Our grand finale at Curi-Cancha – Costa Rica Day 9

After our first couple hikes in Monte Verde we were a bit apprehensive about our final day and the early morning birding tour we had signed up for. We made our way up the hill to the Curi-Cancha reserve to meet our guide, and like before, started off with some hummingbirds. This time the weather was much better though and the “hummers” were enjoying and fighting over the large verbena bushes on the edge of the parking lot. By this point we had come to expect the hummingbirds, but these were a joy to watch.

My favorite was the purple-throated mountain-gem. This little male was quite interesting to look at the entire time with lots of wild copper and green color on its chest and sides, as well as a clear white line coming off the eye. The real stunner though is when it turns to look at you. At that point you get a chance to see that purple throat and his metallic blue green cap. The color comes from the structure of the feathers, which makes it very directional. You can see the difference in the two images below which were taken only about 2 seconds apart. It was really incredible to witness.

You can see the purple-throated mountain-gem’s feathers that will form the colorful display, but they look very plain from this angle
The same bird showing off his colorful head and neck

The show from the parking lot continued though, and we ended up spending about a half hour admiring various birds right from there.There were Baltimore orioles, brown jays, and even parrots. From there we headed off into the woods to find some of the more elusive species.

Over our first few stops in the woods it became clear that we had a truly excellent guide for the day. He was extremely engaging and clearly loved spending time looking for these birds. He was always happy to answer questions and seemed to immediately know where to find every bird we saw in his massive book of costa rican birds. He pointed out a number of trogans, flycatchers, and tanagers, but I’m going to skip over all of those for now, as you have seen all those already in my previous posts. Ok fine, I can’t resist. here’s just one for you:

This little yellow faced grassquit was not happy that we were passing through his field

Now if you have ever looked into birding in Costa Rica you have surely heard of the resplendent quetzal. This bird is famous for its color and impressive tail feathers, but we had yet to spot one on our trip. This wasn’t too surprising, as they are quite reclusive. Given that we were quite surprised to hear our guide confidently check his watch and say something like “well, we should head to the avocado tree, the quetzal should be arriving soon.” We hadn’t been let down yet though, so we were happy to head that way. It turns out the quetzal took an extra half hour to arrive, but sure enough it did eventually come and sit in the avocado tree that he took us to. She was still pretty tough to get a good look at, but she definitely did look nice. The crowds of people quickly closed in and before long there were about 40 people admiring this one bird. It was pretty surreal.

The female resplendent quetzal resting in the avocado tree

At this point we were riding high and thinking that this was clearly a tour that was well worth our time. However, the guide had more in store. We continued to walk the grounds of the reserve and were treated to a couple of encounters that were even more incredible. The first was an emerald toucanet that was enjoying the berries on some of the bushes on the side of the trail. It happily hopped from branch to branch and gave us lots of opportunities to admire it. It’s a pretty large bird that we had previously only seen from a distance, so it was a very special moment.

The toucanet keeping an eye on us right back
The keel billed toucan says “Helloooo?” from far above

The second memorable encounter of the day was a lesson’s motmot that we came across perched on a branch at chest height right on the edge of the trail. It simply sat there looking for insects with it’s bright red eye, and didn’t seem to care at all that about 10 people were circled around it admiring the amazing colors in it’s head and neck, as well as the incredibly distinctive tail.

Our friend the lesson’s motmot keeping an eye out for food on the trail
Sometimes you need to do a big of preening to keep up those good looks

The Curri-Cancha reserve is different from the cloud forests in that it is not an entirely natural environment, but a former plantation mixed with some old growth forest. The result is a much more open feel, with fields and much more open views. This gave the reserve a lot more variety in the trails than elsewhere, and we had a wonderful time exploring them. After the end of our tour we even came back for another hike later in the day and explored a bit more.

A rotting stump with some crazy patterns
A strangler fig tree with the light peeking right through the “trunk”

In the end Curi-Cancha was the perfect capstone to our adventures in Costa Rica. We wrapped up the day happy and the next morning started our trip back down the mountain and to the airport. It’s an incredible country that I feel like we just barely scratched the surface of. I would highly recomment it to anyone with a sense of adventure and a desire to see some wildlife.

