Costa Rica 2013

Wednesday6November

Today is rafting day on the Pacuare River! Our guides take us from the hotel to the starting point located about thirty kilometers into the mountains

On the road, gauchos moving a herd of bulls, raised for bullfighting.

22 km of descent for 4 hours with a quick lunch break but magnificently prepared by our two guides!

With us in the zodiac, the first guide, and in the kayak, the second who will follow us throughout the entire course.

The dream team!

Afternoon rest, we take the opportunity to walk around the surroundings. We will notably come across coffee plantations.

And fajitas in the evening, as usual!  

Thursday7November

On the day's program, discovery of the Irazu volcano. The site is easily accessible directly by car near the crater. We are greeted by a coati waiting for visitors and its hoped-for snack leftovers...

It's a white-nosed coati (nasua narica)

The crater access area covered with ash

The secondary crater

The main crater of Irazu volcano: 300 meters deep, 1050 meters in diameter

A beautiful lake is normally present at the bottom of the crater, but during this period it is dry.

Few plants resist acid rain, such as 'poor man's umbrellas' (gunnera sp.), immense leaves impermeable to heavy Costa Rican rains...  

On the way back, our coati is still there waiting for some crumbs...

A small mushroom-like path glasses.gif leads to an observation post located a little higher up

Believe it or not, here we are at 3432 meters above sea level!

A little patience for the back-and-forth fog to lift and, voilà, the site is revealed from above

After this short morning, we leave the Cartago region to reach the Poas volcano region located North of the capital, 80 km from here.

What would Costa Rica be without its coffee! We decide to make a small detour on the way to visit one of the largest coffee factories, Doka Estate Coffee, but given the prohibitive prices, we opt for the small tour which includes a small coffee tasting and entry to the butterfly greenhouse.

Instead of coffee plants, here we are in the midst of butterflies that we can approach very closely.

The owl butterfly (caligo eurilochus) with its trompe l'oeil spots to resemble the large-eyed raptor.

Play of water drops on leaves...

A monarch butterfly caterpillar (Danaus plexippus)?

Butterfly eggs

A mating of owl butterflies

And incredible eyes!

The Morpho peleides butterfly, another symbol of Costa Rica, is the all-blue butterfly when it opens its wings. Well, it didn't open them here...  

Another lepidopteran that doesn't disappoint either...

Passage through a small coffee plantation (Coffea arabica)

The berry will be picked when it has ripened to its red color. It is the seed contained inside that will be used to make coffee.

That's it, the visit to Doka Estate is over. We hit the road again to find a hotel near Poas volcano, which we want to visit tomorrow. We thus land in Fraijanes where we negotiate this small chalet with its mattresses in the mezzanine. glasses.gif

And no need to look for a place to eat, the inn also has a restaurant.