Keel-billed Toucan at La Paz Waterfall Gardens
Dates visited: December 22, 2012 – December 23, 2012
Alajuela is nothing special so we just drove through the city to feel the vibe. The city was our base to explore the Poás Volcano and the La Paz Waterfall gardens. Unfortunately, it rained in the morning, on our way to Poás Volcano so the crater was covered by a dense fog. We made a u-turn at the entrance based on the park ranger’s advice of no point in wasting money. We then visited La Paz Waterfall gardens and that proved to be an absolute hit with Rohan. We got to hold and pose with toucans, and see many more colorful birds in the aviary. The Hummingbird garden was quite something as I’d never seen so many species of whirring helicopters in one place; we almost had these swift birds eating out of our hands. Other wildlife included a jaguar, an ocelot, butterflies, reptiles and monkeys. We ended our visit with a hike to the spectacular La Paz Waterfall-the platforms got us very close to the falls so we got sprayed by the cool water.
The upside to the rainy day was that we got to see a double and at times, a triple rainbow (my first ever!) arching across the lush green mountains.
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- Saying cheese with a keel-billed toucan
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- Green Thorntail hummingbirds gathering for a sweet drink
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- “Will you walk into my parlor?” said the Spider to the Butterfly… …
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- Traditional Costa Rican decorated ox cart
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- Dryas iulia (aka Julia Butterfly or Flambeau) busy sipping nectar
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- Feeding a black-bellied hummingbird
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- A band of coatis… …they are aggressive cousins of raccoons
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- Catching a double rainbow
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- La Paz Waterfall at La Paz Waterfall Gardens (duh!)
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- A red-eyed tree frog waiting for its prey