A golden-browed chlorophonia sitting in the mistletoe. Apparently it’s their favorite
I leave you with this very relaxed Coati

Taken 2/19/23

Santa Elana “Mud Forest” – Costa Rica Day 8

After our guided adventure in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest the day before we were looking forward to something a bit more independent at the Santa Elana Cloud Forest the next day. We may have gotten a little more than we bargained for though…

An eyelash viper peeking through the leaves

We got off to a nice start with a beautifully maintained trail. Right off the bat we glimpsed some birds and an eyelash viper relaxing on a branch only about 8′ off the trail. We continued up the hill to a tower sitting on top of the ridge. It had incredible views of the valley, but also featured a bat falcon that soared on the strong winds.

The bat falcon on one of it’s few stops on a tree

From there it was down the hill and through the woods. The trail was quite pleasant for the next mile or so and we appreciated the views of the moss covered trees, as well as the occasional bird. The wildlife was definitely more sparse here though, so I don’t have many photos to show for it.

A millipede that was also using the trail
Admiring the many vines and mosses

As we approached the furthest point on the hike the weather took a turn for the worse. The rain started to pick up and the trail got worse. For a while we simply hoped that it would be a temporary change, but it turned into an hours long slog through deep deep mud. The trail was easy to see, but very hard to follow. We spent lots of time hopping across sticks that we hoped would hold our weight out of the mud, and nearly lost some footwear when it didn’t. All the while the rain continued. In the end it was a 3.5 mile hike that took us 3.5 hours. All with little elevation to show for our struggles. It was a beautiful forest, but we would definitely recommend staying off the Sendero Cano Negro.

A forest stream that we crossed on one of a few small bridges
This is the one good bird photo I managed on this hike. Not the best
The same viper had moved just a bit by the time we got back to the start and was nice enough to pose for this shot

Taken 2/18/23

Visiting the cloud forest – Costa Rica day 7

For our first full day in Santa Elena we went right for the main attraction, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. This was the main reason we decided to visit this area, so we were excited to experience the cloud forest. Given that this area is famous for its biodiversity, especially in birds, we signed up for a birding tour for the whole morning. Unfortunately it was raining steadily when we arrived, so we knew it was going to be a bit of a slog.

The hummingbirds really were going for the feeder this morning

The tour got off to a great start at the hummingbird feeders where there were clouds of hummingbirds flying in and out to grab a bite to eat. They would yell and fight at each other and simply did not care about our presence. It was really something to feel the wind of these little missiles as they cruised by our heads. From there we headed up into the main portion of the reserve to spot some more birds.

You get one guess as to what this yellowish flycatcher was up to…

Unfortunately, that is when we realized what kind of tour this would really be. We spent a couple of hours slowly walking the trails looking for birds. We did see a few from time to time, but never got a great view of them. All the while, the rain just kept dripping down on us. I only ended up with a few really good photos, and I’m pretty sure that breakfast was everyone’s favorite part.

A violet sabrewing screaming for attention from the ladies
This black faced solitaire didn’t seem to mind the moisture

After our tour ended we decided to go for another walk along the forest trails on our own. I was really feeling the need to move around after the super slow birding tour, so we set off on a big loop around the park. The hike turned out to be lovely, though still wet. The cloud forest is certainly a different landscape than what we had seen in the Arenal area. There was moss everywhere. We saw a few more birds on our loop then headed back to our room to dry off and warm up a bit.

This collared redstart was busy hopping around the trail looking for insects
A small waterfall from a dedicated viewpoint. This one was underwhelming after all of the falls we saw in Arenal.
A scenic suspension bridge had some of the few longer views on our hike

Taken 2/17/23

Exploring Santa Elena – Costa Rica Day 6

Welcome to Santa Elena – and the second part of our trip! While the arenal area is known for the volcano, activities, and rain forests, Santa Elena and its neighbor, Monteverde, are known for their cloud forests. This area is much higher elevation, so the climate and wildlife is quite different. After getting settled in we decided to start by spending some time exploring the town. We started off by visiting the butterfly gardens.

This is one of the few photos that I managed to catch of one flying. They are fast!
Not sure what this caterpillar is, but it sure is interesting looking!
I believe this is a type of owl butterfly

The gardens were quite impressive. There were a wide variety of butterflies, as well as fascinating caterpillars and flowers. I would definitely recommend it to anyone staying in town for a few days.

