A day on the bus is NOT boring............

OK OK, I was so wrong about having nothing much to mention.  Today was an amazing day.

First I must tell you about our bus and driver.  Our driver, Ercel, is a fabulous driver, and to see him deal with the suicidal maniacs on the road (ie everyone else) is a lesson in calmness and competency.  He owns the bus, which he calls Chi Chi, and spends every spare moment washing it.  He was commonly referred to as Mama Chi Chi by the other leaders.

The first stop on our trip was to see a bunch of crocodiles in an estuary.  Naturally, I didn’t expect them and was surprised at their size and numbers.  An iguana clearly didn’t fear them, and made a hop over one crocodile’s tail as the shortest distance to his next destination.

Lunch was at a tiny local restaurant, in an open air dining room, and the food was again excellent.

Then we went on a birding walk through the dry tropical forest, and got some dillies.

A Turquoise-browed Motmot

A Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

And Scarlet Macaws flying overhead and then some in a tree.

And the final unusual thing was finding seed pods of the national tree, Guanacaste.  They look like ears and sound like the best musical shakers I’ve ever heard.

Sorry this post got delayed--there were some internet access problems.  There will be a final Costa Rica post tomorrow on funny signs, bathrooms and whimsical art.