Common tent-making bat

Catching up at last

A guided walk around Manuel Antonio National Park.  There was a long queue to get in, with a bag inspection to make sure we weren’t carrying any single use plastic, or food.  The guide was very knowledgeable, but wasn’t able to show us much we hadn’t seen before – that’s the way of nature, you can’t have things on order.  And most of what we saw was impossible to photograph as it was too far away, or too active.  But this bat was the exception.  It creates a tent from a large leaf by nibbling the spine to make it fold down. Usually roosts in groups, this one was clearly a loner!  I did get some nice photos of plant and fungal life – they’re easier to photograph as they don’t keep moving around.

At the end of the guided walk we were set loose to do our own thing.  Some went to the beach to swim, some did more walking on the trails.  We did a combination.  We followed trails to the second beach.  Then sat for a while just soaking up the peace.  I paddled briefly, but on that beach the steep slope created a strong undertow that made keeping balance even at the water’s edge quite a challenge.  We saw a couple of iguanas – not sure if they were both the same, just with colour variation.  And lots of cheeky white faced (capuchin) monkeys.  E told us that the monkeys used to be fed by visitors, and had become excessively tame and demanding, but since the visitors have been prevented from feeding, they are gradually returning to more natural behaviour.
We also watched some agoutis on the forest floor, and struggled to get photos as they were wandering amongst the undergrowth.

On returning to the hotel, I got a much better photo of one scavenging near the pool!