Animal Photo Diary

This page is also under construction to make the looking at cute animals more manageable for those who were overwhelmed by their loveliness.

For now, you can still scroll down, look at picks and click any links you like to see animals. Hopefully I’ll have the page more sorted soon though.

PERU and BOLIVIA

Llamas

PERU

Alpaca, Mountains near Cusco, Peru

This guy was hanging out with the Llamas

Eagle, Colca Canyon, Peru

It was very far away, but we were pretty sure we spotted this eagle type bird watching us as we stopped for beautiful pictures of the volcanoes on the way into the canyon.

Peruvian Cow, Peru

Ive said it before and Ill say it again… I like cows! Especially when I see them in a cool country like Peru…

Random bird on the road, Colca Canyon, Peru

This was a lovely memory as our group had a very enthusiastic bird watcher, who was delighted to see this bird on the side of the road. So we all stopped the van and tried to get excited too (which is pretty difficult at the altitude there)

Condors, Colca Canyon, Peru

Most people who visit the Colca Canyon get up really early to see these massive birds exercising on the thermal air currents in the mountains.

They glide around like big turkeys while we try and get a good snap. Its really difficult with a hand held camera!!

There are different types, which you can tell by the colour of their faces. All are difficult to photograph though…

If you are lucky, they might land on a rock. Then you really see that they look like big turkeys.

Alpaca, Colca Canyon, Peru

I think this is a type of Alpaca also… sometimes its hard to spot which is which.

Alpaca, Colca Canyon, Peru

Baby alpacas have the super soft wool, and are really cute too.

Vicuñas, Colca Canyon, Peru

Vicuñas are the slightly smaller, pretty ones when looking for llamas in Peru.

They are more rare than the Alpacas or Llamas and are very shy, so we were lucky to see this small herd on our drive into the mountains.

Vicuña wool is also really soft and one of the more expensive materials to buy.

Red headed bird, Nazca, Peru

The hotel we stayed in was full of these colourful little lovelies…

    

Cheeky fella, Nazca, Peru

These birds would chase the pretty red ones away

Funky little dog, Lima, Peru

I couldn‘t not take a picture of this little dude wearing Peruvian dress!

 

 

 

Torogoz, San Andres, El Salvador

Hooray. My favourite El Salvadorian bird came to hang out with us at this beautiful Mayan ruin also. If you haven’t read my earlier post, this is the El Salvadorian national bird and is my favourite due to being lovely and colourful and having a wiggly bottom tail. This one was having a much on a Mayan piramid.

Butterfly, San Andres, El Salvador

The ruins here have some pretty wooded areas and plants attracting more wildlife like this little dude.

Nesting Yellow Bird, San Andres, El Salvador

Awesome birds seem to like hanging out at Mayan Ruins. I guess I would. This one had a pretty cool nest going on in her tree.

Little toady frogs, Playa El Zonte, El Salvador

These little fellas were hanging out at the beach this time too. I spent ages photgraphing them and getting real close before someone told me they were poisonous. Yay.

Weird crazy bug things, El Zonte, El Salvador

I was so upset to go to my favourite beach and find it covered in these things!! Apparently they come every year at the beginning of May, live for one day and then die all over the beach. Some totally crazy people eat them like popcorn!! I just spent a lot of time screaming and running away from their corpses. These are not my hands!!

Yellow Bird having a clean, Pico Bonito Lodge, Honduras

I don’t know what it is but it looks cute and fluffy while it’s having a prune.

Hummingbirds, Pico Bonito Lodge, Honduras

The gardens at the lodge are beautiful. We saw several lovely things there, but this is my best picture of some hummingbirds hanging out.

 

Brownish bird, Pico Bonito Lodge, Honduras

Don’t know what it is but it’s nice. The gardens here were so nice and we got to share breakfast with a lot of cute creatures.

Torogoz, Copan Ruinas, Honduras

I was also very happy to see lots more of my favourite bird at Copan too.

