Christmas in Costa Rica Part VI

Day Twelve:

Rainmaker Rainforest Conservation Project

Another exertion I wanted to go on while in Costa Rica, was a rainforest canopy bridge tour. So we booked a tour through the Rainmaker Conservation Project, which is a privately owned Rainforest Reserve that spans over 1,530 Acers of 90% virgin rainforest. It's biodiversity covers 70% of all the flora and fauna species found in Costa Rica. Above is a picture of Rainmaker's gathering place, which also included restrooms and a small restaurant.

To get to the rainforest, we drove through miles and miles of palm trees to Rainmaker Mountain. 

Rainmaker Mountain is located halfway between Quepos and Parrita. It is one of the last remnants of the primary rainforest in the Central Pacific. 

Canopy Bridge Tour  

Our tour began with a walk through Rainmaker's beautiful grounds.

The foliage was so colorful and vibrant!

Our tour guide was great! He loved talking with the kids (in Spanish), and they loved interacting with him.

Poisonous Dart Frog, who actually gets it's poison by eating Fire Ants. 

Stink plant that protects itself by putting out a horrible smell (that smells like the worst body-odor ever!) if you touch it.

This is an example of a tree with another tree (or parasite) wrapped around it. Eventually the parasite tree will grow larger and thicker than the original tree, killing it in the process.

 We observed several millipedes while walking through the jungle on the way to the rainforest.

 This particular species of millipede actually secretes cyanide to protect itself from getting eaten by reptiles and birds. Sometimes monkeys and lemurs, have been known to irritate millipedes on purpose in order to rub the chemicals on themselves and their young for protection.  

 The Chicken Foot trees were dotted throughout the jungle.

Rainforsts are often surrounded by jungles. Rainforest have a thick canopy of tall trees making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate to ground level, which keeps plants from flourishing. Jungles, on the other hand, have a thick undergrowth of plants and vegetation. 

 View of Rainmaker's jungle and ocean.

Hiking deeper into the rainforest ...

View of the rainforest's canopy.

 Instead of penetrating through to the ground, sun rays reflect off the canopy.

Once in the rainforest, it was time to explore via the hanging bridges.

View of one of the hanging bridges from below.

The hanging, or suspension bridges hang from tall hardwood trees. The bridges are hung in such a way to preserve the integrity of the rainforest trees. 

The bridges were a little rickety, but safe.

Some of the bridges were short, 

some medium,

 and others quite long.

Our tour guide recommended that only three people be on a bridge at one time.

Which was a good idea anyway because the more people on the bridge, the more bouncy and unstable it felt. 

Brad's big steps behind me made the bridge feel super unstable.

Aubrey was smart for going last.

Aubrey, in the top of the rainforest's canopy.

After our canopy tour, it was time to head to the jungle and river below.

Views of different waterfalls on our way down.

This family decided to get a professional family portrait done in front of one of the waterfalls. Their photographer was actually blocking our way out, so we had to wait for him to take this picture before continuing on.

 Walking down to the river where there were more waterfalls and pools.

River Walk and Waterfall

All of the waterfalls along the river walk were unique and beautiful. 

Perfect place for a family picture,  thanks to our tour guide. 

One of the waterfalls had a perfect pool for wading and swimming.

The rainforest and jungle were so humid, that we couldn't wait to jump into the refreshing water!

It was a little cold at first, but then we quickly got used to it.

Breck, so happy in his element!

The water and surroundings were just so peaceful and relaxing.

Breck, just being Breck!

Breck trying to climb up the waterfall,

Luckily, he was smart enough not to go any further. There were, however, some people who came after us who did climb up the waterfall, and then slid down it! But that didn't look very comfortable at all!

I love it when the kids just talk and enjoy one anther's company.

 On our way out of the jungle we saw several other waterfalls and pools that would have been fun to swim in, 

but we were in a hurry to get back to check out some of the beaches around Manuel Antonio National Park.

Above is the vehicle that came with Casa Wow, which means it was ours to drive during our stay there.

