Category: Tarcoles River

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Villa Lapas

My second overnight trip after moving to Costa Rica nearly 10 years ago was to this locally-owned & operated lodge/hotel near the village of Tarcoles, less than an hour west of Atenas, Villa Lapas. I did not get many bird or other wildlife photos compared to later trips other places, but you can see what I got in my Trip Gallery: Villa Lapas, July 2015. The appeal then and now is that it is located next to Carara National Park, where, with a good guide (that I did not have then), you can photograph a lot of different bird species as you also can on the right Tarcoles River Boat Safari. Since then I’ve discovered lots of better lodges for birds and other nature photography (even in that area – see bottom of post), so why am I returning now? Because of a recent announcement about this little-known place with some rooms arranged as a “Colonial Spanish Jungle Village” becoming a Marriott Resort . . .

Villa Lapas set up as a “Colonial Jungle Village”
in the Transitional Forests of Carara National Park.
Continue reading “Villa Lapas”
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Birds on Tarcoles River

Our trip to the river Thursday yielded more species of birds than any other of my now 9 trips on the Tarcoles River! I got photos of 35 species and know we saw several others, but I only count my photos!   🙂   And this was in less than 2 hours on the river! A good place for birding!

It has been a difficult and rushed job to get the photos ready to post while also getting ready for my trip Sunday to Heredia for Spanish Immersion! I’m only including one shot of each bird in this post, but for more of each bird plus crocs, other wildlife, and other photos, see my “TRIP GALLERY”  2020 Feb 20, Rio Tarcoles Birding Trip for more photos!

CLICK AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT

Rio Tarcoles Birds

 

“TRIP GALLERY”  2020 Feb 20, Rio Tarcoles Birding Trip

¡Pura Vida!

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Crocodiles

American Crocodile
“Crocodile Bridge,” Tarcoles, Costa Rica

American Crocodile
“Crocodile Bridge,” Tarcoles, Costa Rica
Our van with the Nashville group stopped here on the way to Jaco Beach. A regular stop for tour buses here on Ruta 34 is called Crocodile Bridge (Link to very good Animal Planet Video); the highway 34 bridge over the Tarcoles River is near the small fishing village of Tarcoles. Tourists usually walk over the bridge and look down to see the crocs sunning on the riverbanks or swimming in the river for a fish snack. (See above video link.) The nearby village has several vendors who will take you on the river in a boat to see the crocs up close and even better, for me, up to 30+ species of birds! There are of course several souvenir and food vendors at the bridge to oblige your needs!  🙂

American Crocodile on Wikipedia

Species Profile: Everglades National Park

¡Pura Vida!

Links to my float trips on the Tarcoles River (Bird Focus): 


2017 July    (1 croc pic)

2017 April   (2 good croc pics)




2015 February    (6 croc shots)

2011 April    (Cruise Ship stop, 2 croc shots) 
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Tarcoles River The Place

Nice Trees and Plants Along the River
from mangroves to forests and plains
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Surrounded by Mountains and the Pacific Ocean
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Tarcoles Teens Headed for School at 7:30 AM
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Welcome to Our Tour Boat
Jungle Crocodile Safari
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

A Fishing Village, Thus Boats Everywhere! 
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Mangrove Trees
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Lone Boat Anchored in Mouth of River
That’s ocean waves just beyond the boat.
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Why do I want to photograph every boat I see?
Low tide on a tidal river close to its mouth
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Other Tour Boats Going Out
You have several choices, but ours is the best for birding.
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Our Guide Explaining Something to John
Like me, he talks with his hands 🙂
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Just being on the river is a great nature experience even if you did not see a single bird! And the little village is an interesting place too. See some of my past village shots.
And the Trip Gallery for this is called 2018-February-27–Tarcoles River Trip
For all of my BIRDS photos. that gallery or 
Link to the Google Map Location of Tarcoles & our Jungle Crocodile Safari
My other trips on TARCOLES RIVER 
and their photos (all different!): 
2016 December:   

2015 July:   

2015 March:   

2015 February:   
2011 May Cruise Ship Excursion:
And a sub-gallery for all the birds
Yeh, I kind of like it! And have been here more than any other place birding in Costa Rica. 
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More Birds from Tarcoles River

The balance of bird photos I will share here from yesterday’s visit to Tarcoles River: 
Wood Stork
 Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

White Ibis 
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Yellow-crowned Night Heron  
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Boat-billed Heron 
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Roseate Spoonbill  
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Panama Flycatcher 
 Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Great Blue Heron  
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Lesser Nighthawk
 Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Common Black Hawk  
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Green Kingfisher female  
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

 Yellow Warbler 
 Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Mangrove Cuckoo  
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Tropical Kingbird  
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

This two days of about 20 bird photos are with thanks to the boat facility we used, Jungle Crocodile Safari, my favorite because they emphasis the birds rather than the crocs! I recommend them if in the Jaco area or west-central Costa Rica. And it was only 20 photos, but we saw more like 30 species! I simply cannot get a useable photo of all birds seen on any of my trips!

¡Pura Vida!