Here’s one having a sing…

Red Mackaws, Copan Ruinas, Honduras

Red Mackaws are the national bird of Honduras and I think they might be the most stunning. They are considered endagered, but there is a project doing a lot of work to try and help them breed and release them into the wild in Copan. One great thing about this is that when you visit the ruins you also get to see lots of the beautiful colourful birds too. Here is a link to the details of the project on tripadvisor… http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g292022-d1723676-r144426738-Macaw_Mountain_Bird_Park_Nature_Reserve-Copan_Copan_Department.html

They are quite shy so my photos aren’t great, but you can still see how pretty they are.

Cute birdie couple…

Torogoz, Lake Jojoa, Honduras

This is the El Salvadorian national bird and I was over the moon to see one in Honduras. Super colourful and with a long wiggly tail, they are a wonderful thing to see, especially at 5am when you are thinking about bed. Worth getting up for.

Lonely Pig, Aramecina, Honduras

This is one of the hottest places I have ever been. This pig was wandering about town with nowhere in particular to go. I imagine someone ate him quite soon after this shot was taken

Green Butterfly, El Volcan Boqueron, El Salvador

The plants and flowers around this area are truly stunning and full of colour. This is the first butterfly I´ve ever seen that disguises itself as a leaf – clever thing.

Really Big Iguana, Jardin Botanico, San Salvador, El Salvador

I think this one might win the competition for the biggest, scariest iguana there is. These big beasts are just roaming around in the park for anyone to get eaten by.

Iguana, Jardin Botanico, San Salvador, El Salvador

About to run…

Fish, Jardin Botanico, San Salvador, El Salvador

We fed the fish too. This big fish was enjoying a munch.

Turtles/ Terrapins, Jardin Botanico, San Salvador, El Salvador

I was disappointed not to see turtles in Tortuguero, but at least I got to see some in the park in El Salvador.

We bought food for them in the park. Not sure if that was the right thing to do :-/

This doesn´t look like much but it is two turtles having a bit of a you know… (Making a baby turtle)

Turtle eyes

 

Fed up with having my photo taken now.

 

Big Iguana, Jardin Botanical, San Salvador, El Salvador

See what I mean – the iguanas here are really big and hardcore, with spikes and everything.

This guy isn´t scared of anything.

 

Iguana, Jardin Botanical, San Salvador, El Salvador

Is it me, or do the iguanas in El Salvador look meaner than the costa rican ones?

“I´m ready for a fight”

 

The lesser spotted Bobby, El Progresso, Honduras

Ok you could argue he´s not a wild animal. He is indeed the pet dog of some friends in El Progresso, but he is super cute!

Fat Pigeon, Playa El Zonte, El Salvador

Here is a suprisingly cute and fluffy pigeon. He came and sat with me after a crazy night sleeping in a hammock.

Howler Monkey, Tortuguero, Costa Rica

I feel I have to finish my Costa Rica part of the diary with another porno monkey. Hooray for Howlers showing their balls to tourists.

Howler Monkey, Tortuguero, Costa Rica

The journey out of Tortuguero was eventful because there was very little water in the river to get the boat out. The suddenly the rain came. I caught this monkey trying to eat his lunch while it poured down. He didn´t look too happy about it.

Yellow Bird, Tortuguero, Costa Rica

I was spending the afternoon writing by the waterside when I got this snap.

Small Green Lizard, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

Another amazing spot from our guides. I think we´ll all agree that this lizard has brillant feet.

… and red eyes, which I didn´t realise until I saw these photos again on a computer.

Caiman, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

These are also very difficult to spot, but the guides have super hero vision for this kind of stuff.

The man in the boat next to me when we saw this caiman was so scared he nearly pushed his wife in the water in a panic, as if she was a sacrifice to save the rest of the boat. The caiman just sat perfectly still for the whole episode. They are quite small really.

Heron, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

I saw the same heron hanging out in the same place on both tours I did in Tortuguero. Sadly a bit over exposed due to us having lots of sun that day.

Looking for a munch.

Bright green lizard, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

He was so so green and looks very much like a dinosaur.

He had such an incredible back and tail.

Fat Iguana, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

I´m amazed whenever guides  spot creatures like this because they are so well camoflagued, but I loved this cute fatty enjoying some morning sun.

Almost like he knows we´re taking photos, he starts to look a bit disgruntled and gives his best “I ate the last tourist that photographed me…” face.

