Tuesday, June 24, 2008
This morning we got going early to be on our bird tour at 6:30, before breakfast but not as early as it would seem here in the US. Our guide, Carlos, actually liked children and was good with ours. He asked us each what we most wanted to see. I really wanted to see a toucan, and Genevieve really wanted to see an anteater, and Charlotte and Mark didn’t really have an answer. Right away he spotted a red billed toucanet in his scope. We walked on and saw the monkeys all again and other birds but nothing really compelling. I mentioned that I had read about the pond in the tropical garden but had been unable to find it. He said “do you guys like frogs?” to which we of course answered yes. So we headed the tropical garden pond and what 
should we see but hundreds upon hundreds of green leaf frogs! (see movie here). Apparently they mate at the pond after the full moon, which it was that day. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Next we had breakfast and arranged to go to the beach later in the day. We asked for a car to drive us both there and back although most people hike there and then get a ride back, because of Charlotte’s aversion to
walking. We hung out in the cabina for a while, and went to lunch where we talked to a couple of honeymooners staying in the cabina next to ours. I mentioned that I still hadn’t seen a toucan and they said “really, there was one in our tree earlier today”. The guy told me that they made “a really obnoxious chirping” that was hard to miss. After lunch we met our ride to the beach. We got the same driver we had on the trip up, which was nice. When we arrived at the beach, who should we see but the woman from lunch who had arranged with Lapa Rios to have us on a tour the next day at 3:00. Too nice! We chatted with them for a while and then followed the noise to the scarlett 
macaws. There were a least a dozen of them in a tree right on the edge of the beach! We watched them for a while, then went
back to play in the waves and with the hermit crabs, and then back to see the birds again. While we were there a band of squirrel (titi) monkeys came to the tree, including this mommy and her baby. So cute! The car came to pick us up right on schedule, and we headed back to the pool at Bosque. While we were there, I heard a very distinctive noise that I figured had to be a toucan, so I followed the chirping and sure enough it was a chestnut billed toucan up in the tree right next to our cabina. Too cool. We cleaned up in our outdoor bath and shower and went to the bar and then to dinner and bed.
The Roving Richards 