Costa Rica..

Breakfasting , with a view of the Pacific in a distance..

The tour Brochure says - 'The best of the Pacific'. Costa Rica has 2 coasts - the Pacific and the Caribbean. ..
And today am going to be seeing the Pacific.
Our group for today is small. Six in all with the guide and the guy who is driving.

Typical Costarican Breakfast

We leave San Jos'e at around 7:00 AM. And we stop at this place at the way side. You can see the coast from up here, A faint line on the horizon...
Typical Costa Rican Breakfast consists of fried rice and beans - called 'Gallo Pinto', Eggs, Cheese, Plantain fried and Sweetened and Coffee....



The route we take is supposed to have been in use by the Spanish since 1606. Our first stop is at the Tarcoles river. This place is supposed to be teeming with crocodiles. I am told that National Geographic put the estimate at 25 crocs per SQ Km

Cruising along the Tarcoles River..

We take a boat. The person maneuvering the boat - Jason is supposed to know the river like the back of his hand..

The Bait..

He stops and with bait in his hand he gets out.. I thought they were just joking when they said they would feed crocodiles in the wild. At least I have never seen anything like this before..

The Crocodile Cometh..

He was immediately approached by one croc. Her name is supposed to be Monica. She is a 40 year old female. For easy identification the crocs have names like Osama , Hugo chavez, bill Clinton and the like..

Closer..

The croc drew closer. It was huge..

And Closer..

This was the scariest part , when it reared its head up and ate the fish..

Contented after the meal..She swam away. Like it was everyday business :)

Got to see some birds on the way. Pelicans, Osprey ..

Pelicans..

Closer Shot of Pelicans sitting amongst the Branches..

They let me sit right upfront. It was great cruising along the river with the wind on my face...
You can see the ocean in the distance.

We get off. There's a strip of sans separating the river from the sea. The river joins the Sea around this strip. So This is like a little beach.

Painted Stork walks along the shore..

Its beautiful here..

So what did Red say in The Shawshank Redemption.. "RED: I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain... I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope. "

We get back into the boat and visit the mangroves.

this place is teeming with crabs..

Really Pretty. Ages since I've been to a beach.Used to go often in Chennai.
Walked by the shore all the way till then end and came back..
-Meena Venkataraman