Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a small country about the size of West Virginia, with an astonishing diversity of wildlife: five percent of all known species on earth live here. Situated just north of Panama, Costa Rica is where the continents of North and South America shake hands via a land bridge between two vast oceans, and it's where creatures from both land masses have come together over millennia. Many species from the north never migrated further south, and many from the south haven't ventured further north. Thus, this rich land boasts a variety of animal species seen in few other places on earth.

Costa Ricans are proactive and serious about protecting their natural resources; 25% of the country is now protected in wildlife preserves or national parks. It's a pure haven for nature lovers.

Lush plants grow rampantly and abundantly here, and other plants are growing on those plants. Small creatures eat the plants, and big creatures eat the small creatures. Rivers run, waterfalls rush, volcanoes spew, and waves crash on beaches. This place is a modern-day Garden of Eden.

My companions on this 2-week trip in 2011 were my daughter Jessica and my friend Julie. Our first 10 days were part of a small private bird watching tour with an excellent Costa Rican owner-operated company called Tropical Feathers. At the end of our tour, we three ventured out on our own to see two very special destinations that were not to be missed. We saw incredible birds representing hundreds of different species, and also many of the snakes, frogs, mammals, and breathtaking scenery that Costa Rica is noted for. Below are photos and insights, with trip details at the end of this section.

Violet Sabrewing

Winged Jewels

Hummingbirds live only in the New World, and Costa Rica is home to some 50 species. These fascinating birds are the world's smallest, yet proportionately they have the largest hearts and brains of any animal. Their hearts beat 500-1,200 times per minute. We saw 13 different hummingbird species, each astonishing in its beauty and diversity.

(Click on any photo to enlarge it and show the species name; click on the arrows to scroll through all photos in a series)

The aerial acrobatics exhibited by these little birds are unmatched by any other creature. They can fly 45 miles per hour, hover in midair, fly backwards, and their little wings beat from 40 to 90 times per second. Capturing a photographic image of an airborne Hummer requires a steady hand, a sharp lens, a fast shutter speed, and lots of patience! Hummers rotate their wings in a figure-eight pattern when they’re hovering in place, and you can glimpse the faint pattern of this motion in a few of the photos below.

Hummers' jewel-like colors come not from pigment, but from tiny iridescent prisms in their feathers. To impress females or challenge intruders, males raise the feathers at their throats or elsewhere to reflect light with a dazzling flash of color.

On the far left is a Volcano Hummingbird, and you can see a bit of golden color on his throat "gorget" feathers. Move to the right photo to see the same bird with his now brilliant orange gorget angled into the sun. He's about to charge a male competitor.

Hummingbirds consume twice their weight in nectar daily, and to do so they visit up to 5,000 flowers per day. Many have developed physical qualities that allow specialized access to their flower of choice. Violet Sabrewings, in the photos below, have long curved beaks that fit perfectly within the deep caverns of banana blossoms.

Red Eyed Tree Frog

Frogs

It's easy to become enchanted with Costa Rica's iconic tree frogs, even when you know many are poisonous. Their tiny size (under 2 inches), brilliant colors, bendy-floppy legs and sticky feet, not to mention their goofy big-eyed expressions, make it well worth venturing out into the humid nighttime to see.

But in the rainforest, they can be very difficult to spot. We were lucky enough to see these nocturnal comedians in a large walk-in jungle "Ranarium" (frog exhibit) at La Paz Waterfall Gardens. (More on that amazing place later)

Giant Parrot Snake at La Paz Waterfall Gardens.

Snakes & Other Reptiles

Of the 137 species of snakes in Costa Rica, 22 are extremely venomous. Fifty-five species have their northern or southern limits in this country, and 13 species are found nowhere else on earth.

The most dangerous and aggressive snake is the Fer de Lance, which accounts for 90% of snakebites in Costa Rica. Its lethal venom dissolves nerve tissue and destroys blood cells. A night hunter, it coils itself on the ground during the day – which is where we encountered it mere inches from our jungle trail, staring back at us with its glassy eye. It was so well camouflaged among the leaf litter, several in our group walked right by without seeing it. Below is a photo of the one we saw, along with another from a serpentarium we visited later in the trip.

Another lethal snake we encountered alongside a trail was the Eyelash Pit Viper, named for the protrusions above the eyes. Again, a photo of the one we saw and another of one safely behind glass. I won’t apologize for the first being out-of-focus: at the time, it just wasn’t a good idea to hang around composing a shot within striking range.

