This picture was taken about halfway through our walk in
the rain forest. The group had stopped to take a break on a platform
high in the canopy of the trees, when like good tourists we all offered to
take each other's pictures.
This is Empy, our guide. She had
an amazing grasp of all the plants and trees we saw. She was
fantatical about finding little creatures and birds and making sure everyone
knew where to look.
She lives with her mother
and has a sister in San Jose, California.
This is a really tricky picture. Almost all the
way at the top of the leftmost tree trunk, you can see a splotch of blue --
a parrot! And midway between the two trunks, at the level of the lower
wire, there is also a red parrot.
A look into the distance...
It was really hot, but most of this walk was through
the cool shady forest.
Here is our first look at the suspended cable bridges.
They were as high as 126 feet off the ground, and they allowed us to hang
out in the canopy of the rain forest.
There were
four bridges.
You had to lightly grab the railing as you walked along
to keep your balance because the whole bridge tended to dip and sway.
It was pretty fun for the first three bridges...
There were many huge trees.
We got some pretty glimpses of the surrounding hills.
Shades of Tarzan! There were thin
gangly trees that looks like vines to swing on.
Jo (blue shirt) and her husband John
(maroon shirt) went up on stage for the Newlywed Game. Oh the things
they disclosed!
There is a little brown lizard in this picture.
His pointy little nose is almost exactly in the center of this photo.
He's looking off to the right.
Here is another view of a suspended cable bridge.
The "cords" wrapped around this treetrunk are the roots
of another tree which is growing on top of this tree.
A bird probably "deposited" the seed for the new tree on
top of the original tree a long time ago.
Orange and blue parrot.
Pura Vida Garden
Hey, orange and blue parrot again.
Strange leggy red flowering plants.
At this point, we have had a lovely lunch at the Pura
Vida Gardens and recuperated sufficiently to wander around the grounds.
This is a waterfall.
We walked down a very steep path to reach an overlook
with beautiful views.
A toucan in the tree!
We have a few pictures of this guy.
He is nibbling at a shoot growing off
of the branch he's standing on.
Orange and blue guy again.
Such a happy looking guy!
Karen fell asleep on the bus ride home. She woke up
with Lou saying, "Come on, let's get off the bus!"
We had parked near a bridge over a river filled with
crocodiles!
The hot sun had dried the mud on all
the exposed parts, so they looked chaulky.
This picture is full of glare, but it shows how many
crocs there were, all clustered together.
They were all motionless, letting the waves lap at
them, until the huge one in the lower left corner moved. He set off a
chain reaction -- and they all started moving. Mostly they seemed to
be getting out of the big guy's way.
It was seriously creepy when they are shifted
position.