Once back at the entrance of the park, we pulled out our cooler and got a quick bite to eat. 

Some sites on our way to Manuel Antonio Park, a man with his cow,

and another man selling bread on the side of the road.

 Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio is the smallest national park in Costa Rica but is considered the jewel of the Pacific Coast. It is also home to amazing white sandy beaches backed by picturesque evergreen forests. The town itself is nestled into the steep mountainside, and hosts numerous five-star hotels and restaurants. Instead of paying money to go to the beaches inside Manuel Antonio Park, I had my eye on Biesanz Beach, which was a beautiful beach just outside of the park.

Unfortunately, I had no idea how insane the traffic would be. This picture does not do it justice. In some places, the passing vehicles were less than inches apart.

Then add to that, crazy steep, narrow, winding roads. It was a little too much for Brad to take while driving a stick-shift. So he said, "whoever wants to go to Beisanz Beach jump out now because I'm not stopping, and the rest of us will meet you at the top in two hours". So Brittney and I grabbed our beach bag, and jumped out.

 There wasn't even a sign or trail head indicating where to find Beisanz Beach, but Brittney and I eventually found a sad little path that led to the beach.

The beach and its surroundings were definitely beautiful, 

but I don't know if it was worth fighting all the traffic and tourists. 

Panoramas of Beisanz Beach ...

On our hike back, to meet Brad and the others at the top of the mountain, we saw a bunch of monkeys jumping and swinging through the trees.

The White-headed Capuchin Monkey is one of the most common monkeys found in Manuel Antonio Park. The Mantled Howler is another popular monkey in the Park but it is more of a recluse, and is usually heard before being seen. Brittney and I heard a Howler on our walk through the jungle to find Beisanz Beach, and let me tell you, it was one of the most freaky, horrific sounds I've ever heard! I felt like I was in the middle of the movie Predator.  

 I loved watching these two monkeys play. The top one I called Mr. Serious, and the lower one I named Voldemort. 

White-headed Capuchin Monkeys love the limelight and for this reason they have played many parts in movies (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and in TV shows (Friends).

It was fun watching Voldemort just entertain himself ...

My favorite pose of Voldemort's!

Mr. Serious then decided to get a closer look at Brittney and I,

maybe he thought we had food or something,

 but when we started walking, he began walking too, on the electrical line right above our heads. 

I could of sworn he was fallowing us.

But eventually, he kept moving on down the line.

Even though it was very hot, and Brittney and I were drenched in sweat, I am glad we got to take that little walk up the curvy mountain road in Manuel Antonio.

 In addition to seeing the monkey's, we saw the most interesting and colorful foliage. 

Manuel Antonio was completely different from Quepos, and it was here that we saw the most tourists and Americans (ones with a lot of money, I might add).

Each hotel was very elegant and/or unique, 

 like this one with the gigantic Gecko on the side.

Walking right next to the jungle was pretty awesome,

But the best part of our walk, were the views of the ocean,

 and of Manuel Antonio Park, 

and it's beaches!

 Luckily, when we arrived at the top, Breck was there to meet us, and take us to where Brad, and the others, were waiting. Apparently, while Brittney and I were swimming and exploring, the rest of the gang drove back to Quepos and got some weird type of shaved ice with ice cream, flavoring, cream cheese pieces, jello, and whip cream. Needless to say, they all had gut aches the rest of the day. Also, at one point they tried to park and some guy told them they couldn't, so Breck told Brad to park anyway because it was just another person trying to get money. But when the guy came to collect, Breck jumped in the car and dropped his phone on the ground not realizing it. As the guy came closer Breck could see him yelling and motioning to the ground. So Breck opened the car door and grabbed his phone (which got bang up a bit) as Brad sped away. It sounded like they too had some fun adventures of their own!

After a very long day of sight-seeing, we went back to Casa Wow for some fish tacos (with tuna, of course), fresh fruit and veggies, and my homemade tarter sauce (that turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself!). 

It was a great ending to another great day!