More Birds

I'm in awe of nature photographers, especially those who capture great photos of birds. It's not an easy task. You might think that after spending two weeks in Costa Rica, looking at birds from before sunrise to after dark every day, I'd have hundreds of great bird photos to post. After all, it didn't rain too much, and I was using a perfectly adequate Canon SLR camera with a variety of excellent lenses.

What I discovered was this: birds in the tropics live in trees - thick wet jungly trees with lots of leaves and branches - and birds like to hide among them. So I often ended up with twigs and fronds in sharp focus and my subject a disappointing out-of-focus smudge.

Also, birds like to perch high up in their trees, and when one does decide to hop out onto an exposed branch, you're usually shooting straight up into the glare of the sky which results in a backlit bird against a too-bright background.

Below are four of my "less-than-National-Geographic-quality" photos: a Toucan and a Toucanette playing "Where's Waldo" among the leaves, a Tanager "bird in the bush", and a Resplendent Quetzal (the gorgeous bird that some birdwatchers come from distant parts of the globe specifically to see) who refused to turn around for an entire hour while I squinted at him through my viewfinder and waited).

Below is a slideshow of some of the more cooperative birds I saw.
(Click in upper left corner of photo below to play; bird names are in lower left corner)

Notes About Birdwatching

Did I mention that the first part of this trip was a dedicated "birdwatching trip"? For the uninitiated (which I was), this was the protocol:

You get up before dawn so you can drag yourself to the right place to greet the day as your new feathered friends begin to emerge.
You bring your binoculars, a spotting scope if you have one, and your Sibley bird book to help you identify species.
You stand with your group in one place while your guide helps you look for birds. Much of the time, you're looking straight up into the trees. No coffee is available here.
You realize that most birds are very small and they like to hide in very thick foliage.
If a bird is seen by someone, you exclaim appreciatively with a hushed voice and offer useful comments like: "I think that must be a juvenile female taffy-tufted titmouse, judging from her coloration that's more drab than the adult male of the species."
You continue to stand in that one place looking up for another hour or two. Your neck starts to hurt. You really wish coffee was available.
Sometimes you move to a new location to try to see more birds.
You return to your lodge at noon for lunch and a shower.
In the afternoon, you go to another place and stand around looking for more birds.
After sunset you go back to your lodge for dinner, but sometimes the lodge has to keep your dinner warm until quite late - because the group is just having too much fun birding to return at the scheduled time.
After dinner, just about the time you'd like to go to your room, take some Advil for your aching neck, and relax with a good book, the group begins the serious business of documenting the day's bird discoveries (this takes an hour or two). Multi-page documents are pulled out, listing the names of all birds one might see in Costa Rica, along with check boxes. There's an animated discussion about who saw what and where. Was it a male or a female? Juvenile or adult? Did you really see it or merely hear its song? Was it a Band-Backed Wren or a Black-Bellied Wren?
You record each bird on your list if you saw it, but I suspect some people cheated. (Jessica, who never cheats, personally spotted a grand total of 308 different bird species here in Costa Rica. They're all listed in the appendix at the end of this section.)
And THEN, the group heads back out into the night with flashlights to try to spot owls and other nocturnal birds. I have no idea what they saw because I was comatose in my bed.

This is what birdwatching looks like:

Scenery and Greenery

Just 175 miles wide by 300 miles long, Costa Rica offers a wide variety of climates, terrains and spectacular landscapes, including steamy tropical lowlands, white sandy beaches, temperate plateaus, as well as cool forested mountains. Lush rain forests and beautiful flowers are abundant.

Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal

Of the seven active volcanoes in Costa Rica, Arenal Volcano erupts most frequently. It's a spectacular sight from any angle, with clouds of smoke and ash frequently puffing from the top. Our first glimpse was on a four hour ride from Braulio Carillo National Park to the town of La Fortuna, where we picked up our Suzuki stick shift 4x4 rental car. The volcano was draped with a lush green cloak on one side, but driving around it to where our lodge was located revealed barren slopes where more recent eruptions had taken place. We found our lodge down a 9 km rocky road, its bungalows built into a hillside with postcard-perfect views of the volcano in the near distance.

