Mon Dec 1: off to Lake Arenal. its about 100 miles, gps says 3 hours but we have a few stops along the way and are sure to run into so kind of traffic jam...
We left the condo at 7:30 and arrived at the lake house at 2:30. of course we made a few stops for birding and for groceries. We did run into a police road block, of course they did not pull everyone over but the gringos were, they were looking for donations. So we just smiled and gave the 2000 colonies which is about $4.
the drive was pretty uneventful and the weather was pretty good until we started to climb the mountains. then we got a bit of fog and rain.
our first view of the lake!
The house for the next 34 nights
view off of the balcony
We only unpacked the groceries before we had to stop and look at the birds. There were so many! So many we did not know! It was too exciting. The rains and darkness came while we ate dinner and finished up unpacking the suitcases.
Tues: after a crazy morning of trying to ID birds off of the balcony we walked around our "hood". there are about 10 houses (maybe less) in the surrounding area. We do have a neighbor with a large dog that likes to bark but all in all it is pretty quiet. We walked to the pool but it was very steep up and down the hills so when we go again it will be by car. We did go down to the lake (by car) not much to see there, kind of disappointing. We headed into town (Lake Arenal) about 5 miles away. found a nice German bakery and a little grocery store.
Sun was out in the morning and some rain in the afternoon. We are getting so many birds right off of our balcony. It's almost magical! so many colors, sizes and sounds! And the trees are kind of below us so we don't have to always look up!
Wed: we headed out at 6:30 for a 20 mile drive to Arenal Lodge and Observatory. arriving there at 8:00. we did run into a bit of rain as we were driving but not much traffic. $22 each to get onto the grounds. We birded and walked until about noon, lots of hills and a few rain showers. We did not have a guide or go on a tour. But ended up with 54 birds, 3 lifers! We might have been able to get more if we had a guide as we don't know all of the calls of the birds. It was really fun and a possible return is on the agenda.
We stopped in Lake Arenal for lunch/dinner at about 1:30. Tinajas restaurant overlooks the lake. The view is spectacular, the service and food was phenomenal.
new visitors on the balcony today
Aracari
Golden Olive woodpecker
our neighbors came out to greet us today!
Crested Guan
The entrance to our road
Green Honeycreeper
The Sun was out most of the day, Eric took advantage of the sun and checked out the pool. Its about 5 feet deep so to deep for me to go in.
The back of the house on the road to the pool
the stairs on the back of the house to the road to the pool
Fri Dec 5: we headed out to a different lake on a gravel road about 3 miles from the house. It went up hill and pretty quiet road. we walked a bit on the road not seeing anything on the lake but plenty of birds on the roadside. We are doing quite well with our birding, getting at least 2-3 lifers a day and more year birds.
Red Lored Amazon
White Throated Magpie Jay
After nap we went to the pool! We picked up (borrowed) a lounge chair from the pool area so we drove over. I decided that I would at least put my feet in the water. Well.... the steps and floor are small pebbles! My feet yelled out, WHAT... hmmm.. I did not bring my pool shoes as I was just going to sit on the side and not actually walk in the pool. next time I have to bring my shoes just to go down two steps! the water temp was not bad, the sun was out and we enjoyed the pool by ourselves.
not sure what these trees are or why they have red paint on them.. its not really red paint but part of the tree.
our volcano across the lake
Saturday we took a ride (again about 2 miles) to a gravel road through the forest. We tried to walk the road to the lake but ran into some pretty muddy areas. We found a few interesting birds and animals. on our way back to the car we heard grunting, a bark and something moving in the woods. Never seen what it was, assuming a wild pig? We did see a snake and a coati but they would not have made that much noise.
Russet Naped Wood Rail
Tiger heron. oh yes, he is eating a snake!
Coati
Bared Antshrike
another try at the pool... I did wear my pool shoes and they did help with the rocks on the floor of the pool....
Volcano pics, the clouds are generally hiding the volcano but not today. you can even see some smoke coming out of the top...
