Costa Rica Part 6: The Doka Estate Coffee Tour

Coffee cherries growing on the same plant ripen at different rates. The cherries first turn from green to yellow and then are picked when they become bright red. Dora Estate, owned by the Vargas family, was another stop on our tour of Costa Rica. This coffee plantation is located in Sabinilla Canton of Alajuela Province, a couple of hours drive northwest of San José. Doka Estate produces one of Costa Rica's finest coffees and its quality has resulted in numerous awards.

Photo of the Vargas family in 1940. A yunta (a yoked pair of oxen) stands next to a traditional carreta (see Part 4 of this series). Three generations of the Vargas family surround it. Many of the younger family members clutch the baskets used when picking the beans. Coffee workers get paid by how many full baskets they can deliver by the end of the day. The baskets are suspended in front by a cord around the waist so that both of the worker's hands will be free.

The headquarters of Doka Estate are surrounded by almost 4000 acres of coffee plants. The Vargas family story starts in 1929, when Don Clarindo Vargas, the patriarch, was operating a store in San Isidro, a town in Sabanilla Canton. In 1929, he foresaw the approaching economic disaster known as the Great Depression. Deciding to change occupations before he lost everything, Don Clarindo closed his store and put his money into a small dairy farm. After all, people will always need to eat. After about 20 years as a dairy farmer, he decided to switch to coffee, despite his lack of knowledge of the business. The plucky Costa Rican started small, planting only about 7 acres at first.

Our guide during the coffee tour reveals ripening coffee cherries beneath the leaves. Since the cherries don't all ripen at the same time, a picker will return to the same plant several times over the course of the season. Our guide was very knowledgable about the planting and processing of coffee, as well as fluent in English. Don Clarindo and his growing family labored steadily on his coffee farm for a number of years. The payoff came in 1959 when his son founded Beneficiadora Santa Eduviges, a multi-faceted business that includes the Doka Estate. Santa Eduviges is named after the patron saint of homeless families. Doka Estate's coffee plants now cover 3954 acres. The Estate is only one of a number of plantations owned by Santa Eduviges.

Banana trees are used to provide shade to coffee plants in some fields. Bananas were introduced to Costa Rica by Minor Keith. He was a US businessman who built the first railroad from the Central Valley to the Caribbean port of Limón, greatly increasing coffee exports. Today 90% of Costa Rica's crop is exported and only 10% of its coffee is consumed locally. In the early years, planting and harvesting coffee was the Vargas family's sole focus. Over time, they became involved in processing  and drying the beans. Still later, they began to directly export their crop. Although much of the processing machinery used at Doka Estate originated in the 19th century, Santa Eduviges also has a website and uses the internet to support its international sales.

There are several layers inside the red skin of the coffee cherry. Each layer requires a separate stage of processing. During the 1980s and 90s, the company began to offer its product for sale to its own employees who, by then, amounted to 200 full-time and 3000 seasonal workers. In 1997, Santa Eduviges launched Café Tres Generaciones (Three Generations Coffee), a chain of four coffee houses located in various parts of Costa Rica. Patrons of these shops consume 20% of the coffee that Doka Estate produces. In addition, internet purchases are a growing part of the sales total.

Old-fashioned belt-driven machinery processes the beans. The coffee cherries move down from level to level in an ingenious method that employs gravity to assist.  As the cherries move through each process, the various layers covering the coffee bean are removed. At the last stage, the beans are spread out on a large concrete platform to dry before being collected in large sacks. This is the oldest coffee factory in Costa Rica and has been declared part of the country's Historic and Architectural Heritage.

A water wheel slowly turns next to the coffee plantation's restaurant. The water flows from the pipe above the wheel. The weight of the water dropping into each of the vanes along the rim of the wheel causes it to revolve. Waterpower was one of the earliest non-animal forms of energy harnessed by humans for industrial purposes. The earliest description of a vertical water wheel, like that shown above, is by Vitruvius (31 BC - 14 AD). He was a Roman who wrote a treatise on all aspects of engineering. This one differs from the Roman version only in that the Costa Rican wheel is made of metal. Otherwise, the design and function are virtually identical. You may recall seeing a similar red water wheel at the ox cart factory in Sarchi (Part 4 of this series).