He stares straight at us and we leave…

Howler Monkey, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

Just when you think your going to have a day without seeing a monkey in Costa Rica, a large family of them comes along to have lunch in a tree near you.

Moorhen type bird, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

There are lots of these in Tortuguero. They are like the ones in London, only prettier and they always hang out with a partner it seems. This one´s girlfriend was just around the corner.

Snoozing bird, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

This was during my afternoon boat trip so a lot of the birds were sleeping. It was a very peaceful time of day to visit the park.

Tiger Heron, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

This was a bit of a magical moment for me because it was just me in the park with no other boats and my guide was able to very silent maneouvre us around the bird in our canoe so we got really close.

   

He seemed to be vaguely aware we might be there, and a bit suspicious, but just sat really still hoping we couldn´t see him.

Sunbathing bird, Tortuguero, Costa Rica

It´s wonderful to see these birds drying their wings in the sun.

Turtle, Tortuguero, Costa Rica

I think I was just taking a random picture of a tree, but now I see there is a little turtle sitting at the bottom of it, which is cool as I sadly didn´t see any turtles in Tortuguero.

Big Ass Crocodile, Tortuguero, Costa Rica

The boat ride into Tortuguero is possibly the best and cheapest part of being there, especially for seeing wildlife and pretty things. I think it was only 4 pounds. There are lots of Caiman there, but I was lucky enough to see this massive croc sitting on the side as we went past in a boat.

If he had wanted to eat us, he so could have done. There was nothing we could have done.

 

I´m going to eat you face…

 

Vulcher (I think), Tortuguero, Costa Rica

This scary dude, was the first thing spotted on the boat ride into Tortuguero. I hope vulchers never decide to take over the world, because I think they would win.

Parrots, San Jose, Costa Rica

London has scruffy pigeons roaming the streets, San Jose has scruffy parrots. These were hanging out on the walls of the teatro there.

Toucan, Dominical, Costa Rica

Also spotted first thing in the morning in a tree just outside of the Spanish school. Awesome way to start the day.

Scarlett Mackaw, Dominical, Costa Rica

These are not great pictures, but I´m so glad I have them as this is the only scarlett mackaw I have seen in the wild. There were a couple of them nesting in a tree very near my Spanish School and this was the first thing I saw as I arrived (which made me love the place even more!). We think this was the male, who had popped out to get some food for the female who was with the egg. I wonder if they´ve got babies yet – fingers crossed.

Scarlett Mackaws are the national bird of Honduras, but are really quite rare there and people are working to try and get more of them in the wild. I hope they succeeed as they are stunning.

Sloth, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

It literally never gets boring to see a sloth in a tree…

    

Toucanet, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

There was a 4 of these beautiful birds living outside of the hotel we were staying in. They kept teasing me by flying across in front of the balcony with all their beautiful colours, but not sitting still long enough for a photo. I had to get up very early and sit for a long time to get these pictures and I was very pleased I did. Preeeetty.

       

Red and Black Bird, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

It´s another one of these, but they are so stunning. The red colour is incredible.

Vulcher, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

These are pretty scary looking birds.

Porno Howler Monkey, Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

I was happy to be the tourist to spot this fellow having a nap in the tree. Ahhhh, so cute, and look how relaxed he is.

And then he woke up and showed me his balls. Hooray. If anyone has been wondering, Howler monkeys are pretty well endowed.

Lizard, Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

The park is full of people desperately looking to find the next interesting species to oogle at and photograph. We found this guy due to a group of people doing just that. He was a good find for them as was very well camoflagued.

Such a graceful face.

He gave me the eye before running off.

Cheeky Raccoon, Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

Just as I was dropping off to sleep on the beach in the park a family of Raccoons came along to find out what we might have in the way of lunch for them. I only had a pair of stinky socks, so they didn´t hang around for long. A lot of people on the beach didn´t like them, but I thought they were really cute.

Spider Monkey, Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

We actually saw more in the hotel than in the park, but it was a treat to come across this family of spider monkeys just as we were getting to the beach. Shame about all the tourists screaming and scaring them away.

Lizard, Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

Love his little feet…

Black and red bird, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica I love these birds, they are incredibly difficult to photograph as they don´t stay still very long, but the striking black and red colours are stunning to see.

