"Lions, and tigers, and bears.....oh my!!!"

Actually, with apologies to 'The Wizard of Oz', the title should read "Monkeys, and sloths, and agoutis, WOW!!!"

We're anchored off the town of Quepos, Costa Rica, where we've been for the past 3 or 4 days.  Only a 10 minute bus ride from Manual Antonio National Park, we've been using it as our base of operations to explore this amazing place. 

The park is a real treasure.  One of the smallest in Costa Rica, it's density of critters is nothing short of fantastic.  With several miles of hiking trails to follow, it's possible to see the park in one day.  All of the guidebooks warn about the density of tourists as well, but they're here for good reason.  So we decided to join in the fray.

Yesterday we hired a naturalist guide.  Armed with his 60x Leica spotting scope, Pablo gave us a terrific 4 hour tour.  And his ability to spot critters was nothing short of clairvoyant.  We'd be strolling along a trail, talking, and all of a sudden, Pablo is snapping his scope tripod legs open, aiming into the trees to share yet another critter encounter.  We saw so many it was hard to keep track, but the following gives some idea:

2 toed sloths
3 toed sloths
Howler monkeys
Capuchin monkeys
Agouti
Racoon
Tent making bats
Probiscus bats
White faced bats
3 types of spiders
Black iguana
Jesus Christ lizard (real name!!!)
Ctenosaur lizard
Several unique birds

Afterwards, we went back to do it again, and even knowing what we were looking for, it was tough to see how Pablo had been spotting the diversity that we saw.  The critters are so well camoflauged....

Here are a few of the many photos we shot walking around the park.

The zig zags are made from wings of dead prey, and are said to attract female spiders......hmmmmmmm.

Male 3 toed sloth.....the males have that unique stripe on their backs

Awwwww.......mama and baby 3 toed sloths

2 toed sloth.....he's got a little Star Wars "Wookie" look going!

 

Sloths were a lot more fun to take pictures of than the monkeys because.....well..........they're SLOTHS!!!  Means they don't move very quickly!!!

Probiscus bats

Jesus Christ lizard.

Amazing cammo blends into the forest

Howler monkeys everywhere

Ctenosaur cutie

Agouti.....a guinea pig on steroids

Black iguana says......."THAT'S ALL FOLKS"!!!

We'll hang out here for the next day or two before heading south to Bahia Drake on the Oso Peninsula, home of the Corcovado National Park.  More adventures around the corner!