Sunday Dec 7: We can not get enough of our volcano views..
we have not heard nor seen any monkeys until today! assuming they are Howler Monkeys
one week down 4 to go here in paradise. We walked our hood yesterday then went for late lunch at
It was a lovely place, great food, great service. the owner/host/server is from Sicily and makes everything from scratch. we started with a ??? deep fried rice ball filled with eggplant and cheese and maybe some other stuff. whatever it was it was really good. I had the Mushroom rigatoni and Eric had the lasagna. Both were fabulous, both were way too much food.
We also found a cute park right near the restaurant but being it is Sunday it was crowded, will check it out more throughly tomorrow.
So we thought we would own the pool but yesterday as we were hanging out on the balcony, a family of 5 walked to the pool in their suits!! We think they showed up yesterday as we seen a car we did not know, there are about 10 houses here spread out over many acres. hmmm... we will have to keep an eye on them!
The clouds (which we have every day) make the most beautiful sunsets!
Monday Dec 8: off to the park in town that we discovered yesterday. We spent about 2 hours there but only walked about 1 mile.. too many birds to find, what a great place to hang. A few people came to walk their dogs but we pretty much owned the park. Same with the pool today, no one there but us.
Tues: its been difficult to get our steps in here as we don't walk too far although it can take us and hour to walk one mile, too many birds and sounds and hills... so today we walked around the hood, up and down hills, to the main road etc.. got 8000 steps in! seen a few cars and one other person on our walk, no monkeys and a few birds but it was pretty windy.
After we got back we were hanging out doing housework stuff when we hear a vehicle stuck in the mud, he is having a heck of a time trying to get out, going back and forth until finally he gets free. Eric is sweeping the balcony and notices a large bird pooped on our balcony! there is a hose right there he goes to wash it off but no water.. hmm... why would they turn off the water at this spigot? it doesn't ever freeze here, maybe it drips? So we look and look for a turn off valve, with no success. I go to wash my hands and What... no water! we try other sinks, still no water... now its been about 10 minutes since the truck got stuck in the mud. I send a note to the property manager, she says she will contact the water company. sends another note saying probably "broken pipe". AHA.. So we walk about 100 yards and sure enough there are deep tracks where the truck got stuck and a broken water pipe!
I sent our Mary another note with the picture. they were out in less than 10 minutes and had it fixed in 1 hour! so impressed were we... if we were at home it would have taken at least 1 hour (or longer) for anyone to show up and 3 days to fix..
The pool area is not big enough for more than one family at a time and yes, the family went there at noon and did not leave until after 3! hopefully they are just here for the week.... we do not like to share.
Thursday was a very rainy, windy day. we pretty much hung around the house until lunch time when we headed (2 miles as the crow flies) 9 miles driving to Lake Arenal Brewery. The food was great and so was the service. of course we have enough leftovers for a few more meals!
With the rain we get rainbows
Fri: we have Panamanian White Faced Capuchin Monkeys! been here almost 2 weeks and finally seen them while walking the road to the pool. It's the same kind they had on the show "Friends". not sure if they are supposed to be here.
Golden Hooded tanager
Yellow Throated Toucan
Crested Guan
Crimson Fronted Parrot
Gray Headed Yellow Throat
Yellow Fronted Toucan eating berries
Yellow Throated Euphonia
Common Today Flycatcher
not sure what kind of insect nest this is....
Blue Gray tanagers
Olive Backed Euphonia
Boat Billed Flycatcher,
After 2 days of rain we got a nice break today. Yesterday we went walking in the mist/rain. We did not get too wet and happy to stretch our legs. We were the only people in the park (in town) today. We are coming up to the half way point here on the lake. It takes us a few days to learn where and how everything in the house works, walking areas, stores and restaurants. We don't really use the downstairs area, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a terrace. The birds here are phenomenal, we have about 160 just in the "yard". Except for the next door dog barking, it is pretty quiet and the views are breathtaking.
Hmm... more rain this week, hopefully it stops day raining and only rains at night. We do manage to get out during the misty time for a quick walk.
