A day at the Curu Wildlife Reserve on the Nicoya Peninsula. We have learned that you do not need a wildlife preserve here in Costa Rica to observe wildlife, but, it cannot hurt. Standard $15 per person entrance fee applied. Native Costa Ricans (Ticos) get in basically free though. Good for the families around here.
Our best attempt at a selfie as we leave the car on the side of the road and head out for an adventure.
The bridge that gets us into the preserve was the best one in the place by far. More shots later on the fun we had with the other preserve bridges.
What a beautiful oasis we found on our way toward the official start of the hiking path.
Each trail we have hiked so far in Costa Rica has had its own aura. This one was wide enough to walk side by side and was cleared of all vegetation.
Boy the bamboo is really massive here!
Our first encounter with wildlife in the preserve was this small but mature deer. Not afraid of us at all.
Our second encounter with wildlife was completely unexpected. We felt like heels when I wanted to see how sturdy this termite nest was and my hiking stick poked right through with a light tap. The video above shows the termites coming out to survey the damage.
Our third encounter was completely unexpected as we heard a rustling in the tree above and noticed this extremely cute spectator. Then we noticed they were all around us! They were very active jumping over our heads and running in front of us. They quickly sensed our trepidation and started to bully us. We thought for sure they were going to jump us (ha, ha)! They are called capuchin monkeys.
We did manage to get some fabulous videos of our monkey encounter:
We need to include a pic of this iguana even though they are really common in Costa Rica. He is wildlife after all.
Our second sighting of a strange animal called a quadimundi. Nature is awesome!
Although this is not wildlife we figured this old coconut had a lot to say!
There were lots of colorful butterflies on our hike but they would not cooperate for a video or pic.
We did get a pic of this unfortunate butterfly or mariposa as they say here.
Could not figure out, even with the help of google, what this low hanging fruit was. We supposed as there are many, many banana and plantain trees around, the wildlife must need a bit of variety in their diet eh?
Our path led us to a nice, secluded beach at low tide. Beaches are not crowded in Costa Rica.
We noticed that when the palm trees die they leave no real stump to grind.
On our walk back to the car we left on the side of the road we noticed a rickety old bridge and decided I should check it out. Laurie was a bit unsure but if it could hold me?
Road signage has always been a staple for enjoyment during our sometimes long drives in other places. We found it a bit ironic that the sign saying 'slow down because wildlife crosses here' is next to the sign that tells you to beware of the crocodiles in the area.
Not sure if the horses above are wild but it is a wildlife preserve so...?
A good post always ends with something to do with cows, or vacas here in Costa Rica. Ganado means cattle in Spanish.
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