2019 Costa Rica Journal - Day 4 - Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

Our day started with a walk around the gardens. As always, there were a few birds willing to pose for pictures.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Long-billed Hermit

Roadside Hawk

After breakfast we had a trip planned with Andrey.  It started with a drive through the rain forest to Golfito, then we got on the Esquinas boat with Melvin as our captain.  Our trip was planned to be along the coast of the Golfo Dulce.

Instead of heading south into the mangroves as we'd done on our previous trip, we turned northwest. Melvin guided us close to the coast so we could see some interesting caves and rock formations. 

It wasn’t long before we were seeing several Bottlenose Dolphins.  They followed and circled our boat for quite a while.

Bottlenose Dolphins are 10-14 feet in length and weigh about 1,100 pounds.

Melvin had been on his phone to some of his buddies and was informed that there were Spotted Dolphins not too far from us.  We left the Bottlenose Dolphins and headed out to find them.  It wasn’t long before we were once again surrounded by dolphins.  This time they were Spotted Dolphins.

Spotted Dolphins are 6-7 feet in length and weight about 250 pounds.

Normally the "Dolphin Tour" is a separate trip from the one we were on, but since this was a private tour for just Mark and I we were able to watch the dolphins as long as we wanted.

The main destination of our tour was the Casa Orquideas Botantical Garden so we headed to the beach.

Casa Orquidea is a beautifully landscaped private tropical garden with hundreds of species of ornamental and edible plants.

It wasn’t long before the owner, Trudy, came to introduce herself.  Trudy and her husband are Americans who opened Casa Orquidea 40 years ago.  They are now retired and no longer give the guided tours.  Andrey was our guide and was very knowledgeable about all the various plants and trees.

Mark and Andrey ate their way around the gardens.

Snacking on Star Fruit

I don't think Mark cared for Star Fruit.

The Meyer lemon is very large.

And very juicy.

And very sour!

I don’t remember the name of this plant but Andrey and Mark had a little fun “putting on makeup.”

This is a tree you would not want to sit under!

Calabash Gourd Tree

After snacking our way around the garden it was time for lunch. 

While sitting on this beautiful beach we had a couple of Scarlet Macaws fly in to a nearby Beach Almond tree, their favorite!

It was amazing to watch these huge macaws walking around in the canopy and leaning out to pluck an almond.

Once they had the almond they would hold it with one foot and use their massive beak to open it up. Such dexterity!

After buying a few handmade souvenirs, it was time to leave.

It was hard to leave this beautiful area.

Melvin and Andrey were a lot of fun.

We were dropped off at the dock and driven back to the lodge in time for dinner.

Next Time:  Our next lodge.