We drove about an hour or so to the Poaz Volcano and La Paz Waterfalls and Gardens. They're not too far from each other. We started at the volcano, because the clouds move in quickly and the volcano is supposedly not even visible after 10:30am.
The view looking back on the San Jose area from high
Poaz Volcano
the kids were excited to see a volcano
the clouds moving in from the left a few minutes after we got there.
and about 10 minutes after that. They move in fast.
our little monkeys love to climb anything, especially trees.
We then went to La Paz. It's a pretty neat place - well done and well run. The waterfalls are obviously natural, but an American purchased the land and built the gardens and stairways, etc. around them. We started at the aviary. This parrot sat on a woman's shoulder and took her earring (in his beak).
we loved the toucans. We saw some in the wild, but they were too far away to get a picture.
the smallest monkey -- so cute.
we loved these little guys, too. I can't remember their name.
Then we went into the butterfly garden to see some very beautiful Costa Rican butterflies. We've seen many of these in the wild, but they are so hard to get to sit still to get a picture. So, I had a field day in there!
this one is my favorite.
Hudson was my helper spotting the butterflies to photograph and was loving that some would sit on his hand.
we got to see the amazingly beautiful cocoons and some butterflies come out of the cocoons. Pretty cool.
this cocoon is gold.
and these were beautiful, too, with gold accents
coming out of the cocoon
the kids got to hold this monkey's hand. I didn't get a picture, though, because we then noticed a sign saying not to touch the monkeys and staff came over to monitor us :). Apparently, everyone holds this guy's hand, though, because he stuck it through the cage without prompting.
some pretty hummingbirds
spider monkey
riding an old-fashioned cart pulled by oxen was fun for the kids
poisonous frogs
many were nocturnal and asleep. They get almost completely flat when they're sleeping.
there were 3 waterfalls
Sutton was our leader, Dora, with the map
behind the waterfall
a nice man offered me his wide angle lens to get this one. After the telefoto lens, I hope to save up for a wide angle lens, too.
this was the final waterfall at the bottom -- 110 feet. Can you see Doug & the kids behind it?
some views along our drive back. We thought these green, pastoral hills were beautiful and not what we expected to see in Costa Rica.
2 comments:
what great pictures, I love the Dora picture too, we'll never forget her 4th birthday.
I was amazed to see the variety of animals and butterflies. thanks for sharing.
I drove to Livermore recently and was in your neighborhood, almost felt sad missing you, even though we don't get to see you often when you're here, maybe just knowing you're gone.
WOWSERS - what a tropical and lush paradise! What a great educational experience this is turning out to be for the kids! I love seeing all the photos too.
I think you should do a photo book of all your trip pictures and publish it!
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