Day Trip to Poas & La Paz - Part Two, La Paz Waterfall Gardens

Monday, March 18

We arrive at La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Peace Lodge a little before 11:00 am. The last few miles of road were gravel, with many ruts and potholes; the ride has been pretty bumpy. In addition, we have lost the sunshine we enjoyed earlier in the morning at Poas Volcano. Clouds are moving in, and we will get to experience being in a cloud forest.

(For an account of our visit to Poas, read earlier blog post titled "Day Trip to Poas & La Paz - Part One, Poas Volcano".)

La Paz is billed as a hotel, nature park, and wildlife refuge. The minute we drove up to the Reception building, I knew I was going to fall in love with La Paz, and I did. This is by far the most beautiful spot we have been to in Costa Rica.

La Paz Waterfall Gardens is built on the side of a mountain. It comprises about 70 acres of rainforest in which are scattered overnight accommodations, restaurants, and a series of trails and exhibits. The trail winds downhill from the Reception building, through the developed areas first and then even more steeply down into a rainforest ravine that culminates with a series of waterfalls.

We have paid our entrance fee - $49 each, which includes a buffet lunch for $13. Admission to this private park is pricey compared to the entrance fees at the national parks, but we both agreed afterwards that is worth every penny.

Walter gets us started by showing us the map of La Paz and marking a suggested route for us to follow. There is a lot to see here, and we have only three hours. Walter wants to leave at 2:00 pm, as it is a two-hour drive back home. He does not accompany us through the park. We will meet at the parking lot at two.

Our self-guided tour begins.

Here, too, pictures tell the story with minimum narration in the captions. All photos and videos were shot either by Bob or Connie. Come along with us as we relive this tour in pictures.

We Begin

We exit the Reception building and begin our descent.

Beginning of the trail from the Reception building, La Paz, Costa Rica.

Steep trail leading to Trout Lake and the Aviary, La Paz.

Lush vegetation, bountiful Bougainvillea, and Bob - on the way to Trout Lake, La Paz.

Trout Lake

Our first stop is an area called Trout Lake. This is a bit of a misnomer. The "lake" is actually a series of two man-made pools, one higher than the other. The lower pool, which sits in front of an outdoor bar, is shallow and contains no trout - nor any other living thing. The higher and larger pool is fed by three man-made waterfalls. Between the two pools there is a passageway of simulated rock, and a glass window view into the upper lake in which we see a few trout swimming around. They are in a walled-off section, as the upper pool is also a swimming pool for the Peace Lodge guests.

Bob shooting a video of Trout Lake, La Paz Gardens, Costa Rica. Buildings in the background are Peace Lodge accommodations.

Bob's video - Trout Lake, La Paz

 

The Aviary

Next on the trail is the Aviary - a very large and high enclosure containing a variety of tropical birds. Of particular interest to us were the toucans and the scarlet macaws.

The first birds we encountered were the toucans. I had hoped to see these birds in the wild, but probably won't. But we were in very close quarters with these birds and we each had close encounters of a very personal kind.

Wood-Billed Toucan, up close and personal. La Paz

Bob with toucan, La Paz.

Connie with toucan, La Paz.

Bob shot a video. It doesn't show our personal encounters with the toucans, but it does show the guide Introducing a toucan to other visitors. There are two kinds of toucans here - the Wood-billed Toucan (shown above with both Connie and Bob) and the Rainbow-Billed Toucan, which you will see in the video. This bird is sometimes called the Lipstick-Billed Toucan, and you will see why.

Toucans of La Paz. (Video)

Reluctantly, we left the toucan enclosure and proceeded through the Aviary. We entered a vast space where there were many songbirds and small parrots flying around. Along the way, we came to a large cage containing five Scarlet Macaws. They are kept separate because, as the guide explained, they can be mean - to other birds and to humans.

We learned that these birds mate for life. Here there were two pairs and a single. Oh, oh - trouble in Paradise! The single had been rescued and brought in recently. The staff is looking for a mate for this one. Scarlet Macaws are considered an endangered species in Costa Rica, and efforts are underway in various zoos and rescue centers to breed more and release them back into the wild.

Mated pair of Scarlet Macaws, La Paz

Scarlet Macaws of La Paz. (Video)

 

Butterflies

Next came the butterfly enclosure. We had been to a butterfly place once before on this trip. That one was at Monteverde. The one at La Paz is much larger, with many more butterflies and much more activity.

Entrance to the Butterfly Observatory, La Paz. Couldn't resist photographing those gorgeous stained glass door panels.

Most of the butterflies here are of the same species - the Blue Morpho. There are hundreds of them here. This butterfly has an amazing double-sided camouflage system going on. The tops of their wings are bright blue, and when they are flying they appear to their predators - usually birds flying above them - as sky. When they are resting, with wings closed, the undersides of their wings are brown tones and fit in with the foliage. The patterns on the underside mimic both owls and snakes, which again wards off predators.

Blue Morphos feeding on an orange. Just a tiny hint of blue betrays their camouflage. La Paz.

There are a few other species here. Below are photos of two. I don't have the names for them yet. Watch Bob's video and see if you can spot more.

