The Wonders of Costa Rica(Pt 3)

Hello all! And welcome back to the Costa Rica blog. In this post we will be covering some more animals that we saw in the wonderful country of Costa Rica!

On the third day of our trip we had a snorkeling trip scheduled for the morning. We excitedly got our belongings ready and walked down to the beach to our awaiting boat. We were blown away by how wonderful the experience was, we did rafting from the boat, saw two green turtles, and walked up an island barefoot! Not to mention we even caught a tuna which was then quickly made into sashimi right before our eyes within minutes! After our adventures from that morning, we went back to our hotel room to wind down. Immediately after doing so we heard strange noises from outside, we ran outside and looked around to find howler monkeys lounging in the trees right next to us!

We saw these howler monkeys quiet often around Costa Rica. To be frank they were a little bit difficult to spot in the trees but our talented guides used their (I assume 2020 vision) impressive vision to spot them from far away. Most of the time we saw them alone in very separate trees, but in a few occasions we saw them in groups of almost 20-30 howler monkeys! Rarely did we see them engage in any sort of activity though, they were like me on a Sunday, lounging around wishing not to be active!

Words cannot describe how difficult it was to try and shoot a picture of one of these beautiful hummingbirds. On the multiple hikes we went on I tried my absolute hardest to snag a picture of one, always keeping an eye out. Every time I saw one it flew away right as I was clicking the shoot button on my camera. On our way back from our walk around a local farm, my family and I decided to take a rest on some chairs viewing a waterfall and forest. As I was enjoying the view and fresh rainforest air, my dad pointed out the most vibrant and colorful hummingbird I have ever seen. I ran to grab my camera and snapped a few pictures. The one time I wasn't on the constant lookout for one of these gorgeous birds I saw one, the irony!

The farm in which I saw the hummingbird, we didn't have reception, so we truly felt in another world, with no stress and chores. We even enjoyed a swim in the fresh water streaming from the waterfall. We were given fresh food made from ingredients grown in the farm, which we also had a horse ride through! Although our fun time was cut short because of pouring rain, we spotted these bright yellow tucans in the trees. Out of all the animals we saw, it was incredibly hard to find these birds. My mother pointed out the bird and it took me probably about five entire minutes to try and actually find them with my own eyes!

I got so caught up in all of these wonderful animals and plants that I completely forgot to mention the incredibly white-river rafting my family and I went on! After a brief hike through the rainforest and a safety debrief we walked up to what looked like a pretty calm river. It really wasn't that big and intimidating, but boy were we wrong! After about 5 minutes of spying out for animals in the trees surrounding us a sudden dip in the river caught us by surprise! We really didn't think much about it, but it is white river rafting after all. We started to go through parts of the river where the water was going super fast and where there were big boulders everywhere that we had to dodge like we were in a video game. And at the end of the trip there was a massive fall that every raft took turns going down. The water was going fast and the man leading us on the rafting didn't hesitate to go really fast before we plundered down. The picture I attached it only one of the smaller ones we went down, which truly says something about the size of the final one!

I never thought that I would be able to see some of the animals and plants that I saw on this trip and I am so grateful for this experiences I had as well. Thanks for reading the Costa Rica series and stay tuned for the next series: New Zealand!