This 27,000-acre national park features the Arenal Observatory Lodge, built in 1987 as a Smithsonian Institute scientific research station (mobbed by scientists when there's an eruption); it's situated just over a mile from the volcano. There's also a volcano museum and trails nearby, and it's a great place to observe this magnificent sleeping beast. We also visited Arenal Hanging Bridges, situated in a glorious primary rainforest with 15 suspension bridges that take you high into the canopy. We walked with a guide and learned about the different ecosystems of the rainforest, while observing many exotic plants, trees, mammals, birds, insects, snakes, and howler monkeys, all in a green wonderland of tropical beauty.

The Peace Lodge & La Paz Waterfall Gardens

The last days of our trip were spent at a very special destination lodge, on the grounds of the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This amazing property features five waterfalls, hiking trails, bridges and catwalks traversing the often steep terrain. There's a huge aviary with 40 species of birds, rescued Costa Rican mammals including marmoset monkeys, two-toed sloths, Capuchin (white-faced) monkeys, black-handed spider monkeys, Jaguars, pumas, ocelots, jaguarundis and margays. There are stunning gardens of orchids, heliconias and bromeliads, an insect exhibit, and a butterfly observatory featuring psychedelic Blue Morphos. You can hand-feed exotic wild hummingbirds twice a day. There's a Serpentarium featuring 30 of the most beautiful and deadly snakes in Costa Rica. And lastly, there's a "Ranarium" (frog exhibit), which you must enter with a guide at night because they're nocturnal. He illuminates these tiny colorful creatures with his flashlight, and because they're free to roam (hop), they are also free to plop onto your head. Some of the frogs are Poison Dart Frogs, and our guide cautioned that if we happened to touch one, we shouldn't then touch our eyes or mouth - because their poison is on their skin.

Map of the Peace Lodge & Waterfall Gardens property

Below are photos of a few creatures we saw at La Paz,
but my photos of the hummingbirds, snakes, frogs and flora we saw there are included in previous sections.

Trip Details

Itinerary

The Costa Rican tour company we used, Tropical Feathers, did an excellent job with the birdwatching portion of this trip. Our guide Noel Urena (who owns the company) pre-arranged all our accommodations, transportation, and activities, according to the group's specific preferences. He's a well-educated and passionate birder, excellent photographer, and has a witty sense of humor (ask him to call you on his banana phone when you're on the road with him). He even took us to his home one afternoon, and made sure everyone's needs were met throughout the trip. We were transported to all our destinations in a very comfortable modern van with a helpful and considerate driver.

Our days while on the tour were mostly devoted to birdwatching, which meant that our lodging was chosen for it's location near or in birding hot spots. While comfortable for the most part, some of our accommodations were quite basic and/or rustic in order to keep costs down and also to immerse us in nature.

On the 10th day of our trip, Jess, Julie and I left the birdwatching group and headed out on our own to explore two destinations that proved to be the highlights for me: Arenal Volcano National Park (which we explored with our own rental 4x4), and La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Peace Lodge.

Days 1-2

Days 3-5

Days 6-7

Days 7-9

Days 10-11

Days 12-13

Day 14

Arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica
Lodging at Bougainvillea Hotel

Carara National Park, boat trip on Tarcoles River, Tarcoles Village. Lodging at Cerro Lodge

Savegre Mountain cloud forest,
San Gerardo de Dota.
Lodging at Savegre Mtn. Lodge

La Selva Biological Station, Parque Nacional Braulia Carrillo.
Overnight at La Selva Station

Arenal Volcano area, Arenal National Park
Lodging at Linda Vista Lodge

La Paz Waterfall Gardens area.
Lodging at The Peace Lodge

Depart from San Jose

Lodging

The Hotel Bougainvillea in the capital of San Jose was the perfect spot to begin our trip, with very comfortable rooms and delicious local food. Wandering the hotel's tropical gardens with many colorful birds was a good taste of what was to follow.

Hotel Bougainvillea

Savegre Mountain Lodge is in the cool cloud forests of San Gerardo de Dota, near the home of the Resplendent Quetzal. The beautiful grounds were overrun with vibrant flowers and brilliantly-colored birds. Hummingbirds zipped between feeders on the patio, posing (just for a nanosecond) for photographs. Rooms were rustic but comfortable, and with an on-site spa and nature trails, it was a nice place to stay.

Hotel Linda Vista is in a gorgeous setting within Arenal Volcano National Park. More of a lodge than a hotel, it's situated several miles from the town of La Fortuna, down a long and bumpy dirt road. But the grueling ride to get there is rewarded with breathtaking views of Arenal Volcano and lake Arenal from our guest room and the restaurant.