And, speaking of ox carts, this is one of several kept in a shed at the Doka Estate. It may well be the same one you saw in the family photo. Coffee first arrived in Central America in 1740. It came first to El Salvador, but didn't reach Costa Rica until 1796. The first export destination for Costa Rican coffee was Chile. Ironically, Costa Rica's coffee was bought by European merchants who re-exported it and sold it under the label "Chilean Coffee from Valparaiso."

An obstacle course stands in the middle of Doka Estate's coffee fields. Some of the services offered by the coffee plantation include tours, a Bed and Breakfast, a restaurant, and a facility for "team building". This obstacle course is part of a program offered to businesses so that employee groups can build trust and become better teams. Quite an odd thing to find sprouting among lush green coffee plants.

This completes my posting on the Doka Estate. I hope you have enjoyed it and, if so, that you will leave any comments or questions in the Comments section below, or email them directly to me. However, if you do leave a question in the Comments section PLEASE leave your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

Costa Rica Part 5: Zarcero's topiary garden & the Church of San Rafael Archangel

The steeples of Iglesia de San Rafael Arcángel are framed by Zarcero's remarkable topiary. The fanciful shapes of the main plaza's hedges caught my eye when our Caravan tour bus stopped for a break. Zarcero is located on Highway 141, 67 miles north of San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The town is the largest of Canton #11 in the Province of Alajuela. Each of Costa Rica's six provinces are divided into cantons, the rough equivalent to a US county. Zarcero is very clean and well-kept and its population is prosperous, with a literacy rate of 93%. Not surprisingly, this agricultural center has one of the lowest crime rates in the country. The main crops grown in the area are coffee, vegetables, and livestock. Fittingly, the city is named after a plant, the sarsaparilla vine (Smilax ornata). Sarsaparilla has been used medicinally by the indigenous people of North, Central, and South America for thousands of years.

Parque Francisco Alvarado occupies a city block that it shares with the church. The park is a popular gathering place for local people and a regular stop for tourists heading to northern Costa Rica. As you can see, the town is spread along the slopes of a valley in the mountains. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, the area was part of the domain of the indigenous Cacique Garabito. A cacique is a tribal strongman or chief. The first European settlers did not began to trickle in until 1854, with the arrival of José Zumbado and his wife Solis. A small chapel was built in 1892, on the site of the current church. The first cement water pipes were laid in 1910, as a gift from the government of Cleto González Viquez. Zarcero did not gain the status of town until 1915, when it was named the seat of the canton that was created at the same time. Three years later, in 1918, the government of Federico Tinoco Granados officially declared Zarcero to be a city.

A small girl cavorts among the tunnel of topiaries. The topiary in the park was created by Evangelista Blanco Brenes. He was commissioned by the city government in 1964 to maintain the green areas opposite the church. Señor Evangelista took it upon himself to plant pine and cypress trees and  to shape them into whimsical patterns. For his work, Evangelista Blanco received the 2013 National Prize for Popular Culture. After more than 40 years, he still personally trims his creations. The line of arched plants, each looking like the letter "M", stretches out from the front steps of the church. The shapes are irresistible to children and adults alike, who constantly wander through them.

Furry green faces peer down from the top of a thick hedge. Topiary has been described as "the art of living sculpture." Wandering about, you never know what might be around the next turn of the path.  European topiary dates back to Roman times and the word comes from topiarius, meaning landscape gardener. The fanciful shaping of plants was described by Pliny the Younger, a lawyer, author, and magistrate of ancient Rome. The first Roman topiarius may have been Gnaeus Matius Calvinus, one of Julius Caesar's friends.

A rose garden is bordered by what looks like the handles of a basket. In the background, you can see the ridged back and long neck of a green dinosaur. The Romans may have been influenced by ideas filtering across vast distances from Japan and China. Those ancient Asian societies also practiced topiary, but from a different point of view. They were trying to mimic the appearance of aged pines which had been shaped by the wind. The Japanese art of bonsai, or miniature pine trees, is an expression of this.

View from the steps of the church. Off to the right of the green arches, you can see a leafy green beast about 3 meters tall. It might represent a monkey, but who knows? Apparently only Señor Evangelista. European topiary disappeared with the onslaught of the Dark Ages but was revived in the 16th century. It became popular both in the grand gardens of the elites and as decorations for simple cottages. The practice once again fell out of favor in the 18th century after it was satirically panned by the writer Alexander Pope.  Revived yet again in the mid-19th century, topiary has remained popular through the 20th and into the 21st centuries. Today, it can be found in gardens throughout the world.

