TRIP TO SANTA ROSA NATIONAL PARK & CURUBANDA LODGE PRIVATE PRESERVE, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

   This past Saturday we went on a birding trip to the tropical dry forest in Santa Rosa National Park and the rain forest in the private preserve of Curubanda Lodge.  We were picked up by our local birding guide Carlos Bello of Green Life Tours at 5 am and returned to the hotel at 5:30 pm.  We stopped for breakfast on the way to Santa Rosa National Park and had lunch at the Curubanda Lodge.  Both meals were great.

   Carlos is a great birding guide. On the way to and from the park and the lodge he spotted many birds and we stopped to see and photograph them.  In addition to the birds, the scenery was great.  We highly recommend Carlos as a birding guide.

   On the way to Santa Rosa National Park we could see sunrise (the first photo).  Our first stop in the park was a great view of the tropical dry forest.

VIEWS AT COCO BEACH, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

MALE HOFFMANN'S WOODPECKER, COCO BEACH, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

   We can ID this woodpecker as a male Hoffmann's Woodpecker by its yellow-orange nape and the red cap on its head, which you can just abour make out if you look closely.

WALKING ALONG THE BEACH, HOTEL RIU GUANACASTE BEACH & AREA, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

    The intrepid birder and shopper, Sharon is in the first four photos.  The Hotel Riu Guanacaste is shown in the next two photos.  The last photo shows an interesting looking tree on a trail to the beach.

YELLOW TRUMPET TREE, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

   These beautiful yellow flowering trees are Yellow Trumpet Trees.  They are the first to bloom as the dry season ends and the wet season begins.

STUCK IN THE MUD & OLD FASHIONED SUGARCANE MILL, SUGARCANE FARM, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

   After our boat ride on Tempisque River our driver/guide took a side road in search of a particular bird (Jabiru).  Low and behold we got stuck in the mud and never did find the Jabiru.  We finally got pulled out of the mud by workers from the nearby sugarcane farm, which we were on our way to.

   At the sugarcane farm we saw a demonstration of the old fashioned way of processing sugarcane.  This involved an ox powering a sugarcane mill by walking in a circle.  Some small producers still use this method.  After the liquid from the sugarcane comes out of the mill it is heated to produce various forms of sugar.

BLACK RIVER TURTLE, TEMPISQUE RIVER, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA