Costa Rica Reflections

I stared down at my plate.  Scrambled eggs and ham and of course the Costa Rican national dish – rice and beans. I’d made decent time from CRARC and was now breaking for breakfast and to stretch my legs at the Restaurante Caballo Blanco (The White Horse) that Brian had recommended – a place where locals come to eat with good food and reasonable prices.  But even here breakfast was expensive.  Everything is very expensive in Costa Rican- and the food? Well how many Costa Rican Restaurants do you see in Chicago, Houston or New York?

My God I was sick of rice and beans.  I must have head them 20 times over the last fifteen days.

So I’ve established two of the three things NOT to like about Costa Rica.  The third is the driving.  The roads are better than they were twelve years ago, but having to pass truck after truck going thirty miles an hour while driving on two-lane winding mountain roads is taxing.  The 200 mile drive from Siquirres to the airport in Liberia took 6  hours. It’s just no fun to drive in Costa Rica.

I seasoned my beans and rice with some Lizano sauce, more as a tribute to Scott and Tom than anything else. They both loved this sauce on our family vacation twelve years ago.

So what are the reasons to come back to Costa Rica?  Well the weather is delightful.  But you can enjoy nice weather many places can’t you.  The best reason to visit Costa Rica is that it’s a naturalist’s paradise.  The memories are still vivid in my mind.  In the northwest the Boa Constrictor, blind snake and the national tree, the Guanacaste.  The volcano of Arenal wrapped in clouds. Scarlet Macaws flying wild in the jungle.  Just to name a few.

Please enjoy these photos.

Tapanti National Park, Talamonca Mtns. Costa Rica

Boa Constrictor at Hacienda Pinilla

Scarlet-thighed Dacnis at Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center

Green Iguana

White-lored Gnatcatcher at Hacienda Pinilla

Crested Guan at Arenal NP

 

Common Blunt-headed Snake (Imantodes cenchoa) at Tapanti NP

Broad-billed Motmot at Arenal NP

Streak-backed Oriole at Hacienda Pinilla

Orange-chinned Parakeet at Hacienda Pinilla

Red-eyed Treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas) the most photographed frog in the world.

Red-eyed Treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas)

Red-eyed Treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas)

Sunset over the Pacific, Tarcoles, Costa Rica