa Rica tree, this one a guanacaste and the centerpiece of the lodge

Beneath the strangely domed thatch roof is the dining room, reception area, bar, TV lounge, and what have you of the lodge.

Sara and her family (when we were packing up, I was told she asked - in Spanish - "Does he have to leave?")

Graven in his native habitat

Our group at Carara.

A glade at Carara where we stopped to rest, and one of my attempts to photograph one of the amazingly tall trees.

One of many amazing root systems.

Another attempt at imaging a tall tree.

We ran into many leaf-cutter ants (or stepped over them, as Tina would point out), and I tried to photograph them numerous times. This is my most successfull attempt.

Emerging helliconia at Carara.

Iguana giving me the hairy eyeball from a safe vantage point beyond the grating.

A lizard at the Villa Lapas lunch stop.

Crocodiles on the Rio Tárcoles

One big crocodile.