Part 17: La Paz Waterfalls to Alajuela

20140303

The Trip

Our stay at Peace Lodge was off the chart.  We got a great price on an "irregular room" but all the privileges of a full-price room.  The food was great and being able to see the waterfalls and animals was a plus.  We left Peace Lodge and went to Poas Volcano early in the morning then returned to the lodge to pack our stuff and check out.  From there we headed toward Alajuela and our hotel for our last night in Costa Rica.

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

We got up to Poas Volcano just after the park opened in hopes of it not being fully enshrouded in fog.  Our hopes were not met and the fog was thick.  But the fog lifted enough to show the steepness of the cliffs of the crater.  The top of the volcano was just over 2500 meters and was subjected to harsh weather most of the year.

The fog partially lifted long enough to allow a manual-focus photo.  The full depth of the crater was hidden by the fog.

A brief break in the fog allowed us to see a portion of the bottom of the crater.

Five seconds later the fog and clouds was back.

Every tourist spot has to have animals that manipulate the tourists. Volcan Poas was no exception.

This fellow was performing for the female members of his tour group.  The blonde seems to be enjoying it.

We left Volcan Poas and headed back to the Peace Lodge.  On the road back we had a great view of the central valley of Costa Rica.  In the valley below is San Jose and Alajuela.

As we were taking the previous photo, we noticed these flower on the opposite side of the road.

We descended the steep hill to get to our casita for the last time and got a view between the full suites.

The full suites were very nice, but also very pricey.  Maybe next time.

We saw these flowers in many places and they were very beautiful.

This rainbow beak tucan was on the ground when we walked in and did not seem to be afraid of us.

His buddy watched us with great curiosity but did not fly away.

We stopped to admire the second tucan and the first one came to us and landed on the branch right next to us.  He let me stroke his breast.

The brown-beaked toucan and his friend watched us but were not alarmed by our presence.

Further into the aviary were the parrots and macaws.

This fellow watched us from above our heads.

The colored feathers were bright and this bird was busy preening.

This macaw was watching us but seemed bored.

There were a number of smaller parrots and parakeets in the enclosure.

Another odd bird that looked like an over-sized chicken.

This parrot flew to us and landed on the railing.  Kathleen held out her arm to see if he would hop aboard.

Not only did the parrot hop on her arm, but he immediately started treating a button on her sleeve as a seed and attempted to crack it with his beak.  He was working on it pretty hard.

There was a tour group that was being led through the aviary and the look on this woman's face pretty much tells the whole story.

These ducks had red bills and were roosting in the trees.

These parrots were perched but paid us no attention.

This scarlet macaw was awesome, but hard to photograph due to the bright background.

We passed by the Serpent House again and since I had bad dreams about this snake all night, the only reasonable thing to do was to look at it up close again.  This is a Fer de Lance and is the most dangerous viper in Costa Rica.  It is mean spirited, aggressive and really big.  His head is as wide as my fist.  They are highly venomous and cause dozens of fatalities per year.

This is a Corn Snake and is not dangerous.  It eats mice and other vermin, so its presence is tolerated.

There were plenty of flowers along the path back to our car.

These complex flowers were on some kind of epiphyte.

This flower was different from anything we had seen here in Costa Rica.



We spotted a big Mercedes 4x4 utility truck owned by ICE, the government electric company.   Thor's big brother.  Be still my beating heart.



Look at all these electric lines!  This must be a nightmare to repair.  Also note the incursion of American brands into the local marketplace.

We passed a number of street corners in Alajuela that had pairs of police on foot.

Note the clutch handle on this motorcycle.  Very cool, but somewhat dangerous.

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2014, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.