Costa Rica - Day 4 (1/22/2016)

On day 4, I was up before 5 am and checked the volcano to find it was surprisingly clear.  Running around the resort grounds in near darkness, I was hoping to get sunlight on the mountain before clouds moved in. After finding a pretty good spot, I waited for a little light.  A man came out of his casita and told me he'd been there five days and this was the first time he'd seen the top of the volcano.  Once again, I felt very fortunate.

Arenal volcano at dawn.

Sunrise

Another view

 

Yet another view

   

More of the sunrise.

    

Close-up of the crater.

There were quite a few birds around the resort, but many of them never seemed to land.  I did get photos of a couple of them.

Tyrant flycatcher

Unidentified

 Our bus ride this morning took us through Fortuna to the village of Cano Negro, where we were to get a boat tour on the Rio Frio.  Below are some of the scenes we found along the route.

Residence

Restaurant

 

One of several iguanas resting in the tree tops.

Pineapple plantation

Our restaurant for lunch.

The cruise through the wildlife refuge lets us see many different birds and animals, some of which might only be seen in Central America.

Our tour boat.

Northern jacana

Caiman

 

Sun grebe

Cattle egret

Copper iguana displaying his dewlap to attract females.

Jesus Christ lizard (runs on water)

Tiger heron

Green kingfisher

Anhinga

Green iguana

Boat-billed heron

White-faced monkey

White-faced monkey

White-faced monkey

Howler monkey

Nicaragua border

Cereal aisle at a Cano Negro market.

ATV mounted police