A passion flower

After about an hour we headed back to our room to freshen up for dinner. We decided to spend some time watching the sun set from our room, which had an incredible view of the western sky. We could see all the way to the pacific ocean from our room. This turned out to be a daily activity for us, and the sunset was consistently beautiful.

Chilled wine and a sunset. An excellent pairing
The sunset over our pacific view

After our meal (it was great, as usual) we visited the frog pond. Its a small attraction right in town, so it seemed like an easy spot to visit that sounded interesting. Unfortunately our expectations were too high. It turned out to consist of a series of terrariums with different frog species. We did get a tour, but it was so rushed that it was practically a satire of itself. This one you could do without. At least we got to see a pretty cat?

A friendly stray cat that lives among the frogs tanks

Taken 2/16/23 to 2/17/23

Around Arenal – Costa Rica Day 3-6

In addition to the all the tours and hikes we did that had tons of photography opportunities, we also spent some time exploring the area around the Arenal volcano. One of the big ones that we were looking forward to was a whitewater tubing trip. The trip was an adventure all the way through. It started with the GPS instructing us to drive through the whitewater river, continued down the river (without the car this time), and afterwards we even saw some capuchin monkeys hanging out after we were back off the water.

This seems like a nice spot to enjoy an avocado to me

After the tubing we headed up the hill towards Rio Celeste, a river famous for its blue waters. The weather was looking spotty as we had lunch at the trail head. As we ordered we heard some other hikers describe the conditions: too much water to be that classic blue. We watched the rain pour down as we enjoyed the meal, but it cleared up as we finished. Encouraged by the break in the weather we decided to head up the trail towards the falls. As it turns out, it really was just a break in the rain, and it started raining again as we got to the falls. After a short visit to admire the raging water, we headed back down and back towards our place.

Looking down the stairs towards the Rio Celeste falls

The next day was our sloth tour. As you know by know, that was incredible, so despite the fact that the weather was marginal I was excited to get out and see some more that afternoon. We decided to make our way over to the Arenal National Park to go for a hike. The trail started off in some more open and shorter vegetation. The birds clearly liked the access to the sky, and we saw and heard a number of them flying around. The highlight on the way in was our first good look at a keel billed toucan.

A keel billed toucan looking down at us

From there the hike entered went through the jungle until we got out to an old lava flow. By that time the rain was picking up, so we didn’t spend too much time taking photos. We continued around the loop through a huge amount of mud until we made it back closer to the car. Unfortunately, the birds didn’t seem that keen on the mud either, and we didn’t see much until we were back in the more open part of the trail.

A very wet parrot

The next morning it was time to head to our second main destination – Santa Elena. The drive over started off pretty simple. We drove along the northern edge of Lake Arenal to the northern tip, then started heading back along the south side.

The northern end of Lake Arenal

We soon were off the paved road and onto dirt. From there the road steadily got worse and worse. The potholes got bigger, the road narrower, and the hills steeper. Before we knew it we were face to face with a mandatory stream crossing (it wen’t fine) and hills that were so steep that the 4×4 rental car struggled to get up the hill (we got there). Eventually we crested the ridge though and drove by a series of huge wind turbines before driving along the ridge to Santa Elena.

Taken 2/13/23 through 2/16/23

Sloths. That’s pretty much it – Costa Rica day 4

So before I get into this, yes, I know I missed day 3. We’ll get back to that shortly. For now I’ll skip ahead a day though and get to one of the highlights of the trip: the sloth tour.

As soon as we were on the ground in Costa Rica we started seeing sloth themed stuff everywhere. They seem to practically be the national mascot. However, for the first couple days of our trip we saw no sign of them. We did see one on a river tubing trip on the third day, but it was from very far away. Given that, our expectations were tempered for the sloth tour. We were hoping we could catch a glimpse of a few.

A curassow watching us from her perch in a tree over the path

We quickly discovered that we would see a lot more than we had expected as our guide pointed out the first sloth (a mother with a baby) less than a hundred yards from the meeting point. Actually getting a good look at them was a bit harder though. The sloths were quite high, and almost always obscured by branches and leaves. It was still pretty cool to see though, and the guide had a telescope that gave everyone a good look. Further through the tour there were a couple sloths that gave us a bit better look though, and one even posed for a photo.

