In just a matter of a few hours, okay, maybe more than a few, I found myself in the San Jose Airport in Costa Rica.

Once again, I had the privilege of traveling with the Executive MBA students from Loyola Marymount University from my hometown of Westchester located in Los Angeles. www.EMBA.LMU.edu. If you are interested in an advanced degree, you owe it to yourself to investigate this distinguished program.

None of this would be possible without a little help from my friend, Shelley.  As the program coordinator, she is part of the staff that makes this possible for me to be a guest and travel each year with exceptional staff leadership and terrific students.

While appreciating the beautiful Pink Poui tree in front of our hotel, McDonalds did a photobomb!Where there’s a tree, there has to be a bird!  The Great-tailed Grackle’s were everywhere. They give our crows a run for their money in noise! This is the male. Our first day in the country we took a bus ride to the La Fortuna Waterfall in central part of the country. On the way our Eagle Eye guide, Berny Gutierrez was prepared to stop the bus driver for incredible sights along the way.

First up, the Three-toed Sloth. This guy was way up in his tree.Little known facts; they can rotate their head nearly 90 degrees, they sleep about 9 hours a day.  The only time they leave their tree is to go to the bathroom and take a swim, no not in the same place. Their mouth is shaped in a way that makes them appear to be smiling. I thought it just liked me! They just hang around!Another fact I learned about Costa Rica that surprised me was their export market. They now lead Hawaii in the export of pineapples.  The hanging fruit is called peach palm. You see them everywhere. They need to be cooked before they’re eaten.We did not go to the Arenal Volcano and sadly it was a little cloudy, but that’s what you see out in the distance. It’s considered a young volcano at about 7,000 years old and is still in process of building. In 1968 there was a violent eruption that killed more than 70 people in the villages below. It is continuously active today and a major tourist location along with the hot springs at the base.We were headed to the waterfall. I can assure you nearly everyone in our group made the trek down the 600 stairs to the falls and another 600 stairs back up. Shelley and I wimped out and went about 200 stairs, but it didn’t stop us from enjoying everything in this lovely area.The falls are over 246 feet from top to bottom. This doesn’t do it justice.While the adventurous where doing their stairs and swimming in the springs, I was busy with my camera. A non-profit organization collects a fee that is used to help maintain the surrounding area.

There were plenty of “bugs” to see; including this Harlequin Beetle.The Golden-orb female Spider and her boyfriend, caught up in the web.The vegetation was lush. There were a couple of varieties of the ginger torch plant, they were so beautiful, they almost didn’t look real.I’ll leave you with this French-kiss flower. Must be sweet, the ants seem to be in love!Up next, birds of course! You will just have to join me again.

Here’s a teaser… The Clay Crested Robin.Remember, the Born To Talk Radio Show is a blog and so much more. Don’t forget to check out the radio show on Monday, March 28 on www.latalklive.com from 1-2 PT

My guests are part of The Motivated Men from Dorsey High School. Listen and watch to see what these men provide to the young men in their school and community.