Bird, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica Spotted from the hotel room. This blog would be a whole lot more professional if I knew the names of the birds!

Bird, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica It was possible to just sit on the balcony of the room my parents had in the hotel and see a million different types of birds and animals. This guy posed for about half an hour

Iguana, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

This guy was sat outside my bedroom in the hotel.

Don´t think he liked having his photo taken!

Howler Monkey, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Also spotted in the hotel grounds…

He was having a siesta and wanted to show us what a man he was…

Vulcher, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Capuchin Monkeys, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Again, these guys were seen in our hotel grounds. It was an incredible place to stay.

Sloth, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica *New favourite animal!!

We stayed in a hotel in Manuel Antonio that was crawling with wildlife. My favourite moment (possibly ever) was when the gardeners called us over and we met this guy. He´s coming down the tree to do a poo! They do this about once a week, and it gave us an awesome close encounter. We watched him until he gave us a look like, ´seriously are you going to watch me do the crap as well?´and then we left him to it.

Look at his face – look at his ridiculously cute face!! I

t´s tough getting down a tree, they must have to plan their toiletting way in advance.

Sloth, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

This is a slightly younger sloth that was sat in a tree at the hotel. They had these excellent guys there who could spot a sloth even if he was trying to hide.

Faaaaace – stupidly cute, happy looking face!  

OMG – he´s yawning!!

They have pretty big claws…

Possibly a Woodpecker, Monteverde, Costa Rica

This was one of my favourite wildlife moments because it was so quiet, there were no tourists (rare in Costa Rica) and it was just me and this beautiful, colourful bird and we just kind of stared at each other for about 10 minutes and he let me take photos while he posed. He lived in a little hole in a tree with his lady bird friend, so I think maybe he is a woodpecker.

 

Bird in a Tree, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Back to birds who´s names I don´t know. I had a beautiful walk back to the village after visiting Monteverde National park and this was one of the fellows I met along the way

Hummingbirds, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Finally some hummingbirds that sat still for a moment in order to take some pics.

They have loads of hummingbirds of all colours at Monteverde, most are gathered around these plastic feeding pots.

Quetzal, Monteverde, Costa Rica

A male and a female quetzal spotted at Monteverde National park. I even know the name of this bird, because they really quite special and usually very shy so I was lucky to spend about an hour watching them. This is the female. She was very hard to photograph except through the lens of some strong binoculars.

This is the male. He has a stunning long tail. Again very difficult to photograph but the colours are incredible and I love his fuzzy head.

Arenal, Costa Rica This family were spotted at the side of the road on the way back from the volcano walk. Cue masses of tourist buses stopping at the side of the road.

Cows, Arenal, Costa Rica

Look, Im from Suffolk, I like cows OK

Red Mackaws, Tortuga Island, Costa Rica

This couple have been rescued and now live on the island. Bit of a tourist trap really, but beautiful all the same.

Pot Bellied Pig, Tortuga Island, Costa Rica

Baby pig love

Starfish, near Tortuga Island, Costa Rica

Capuchin Monkeys, Luna Llena Hostal, Montezuma, Costa Rica

Not only howler monkeys, there are also Capuchins or White Faced Monkeys in the show at Luna Llena in Montezuma. These are even cheekier and were the culprits of the cat dinner theft.

This guy followed me up the stairs when I was taking photos and sat on the laundry. He had really big teeth and was actually a little scary, so I ran away, but not before getting this pic!

Unfortunately I can´t rotate the image on this computer, but this monkey is just beautiful so I´ve included him anyway

Nom nom nom

Mummy and baby head to head

Afterwards, they went on a walk together and baby stuck his tongue out. So cute!

A lovely juicy bit of fruit I´ve got here

The classic, pura vida Costa Rican monkey pose

Howler Monkeys, Luna Llena Hostel, Montezuma, Costa Rica If you stay at this hostel in Montezuma there is a free monkey show twice a day as the monkeys come to have there lunch in the jungle just outside the seating area. Considering the dorm is 10 dollars a night so its basically the best and cheapest animal show there is in Costa Rica!