See also my BIRDS Photo Gallery

And tonight I will be setting up a new “Trip Gallery” on this Tarcoles River trip at:
2018-February-27–Tarcoles River

-o-

ICE Builds Handicap Accessible Trail at Manuel Antonio National Park.
Online article in English about a new elevated trail in the Mangrove area of park that is wheelchair accessible and all signs include braille for the blind. This is real progress for Costa Rica since most of our tourist activities are not handicap accessible. 

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New Graffiti/Mural at Sports Park

They are replacing all the old graffiti murals that were on this sidewalk wall.
This is first one completed. The whole wall was painted black first, then tags (below),
now this over one of the tags, a turquoise scribble.
Atenas, Costa Rica

For a year or more this is what was in the above spot:

Last year in the same location.

Then early in January these “tags” were painted with the bright turquoise at far right being where the current cartoon mice reside. I hope the other tags are overpainted too. I like the mice!

-o-
Unfortunately we have Polluted Rivers in the “Green” country of Costa Rica too. Click the link for an online English newspaper article prodding the government to do more. Sad for me that this is about the Tarcoles River, the closest birding river for me and of course dangerous for the birds. The Tarcoles has tributaries coming from the big city of San Jose which is one of the problems. Be sure to see the video in the article showing all the plastic bottle caps and other junk found in the stomach of a fish. Shocking!

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Other Photos (non-bird) from Tarcoles River

Scenic Tarcoles River
Tarcoles, Costa Rica
Scenic Tarcoles River near it’s Mouth into the Pacific Ocean
Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Jungle Crocodile Safari boat
Tarcoles, Costa Rica

American Crocodile
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Paper Wasp Nest
Tarcoles River Costa Rica

Hopefully you saw all the bird photos on the last two days’ posts! Also of interest may be:

Trip Photo Gallery: 2017-07-29- Tarcoles River

All of my photo galleries on Birds       or just Costa Rica Birds

And the boat tour company we used: Jungle Crocodile Safari

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

~Charlie

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More Birds from Tarcoles River Trip

Arranged in the order presented in the book The Birds of Costa Rica, A Field Guide by Garrigues & Dean which puts families and similar birds together.

Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Great Blue Heron
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Great Blue Heron in an Interesting Posture
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Cattle Egret
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Snowy Egret
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Great Egret (left) and Whimbrel (right)
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Whimbrel
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Spotted Sandpiper
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Mangrove Swallow
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Groove-billed Ani
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Ringed Kingfisher
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Yellow Warbler, resident male with orange head
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
And did you see the Birds in Flight posted yesterday? Including 3 more species not included here.
Plus note that we saw a lot more birds than what I included here, just my only decent photos! 
AND this was my first time to go to and from Tarcoles on public bus. Cheap & fun! Going down was a breeze, but we got wrong info on our return bus and ended up going through San Jose, but oh well, all part of the adventure!  🙂
Trip Photo Gallery: 2017-07-29- Tarcoles River

All of my photo galleries on Birds       or just Costa Rica Birds

And the boat tour company we used: Jungle Crocodile Safari

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

~Charlie
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Some Birds in Flight from Today at Tarcoles

Had a wild bus adventure to Tarcoles and back today with Ed Fair. More photos, stories tomorrow.

Roseate Spoonbill
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

l

Magnificent Frigate Bird female
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Ringed Kingfisher
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Great Egret
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Oops!   –   Snowy Egret
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Trip Photo Gallery: 2017-07-29- Tarcoles River


All of my photo galleries on Birds       or just Costa Rica Birds

And the boat tour company we used: Jungle Crocodile Safari

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

~Charlie
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Other Wildlife at Tarcoles this Week

Brown Basilisk or Jesus Christ Lizard
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Brown Basilisk or Jesus Christ Lizard
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

American Crocodile
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

American Crocodile
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Green Iguana
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Spiny-tailed Iguana or Black Ctenaura Iguana
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

As always on this blog you can click a photo to see a larger version on black background.

Yeah, it is possible to sometimes see a monkey, sloth, coati, agouti, bat or other mammal, though no longer frequent on Tarcoles. People population growth reduces the animal population everywhere!

You can see all of the photos from this day trip at  2017-13-April Tarcoles Float Trip  gallery

Or see my photo collection of OTHER WILDLIFE in Costa Rica  or BIRDS separately

EASTER BUNNY?
And for Easter I have yet to see a rabbit here, though one website says there are 3 species of forest rabbits. The more common agouti twitches his nose like a rabbit, but he’s actually a rodent!  🙂

EASTER IS EITHER RELIGIOUS OR BEACH HOLIDAY FOR TICOS
Easter is purely a religious holiday here officially almost equal with Christmas in importance but purely for the focus on Jesus, not spoiling children with candy. (They spoil them other ways!) I’ll try to get some photos to share from the Easter Mass Processional tomorrow which is big deal everywhere. It used to be a “Dry Week” with no alcoholic beverages sold nation-wide, by law! Now it is up to local communities and is not enforced in the dry cantons.

Click this  One tourist guide to being here for Easter (Semana Santa or Holy Week) with a list of other major holidays included. It is important to know before visiting here because many Ticos travel for many holidays, especially this week, and especially to the beaches, meaning the highways are literally bumper to bumper. It took us twice as long as usual to get to Tarcoles Thursday because of this. I would never go to a beach during Semana Santa (Holy Week). Think Spring Break!