At the same breakfast stop for the Macaws shown yesterday, I got a photo of this very common Variegated Squirrel. Then, while on the trail at Tenorio Volcano National Park, a shot of an immature or juvenile Brown Vine Snake. We could have seen more wildlife in that park had it been our target instead of waterfalls. 🙂 But I stayed focused on my target of the day! 🙂
Variegated Squirrel, Canas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.Immature Brown Vine Snake, Tenorio Volcano National Park, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. And if you have trouble finding it , it runs from upper left corner to lower right corner. Yellowish Brown.
Walter knows all the good places to eat along the different highways and early on our waterfall trip last Wednesday we stopped on Ruta 1 in or near Canas or Paso Real for a super breakfast and chance to see the many Scarlet Macaws in the trees around that restaurant and hotel across the highway from Tres Hermanas (interesting because of same name as a Soda in Atenas). 🙂
I took only a few minutes to try photographing some Macaws, not my best photos! But you can see all of my Scarlet Macaw photos in my Scarlet Macaw Gallery with shots from all over Costa Rica or read about them on eBird. In Costa Rica they are more prevalent on the Pacific Slope and coast while the endangered Green Macaw is more prevalent on the Caribbean or Atlantic Slope. Below this photo is a gallery of several other Macaw shots from this waterfall trip stop . . .
Hmmm! What is this? Well, you see, my trip planner, Walter, works very hard to please his customers with little “extras” and knew about an unnamed waterfall along our return highway near San Ramon or in that Canton (county), just 20 meters off the highway! So we stopped and parked in the edge of the mud by the highway and walked through the mud down a rocky little decline (that I almost fell on) to a stream to be where we could see this waterfall with minimal water right now in dry season. Well, it was rocky as you can see in one photo and the bottom of my shoes were muddy. I put my weight down on one, possibly wet, rock and slipped falling backwards on the rocks, banging my head on one of those big round ones. It hurt bad for about a minute or 2 only. Then I felt a growing bump on my head.
I thought I was dead or seriously injured and so did Walter who was concerned about me for days. But I’m fine now, just immediately after the fall I had a big “Goose Egg” which is what we called a “bump on the head” as a child in South Arkansas! 🙂 The goose egg on my head lasted until the next morning and was gone. no more pain after the fall and I was already crazy, so you can’t tell if it affected me that way! 🙂 And I got to add one more waterfall to my collection from this one day trip. (45 sounds better than 44 in my gallery) 🙂 And I will try to work it into the photo book if I can.
When we drove over the bridge over that stream a sign said: “Rio Catarata” which in English would be simply “Waterfall River.” Thus my own name for the falls works for me! 🙂 Pura vida from Goose Egg Falls!
Unnamed Waterfall in San Ramon Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
The Rio Celeste Waterfall (a tour company site link) is in the Tenorio Volcano National Park (NP website link) and is one of the more popular waterfalls for tourists because of the unique turquoise water in the river due to minerals from the volcano. It was fun to go to the point in the park where two clear rivers come together and watch the new mixture of water turn blue or turquoise in color. See my 2017 Tenorio NP Visit for photos of the turquoise water which had more color than we had yesterday because it had rained all day the day before, making the water a little muddy. I did not get to see the waterfall in 2017 because the hurricane that came across northern CR destroyed the stairs and trail down to the falls. Note also that the National Park does not allow swimming in this plunge pool, making if better for photographers and nature lovers! 🙂 It is in the Cloud Forest so it gets rain year around.
For the email recipients, please click the MORE button after this photo for not only more waterfall photos but also a pix of my guide and driver plus one of me at these falls.
My waterfalls trip finally happened yesterday and here is the first of three we visited plus some other interesting sites that I will be sharing about in the coming days. Yesterday was a wonderful day in many ways and typical of my frequent adventures as a retiree in Costa Rica.
The Llanos de Cortés Waterfall (link to their commercial Facebook Page) which of course is Catarata Llanos de Cortés in Spanish! 🙂 And yes, it is spelled correctly for them and the adjacent community. The other spelling with a “z” instead of the “s” is simply a different family name. 🙂 I’m familiar with having a “different” family name. I’m Doggett not Daggett! 🙂
This migrant is appropriately named for Costa Rica since they are always here during our Summer or September to May. The males are uniformly red all over while the females vary from light yellow to a dirty yellow or gold with sometimes brown on the head and wings. Read about the Summer Tanager on eBird or see my Summer Tanager Gallery with photos from other areas of Costa Rica. They breed in North America during the North American Summer then spend Sept-May south from Mexico to northern South America, our summer! 🙂 Thus the name fits both regions during the times there.
My driver has an ear infection that’s making him dizzy, so my trip for today was postponed until next Wednesday, the 19th, while he sees the doctor today. Guess I shouldn’t have announced it in advance. 🙂 But you will hear about it when it happens. 🙂