Hotel Linda Vista

Cerro Lodge is a cluster of rustic bungalows arranged along a hillside. My favorite feature was our "private" bathroom: when we opened its door, we found ourselves outside! Yes, it was mostly enclosed by a bamboo fence, shrubbery, and a partial roof over the toilet, but when Nature called, we truly experienced Mother Nature! Fortunately, we encountered few mosquitos during this January trip. Meals were served al fresco on a broad covered patio.

We stayed 3 nights at La Selva Biological Station, a research site run by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS). University students and scientists come from around the world to study the unique flora and fauna here, and we stayed in the same rooms they use, mostly clean but spartan with hard cots, small scratchy towels, no air conditioning and dim lighting. Meals were simple buffet-style affairs, shared with others at picnic tables on an open-air verandah.

But La Selva is a special place, with 1,000 tree species, 420 bird species, and half of all mammals in the country. Established in 1954, it's 3,700 acres of "Primary Rainforest," still in its original condition and almost completely untouched by human activities. As more forests are destroyed worldwide, it's reassuring to know that Costa Rica is protecting areas like this in perpetuity.

La Selva Biological Station

The La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Peace Lodge are located at 5,000 feet on the slope of the Poás Volcano, on the Caribbean side of the Continental Divide. Due to the elevation, it's both rain forest and cloud forest. It's remote here, and access is via a long windy road that's frequently rendered impassible due to landslides. The road was first constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, shortly after the Japanese invaded Indonesia and threatened to cut off the world’s supply of quinine from its quinine farms. At the time, quinine was the only effective cure for malaria, a disease then rampant in the South Pacific. Quinine is extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree and since there were many of these trees growing near the site of where the Peace Lodge now stands, Costa Rica agreed to let the US harvest quinine in exchange for the road (see photo below).

The Peace Lodge was enchanting, a true paradise and the perfect place for us to spend our last two nights in Costa Rica. This award-winning upscale lodge is called "one of the seven natural wonders of Costa Rica,” and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and over twenty International travel and nature programs. Rooms are decorated with a unique rainforest theme that includes river rock fireplaces, original art and stained glass, hand carved wooden furniture, canopy beds, and incredible bathrooms with waterfall showers that flow down over a wall of live plants. Large balconies with rocking chairs and hammocks look out over the La Paz River Valley. The lodge features two excellent restaurants serving gourmet Costa Rican specialities, a lounge, and a poolside bar.

Appendix: List of Bird Species Jessica Spotted in Costa Rica:

Anhinga
Groove-billed Ani
Bicoloured Antbird
Chestnut-backed Antbird
Dull-mantled Antbird
Dusky Antbird
Ocellated Antbird
Streak-chested Antpitta
Black-hooded Antshrike
Russet Antshrike
Red-throated Ant-Tanager
Black-faced Antthrush
Streak-crowned Antvireo
Checker-throated Antwren
Dot-winged Antwren
Bright-rumped Attila
Bananaquit
Northern Barred-Woodcreeper
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Cinnamon Becard
White-winged Becard
Northern Bentbill
Melodious Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Black-Hawk
Green-crowned Brilliant
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Common Bush-Tanager
Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager
Crested Caracara
Yellow-headed Caracara
Golden-browed Chlorophonia
Neotropic Cormorant
Shiny Cowbird
Squirrel Cuckoo
Great Curassow
Blue Dacnis
American Dipper
Grey-chested Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
White-winged Dove
Muscovy Duck
Cattle Egret
Snowy Egret
Great Egret
Greenish Elaenia
Mountain Elaenia
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Coppery-headed Emerald
Olive-backed Euphonia
Scrub Euphonia
Spot-crowned Euphonia
Yellow-crowned Euphonia
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Bat Falcon
Laughing Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Large-footed Finch
Yellow-thighed Finch
Slaty Flowerpiercer
Black-capped Flycatcher
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Golden-bellied Flycatcher
Grey-capped Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
Panamanian Flycatcher
Royal Flycatcher
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Streaked Flycatcher
Yellowish Flycatcher
Magnificent Frigatebird
Purple Gallinule
Slate-throated Gnatcatcher
Great-tailed Grackle
Blue-black Grassquit
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Lesser Greenlet
Black-faced Grosbeak
Ruddy Ground-Dove
White-eared Ground-Sparrow
Black Guan
Crested Guan
Barred Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Grey Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Roadside Hawk
White Hawk
Black Hawk-Eagle
Green Hermit
Stripe-throated Hermit
Boat-billed Heron
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Little Blue Heron
Tricoloured Heron
Green Honeycreeper

