It felt special that we got to see scarlet macaws in the wild. They are relatively rare in Costa Rica these days due to damage done by the illegal pet trade. The two main populations live on the southern Pacific Coast which is where we were during our trip.

They were hanging out right outside of our hotel room. Their squawk is unmistakable.

A group of white-faced capuchin monkeys also visited our hotel on the first morning. They are sneaky and crafty and were interested in stealing sugar packets from the outdoor breakfast tables.

Spiny-tailed iguana basking in the sun.

Everywhere you look there is life in the rainforest. I was mesmerized by these leaf cutter ants. They are farmers! They use the leaves to grow fungus underground and then eat the fungus.

Pura vida!

Playa Espadilla Norte

The waves here were big!

Tess spied our first sloth (el perezoso) hanging out in a tree by the beach! There are two kinds of sloths in Costa Rica, Hoffman’s Two-toed Sloth and the Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth. This is a two-toed sloth (they have two claws on their front feet). They usually feed at night and sun themselves on exposed branches in the morning. They are faster moving than three-toed sloths and can support their weight and crawl on the ground.

Baby Inca Doves in their nest in a Beach Almond Tree.

This view. I was enchanted.