Looming over Señor Evangelista's creations is the twin-towered Iglesia San Rafael Arcángel. The simple, original chapel was replaced in 1895 by this stately creation. The church was dedicated by Bishop Bernardo Augusto Thiel Hoffman, the second bishop of Costa Rica. It is part of the Diocese of Alajuela in the ecclesiastical province of Costa Rica. The grey stone of the walls and towers is nicely set off by the red roof and tower caps.

The interior of the church is filled with colorful decorations and designs. There is a single nave, with a corridor on each side, supported by rows of columns.

View of the ceiling, toward the choir loft at the back of the nave. At regular intervals, candelabras hang down to provide lighting. In modern times, however, the candles have been replaced by electric lights. Each segment of the ceiling is painted with a different coat-of-arms. Notice the graceful arches supported by the columns. Unlike Protestant churches, Catholic churches tend to place the choir to the rear of, and raised above, the sanctuary area. This is to avoid distracting the congregation and to enable the choir to face the altar area while the mass is going on.

The altar area is open and airy. Some Catholic churches, particularly of the 17th century Baroque style, are so overly decorated as to bedazzle and confuse the mind. Others, from the Neo-classic style of the 18th and 19th centuries, tend to to be very spartan in their decoration. The Iglesia de San Rafael Arcángel strikes a nice balance between the two.

This completes Part 5 of my Costa Rica series. Next time, we'll vist the Dakota Coffee Estate. If you have enjoyed this posting, or have questions, please reply in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE leave your email address so that I can reply.

Hasta luego, Jim

Costa Rica Part 4: Sarchi's colorful carretas

A vividly painted carreta is displayed in the center of Eloy Alfaro's oxcart workshop.  Notice the two bow yokes resting on the top of the carreta (ox cart). One of these would be fastened over the shoulders of a pair of oxen so they could pull the cart. Our Caravan Tour stopped at the Taller Eloy Alfaro (Eloy Alfaro's Workshop) for a tour of the little factory. This taller is one of the few that are still creating these beautiful little hand-painted vehicles. Most of the workshops are located in the small town of Sarchi, in Alajuela Province. Sarchi lies about 46 km (29 mi) northwest of Costa Rica's capital of San Jose. To locate Sarchi on a Google map, click here. 

Sarchi, the oxcart makers' town

Sarchi as it used to be. Notice the steeples of the Iglesia de Sarchi Norte. The church is surrounded by a cluster of small, tile-roofed houses. Cattle and horses graze in lush meadows. The heavily wooded Corderilla looms in the background. This scene portrays Sarchi as it would have appeared during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Sarchi of today is considerably bigger and far busier.

Iglesia de Sarchi Norte is one of the most impressive churches in Costa Rica. The church overlooks the main plaza in Sarchi. Unfortunately, the Caravan bus didn't stop, so we never saw the interior. However, I did manage to get this shot through the window. Notice the street sign in the lower left. The top of it replicates part of a painted carreta wheel. There are two districts in Sarchi, Norte (north) and Sur (south). Together they cover an area of 38.9 sq km (24 sq mi) and have a combined population of 11,571. The town is located on the slopes of the Central Cordillera (mountain range) on the eastern edge of Costa Rica's Central Valley.

Eloy Alfaro's oxcart workshop

Eloy Alfaro stands with his wife in the doorway of his workshop. This is the way the taller looked in the old days. Today, this structure forms one corner of a four-sided courtyard. The other sides now contain a gift shop and a restaurant. The water wheel seen in the right center still drives the taller's machinery. The wheel was upgraded from its original wood construction to metal in 1934, and finally to iron in 1965. Notice the wall to the left of Alfaro and his wife.

Wheels, saw blades, and other machinery hang by the entrance to Taller Eloy Alfaro. The big, brightly-painted circular saw blade carries the name "Alfaro Castro Hermanos, Ltda. (Alfaro Castro Brothers, Limited). Eloy Alfaro launched his workshop in 1920. In 1928, Alfaro bought the taller's machinery from the Hacienda La Eve. Still later, he added hydraulic power to create the electricity that drives the shop.