Butterfly, La Paz

 

Butterfly, La Paz

Butterflies of La Paz. (Video)

One more surprise in the Butterfly Observatory. Tucked away in a side room there is an enclosure containing two sloths. They are nocturnal animals, so naturally, they were asleep. They were curled up together so tightly that one might think there was only one animal. Another protective behavior? Most likely this is the only sloth sighting we'll have in Costa Rica. But who knows. We still have almost three weeks here.

Two sleeping sloths. La Paz.

 

Monkeys

Next on the trail is the Monkey Pass.

Entrance to the monkey exhibit, La Paz.

There are two species of monkeys here - Spider Monkeys and White-faced Monkeys. They are fun to watch but hard to photograph through the wire mesh of the enclosure.

Spider Monkey, La Paz.

Spider Monkey at play, La Paz.

 

Hummingbird Garden

Moving on down the trail, we come to the Hummingbird Garden. La Paz claims to have 26 documented species of hummingbirds. They vary widely in size and coloration. We saw some tiny hummingbirds, no bigger than a large bumblebee, and some larger ones that were almost regular bird size. How many different kinds can you see in Bob's video?

Hummingbird ID Poster, La Paz.

Hummingbirds of La Paz. (Video)

 

Lunch at Colibries Restaurant

After the Hummingbird Garden, we skipped the next exhibit - the Serpentarium - and moved on to the Colibries Restaurant for lunch. (What is it about snakes that moved us both to pass this exhibit by? It's the only one we skipped!)

Our day pass to La Paz included lunch, and the lunch spot is located just about halfway down the trail we are on today - a good time for a break. A buffet lunch was served, and it was delicious. The ambience was delightful too.

Colibries Restaurant, exterior, La Paz.

Colibries Restaurant, interior, La Paz.

Bob at lunch, Colibries Restaurant, La Paz.

Bob and Connie, at lunch, La Paz. (We turned the camera on ourselves.) We're having a good time at this magical place - La Paz.

 

Jungle Cats

A short distance down the trail after lunch, we came to the newest exhibit in this nature park - The Jungle Cats. All these big cats can be found in Costa Rica, though they are all rare. Of all the caged animals here, we felt most sorry for the cats. They need their space in their natural habitat.

Cougar, La Paz.

Ocelots, La Paz.

Margay, La Paz.

Jaguar, La Paz. While the other cats in the enclosure seemed fairly mellow, this cat paced back and forth without pause. We found it hard to watch such an agitated animal.

 

Orchids

Though La Paz had a nicely set up orchid exhibit, very few of their many plants were in bloom. This is one, of a very few orchids, that was in bloom.

 

Frogs

Moving on down the trail, we came to a small exhibit on frogs. Though we had a guide for this exhibit, we were only able to spot about four different frogs. Some are very tiny and hide in crevices and deep inside plants. We did spot a few of these, thanks to the guide, but they were too small to capture in photos without a telephoto lens. Other larger frogs are so well camouflaged that they are hard to find, though our guide did find the tree frog below, hiding on the underside of a leaf.

 

Poster describing frogs in the exhibit. We did not see all these frogs.

Green Tree Frog hiding under a leaf, La Paz.

Casita de La Paz

The last building on the trail is the Casita de La Paz. This house and farm buildings comprise an exhibit about farm life in Costa Rica a hundred years ago. The exhibit included an oxcart and two oxen, which was available for short rides or photography. But we were running out of time and could not linger here. We had half an hour to complete the waterfall trail which, a sign informed us, would take 45 minutes.

 

Casita de La Paz, house and outbuildings, La Paz.

Casita de La Paz. Reproduction of a 100-year-old farmhouse.

Surprise! An Animal in the Wild

Just as we were leaving the Casita area and were about to descend the steep waterfall trail, I spotted a pair of animals who were not part of the exhibits. They moved fast, and this was the only shot I got. I was not close enough to identify them, but from the guidebooks, I am guessing they were either coatis or tayras. They crossed our path again after we were on the waterfall trail, but quickly got away from us. It was exciting to see an exotic animal like this in the wild.

 

Waterfalls

Now it was time to boogie, in order to meet our driver, Walter, at 2:00 pm, as we had agreed. We didn't think we had time to take the waterfall trail, but we also didn't want to miss the main feature of the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, so we went for it and hoped we wouldn't be too late.

The trail would take us way down deep into the ravine. It was a very steep downward trail with many twists and turns, and it was quite a while before we got to the river and the series of waterfalls. We were grateful that the trails were built well and with good handrails. And we were also grateful that though we were in a cloud forest, it was not raining, and the walkways were not wet and slippery. It was wonderful being in the rainforest, and a little eerie too, for a while. For the longest while, we did not encounter anyone else on the trail - not until we were almost at the end.

 

Bob at the beginning of the steep waterfall trail, La Paz.

When we got to the first big waterfall, Bob stopped to make a video.

This is the waterfall he is photographing. Magia Blanca Waterfall, La Paz.

What a spectacular sight! We linger here, even though we are running late. Enjoy the video.

 

We tore ourselves away from this awesome sight and headed along the trail to the spot where we would take a shuttle bus back up the mountainside to the parking lot. When all was said and done, we were only ten minutes late. Tico time!

What a great day - I loved every minute of it!

 

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