This was pretty typical of our early views of the sloths. The green haze on the bottom is very out of focus leaves
I think he’s either smiling for the camera or laughing at a joke

As the allotted time wound down we were all feeling pretty happy with the tour. We had seen lots of sloths and had learned some fun sloth facts (apparently baby female sloths inherit their mother’s tree). So when the guide said we were going to head back to the entrance and see one more sloth, we didn’t think much of it. As it turns out though, this one last sloth was a mother sitting in a tree with her baby. This tree was quite a bit smaller though, so we were able to see them both very clearly. It was a really special moment just watching the mom sleep and the curious baby climb around nibbling on leaves. This one tree would have been worth the entire tour.

Are you awake mom?
The baby looked our way as it climbed up the branch
Just hanging out for a mid morning snack

With that it was back to the car and on our way. The tour was really incredible, one of the highlights of the trip. If you end up in Costa Rica, definitely check one out!

Taken 2/14/23

A night out with frogs – Costa Rica day 2

As you might imagine, my idea of a fun night is less about the bar scene and more about the activities. When those activities include photography, I will probably enjoy it. We had booked a guided frog tour fir our second evening in Costa Rica so that we could hopefully catch a glimpse of some of the crazy frogs we had seen photos of before our trip. Going in our expectations were fairly low, and in the beginning we didn’t get much. We walked along the trails with our flashlights looking for frogs that were nowhere to be seen and had to settle for some crickets, moths, lizards, and spiders (click to reveal) .

A cricket resting on a leaf
A beautiful moth we found on the trail. it was less than two centimeters across.
An anole watching us walk by

However, as it got darker the frogs started to show themselves. We saw a number of small brown tree frogs on various leaves before we made it to some ponds that had built in the woods to provide a habitat for some of the more interesting frogs. The highlight here was the red eyed tree frog, which was a truly striking sight.

A pair of mating red eyed tree frogs
I love the green spots on this one

After an hour and a half we made our way back to the parking lot and wrapped up the tour. In the end it was a really fun activity. I was even inspired to walk to the end of the neighborhood our Airbnb was in to do my own mini frog tour the next evening. I’m happy to report that I was able to apply my newly acquired frog spotting skills to find a couple more on my own.

I’m not sure what kind of frog this is, but he looks cozy
A savage bullfrog waiting for his dinner – another frog – to walk by

Taken 2/12/23 and 2/13/23

Exploring the Arenal Observatory – Costa Rica day 2

For our second full day in Costa Rica we wanted to explore a bit of the Arenal area without a guide, so we decided to make our way over to the Arenal Observatory Lodge and check out their hiking trails. It was a pretty easy drive over from La Fortuna and after a stop at the lodge itself (more on that in a bit) we headed out onto the trails.

A tree completely encased in moss
The Catarata Danta looks beautiful with all of the lush vegetation around
Notice how you can see right through this glasswing butterfly

The trail quickly left the manicured grounds of the lodge and led off into the forest. It was a beautiful walk – not too hard and almost completely deserted. Our first destination was a small waterfall called the Catarata Danta. After a short, steep descent we found ourselves right at it’s pool. As always, I had to get out the tripod for some photos. From there we continued through the forest for another quarter mile before the trail started travelling along pastures with amazing views of the volcano.

The view from our lunch spot. Not bad!
Just sitting on the fence and watching the cows

We ended up hiking into the afternoon, though you wouldn’t have guessed that from the mileage. It was a slow wander with lots of stops to admire the views and check out various little birds in the woods. We even stopped for 15 minutes at one point to admire the leafcutter ants hard at work. There were even a couple of small waterfalls to see along the way. All in all it’s a beautiful area with artificially good views. That was also it’s downfall though, as it didn’t feel as natural as some of the other areas we visited.

Leafcutter ants carrying their handiwork down a tree towards home
One of the side waterfalls. It’s definitely smaller, but still pretty

After the hike we made our way back to the Arenal Observatory Lodge along the road and headed to the restaurant to get some food. What we did not expect was the spectacle that was the lodge’s observation deck and it’s bird feeder. It turns out the staff puts out a collection of fruit for the birds a few times a day, and the results are impressive. I spent quite a bit of time on the deck taking pictures of the various birds that were commuting in for, and fighting for lunch. Here are some of the highlights:

Montezuma oropendola – these have a wild sounding call
Red-legged honeycreeper
Brown jay
Collared aracari – a close relative of toucans
Blue-gray tanager
Green honeycreeper
Everyone is enjoying their lunch

It didn’t end there though, as there were also a number of interesting birds that came to the various fruit trees and flowers near the lodge for a snack as well. It’s clear why this place in particular as a reputation for being a birding destination.

