Paraiso, Costa Rica

On December 30, our birding tour in Costa Rica left San Jose in the morning, and visited the Irasu volcano.
After lunch, we headed down the mountain. Along the road we saw people having picnics.

Our next destination was the town of Paraiso, where we stopped in the central square.
Obviously, our fellow birders saw an interesting bird here.

The Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow, endemic to Costa Rica, is a favorite local bird as you can see here.
We had searched for this elusive bird earlier in the day, but never saw a live one! Only the statue.

Across the street from the busy square was a church.

A wall painting down the street 
(unfortunately a bad photo)

The palm trees surrounding the church were buzzing with parakeets.

The real reason we stopped in this pleasant town: two tropical screech owls roost in a tree beside the playgrounds.

The road from the volcano to Paraiso, and our eventual destination, Turrialba,
where our hotel Rancho Naturalista is located. Our whole trip was highly rewarding, and I’ve
been posting follow ups because I have saved so many photos of the many beautiful things we saw.

After leaving Paraiso, we traveled for another hour and finally reached Rancho Naturalista.
Dinner was waiting for us: you can see the pretty table setting. 
All dinners were served family style, with choices of water, fruit punch, wine, or soft drinks.

Photos © 2024 mae sander

Shared with Sami's Monday Murals and with Elizabeth's Tuesday Tea Party.