Tuesday Dec 17, the rain/mist began at 7:00 am but we headed to town for our walk, good thing too, as it was not raining in town (6 miles by car), we could not go up the mountain as it was clouded in but by the time we walked the park,
went grocery shopping and came back to the road to the mountain, it was pretty clear. Walked a mile or so before the rains came.. all good today.
Golden Hooded Tanager
Eric went to the pool and met a neighbor from North Carolina. Stephanie and husband come for 4 months every year.
We went to Corral for lunch, it is the closest restaurant to us. The food was fabulous, but we have not had a bad or even OK meal here yet.
oh boy my hair needs some new conditioner
Thurs: clear skies mean awesome pictures of the volcano
cows and cattle egret everywhere
the sun was out all day!!! no rain or even any mist. After our morning walk up in the mountains, our property manager and her plumber came by to fix a few things. We had a water leak under the kitchen sink and broken coffee pot.
Fri Dec 19: we headed east again to the Hotel Arenal Observatory for a walk, then to the Hotel Arenal Lodge for the night. We booked a room for tonight, and a bird walk for Sat morning. let's hope the rain stays away. It's only about 20 miles but takes about an hour to get to the hotel. It was a beautiful morning, lots and lots of birds, we walked about 4 miles around the observatory. There are nice paths and for the most part we did not see too many people.
lots of birds at the feeder
our volcano up close
We brought our lunch to eat in the car between hikes. Of course it's hot so we have the windows rolled down. As we are eating our delicious sandwich and Lays potato chips we see a very large Coati strolling our way. He seems to be getting closer and closer, eyeing the car and listening to the Lays bag crinkle every time one of us gets a few chips. hmmm... finally he is jumping on the car! Of course the car is not running, Eric panics, I start yelling "Close the F...ing windows". Which makes Eric panic even more, just as the Coati is walking on the side mirror (passenger side) the windows go up! The Coati then walks all over our vehicle looking for a way to get in! Since we are now safe, we just continue to eat and yell at the animal to get off of the car. Finally a bus driver comes over with a towel and chases the Coati away! our hero!! no pictures as panic set in...
We then walked a little bit more before heading to our hotel for the night. We arrived at about 1:30, our room was not quite ready so we just walked the grounds. not as nice as the observatory but good enough for us to waste a few minutes.
very comfortable chair
Our room is nice with a great view of the volcano. We enjoyed a few beverages then went to dinner. Prices were pretty cheap, food was pretty good and the service was great
Since we had to get up early we went to bed by 8:00. the electricity went out at about 9:30. the neighbors talked very loudly until 11:00. It was very very dark as no moon, rain and clouds. Luckily our smart phones have a flashlight!
We left the hotel at 5:15 am in the dark with all of our stuff. Breakfast is included in the price but we were not sure if the electricity would be back on and it would be a rush to get back before serving ended.
They said that the government randomly shuts off service without notice. It happens a lot here in CR.
We got to Mistico Park at 5:40 but they will not let anyone in until 6:00. Which we knew because we stopped here yesterday before getting to the hotel and got the information on getting in.
Our guide Jorge was great, there was a family of 5 with us, only one person was interested in birds, so as usual there was a lot of talking and not enough looking and listening. Our walk was across about 5 hanging bridges. about 3 miles of walking, a number of year birds and one new life bird. After the tour we had breakfast at the park, then headed home. again a very nice day, with no rain!
these hanging bridges were not fun to walk across! too much swaying
Broad billed Motmot
eyelash viper (not a bird)
Canopy Bush-Anole
Two weeks left here at the Lake House. We must begin to pack for our 2 week trip to Panama. Only want to bring one suitcase and 2 backpacks.
The one thing about CR is it is not quiet... you would think that with no cars, planes or people around it would be a quiet place. They do not have lawn mowers but use weed wackers to cut the grass. It goes on 7 days a week at least 10 hours a day. and it doesn't matter where we are you can always hear someone "mowing" the grass. Or leaf blowers... always blowing leaves and grass clippings.
Cattle Egret on the cattle!
Tues Dec 23: We found another hiking path in town, it was kind of rough and not well used and not very long but we did get a few birds and a new place to walk..
