Arenal

 On March 5th we had the usual pre-breakfast bird walk, and then drove up into the highlands of the Guanacaste Province to the shore of Lake Arenal.  A short boat ride took us across the lake and the Continental Divide (the 6th time we crossed it on this trip), with the Arenal volcano growing larger and closer all the time. A short bus ride on the other side of the lake took us to lunch and ice cream in La Fortuna.  The town was renamed in gratitude for being spared by the eruptions from 3 craters on Arenal from 1968 to 2008. Prior to 1968, Arenal wasn’t even considered a volcano as it had not erupted since the 17th century. 

We walked after lunch in another eco-garden created 25 years ago from the surrounding farm land. We saw a huge number of nesting boat-billed herons and both 2-toed and 3-toed sloths sleeping in the trees. (We also saw a 3-toed sloth on the move in the garden next to the lunch restaurant).  Actually we should call them 2- or 3-fingered sloths as both types have three toes on their hind legs.  We drove to the Arenal Observatory Lodge in the late afternoon and were rewarded with unusually clear skies to have direct views of the entire mountain from our rooms.  We went for a rainy night walk after dinner, seeing owls, frogs, reptiles, and a 9-banded armadillo.

On Saturday, our last full day, we spent the morning on a series of walks around the grounds. There is a feeder with fresh fruit for the birds near the restaurant which attracts a fair number of birds. We saw many new species both around the feeders and in other parts of the lodge grounds. In the afternoon we walked the Arenal hanging bridges and visited a hot springs spa. It was exciting to see three species of motmot and many new hummingbirds and tanagers. We had a fun final dinner, including a surprise 50th anniversary cake for two of our companions. 

Following an excellent morning bird walk, Sunday was all about returning to San Jose to fly home, but our creative trip leader chose a rest stop along the way that had a garden full of new species for us, and even figured out a way for us to have a proper lunch before our flights.