Three cart wheels show stages in time. The rustic old wheel at the bottom is from the 19th century. In the middle hangs another, somewhat newer, version that has also had considerable use. On top is a brand new version, freshly painted with vivid, intricate designs. In the background, some of our Caravan group are touring the workshop. 

A giant wheel leans against the shop wall. For scale, I asked one of our Caravan party to stand next to it. This wheel is similar to the ones on the giant carreta displayed in the main plaza of Sarchi. Taller Eloy Alfaro constructed that huge cart to help celebrate the naming of La Carreta as the National Labor Symbol in 1988. Later, in 2005, UNESCO designated the painted ox cart as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. I was unable to get any decent shots of the Plaza's huge carreta, since our bus passed it quickly on our way to the taller. However, this photo helps give some idea of the size of the plaza's cart.

Crafting the carretas

Leather belts connect to wheels that turn the machines. Most of the machinery and tools in the shop dates back to the 19th century. 

Device used to construct the wheels. The process somewhat resembles assembling a pizza from its individual, triangular slices. The cart makers use 16 triangular wedges of Spanish cedar, mahogany, or laurel to form a wheel. The screws around the rim are tightened to squeeze the "pizza slices" together tightly after they are glued.

An array of axles stand to one side, waiting for a wheel of the appropriate size. Work in the taller continued even as our tour filed through.

An artisan paints a design on a wood slat, soon to be part of a finished carreta. This requires painstaking work that demands the full attention of the artisan. He never looked up as our group crowded around to admire his creation.

A work table contains finished wheels. A variety of paint pots containing a rainbow of colors share the space with the finished work. Most carts are similar in construction, but all are unique in their painted designs. In the late 19th century, craftsmen began painting elaborate patterns on carretas. The practice rapidly spread to many different pueblos. It reached the point where the origin of a particular cart could be identified by the patterns its creator used.

The painted carts at work

A sugar cane worker chops his way through a stand of cane. In the background, another worker prepares to load the cut stalks into an ox cart. One of the many uses of the painted carretas was to transport cane to the sugar mill for processing. (Photo from a mural at the Doka Coffee Estate)

A carreta loaded with cane stalks pauses for a photograph. A sign under the 1940 photo identifies the boyero (carreta driver) as Teodoro Umaña Brenes. In his left hand he holds a chuzo, or prod, with which he controls the oxen and keeps them moving. The location of the photo is Cemetery Street in the pueblo of San Antonio de Escazú, today a suburb of San José. A typical load required a pair of strong oxen, called a yunta. Oddly, the first carretas were pulled by people rather than animals. As the loads increased, oxen were substituted. Notice the designs painted on the wheels and side of the vehicle.  Dia de los Boyeros (Ox Cart Drivers Day) has been celebrated for more than 30 years.

A worker holds a large bunch of green bananas as a group of women pick coffee beans. Bananas and coffee have been among the top agricultural exports of Costa Rica since the mid-19th century. Sometimes they were grown together, with the banana trees providing needed shade for the coffee plants. This painting is a detail from a large wall mural in the Taller Eloy Alfaro. The mural is a copy of the 1897 original, called Alegoria al Café y Bananas. The 19th century version was painted by Aleardo Villa and hangs in the National Theatre in San José. 

A long caravan hauls sacks of coffee beans to the Caribbean port of Limón. The man standing on the right may be the caravan's leader. Coffee was first shipped from Costa Rica to London in 1843. Soon, long lines of carretas were hauling sacks of beans from highland plantations down rough mountain roads to Puerta Limón. Between 1854-57, a railroad was built to connect San José with Limón. However, even after the advent of railroads, oxcart caravans continued to move sugarcane, coffee and bananas from remote plantations to the railheads. The "golden age" of carretas  lasted from 1850 all the way to 1935.

Workers load sacks of coffee aboard steamships moored at Puerto Limón. This is another panel of the Alegoria al Café y Bananas. A variety of flags fly from the ships' masts, including those of France and the United States. Many of the workers in Puerto Limón were of African descent, similar to the sugar cane worker in a previous painting. Some Africans were brought to Costa Rica as slaves during the colonial period. However, slavery was abolished in 1823, following independence from Spain. Most of the Afro-Costa Ricans depicted above would have been immigrants from Jamaica. They began arriving in 1872 after an employment crisis on their home island. The newly arrived Jamaicans initially worked on the railroad, but later got jobs as stevedores in the port or as banana or sugar cane workers in the interior. 