The rufous-tailed hummingbirds really liked the verbena
I’m not sure what this one is
A yellow-throated toucan reaching for some fruit
Maybe a warbler?
Crested guan

All in all it was a great way to spend the day. If your goal is to see lots of interesting birds and are up for a bonus waterfall, this is definitely where you should go first.

Taken 11/12/23

Our first afternoon in La Fortuna – Costa Rica day 1

This yellow-throated toucan was sitting by the side of the road as we approached the parking lot for the falls

After our morning tour of the Mystico hanging bridges we took the afternoon to explore La Fortuna a bit. First up was lunch (it was great) then we made our way to the La Fortuna waterfall. The excitement started before we even arrived when we saw a toucan sitting on a branch near the side of the road. This was one of the big name birds we had hoped to see, so of course we had to stop and take a close look. It seemed perfectly happy just sitting there watching us, so after a few minutes and a few hundred photos (don’t worry, I’m only sharing the best one) we continued on. We knew walk to the falls was not far, so we were a little surprised to see how many signs there were warning us how strenuous the walk down and up the stairs would be.

Our first view of the falls

We quickly made our way down to observation area and were immediately impressed by the falls. They are strikingly powerful, and quite beautiful as well. I had some fun taking some long exposure photos of the falls and trying to capture the power of the spray that they threw up, but after about 20 minutes it was time to head back up. The climb back up was not as bad as the signs made it out to be, but it definitely got your heart rate up!

The main falls and the field of wet boulders at the base. Watch your step!
A little cascade near the falls that had a comparative trickle of water

To round out the day we headed back to our Airbnb for a float in the pool. The wildlife sightings didn’t end there though, and we saw a few more interesting birds right there in the yard. Definitely a fitting way to end the day!

This was our lifeguard as we swam in the pool. Very attentive

Taken 2/11/23

Walking the Mistico Hanging Bridges – Costa Rica day 1

Today I’m happy to kick off a review of our latest travel adventure – this time to Costa Rica! The aim here was to not only see the rain forest, but also to check out the huge variety of wildlife that live there – particularly birds. Let’s get started!

The mist clinging to the hillsides as we started our tour

Our trip started at the San Jose airport with an unfortunate rental car adventure. The company we had a reservation with gave up our car because we were “more than half an hour late”… Not great. After running around a bit to find a last minute alternative (at a price of course), we headed out to La Fortuna where we stayed for the first half of the trip. Fortunately the Airbnb check in was much more smooth, and our place was lovely. We quickly headed to bed and woke up ready to start our trip for real.

A bat watching us from his perch over the trail
The vipers hang out in the trees and sleep during the day

Our first stop was the Mistico hanging bridges tour. This tour was really an incredible introduction to the primary forest and some of the wildlife we had hoped to see. The guide pointed out all kinds of things that we certainly would have missed, and gave us lots of great information about the forest.

One of the bridges making its way through the trees
Walking along the bridge

The hike itself was not too hard. The pace was relaxed and there were plenty of stops. It did take quite a while with all the stops to admire the views from the bridges. Though this park is known for the bridges, I would not say they were the highlight of the tour for me. They gave you a good perspective of the canopy, but there was so much going on down below that it was incredible to look around along the entire trail, both for the plant life and the animals.

This rufous motmot sat looking for bugs near the trail
An owl butterfly Caterpillar on the railing of a bridge

Costa Rica is famous in birding circles for the diversity it has to offer. I am no birder, but they were still a special sight. There were a variety of colorful visitors that we saw on the trail. We didn’t see any of the famous birds we had heard about (yet), but they were still a lot of fun to watch.

This little one was quite hard to photograph

I could keep going on for a while about everything we saw on this walk through the woods, but I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking. It was a very worthy first stop in the country and we were excited to continue the action for the rest of the trip.

Looking down the edge of the trail into the jungle
A beautiful waterfall that could have been a destination all on its own

Taken 2/11/23

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