Our
stay at Peace Lodge was off the chart. We got a great
price on an "irregular room" but all the privileges of a
full-price room. The food was great and being able to see
the waterfalls and animals was a plus. We left Peace Lodge
and went to Poas Volcano early in the morning then returned to
the lodge to pack our stuff and check out. From there we
headed toward Alajuela and our hotel for our last night in Costa
Rica.
The photos below are what we saw.
We got
up to Poas Volcano just after the park opened in hopes of it not
being fully enshrouded in fog. Our hopes were not met and
the fog was thick.
But the fog lifted enough to show the steepness of the cliffs of
the crater. The top of the volcano was just over 2500
meters and was subjected to harsh weather most of the year.
The fog
partially lifted long enough to allow a manual-focus
photo. The full depth of the crater was hidden by the fog.
A brief
break in the fog allowed us to see a portion of the bottom of
the crater.
Five
seconds later the fog and clouds was back.
Every
tourist spot has to have animals that manipulate the tourists.
Volcan Poas was no exception.
This
fellow was performing for the female members of his tour
group. The blonde seems to be enjoying it.
We left
Volcan Poas and headed back to the Peace Lodge. On the
road back we had a great view of the central valley of Costa
Rica. In the valley below is San Jose and Alajuela.
As we
were taking the previous photo, we noticed these flower on the
opposite side of the road.
We
descended the steep hill to get to our casita for the last time
and got a view between the full suites.
The full
suites were very nice, but also very pricey. Maybe next
time.
We saw
these flowers in many places and they were very beautiful.
This
rainbow beak tucan was on the ground when we walked in and did
not seem to be afraid of us.
His
buddy watched us with great curiosity but did not fly away.
We
stopped to admire the second tucan and the first one came to us
and landed on the branch right next to us. He let me
stroke his breast.
The
brown-beaked toucan and his friend watched us but were not
alarmed by our presence.
Further
into the aviary were the parrots and macaws.
This
fellow watched us from above our heads.
The
colored feathers were bright and this bird was busy preening.
This
macaw was watching us but seemed bored.
There
were a number of smaller parrots and parakeets in the enclosure.
Another
odd bird that looked like an over-sized chicken.
This parrot flew to us and landed on the railing. Kathleen held out her arm to see if he would hop aboard.
Not only
did the parrot hop on her arm, but he immediately started
treating a button on her sleeve as a seed and attempted to crack
it with his beak. He was working on it pretty hard.
These
ducks had red bills and were roosting in the trees.
These
parrots were perched but paid us no attention.
This scarlet macaw was awesome, but hard to photograph due to the bright background.
We passed by the Serpent House again and since I had bad dreams about this snake all night, the only reasonable thing to do was to look at it up close again. This is a Fer de Lance and is the most dangerous viper in Costa Rica. It is mean spirited, aggressive and really big. His head is as wide as my fist. They are highly venomous and cause dozens of fatalities per year.
This is a Corn Snake and is not dangerous. It eats mice and other vermin, so its presence is tolerated.
There were plenty of flowers along the path back to our car.
These complex flowers were on some kind of epiphyte.
We passed a number of street corners in Alajuela that had pairs of police on foot.
Previous Adventure | ||
Trip Home Page |
Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2014, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.