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Post by JoeinCT on Jul 20, 2015 17:35:23 GMT -8
My wife and I spent two days in the park on a Caravan escorted tour. Caravan has since deleted Tortuguero Park from the Costa Rica tour.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2015 0:35:32 GMT -8
My wife and I spent two days in the park on a Caravan escorted tour. Caravan has since deleted Tortuguero Park from the Costa Rica tour. We've been on that tour too, but we also spent some time of our own traveling around in Costa Rica. The Caravan tour used to be MUCH better. It even included the Aerial Tram and Canopy Tour ride when we went. I think we were one of the last to have the tram ride through the tree tops included with the tour. And BTW, that was the best thing on the entire tour in our opinions. And if they also deleted Tortugero Park, why would anybody bother to take the tour? What did they replace it with? Let me check . . . . See here.Oh, I see they replaced it with Leatherback Turtle Park. I see they deleted a day as well. I see they made it 9 days instead of ten. But they kept the price the same over the years. It's still a very good deal, IMO. If you add up what the costs are to do the same on your own, it would be MUCH more. Especially when Tom & I went there, when it was longer and they had more. I recall the tree tram ride is very expensive if you do it on your own. Perhaps that is why the deleted it, probably got way too expensive for a cheap tour, as they seemed to be getting good business all the time. BTW, we saw a little fer-de-lance snake right near the entrance there at the tram ride. I did take a photo of it, but I cannot find where I saved it. I also recall that staying at any of the cabins in Torugero Park were very expensive, if going on your own. And since there are no roads, all traveling there has to be via boat. The Caravan tour used to be a very BIG bargain. Looks like it's still a fairly good deal, even if nothing like it used to be. BTW, if anybody here wants to join the tour, you have to get yourself to San Jose Costa Rica at your own cost, but they feed you every meal when the tour once starts. I hope you like buffets, as almost every meal is such when they once get moving. Seems most people on the tour were older couples. It's really two thousand bucks per couple, but well worth every cent. -Don- Reno, NV
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Post by JoeinCT on Jul 27, 2015 6:00:49 GMT -8
Don, have you done any other Caravan tours? We were thinking of doing the Panama Canal tour or the Guatemala tour. I do like the all inclusive meals part of the package and the breaking up of the bus ride into 2hour (mostly) segments. Our guide was a treasure trove of information and filled the bus travel time with a continuous monologue about the region we were traveling through, and the sights we were seeing. I would have liked a couple of hours "quiet time" after lunch, for a nap, but that didn't happen. Joe
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2015 12:17:42 GMT -8
Don, have you done any other Caravan tours? We were thinking of doing the Panama Canal tour or the Guatemala tour. No, I have not. But I would expect them all to be quite good and similar. -Don- Reno, NV
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Post by red dog on Aug 2, 2015 13:08:49 GMT -8
Bull Snake patiently waiting for the ground squirrel to stick his head out of the hole.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 5, 2015 11:18:20 GMT -8
Met this guy in the Sierra last summer when I went to get water. I like the way his colorings blend, not with the rocks, but with the water itself.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 15:18:47 GMT -8
Met this guy in the Sierra last summer when I went to get water. I like the way his colorings blend, not with the rocks, but with the water itself. Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog (Rana sierrae). -Don- SSF, CA
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 5, 2015 16:12:37 GMT -8
Thanks, DonTom. I'm not at all up on the different sorts.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2015 0:08:52 GMT -8
Is that a Banded Water Snake? From the SE USA? -Don- SSF, CA
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Post by tipiwalter on Aug 6, 2015 7:30:41 GMT -8
Is that a Banded Water Snake? From the SE USA? -Don- SSF, CA Here's a banded water snake (Wildcat Falls, Slickrock Creek). And here's a copper head (Slickrock Creek). Some idiots confuse the two and kill them all. Never kill a snake in the backcountry as it's bad karma and their relatives, fathers and sons will hunt you down at night and bite you as you sleep. Amen, pass the rice and beans.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2015 11:13:57 GMT -8
And here's a copper head (Slickrock Creek). Some idiots confuse the two and kill them all. Never kill a snake in the backcountry as it's bad karma and their relatives, fathers and sons will hunt you down at night and bite you as you sleep. Amen, pass the rice and beans. I know some idiots kill every snake they see. I am the opposite, several times I have seen live rattlesnakes on a road. I make sure they safely get off the road. I don't care if they are venomous or not when they are in their natural habitat, or close to such. BTW, the copperhead I can tell at a glance. I would never confuse it with any other snake. OTOH, there are some types of watersnakes that look much like a cottonmouth. But there are some snakes in the SE USA that I cannot recognize right away because I have never even been in that area. But even there, most I can tell at a glance, just not all. The banded water snake can match a few others. In the west, I can recognize any type of reptile at a glance, as well as most amphibians, but not all. I have less interest in amphibians than I do reptiles. So I know that snake in the pond is not from anywhere near here in CA. And I assume it is a Banded Water Snake, but I am not certain. -Don- SSF, CA
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amaruq
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Post by amaruq on Aug 7, 2015 7:25:01 GMT -8
Caught this sizable Hognose basking on a bare rock portion of the Ganaraska trail through Queen Liz Wildlands, Ontario.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 8, 2015 21:31:20 GMT -8
Great photos, DD!
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desert dweller
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Post by desert dweller on Aug 10, 2015 8:10:17 GMT -8
Right time at the right place, you know. The vertebrae and molt were about a half mile apart along the same section of the trail. I also have a picture of old tortoise eggs that were eroding out of the hillside along the same trail. Here, let me find the picture of the eggs.
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