Bull Ring in town. not sure if they use it, but CR does not kill the bull, only uses it for entertainment.
Monstra plant, it grows with holes in its leaves
Lunch today was at Tom's Pan. A German restaurant. Has to be the worst food we have had here in CR. Eric ordered German Meatloaf which was Spam with eggs on top. the spam was the thickness of a pancake and as big as a piece of bread. it was actually good as we do like spam but I guess we don't know German food. I ordered Pork Roast with Dumplings. I got very thin slices of tasteless pork, with some kind of brown gravy and 2 green dumplings that where filled with spices and stuff, not very tasty.. We normally take food home but not today. Eric ate a lot of my lunch and I had a few bites of his and mine. This place is always crowded so we figured the food must be good. The bakery side is actually good, maybe that is why they stop there?
Wed Dec 24: Christmas Eve. Where has the year gone? Nothing special today. Out walking early, water was off again for a while, don't know what happened but our "guys" fixed it quickly.
Thurs Dec 25: Christmas Day.
we did not realize that the frame was upside down until we got upstairs!
retook the picture the next night
this is about as close as we got to the volcano
our Christmas morning rainbow
After more than a week, it looks like the pool is getting filled up.
Seen a deer on the road below the house, no time for picture. First time seeing one here in CR.
Dec 26: yep the pool is overfilled! we can see the water coming down the road! the maintenance guys come in at 7:00 so I am sure they will turn off the hose.
A bit rainy on our walk in the park this morning, ran into another birder who lives here in town. Lunch at Establo Arenal, a smoked meat restaurant. the food was very good.
Saturday:
New friends came by:
we get clouds everyday between 4:30 and 5:30 that make for specular sunsets
Sunday Dec 28: one week left here on the lake. We really have gotten into a routine of walking, napping, swimming, walking some more then hanging out waiting for dinner. Life is good.
Monday Dec 29: we were happy to go back to the wind surfing road for a great morning walk. We have not had rain in over 36 hours and suspected the road would be fairly dry. a number of short trails through the woods and down to the water paid off with a number of birds and critters.
That is our place from across the water! up in the middle of the picture
Northern Barred Woodcreeper
But today is officially Monkey Monday! a family group came to visit us before lunch!
Eating lunch?
Lunch was at Cafe-Macadamia. We tried to go there over the weekend but couldn't find a parking spot. We waited about 10 minutes to get inside to order our lunch. Our lemonades were very good.
The food (rice and beans) took 50 minutes to deliver! not sure what happened to our order but somehow it got lost. People came after us, ate and left while we just sat there. It was a beautiful day and outside sitting is always enjoyable, but someone was really hungry and getting a bit impatient. When the food came it was not hot, but my trout was good.
Tuesday: our tags on the rental car expire on Thursday! They came out today to give us new tags, of course we had to wait all morning for them to come out. We walked our hood for about 2 hours, getting in steps and birds.. all is good here in CR. Pura Vida
Dec 31: 2025 is ending on a good note. We are really enjoying our time here in Costa Rica.
Dusky Capped Flycatcher eating a butterfly
Scarlet Rumped Tanager
Squirrel
Final Sunset of 2025
Lunch in town at Cafe Dona Celina. It was very very good and we got a new year bird!!!
We were lucky to begin this year in Hawaii and ending it in CR is the best! I think tropical weather is for us! Of course the birding has been fabulous in both places. Each year we seem to slow down a little bit and that is OK. We don't walk as fast, stay up as late, eat as much but we still get our 8 hours of sleep in and are enjoying our walks and activities.
bird count is crazy this year!!
123 New Life birds! 57 from Hawaii. 63 from Costa Rica. for a total of 1053 life birds in the World
729 for 2025 year birds
444 life birds in CR up 143 birds this year (we had 301 in 2022-23)
we ended the US at 479 which is a bit light as we did not get to Texas
Looking forward to 2026 to see what changes and new birds it will bring.
We did end up at #1 in the World for the month of December for Yard Birds at 180, the lake house turned into a birding Mecca. We have 184 Life birds in our yard in Wisconsin, whereas this is only one month!
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