Tour 1: Costa Rica and Guatemala

With sounds of the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

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Hillside settlement outside Motozintla de Mendoza, in Chiapas, Mexico

White-faced Capuchin monkeys in Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica.

Poison dart frog, Tortuguerro National Park, Costa Rica.

Beach at Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

Cloudforest valley, Costa Rica.

Tropical rainforest, Costa Rica.

These bats spent the day on my ceiling, Tortuguerro National Park, Costa Rica.

Half of the 210 species of mammals in Costa Rica are bats! There are bats that eat insects, bats that eat fruit and pollen, bats that eat blood, and in Costa Rica, at Tortuguerro, there are even bats that catch and eat fish!

Vine snake, Tortuguerro National Park.

Pygmy kingfisher roosting for the night, Tortuguerro N.P., Costa Rica. Seen from a quiet boat on the canals.

Life along the river, Tortuguerro, Costa Rica.

Scorpion, Guatemala.

Butterfly in a rainforest clearing, Guatemala. These butterflies are toxic to predators because of the leaves they eat when caterpillars.

Crabs in the marketplace (tied with strips of corn leaf) in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, just waiting to be taken home and dropped in a pot of boiling water!

Todos Santos, high in the Guatemalan central highlands.

Children of Todos Santos.

Shy girl in Santiago Atitlan. Each village has its own unique style of weaving and embroidery. Note the dramatic difference between this blouse and the clothes of Todos Santos, above.

The Tortuga Lodge, Tortuguerro, Costa Rica. Deep sea fishing, watching sea turtles lay their eggs in the sand, and wildlife viewing are all here!

The village of Tortuguerro. Between river and ocean, these villagers used to make their living from harvesting sea turtles and their eggs. Now they make their living by showing the riches of the area to visitors.