Beaches, Nighttime Frogs

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My Upcoming American Dream: Finding the Exceptional Near Home

Here you'll see my last day in Costa Rica.  

Up next in my blog:  great photos from the Mid-Atlantic states and tiny bits from my book-in-progress, "Quest: In Search of the American Dream."  Each person I interview defines the American Dream differently.  Stay tuned and learn what your fellow Americans aspire to.

The beach at Manuel Antonio.  White-faced monkeys and raccoons are a constant threat to swimmers' backpacks, if left unattended on the sand.

We took a jungle tour at night.  Saw alligators' eyes gleaming in the beam of a flashlight, saw moths, lizards, a huge spider that could walk on water, and this frog.  I can't recall now whether this is a gladiator frog or not.  Does anybody know?  Please comment.

Here I am, neat and tidy after a swim in the Pacific.  My compadres are Marta and Milton, who are the parents of my son's girlfriend and who take good care of my son, who has emigrated to Costa Rica.

Pacific Coast of Costa Rica

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American Dreams Come with the Night

Nighttime in Costa Rica was dreamy and wildly exotic.  To be able to go there was a dream come true.

The sunset over the Pacific Ocean from the beach at Manuel Antonio.

Another sunset scene.

The next day, we took a nature hike in the Manuel Antonio national forest with a guide who spotted wildlife for us.  He took pictures with our cameras through his telescope, mounted on a tripod.  This picture is of the Jesus Christ lizard, I believe, so named because it can run across water.

In the center is a three-toed sloth and its baby.  Sloths move so slowly, moss begins to grow in its fur, making a greenish cast.

White-faced monkeys take tourists' knapsacks off the beach and high into the trees, where they taste each item and throw it down if it isn't edible.  After a hot hike in the forest, we luxuriated in the Pacific waters of the adjacent beach, with one person remaining on the sand as designated knapsack-watcher.  Costa Rican raccoons were another threat to our snacks.