Fauna...

Well, I have survived the first few weeks of classes.  I'm excited about the classes I'm taking- so far, they are all relatively interesting and useful. I have classes on Monday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday night; I'm hoping that this setup will help me develop a better pattern of study (i.e. less tendency to procrastinate).  I'll share more about my classes as the weeks wear on, but for now, another set of photos from Costa Rica!

We got to see a number of exotic animals on our trip, as well as some that may not seem as exotic, but are still interesting.  Sadly, I did not get a photo of the animal I was most excited to see- a toucan- because I didn't have my camera with me.  But I got lots of photos of other native animals, so enjoy the show!

The Birds:

 

The Bugs:

 

The Reptiles:

We saw three different types of iguanas- black iguanas (top), the typical green iguanas (center), and an orange-headed iguana (bottom).

Here is a basilisk- note how I am NOT making eye-contact with it! :)  Among other things, a basilisk can walk on water, which is a pretty cool thing to see!

Here's another cool lizard we saw while at the beach at Manuel Antonio National Park.

And on our Jungle Safari Tour, we got pretty up close and personal with crocodiles!  Take a look:

 

The Mammals:

Here's a cute cat that seemed to belong to one of the hotels we stayed at.  It was certainly a friendly kitty! :)

 

Here I am with the horse I rode- his name is Spirit ("Stallion of the Cimarron"), but he was actually a pretty lazy horse.  Despite my prodding and urging, I ended up near or at the back of the long line of riders within the first 15 minutes of the ride.  He also didn't like to get his hooves dirty, something that was pretty much inevitable considering that we were riding along mostly dirt trails on a very rainy day.  Still, I enjoyed the ride for the most part.

Believe it or not, white-tailed deer are actually an endangered species in Costa Rica.  For that reason, they have been declared the national animal of Costa Rica.  Though they are obviously common enough here in the States, it was still cool to see this fawn so CLOSE.  I guess they aren't as skittish in the tropics...

Here we have a sloth mama with her baby...

 And another sloth just enjoying his nap!

A white-faced monkey enjoying the spoils of his daring- (seriously, these guys were actually pretty aggressive!  They would go after any unguarded food- even if you glanced away for only a few seconds!)

And the rest...

Here is an itty-bitty sand crab hiding amongst the roots of the trees along the shore.

Here are some tiny mountain salamanders.

And a poison dart frog that our bus driver, Cuchi, managed to catch in his water bottle!

Well, folks, that's all for now, seeing as how I've already given you a pretty big eyeful, and I've got an early day at work tomorrow.  Until the next post...