The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Guanacaste (Costa Rica) Walks and Wildlife

As my last visit to Costa Rica was more than 16 years ago and I never made it to this northwestern province in any event, I thought it was not before time that I returned to this stable democracy in Central America. My brother Clifford and his wife visited for much of the time. A three bedroom AirBnb house near Liberia airport was a good base for exploring the province.

A few longer hikes, combined with some leisurely nature walks and swimming in the warm Pacific Ocean proved a delightful respite from the North American winter.

Rincon de la Vieja National Park was the number one reason I visited Guanacaste. We hiked here on two different days. This photo and several that follow were taken on the leisurely Fumarolic Mud Pots loop trail.
Volcan Rincon de la Vieja in the mist
Impressive ficus roots
A seasonal waterfall on the Mud Pots loop
A juvenile Black Spiny-tailed Iguana along the trail
Passion flower (Passiflora menispermifolia) with a leaf-footed bug. This walk was a great opportunity to try out my new Olympus Tough TG-6 camera that replaced my recently-deceased Leica (see previous post).
White-throated magpie jay (Calocitta formosa). About my only decent photo of a bird in Costa Rica!
Indian head flower (Aphelandra scabra) with ants
Looking up
A more rigorous hike by far in Rincon de la Vieja was to the Escondito and Cangreja waterfalls. Here is a vista from near Escondito, the higher and more challenging portion of the hike.
Escondito waterfall. I had it to myself.
Cangreja (Blue Lagoon) waterfall, the far more popular destination. View the video full screen (the little button on the lower right)
Panorama of Playa Ocatal, one of the two beaches I visited. This one had some decent snorkeling at the west end (left side here). Playa Panama was better for swimming and only a 15 minutes drive from our AirBnb.
The Santa Rosa National Park hacienda. The road down to the coast was closed, so we settled for the Nature Trail hike and viewpoint walk from the hacienda.
Monk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus). Santa Rosa protects a large portion of the endangered tropical dry forest ecosystem in Costa Rica.
Panorama from Santa Rosa’s monument view point east towards three volcanoes.
A stately oak in Santa Rosa NP, a former cattle ranch.
I saw this scarlet creeper (Ipomoea hederifolia) in Diria National Park, where I did an otherwise boring hike primarily along a jeep track.
Two-toed sloths hanging around in Diamonte Eco Park. The next several photos are from here of fauna I couldn’t hope to find in the wild. . .
Crocs and friends
A pair of Jaguars, king of the New World cats
A Blue Morpho at Diamonte. We saw many of these butterflies at Rincon de la Vieja, but getting a good photo of one with its wings open was nigh on impossible.
Breeding male green iguana at Diamonte trying to impress a female. I never knew they could get this color. View the video full screen.
A coastal vista at Las Catalinas. I did a several mile loop hike out to Punta Guachipelines. It turns out the area is privately owned and I should have bought a day pass. Oops!
Making vegetarian empanadas with Clifford and Valerie at Tio Leo’s. We did a coffee/orchard tour which included much more than simply coffee! It was conveniently located just down the road from our AirBnb west of Liberia airport.
Turquoise-browed Motmot. No, this is Notnot my photo. Despite numerous attempts, the best I could do was miserable. Many mornings I enjoyed watching him from my balcony sitting out for the dawn chorus with my first cup of coffee and binoculars. Wonderful!

I am back in the States, hiking in the Palm Springs, California area and planning my upcoming European summer. I’ll be spending five weeks at an amazing apartment overlooking (a distant) Lake Garda and then basing myself near Windsor Great Park in England from late June until the end of September. From there I am planning several trips to Europe and beyond.

Later this spring, once my plans have gelled, I’ll post a travel schedule. Until then I’m taking a few months off from this blog. . . but not from hiking!

Get out and enjoy nature,

The Vagabond Hiker

Comments

  1. Ahhh….how I wish to escape the cold winter! Looks like a great trip. Cool animals too! Looking forward to seeing what’s next!

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