Finally–Rain in the Caribbean!!!

It has been raining off and on for the last few days here in Puerto Viejo and it feels great!  June and the first half of July were so dry that we were beginning to get worried.  This is the rain forest after all, and the plants and animals need the rain for nourishment.  The days are still very nice and the rain normally doesn’t start until late afternoon so we can get out and enjoy the day and then kick back and relax to the sounds of the rainfall in the evening. 

One thing that we have noticed since the rain is back is that the birds and sloths are too.  We had been commenting that the last couple of months we just were not seeing any wildlife at all but didn’t realize that it had to do with the lack of rain.  We have spotted a couple of new birds and are welcoming our regular visitors back.  Yesterday was a particularly abundant wildlife day.  We started out listening to the clucking of the toucan perching on the trees around the house and then were surprised by the momma sloth and baby that we had seen a couple of months ago.  The baby is getting bigger and more bold!  It was hanging upside down trying to grab leaves while still keeping a tight hold on mom.  We also saw another sloth chomping away on the vines that come off the cecropia tree – it was having a great time!! 

We also were visited by an Iguana in a nearby tree.  It was laying on it’s back sunning itself – catching a few rays   It was also keeping an eye out on the hawk that was circling around.  We think we have heard some baby hawks in the nearby trees so the hawk is out looking for food for them. 

Time to get back out and check out what today brings………….