Throughout the Costa Rica trip, we kept seeing elaborate and amazing masks..
Finally we got some explanation for these at the airport just before reaching our gate. The masks cost around 100 to 150$ (list price).. we did not try to bargain.
They were beautiful.. here are a few we saw.. I have touched up the masks and done some HDR work on them in Photoshop..
There was a room full of these masks on display and sale at the Super Compro store in the town in Monta Verde... the most beautiful ones had the Quetzal bird on them with snaky colorful tail. We missed seeing this bird on our walks. There are only 500 of them alive and it is critically endangered. It was not our luck. Our guide told us that they a group of five, just the previous week. The birds are considered a god in Costa Rica.. but the habitat loss has endangered the gods.. things we venerate as gods are almost extinct? why is that?
The Quetzal is expected to be gone in 20 years or less. Maybe in this lifetime (mine or the Quetzal's, whichever comes earlier), will get to see the bird.
On Day 3, we started from the Arenal Paraiso resort to the Arenal Volcano National park. We were part of a 15 people group, 8 in our group, a family of three from Los Gatos and a family of four from New Jersey.. the entire group was Desi!
We had a great tour guide from Desafio who gave us the first sloth sighting.. It was right there and we didn't see it at first. It doesn't move much, which is the specialty! This was shot with the 70-200mm with a 2x extender using San's head as the tripod.
Later we learned that there was a sloth sleeping on the heater in Arenal Paraiso resort in one of the rooms and had not moved for two days!
We were completely soaked as we walked on the hanging bridges. Some of these are suspension bridges which makes taking photos and videos challenging. I almost lost the phone at one point! The views are spectacular..
San spotted an ant eater walking past which was amazing. We also saw a lot of sleeping butterflies, tarantulas, spiders inside their holes and other insect species as well as some really pretty birds that I cannot name.
One thing Costa Rica is famous for is the hummingbird species. I saw a lot of different ones with purple and green hues that we don't normally see in the west coast, but could not capture them in the rain.
The highlight of this walk was the Arenal falls within the park.
Then we went on a short drive to the 1968 volcano tour. We get to climb a vista point which commemorates the destruction from 1968 eruption all the way to 2010 when they lost two villages and 80 people. There is no activity other than hot springs now, but the desolation is there as well as the new plants that have already grown in 9 years! Life finds a way!
After this we were treated to a really nice Lunch in Fortuna town at Desafio's local kitchen. It was spacious, well done and the banana chips were out of the world. I ate probably 1/2 kg of chips in one hour there and took some to go in my hand and the guide annouced that the next stop was the La Fortuna falls, where we could go down and take a dip in the falls if it was allowed.
I was kind of pissed that with a full stomach, it is hard to take a dip in cold water.. but did it anyways.
The area directly below the falls was off limits as the current was too strong, but they let us in the area 100 feet from the base. It was chilly, but once I got in, had no mind to come out of the water. It was refreshing. The only thing that would have made this better was if we did the falls first and ate afterwards. A good hot cocoa (they have really good hot cocoa in Costa Rica) after that dip would have been great!
We were then off to the resort. It was going to be our last chance to sit in the hot springs again and so we did. Then a dinner where we watched the guy pour fire on to a volcano cake! It was interesting.. it was lights out fast as we had a very busy day 4 planned.
A short video of day 3..
A tip to people who go to the hot springs.. go to the one at the very top. It is the hottest. The water just keeps flowing from pool to pool and the lower the pool, colder it gets.
Would definitely recommend the Arenal Paraiso as a place to stay in Arenal. It is farthest from the town, but you don't even have to leave the premises. The hot spring is right there, the food is great. San and Padma picked a winner with this one! I jokingly called it "namma malai adivaaraththu chinna kudisai" (our small hut in the base of the mountain)..
We have lived in the bay area for almost 20 years and have known of the existence of Hakone Gardens the entire time. Somehow the motivation to visit this place was not there before. Maybe it was folks telling us it is too small or the ticket price doesn't jusitfy it compared to Filoli etc.. Whatever it be, this is one of those places we simply forgot to visit. (Winchester Mystery house and Hearst castle are two other places we still have not visited).
Given this was a quiet thanksgiving weekend to be spent locally, we decided to visit. We actually had a great time. The weather was perfect and the fall colors made for great photos!
We did not do a "tea ceremony" but spent 3 hours there and were smiling through and through cracking jokes with family.
The place is small but amazingly beautiful. Every stone is placed perfectly.
Here is a slideshow of the pictures in vertical format..
and one in horizontal format..
Strongly recommend this place for timepass if you are in the bay area and have only a few hours. Nice and quiet with some beautiful views of the entire bay area as you walk around the hill on the garden!