Yesterday and today

A boyero pauses to chat with a woman at a rancho along his route. Over his shoulder, he carries his chuzo. His cart is empty, so he is probably at the end of his long workday. Notice the painted ox yoke over the lintel of the woman's window. This timeless scene is very realistic, as you will see in the next two photographs.

Our bus paused near a carreta being driven by its boyero through the mountains. We didn't dismount from the bus, but I was able to get this and the next shot through the window. The previous painting and these photos bear a remarkable resemblance. It could almost have been a portrait of this boyero as a young man. Even the black and white spotted oxen look similar.

The boyero relaxes against the yoke connecting his yunta to the cart. Like the man in the painting, he holds a long chuzo. Notice how the yoke has been carved so that it will fit comfortably over the neck of each ox. The beasts stood patiently until we foreigners finished gawking and snapping our photos. The oxen were probably grateful for a break from their long trudge up the mountain.

This completes Part 4 of my Costa Rica series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If you'd like to leave a comment or question, please do so in the Comments section below, or email me directly. If you leave a question in the Comments section PLEASE leave your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

Costa Rica Part 3: Zoo Ave Wildlife Conservation Park

An iguana strikes a pose. I found this extraordinary creature perched atop a wooden box along one of the trails in the Zoo Ave Wildlife Conservation Park. We stopped at the Zoo Ave facility after visiting Volcán Poás (see Part 2 of this series). Iguanas tend to remain very still, even when closely approached, making them easy to photograph. Zoo Ave (Spanish for "Bird Zoo") is owned and operated by the Nature Restoration Foundation (NSF). The NSF is a non-profit organization that also operates two other wildlife projects in Costa Rica. The Zoo Ave facility draws 60,000 visitors per year, 95% of which are Costa Ricans. Carole and I and our Caravan Tours group were part of the 5% who are foreigners. The proportion of Costa Rican visitors demonstrates the country's high level of environmental consciousness. In addition to the three wildlife centers run by the NSF, there are at least 13 other rescue centers, animal sanctuaries, and zoos doing similar work in Costa Rica. Zoo Ave is located in La Garita, Alajuela Province. The hours are 9 AM - 5 PM daily and entrance fees are $15 (USD) for adults, $13 for students, and $4 for children. For a Google map to locate Zoo Ave, click here.


The Park

Thick jungle covers most of the property, replicating the animals' natural habitat. Because many of the animals prefer to hide in the foliage, photography can be difficult. As a result, the animals you see in this posting are a small fraction of the ones we encountered. Since the 1980s, Zoo Ave has been accepting orphaned, injured, or former pet animals. Others were delivered to the facility after they were confiscated because of illegal possession. The sanctuary does not purchase animals and every creature here has been donated by the government or private individuals. Of the animals accepted, 77% are birds, mostly parrot and owl species. Another 20% are reptiles such as iguanas and boa constrictors. Generally, the reptiles are turned over after they are captured in someone's house or barn. About 4% are monkeys, sloths and squirrels. Many of these are babies who survived after their mothers were hit by cars. The goal of Zoo Ave is to release them back into the wild when they are ready. However, some animals are so injured or have become so completely socialized to human beings that they could not survive in the wild. These become Zoo Ave's permanent residents.

The facility also hosts some unusual plant species, such as this Giant Bamboo. The origin of Giant Bamboo is believed to be either Thailand or the southern part of Sri Lanka. How it got to Costa Rica is not clear to me. This is the largest of all bamboo species in the world. For scale, see Carole in the lower right corner of the photo. The Giant Bamboo can reach a height of 30 m (98.5 ft). The buds can grow at the astonishing rate of 53.3 cm (21 in) per day! The bamboo shafts are used to provide bamboo pipes, masts for boats, and paper. They can also be cooked into a creamy porridge.

