Index
Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - We took two hikes through Corcovado national park; this first hike was in the late afternoon soon after we arrived.
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Costa Rica 2004. a MOVIE from our evening hike after arriving at Casa Corcovado, in which you can hear some sounds of the jungle and our guide explaining epiphytes.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - this national park is right on the southwestern corner of the country, and is a huge expanse of tropical lowland forest, teeming with life.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - these "fishtail" plants caught falling leaves and other debris in among their leaves, and digested that. The native people of the region used this plant's huge leaves as roofing material.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a tree whose strangler fig vine had grown nearly in tandem with it.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - this tree was called a 'crocodile teeth' tree because of the spikey bark.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - strolling the trails, which in this case were maintained by Casa Corcovado and were literally swept clean every few days.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - many trees had these broad buttresses. Here David stands with our guide, Leo.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - trees, and their roots, everywhere.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - the trees are so tall.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a huge leaf-cutter ant colony. We saw a lot of thesem but few were so big and in the middle of the trail, as here. The biggest of these dirt mounds is perhaps 2-3 feet across.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - looking down into a leaf-cutter ant colony.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - see anything hiding here?
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - this mantis-like creature was barely visible on the leaf.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - here we are in front of a mahagony tree... we saw many such trees.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - we found this trailside hollow "garlic" tree, and Leo crawls in to check it out.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - Leo checks out the inside of a hollow "garlic" tree, and catches a lizard.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - inside a hollow "garlic" tree, looking straight up.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - some of the bats living inside this hollow tree.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a little lizard.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a gorgeous view past the beach and out to Isla de Cano.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a pleasant little waterfall, perhaps 6 feet high. The MOVIE with this picture is most notable for its sound.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a handy place to cross the river.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - we followed this stream up perhaps a half mile from the shore.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - the forest along this stream was even more vibrant than in other areas.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - the primary goal for this side-trip from the beach was to visit this waterfall, which was perhaps 25 feet high.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a closer look at the big waterfall we hiked to.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - the boulders next to the waterfall were teeming with vines and plants.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - Pam and David explore near the big waterfall.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - downstream, a smaller waterfall with a great pool for swimming.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a small waterfall with a pool suitable for swimming.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - the view of the waterfall from within the pool.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - David enjoys a swim in the river, at a pool beneath this small waterfall.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - within the waterfall.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - Pam takes a swim.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - lunch on a picnic table at the ranger station, right on the coast. Beautiful beach here.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - the ranger station, right on the coast.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a beautiful beach at the ranger station.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a crazy bunch of college students bodysurfing, on the very anniversary of my bodysurfing accident 15 years earlier.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a "boot" tree because its buttress makes it look like a boot.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a massive strangler fig grows on a tall tree, eventually to strangle the tree and then stand on its own.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a "sande" tree, which had fallen across the path. The wood has a beautiful, straight grain.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - another strangler fig.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - howler monkey.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - two scarlet macaws. we saw several of these, and heard even more.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - a wading shore bird.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - we hiked back to the hotel along the shoreline, which was very pleasant.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - this is the bay where Casa Corcovado lands its boats.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - coastline.
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Costa Rica - Corcovado N.P. hike - there is a sloth hiding in this picture, in the branches of this tree.
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