Costa Rica - Return from Arenal

We left the El Castillo the next morning and arrived at the dam whose construction is responsible for the lake below Volcàn Arenal. Avoiding a busload of tourists heading for a fishing expedition, we turned in the other direction to one of Coast Rica's many natural reserves. A trail led us through dense jungle,

and across a total of seven suspension bridges of various lengths and heights,

Some spanned ravines and waterfalls,

 others afforded views over the jungle canopy.

There were other tourists here too. With each suspension bridge limited to a maximum load of 15 persons, we often had to wait for a group to move on before we could cross.

In spite of the warning, we saw no spiders at this bridge,

but we did see some menacing-looking red ants carrying leaves (presumably to line their nests.) They were fast-moving and hard to photograph.

To my disappointment there were few flowers, birds or butterflies, just some lianas with curious, rather suggestive flowers.

In part because of the delays at bridges and steep parts of the trail, it took us most of the morning to complete the circle tour, and most of the afternoon to drive back to our temporary home at Atenas.