Birds

The brilliant plumage of a Scarlet macaw makes it stand out against the green foliage. This one was leaning over to examine its food bowl. Macaws I have encountered in Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica seem relatively unconcerned by human visitors. There are two subspecies of Scarlet macaws, one with a range in South America (Macao macao), and another in Central America (Macao cyanoptera). In Costa Rica, wild Scarlet Macaws can only be found in two small areas along the Pacific Coast. Because of its stunning appearance, the macaw has long been valued as a pet as well as for its bright feathers. In pre-hispanic times, macaw feathers were traded all the way up to the Anasazi country of the US Southwest. When Carole and I visited the ancient ruin of Cacaxtla, north of Puebla, Mexico, we saw the remains of pens where parrots were kept for breeding. Similar pre-hispanic pens have been found in Paquime, southwest of Juarez, Mexico.

The Australian emu is the world's second tallest bird, after the African ostrich. I was unable to determine how this emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) came to be in Costa Rica. Most likely, it was a pet or was exhibited commercially. In any case, it has found a safe, comfortable home. It probably couldn't be released because it would be unlikely to survive and, lacking any opportunity to mate, couldn't propagate. Emus are quite curious. This one walked over and looked directly into my camera lens as I took a shot. Unfortunately, because of its movement, the photo came out blurred and I couldn't use it.

A rare Grey-bellied Hawk stared back imperiously as I took its picture. The very first Grey-bellied Hawk (Accipiter poliogaster) ever recorded in Costa Rica was spotted only recently. On June 26, 2008, a Costa Rican guide named Octavio Ruiz found one at La Selva Biological Station. It had apparently migrated from South America, either intentionally or by overshooting its normal range. Previous to that sighting, Grey-bellied Hawks had not been seen north of Colombia. The species is not well-understood and is rare even in South America. In addition to the thick foliage, the chain-link fences at Zoo Ave form another photographic obstacle. Many of my shots were spoiled when my camera automatically focused on the fence in the foreground instead of the animal in back. Ordinarily I can overcome this problem by placing my lens between the links. However, at Zoo Ave, barriers prevent visitors from approaching the fences, probably to keep them from feeding or otherwise disturbing the animals. This photo was one of the few "through the fence" shots that were good enough to use.

A Brown Pelican preens while floating in a small pond. Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) are common along the Pacific Coast from Canada's British Colombia to southern Chile. Although this one was swimming in a freshwater pond, Brown Pelicans are normally found along the seashore or in river estuaries. This pelican most likely ended up here because of an injury. The Brown Pelican was severely impacted by the use of DDT from the 1940s into the 1970s. The chemical thinned the birds' egg shells, causing breakage before normal hatching. Although DDT was banned in the US as of January 1, 1973, it continued to be used around the world until 2011 when it was banned by the Stockholm Treaty. Since then, Brown Pelican populations have begun to recover.

The Emerald Toucancet is the smallest and shortest billed of the Costa Rican toucans. Emerald Toucancets (Aulacorhynchus prasinus) normally dwell in the tops of cloud forests. Unlike some species, where the male wears the bright plumage and the female is drab, both toucancet genders are clothed in beautiful green feathers. A male's larger beak distinguishes it from a female toucancet. Since I only saw this one bird, I couldn't tell its gender. The birds' range includes Costa Rica and Panamá. They are popular pets because they are affectionate and love to play and interact with their owners. The toucancets' diet is primarily forest fruit, but they also eat insects, lizards and small birds.


Mammals

A monkey relaxes in its enclosure. The creature sat quietly while I took its photo. Like the iguana, this monkey almost seemed to pose. I am a bit baffled about its species. Costa Rica's monkey population contains four species: the howler, the spider, the squirrel, and the capuchin. The primate above does not resemble any of those. In searching through Google Images, the closest I could find is the Vervet Monkey, an African species most common in Ethiopia and Somalia. It is possible that someone illegally imported a Vervet and it was confiscated. If anyone can come up with a definite species for this animal, please let me know in the Comments section.

A baby marmoset peeks around the side of its mother. Common marmosets (Callithrix jaccus) are  a species of monkey native to the northeastern coast of Brazil. This may be another case of illegal importation. Marmosets are quite small, with an average height of 188 mm (7.4 in). They are characterized by bright ear tufts, a white blaze on the forehead, and a long, banded tail. Unlike most primates, whose claws have evolved into nails, marmosets still have claws on all their digits except for the big toe. Marmosets in the wild live in family groups of about 15 individuals. The entire group helps with raising the young.

