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| A Gentle Sloth |
It’s about a five hour drive from Monteverde to Manuel
Antonio, most of it along the coast. Our driver was nice, but not a birder. He
seemed disappointed when we didn’t want to stop for a picture of the ocean or
the crocodiles at the bridge over the Rio Tarcoles. We’ve seen crocodiles and
were more anxious to get to our destination. Birds we would have stopped for.
Named for a man who for years owned a small shop near the
entrance to what would become the tourist mecca it is today, Manual Antonio is both
the name of the town and the national park it supports with hotels,
restaurants, and souvenir shops. I guess he was like the unofficial mayor of
the area. The real town, Quepos, is just up the beach a few miles.
Our hotel was at the top of the hill across the road from
the good views of the bay. It included a nice restaurant and a pool with plenty
of trees to attract monkeys for our entertainment. Almost right across the road
was El Avion Restaurant, built around a Fairchild C-123. This plane is the
sister plane to the one that was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986 setting off
the investigations that reveal all the sordid details of the Iran-Contra
Affair. President Reagan who had said no dealing for hostages was, in fact,
selling arms to Iran to raise money to aid the Contras fighting the Communist
Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Oliver North coordinated these efforts.
Also involved was Evergreen Air, an Oregon company that today owns and exhibits
the Spruce Goose, that monstrous wooden plane built by Howard Hughes. That is
also an interesting museum if you are ever in the Hillsboro area west of Portland.
Today this plane’s wings hold up the ceiling of the first
floor and provide room for a bar on the second floor. The fuselage is called
the Contra Bar and is open every night until 2:00 am. It’s a fun piece of history
where we had a nice dinner while watching the sun go down.
Mnauel Antonio is Costa Rica’s smallest national park.
Visitors are limited to two trails that lead to one of the nicest beaches in
the area. Our guide led us on the trail to the beach where we spent a bit of
time enjoying the sun and sand. Along the way we saw several birds, sloths,
iguanas, a raccoon, and several different insects. It was a nice pleasant way
to spend a morning.
Our other tour took us north of Quepos for a boat ride
through the mangrove trees. Timing was crucial because the outgoing tide could
prevent our boat from getting back to the dock. Our guides pulled into the
shore at one point to let the Capuchin monkeys play with us on the boat. One
guy let a monkey sit on his head. I remembered being warned when we were in
Belize that monkeys love to steal glasses. What really concerned me though was
the poor girl who let the monkey sit on her shoulder. The monkey thanked her by
peeing all over her top and she did not have a replacement with her.
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| Don't disturb the flies |
On our last day in Manuel Antonio, I hired a bird guide to
help me find a lot of birds. Arranged through the hotel, my guide, Andres
Martin Chavez Rojas, was excellent. In addition to guiding, he studies birds
for different organizations and is an expert at collecting and sharing their
vocalizations. He was also an expert at taking my iPhone to get excellent
pictures through his scope. I was most pleased with the way he made sure that I
was clear about the identifying marks on some of the smaller, specialty birds. We
started off at 6:00 am. I expected we would drive for an hour or so to some
rural area, but we got out of the van about one mile from the hotel and started
birding right there. Then we walked down the road off the main road where we
found many more birds, some with the help of the neighbors. After a couple of
hours there, we were back on the main road where we hitched a ride for another
mile or so and a different side road, this one much more rural. It was a great
day and a good lesson for me about where to look for birds. In all we saw 61
different species and got pictures of about 20.
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