Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Rain Forest Wildlife and Tropical Beaches




This morning we woke to a lovely pre-dawn chorus of rain forest birds and set off on another full day of adventure. After a delicious breakfast with fresh tropical fruits, we headed down the road to the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. There we met up with some local nature guides and then split up into 2 groups to explore the rain forest.

 The wildlife was terrific – we had great looks at sloths, monkeys, frogs, snakes, insects, spiders, toucans, and even a rare Tamandua anteater. Our guides also let us smell and taste a variety of amazing plants - cinnamon trees, rubber trees, starfruit, aloe, lemongrass, citronella, and many more. We were immersed in the incredible biodiversity of the tropical rain forest.








 After lunch we got to swim in the ocean at Punta Uva, a beach of spectacular beauty. The water was perfect for swimming and the scenery was heavenly. We returned to our hotel a very contented bunch!











           
           

10 comments:

  1. The beach and the Rain Forest look beautiful. Thanks again for posting. I look forward to reading them everyday. Great to see you Amanda. Miss you. Love, Mom, Dad and Robert.

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  2. I love seeing all the big smiles on everyone's faces! It looks like everyone is having a great time and enjoying the rainforest. Emma, we enjoyed hearing from you and we all miss you. Enjoy! Love you!

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  4. Love the pictures!!! It looks like you guys are having so much fun. Thanks so much to the adults for doing such a great job keeping us updated! Great to see you Brian! Have fun! The Biggios

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  5. Great pix! So great to see smiling faces and all the beautiful scenery.

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  6. What great pictures! Look forward to all the updates. Thanks so much for doing so after your action packed days. Natalie, we miss you! The Blooms

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  7. Ah! The beauty of nature.The pix look stunning,everyone looks happy,what more can we ask for? Matt,glad you survived sloth encounter!!! Can't wait for next post.xxoo

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  8. Those were great pictures! Looks like you are all having so much fun! Caleb we miss you!

    The Dions

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  9. scott and rachel grayFebruary 20, 2013 at 7:38 PM

    Beautiful scenery and so nice to hear that the temperatures were perfect for the beach.
    Don't worry about us here in Reading--it went above freezing today.
    Have fun!
    Scott and Rachel Gray

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  10. Awesome pictures. How are you guys doing? It looks like you are having a great time. See you soon!

    -Mr. Lyons

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