He´s found a right nice piece of fruit

Searching for berries

A messy eater

Look at his face, I mean seriously – LOOK AT HIS FACE! (cute!)

This guy is one of the more serious of the gang. He likes to talk philosophy until the early hours.

This mono looks a bit cross that I am taking a picture, I should have talked to his agent first

Cat, Luna Llena Hostal, Montezuma, Costa Rica

Yeah I know, it´s another cat and I am obsessed but I love this lady, she is so gorgeous and has to put up with monkeys stealing her lunch.

Pelican, Montezuma, Costa Rica

There are a lot of pelicans in my life right now. This chap was spotted having a rest on a beautiful early morning stroll along the beach.

Cheeky punk bird, Montezuma, Costa Rica

Butterflies, Montezuma, Costa Rica

Costa Rica is filled with colour and one of the most spectacular contributors are these chaps. Beautiful in all respects, if a little camera shy.

These were taken at a butterfly farm in Montezuma, a lovely conservation project.

Spanish word for butterfly = Mariposas – a lovely name for these creatures I think.

Red faced parrot in a tree, Montezuma, Costa Rica

Really exciting to see an actual wild parrot in a tree, that hasn´t been trained to say Hola!

Red Squirrel, Montezuma, Costa Rica

These are beautiful squirrels, dare I say superior looking to the grey ones of London town. Or maybe I am just biased towards redheads.

More cows, Big Corn, Nicuragua

“What you lookin at?”

These ones even had a cowboy and everything

Cows, Little Corn, Nicuragua Just because they are cows doesn´t mean they are not special. These were the main land animals spotted on the corn islands.

Big, beautiful carribean cow.

Howler Monkeys, Volcano Walk, Ometeppe, Nicuragua

Monos!! In a moment, he looked right at me (Picture 2)

Snake, Volcano Walk, Ometeppe, Nicuragua

It´s a massive snake!!! Amy walked over it as it was completely camoflaged on the path. It is amazing she didn´t stand on it and die and stuff. The guide threw stones at it until it went away.

Bird, Ometeppe, Nicuragua

Looks like a posh pigeon for me, but what a lovely home for a pigeon

Red faced bird, Ometeppe, Nicuragua

As always, I dont know the bird names but he´s pretty stunning

and here is his bottom….

Yellow chick, El Zonte, El Salvador

This is not an exotic chick, this is just something that crazy El Salvadorian people do to their chicks! There was a pink one too. He was camera shy.

Dead Fish, between Livingston and Seven Altares

Not really sure why Im including a dead fish in my animal diary, but there was something about this fellow that caught my eye. Perhaps its his stare…

Hungry Herons, Livingston to Seven Altars walk

Cute pig family, on the walk from Livingston to the Seven Altars.

OK so its a family of pigs and some may not consider this to be exotic, but look how cute they are – so much love amongst a bunch of piggies.

Piglet “I love you Mum” Pigmum “Feck off, Im nackered from feeding you bunch of ravenous piggies”

“Oh god, Im so hungry”

“Love you bro” Big Barracuda caught by Team Fish, Carribean Seas, Belize

Pelican in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Big Ass Sting Rays, just off Tobacco Caye, Belize.

A feline friend from San Pedro, Guatemala.

This fellow, named Santa Maria (even though he’s a boy!) joined us while we did our Spanish homework one afternoon.

More cats – San Pedro is full of them. This one was called Lucky and he had a lemonade with us.

I’m rubbish at birds – let me know if you know what this is? He was spotted in San Pedro, Guatemala.

Another mystery bird in San Pedro, Guatemala.

This little bird was having a munch on an avocado. Nom nom nom. Please get in touch if you can identify the breed.

Cute kitten in San Pedro. Everyone loves a cute kitten. This one lives at 5th Dimension veggie restaurant.

This wild howler monkey popped by to say hi while I was taking a break at the casa de voluntarios, at ARCAS.

Baby howler monkey waiting to get the boat to ARCAS. He had just been rescued from someone who was trying to keep him as a pet and had a rope around his neck. People just tie the monkeys up in their homes – it´s really sad. Hope ARCAS can rehabilitate him.

Pelican on a cloudy day in Flores

Unknown bird spotted from the balcony in Flores. I like his punk hair.