We sleep well
in the big four poster bed and wake up excited for our day. Breakfast buffet is exceptional with amazing
attention to detail. Café con leche
served in a French press, honey dripping straight from the hive in a contraption
made to do just that.
Dressed for
a hike, we drive about 15 minutes to Ecocentro Danaus, a private ecological preserve. About 25% of Costa Rica is preserved by the
government and another 15% is now preserved by private entities, restoring once
devastated lands to natural habitat and encouraging responsible ecotourism. We are paired with Amanda, our guide for this
morning. She explains that this park is
only 20 years old, the land having been restored after being virtually clear
cut. We would have never guessed the
forest is lush and dense. She has
powerful binoculars hanging from her neck and explains the species that we’re
likely to see. Five minutes in Amanda
points out a long line of leaf cutter ants, each ant carrying a chunk of green
many times larger then themselves. She
explains that the line can go on for several kilometers as the ants insist on a
certain type of leaf and have very high quality standards. She goes on to explain that the ants don’t
eat the leaves but emulsify them and use them to feed a mushroom they grow for
food. “Damned industrious farming” I
think to myself as Dave Mathews’ Ants
Marching plays in my head. She
points out other exotic plants and features and we head into the butterfly preserve,
netted space designed to raise local species before setting them loose into the
world. Great colors and lots of fun.
I’ve upped
my lens game for the trip, buying a high-quality zoom for my DSLR, one of the
grey ones you see on the sidelines of football games. I’m hoping to put it to good use, and I don’t
have to wait long. As we approach the
pond, we spot a boat billed heron perched on a log by the water’s edge. The lens is fast and bright, performing just
as I had hoped, capturing great images in the cloud filtered light. Amanda points up, high in a nearby tree at
what appears to be a furry brown and white pillow. Focused in, he’s a big three toed sloth, just
slothing there in his branch. Around the
other side of the pond we spot more herons, this time a mother in a nest with
two chicks. Already the lens is worth it. With Amanda’s help, we shoot an amazing array
of plants and animals and get a good understanding of the place we are in. Amanda is excited and almost speechless as
she spots a bespectacled owl, a rare get in these parts and only the second
time she has ever seen one. Click,
click, click, click as we take tons of exposures. As we are leaving, we see that the sun has
burned off the clouds and we get a rare opportunity to see the entirety of Arenal
Volcano.
Headed back towards
the hotel, we stop for lunch then head into the Ecothermales, one of the many
hot springs in the area. The same chamber
that caused the volcano to erupt in the 1500s and again in 1968 now serves to heat
some of the springs to 122F. In some
places the springs are nothing but warm rivers, in others entire resorts have
been developed around them. Ecothermales
is one of the more quiet of these places, with 6 or 7 pools, each running into
the next and getting a little cooler as they get further from the source. We start at the coolest and work our way up,
only lasting in the hottest for a few minutes.
A brisk dip under a cool waterfall brings our body temperatures and
heart rates back closer to normal.
Back at the
resort, dinner is at Asia Luna, an Asian/Latin fusion restaurant. We purposely pick the most fusion dishes,
including the Kani roll, a crab sushi topped with grilled plantain. The flavors mix amazingly well. Tired muscles and good wine make the for a great
night’s sleep.
(click on the pictures to view full screen)
No comments:
Post a Comment