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For the first week of May, I had planned on going to one of nicest of Costa Rica's national parks, Corcovado. I would be joining two students who I knew only through e-mail. But as is the schedules of working grad students, we had to reschedule so I spent a few days on a banana plantation near Limon with Grace's sister's family. I have no natural history to report on from there. However, I enjoyed myself immensely in a beautiful home with terrific people. I also ate a lot of fantastic food. |
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Hippeastrun sp.
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On May 7, Gabriella and I rendezvoused to discuss our trip over coffee before going to INBio Parque for the day. As it turned out she had to work but had arranged for me to meet with Carlos Viquéz, curator of arachnids and coleoptera. It was a nice visit, especially seeing the collections and their state of the art exhibits on biodiversity. The plantings on the spacious grounds are only three years old but the division into biomes gave me a good look at Costa Rican habitat in a nutshell. |
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Stachytarpheta frantzii
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Ixora javenica
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Clerodendron paniculatun
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But, Gabriela had also told me that we would have to again postpone Corcovado because of a conflict. She offered as an alternative a trip to an ecological garden in La Fortuna whose staff was interested in meeting me. So, she set things up for me to arrive there on May 9 instead of going to Corcovado.
I caught a ride with Tony again and boarded a bus for Ciudad Quesada. From there I took another bus and after about 50 stops along the way, including having to transfer to another bus—walking across a bridge that couldn’t handle the weight—I finally arrived in the tourist destination of La Fortuna. Its attraction is Volcan Arenal, one of Costa Rica’s many active volcanoes. That day, as is frequently the case, Arenal was enshrouded in clouds.
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