Day 3 ... palo verde national park

We left early this morning for an hour and half hour drive to meet a guide to take us on a boat down the Tempisque River.  We were in a national park (Palo Verde) and Luis, our guide, rode with us to get to the dock (another half hour away). He was enthusiastic and told us about things on the way, so that was sort of a bonus -- the guanacaste tree, the sugar cane fields, this incredibly beautiful árbol terciopelo (velvet tree) where we took some pictures. Once we got on the boat, we saw big iguanas, neat looking birds (there are over 900 species in Costa Rica), crocodiles, howler monkeys and white-faced monkeys who seemed to like to play to the crowd. We really enjoyed the whole ride. Luis then took  us to lunch at this great (of course) restaurant that served local foods. We ate family style. They brought out platter after platter -- want to hear more about it? Big platter of grilled steak and chicken and tostitos, casados (rice and beans), squash marinated in something tasty, fresh salad, corn tortillas, then the best orange ice cream ever. I think the restaurant people must have been related to Luis, and they cooked as well as he guided!

When we got back, John and Drew were embroiled in some serious ping pong.  John brought his own paddle from home. Little known fact about John: he brought that paddle into our marriage 42 years ago! Guess he loves that paddle. Molly and Alex also played and they went swimming too.

Joan gave the kids a quick lesson on how to make guacamole (yum!) and we snacked on that and chips and salsa. 

an iguana on the river bank - his cousin lives in our yard - luckily vegetarian!

tiny 2-3 inch bats sleep lined up on a tree

one of the many crocs we saw

a night heron ... we saw many water birds

white-faced monkey playing with his buddies on a branch by the river

the whole group by the velvet tree