In the Jungle

From the tilapia farm we bounced back to the dense, wild Costa Rican jungle. El Castillo style.  And yes, we felt oddly at home in the drizzly, foggy, overgrown jungle.    A nice place to visit, but . . .

We stayed two nights at Essence Arenal (sort of a hostel). We bunked in a tent cabin overlooking a lush jungle canopy where brightly colored, often raucous birds darted about.  We saw several toucans, innumerable parrots and Oropendolas, and ever so many bright tanagers and other fantastic birds.  

In the evenings a veritable symphony ensued, with such profound musical participants as  howler monkeys, bats, coyotes, frogs, various night birds and a myriad of singing insects.  

And all this was topped off by a light show put on by Tinkerbell and all her little lightning bug clones framed by our large tent window dancing in the jungle darkness. 

Oropendolas live in colonies. They weave a nest that hangs about 4 feet long.

Leaf cutter ants are the farmer's worst enemy.

Bird watchers have good cameras and ride in nice busses.

These nests are very common around the east end of the lake.

The viewpoint hike up Volcan Arenal. Lucky we chose this side for our hike, on the other side one of our acquaintances hiked in the rain until after dark by the light of his cell phone and the mud was a foot deep.

So charming we hiked down to it.

Arenal sheds her cloud.  As blue as it got.

Jungle Jeff.

Another prehistoric looking plant.

The tree is dead but the bromeliads live on.

The bromeliads are a key jungle species. Frogs have their metamorphosis in the pool of water they catch.

He's fast. He's green.

Getting ready for a dip.

Close up of Oropendola colony.

Little brown Myotis bats.

Proud organic pioneer at Essence Arenal farm.

Tomatoes on the jungle hillside.

Reminders.

Remember those trees in Avatar?