Red-legged Honeycreeper
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Scintillant Hummingbird
Steely-vented Hummingbird
Stripe-tailed Hummingbird
Violet-headed Hummingbird
Volcano Hummingbird
Green Ibis
White Ibis
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Northern Jacana
White-necked Jacobin
Tropical Kingbird
Amazon Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Ringed Kingfisher
Great Kiskadee
Double-toothed Kite
Grey-headed Kite
Swallow-tailed Kite
White-tailed Kite
Southern Lapwing
Great Green Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Mallard
White-collared Manakin
Green-breasted Mango
Grey-breasted Martin
Eastern Meadowlark
Merlin
Blue-crowned Motmot
Broad-billed Motmot
Keel-billed Motmot
Rufous Motmot
Turquoise-browed Motmot
White-throated Mountain-gem
Lesser Nighthawk
Short-tailed Nighthawk
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush
Dusky Nightjar
Baltimore Oriole
Black-cowled Oriole
Orchard Oriole
Chestnut-headed Oropendola
Montezuma Oropendola
Osprey
Spectacled Owl
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Orange-fronted Parakeet
Sulphur-winged Parakeet
Brown-hooded Parrot
Mealy Parrot
Red-lored Parrot
White-crowned Parrot
White-fronted Parrot
Yellow-naped Parrot
Common Pauraque
Brown Pelican
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Ochraceous Pewee
Tropical Pewee
Black Phoebe
Band-tailed Pigeon
Pale-vented Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Rock Pigeon
Short-billed Pigeon
Black-bellied Plover
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer
Pied Puffbird
American Pygmy-Kingfisher
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant
Resplendent Quetzal
American Redstart
Collared Redstart
Violet Sabrewing
Black-headed Saltator
Greyish Saltator
Streaked Saltator
Sanderling
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Thrush-like Schiffornis
Variable Seedeater
Nicaraguan Seed-Finch
Thick-billed Seed-Finch
White-throated Shrike-Tanager
Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Siskin

Western Slaty-Antshrike
Orange-billed Sparrow
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Stripe-headed Sparrow
Pale-breasted Spinetail
Roseate Spoonbill
Wood Stork
Blue-and-white Swallow
Mangrove Swallow
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
Grey-rumped Swift
White-collared Swift
Black-and-yellow Tanager
Blue-grey Tanager
Carmiol's Tanager
Cherrie's Tanager
Flame-colored Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Palm Tanager
Passerini's Tanager
Plain-coloured Tanager
Silver-throated Tanager
Spangle-cheeked Tanager
Summer Tanager
Green Thorntail
Clay-coloured Thrush
Mountain Thrush
Pale-vented Thrush
Sooty Thrush
Wood Thrush
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
Great Tinamou
Black-crowned Tityra
Masked Tityra
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Slaty-headed Tody-Flycatcher
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Keel-billed Toucan
Yellow-eared Toucanet
Ruddy Treerunner
Black-headed Trogon
Black-throated Trogon
Slaty-tailed Trogon
Gartered Trogon
Tyrannulet, Torrent
Tyrannulet, Yellow
Brown Violetear
Green Violetear
Brown-capped Vireo
Mangrove Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Yellow-winged Vireo
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-cheeked Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Buff-rumped Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Flame-throated Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Mangrove Warbler
Whimbrel
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Willet
Black-striped Woodcreeper
Cocoa Woodcreeper
Spot-crowned Woodcreeper
Spotted Woodcreeper
Streak-headed Woodcreeper
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
Violet-crowned Woodnymph
Acorn Woodpecker
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Chestnut-coloured Woodpecker
Cinnamon Woodpecker
Golden-naped Woodpecker
Hoffmann's Woodpecker
Pale-billed Woodpecker
Red-crowned Woodpecker
Rufous-winged Woodpecker
Grey-necked Wood-Rail
Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
White-breasted Wood-Wren
Band-backed Wren
Black-bellied Wren
House Wren
Ochraceous Wren
Plain Wren
Riverside Wren
Rufous-and-white Wren
Rufous-breasted Wren
Rufous-naped Wren
Stripe-breasted Wren
Timberline Wren
Lesser Yellowlegs