After living here more than 6 months, we decided to make the rooftop tour of the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela. The tour was in galician, so I understood nothing. I did not think to ask for English. But it was a lovely time and only 12 euros per person.
This was a short trip for my birthday. Dinner and a walk near the light house. There is not so much to write here.
This is a nice light hike through the countryside in Galicia. You will pass by Igrexa parroquial de Santa María de Augasantas. You can see the route I followed on Strava.
This is a short hike with many small waterfalls and pools for swimming. It seems to be popular for the locals to bring their kids to play in the shallow water. It is far enough out of the way and requires a long enough hike in that it remains free of tourists.
There is a lot to see if you are in the mood for hiking. There is a forest, ruins of old mills, and you can just keep hiking up the waterfall until you run out of waterfalls.
To get to Corcovado National Park, you must travel with a guide. Costa Rica keeps their wildlife safe and their parks absolutely pristine by not allowing tourists to come unsupervised.
They picked us up early in the morning, and we traveled by boat into the park. Hundreds of tourists were unloading at the same time and I absolutely feared the worst. I am very much into private camping and long solo hikes through nowhere. The guides were well versed in preserving this semi-private experience of nature. The tour guides gave each other a little space and kept everyone very quiet. They ensured we saw as much wildlife as possible, without molesting the animals. Again any plastic containers and processed foods were confiscated. And the park was kept absolutely pristine.
The guides offered opportunities for photos when it was safe and would not bother the animals. Of course we did not have professional equipment or time to wait out the perfect photo, but I will share anyway.
These are potoo birds. Maybe my favorite of the animals we were able to see. They don’t really nest so much as camoflauge really well on the top of a tree stump. They hold incredibly still and just appear to be a part of the tree. I highly recommend a google search on these guys for a good laugh. They look a bit like muppets from the front.
I saw frogs, lizards, and ants.
I saw my very first tapir. He was so cute. It’s funny they are muddy and dirty, but still so adorable you just want to give them a cuddle.
Here is a hawk. I believe this is a mangrove black hawk. He’s regal.
Here is a white nosed coati.
And a toucan butt! He absolutely refused to turn around for the camera.
I believe this is a crested guan.
And the pigs. OMG the peccary pigs.
PigTailz 