A puma snoozes on a platform built high in a tree. I had to use my maximum zoom to get this shot. The Central American puma (Puma concolor costaricensis) is a subspecies of puma whose range extends from the center of Nicaragua through Costa Rica and into Panamá. Its range was originally much larger but it was wiped out in most of its previous habitat. The big cat is very adaptable and can be found in cloud forests, humid forests and gallery forests but it prefers mountains, rocky ravines and dense forests. The puma is solitary, silent and territorial and can travel long distances in search of food. Their diet consists mainly of mammals such as deer, opossum, monkey, porcupine, agouti, iguana and other forest creatures. Occasionally they take a human, especially children. The puma population in Costa Rica is considered to be "threatened".

A Three-toed sloth engaged in its favorite activity: hanging out in a tree. When photographing a sloth, it is difficult to determine what you are viewing. Because of its coloring, the animal is very hard to see from a distance. When finally spotted, you often only see an undifferentiated mass of rather unkempt fur. Which end is which? After carefully reviewing a number of sloth photos, both my own and on Google, I realized that the head of this Three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) is in the upper left of the photo. The short snout can be seen between the animal's forelegs. In the lower right of the photo, you can see a foot with three toes clinging onto the branch. Sloths move at an extremely leisurely pace of 0.24 km/h (0.15 mph). This is probably due to their leafy diet which is not terribly nutritious and results in a very slow metabolism. They live most of their lives snoozing in a tree fork or hanging upside down from a branch. About once a week, they descend to the forest floor to urinate and defecate. Why sloths don't accomplish this from high above mystifies scientists. While on the ground, their slow pace makes them extremely vulnerable to predators.


Reptiles

Green Iguanas are considered a "threatened" species in Costa Rica. This Green iguana ((Iguana iguana) sat very quietly in the weeds as I moved around looking for the best angle to shoot. Despite its name, this species comes in a variety of colors, including red and bright orange. Green Iguanas are arboreal, herbivorous, and can be found in Central and South America and the Caribbean. The Green Iguana grows to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) from nose to tail and can weigh as much as 9.1 kg (20 lbs). Many people keep them as pets because of their calm disposition. However, their care can be very demanding because of their size and their special requirements for light and heat. The Green Iguana is a threatened species in Costa Rica because of a long tradition of hunting them. Locally, they are called "chicken of the trees".

Iguanas like to perch above the ground. Most of the iguanas we saw while touring Costa Rica were in trees, often on limbs extending out over the water. This position is one of the creature's best defenses since larger animals often can't get out on the limb. If a predator does, the iguana can just dive into the water and swim away. While swimming, the iguana folds its legs close to its body and uses its long, powerful tail to drive it through the water. Although is has a fearsome appearance, the animal is not aggressive except among males during mating season. However, if cornered, the iguana can lash out with its tail and will sometimes use its sharp teeth.

Black River Turtles line up as if at a bus stop. Black River Turtles (Rhinoclemmys funerea) are sometimes called Black Wood Turtles or Black Terrapin. They inhabit freshwater marshes, swamps, ponds and streams. In this case, these reptiles shared the pond with the Brown Pelican seen previously. In addition to Costa Rica, they can be found in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panamá.

Red-eared slider turtles laze in the sun along a stream. As reptiles, they cannot regulate their own body temperature. That is why they are so often seen basking in the sun near the water. Their name comes from their habit of sliding off of rocks and logs into the water when they feel threatened. The semi-aquatic red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is native to the US and Mexico. They are extremely popular as pets. However, their lifespan of 20-30 years (some can live to 40) may explain why they have invaded so many non-native habitats. Many pet owners are not inclined to take such long-term responsibility and release them into the wild in non-native places like Costa Rica. In fact, these colorful little guys are on the list of the world's 100 most invasive species.

This Golden Silk Orbweaver is not an official resident of Zoo Ave, it just lives here. The spider, whose official name is Nephila clavipes, has a huge brain in relation to its body size. The brain fills most of its body cavity and may extend part way down its legs. I found this spider busily wrapping up a victim caught in its web, creating a tasty snack for later.

This completes Part 3 of my Costa Rica series. If you have enjoyed it, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. However, it you do leave a question, PLEASE leave your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim