Santa Rosa

From the Blue River lodge road we headed up Central America Route 1 North to Santa Rosa National Park, near the Nicaraguan border.  We got there a bit later than would have been optimal but still really enjoyed our stay.  Basically you head down to the central administration area and then bird there, around the Comedor, and camping area, etc. 

We saw Barred Wren:

Black-headed Trogon:

and the biggest Iguanas we've ever seen:

They were huge!!

The dry forest is impressive.  It's not always dry, it gets over 1.5 metres of rain a year, but only in the wet season.

Some of the plants flower when devoid of leaves, etc., using the last of their resources from the previous year and setting seed for when the rains return:

Other notable birds included this Pale-billed Woodpecker:

The bird was knocking lumps out of the tree, literally lumps.  Huge bird, strong bill and impressive sound effects while it searched for food.

Rufous-naped Wren, sunbathing here:

Stripe-headed Sparrow:

And White-throated Magpie-Jay:

Cracking birds these, a real delight to observe and follow.

Streak-backed Oriole:

White-tipped Dove:

We did try the road down to the beach but it was extremely rough and frankly we didn't want to risk it, even in the Rav 4, so turned around having travelled about a third of it.  I would love to have seen the beach and some coastal birds, but it wasn't to be.  

We left Santa Rosa in the heat of the day (39c) and drove back to Liberia, where we stopped at the first decent looking hotel, a Best Western with a casino, and took a room there.  It was a very reasonable $77 for a simple room, with air-conditioning, access to a couple of pools, gym, etc.  Dinner was a simple vegetarian pasta dish and the beer went down very well.