Costa Rica November 2017

This is the first chapter in a book I hope spans numerous years and many adventures. The experience of travelling to Costa Rica will be with us forever and these photos will help remind us and allow us to share our time with others.

Travelling from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Liberia, Costa Rica was a simple, relatively uneventful direct flight with Westjet Airlines. Our flight was booked to depart Calgary a little before midnight but was delayed 30 minutes or so due to radio difficulties. The passenger sitting beside me was eager to share that he and his wife have been travelling to Costa Rica every winter for about 10 years now. They have been staying and renting in the same area close to Tamarindo and are excited to be returning once again.

Even though our flight was delayed a Vamos Rent-a-car agent was waiting for us as we cleared customs and made our way outside. We had booked renting a vehicle with this company prior to leaving Canada. After reading a lot of information and reviews about rental companies I was a little worried about renting a vehicle in Costa Rica. Many hours of research was put in before choosing Vamos Rent-a-car. This company was professional and helpful from the moment we arrived until we returned the vehicle the night before our early morning departure. There were never any surprises; everything was exactly like their website explained. The agent was polite, helpful, honest and a pleasure to deal with. They also provided a great road map and a cell phone ($5 per day) with an app called “WAZE”, it also had unlimited local calls and incoming calls. The WAZE app is a must have, for traveling independently in a vehicle as Costa Rica roads are not well signed and experiencing scenic detours (getting lost) is a reality.

With map and cell phone in hand we started up our 4×4 vehicle and headed towards Monteverde, Puntarenas. We traveled a portion of the Interamericana highway which was paved and in relatively good condition. We stopped in a small community “Canas” as we noticed a grocery store just off the highway.

We planned to prepare and cook our own breakfasts and lunches during our trip. As I was grocery shopping, Dan watched our supplies and vehicle while thumbing through the Costa Rica Lonely Planet book we brought along. He found we were just around the corner from a little “soda” (restaurant) called “Soda Los Antejitos”, highly recommended in the Lonely Planet as a place to stop for lunch. The recommendation was right on, even though the staff did not speak English and our Spanish is like a game of charades we had an excellent meal and the two of us ate for about $12 US.

We continued following the Interamericana highway for a while as directed by the “WAZE” app. Once we turned off the highway the road climbing up towards Monteverde became gravel, very rough, narrow and slow going. We sometimes had to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid some exceptionally large pot holes. Without too much difficulty we were able to locate “Finca Balbi”, (Farm Balbi) our accommodations for the next few nights.

We checked into our first ever AirBnB. We stayed with Oscar Sanchez, the owner of Finca Balbi. Oscar’s son Larry was our contact person. Larry was extremely helpful even before we landed on his doorstep. He was easy to reach via the AirBnB website and was always prompt and willing to answer our many questions about his home and community of Monteverde. Larry greeted us upon our arrival and had us settled in our “home away from home” in no time at all. Larry provided us with a map of the area and we filled it with his many recommendations for restaurants, parks, sights to see and best areas for guided tours.

One recommendation for a great breakfast, birding and photography all rolled into one was Stella’s Bakery and restaurant. Dan and I were thrilled with the spot. Breakfast was great, the staff pleasant and friendly but the opportunity to sit on the deck to watch and photograph the bird life was exhilarating.

Emerald Toucanet

The staff explained they fed the birds every day and their favorite food was bananas. The restaurant went through about 50 bananas a day.

Blue-Grey Tanager

We liked it so much we went back several times and even started supplying some of the bananas the birds like to feast on.

Clay-Colored Robin

One day we explored the nearby Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.

We hiked most of the trails in Monteverde Reserve, only missed a couple small sections. Trails were somewhat wet and muddy. Some areas had concrete blocks in a crisscross pattern laid into the dirt. These worked well on paths providing a good surface for shoes to grip and less slippery than the mud.

We were watching for wildlife and taking in the scenery as we explored the Cloud Forest. High lights for scenery were a 3-tiered waterfall and a cool canopy bridge.

As the foliage was thick and the air heavy with mist wildlife was difficult to see. We had heavy rain at one point during the day. As we were close to the trail head and buildings to shelter in we walked there and waited it out. The rain only lasted 30 minutes or so. We were not done exploring so we ventured back into the park. The foliage was thick, heavy and wet so seeing wildlife was not easy but we were able to see a few birds and get some photos. Such as the:

Black Guan

As we were leaving the Cloud Forest we found the Hummingbird Gallery just outside the Monteverde Reserve. Unfortunately we arrive just before closing time and the light was not great for photography.

A couple days later we were able to return to the Hummingbird Gallery. What an amazing sight to see. This is a little coffee shop with several Hummingbird feeders set up on the veranda and nearby garden. I was in heaven, a cup of coffee nearby and numerous Hummingbirds flitting around and feeding. After observing them for a while it was easier to pick out some of their favorite perches for resting. They are much easier to photograph when they are sitting still. Some of the precious little birds I was able to photograph are the:

Green Crowned Brilliant
Green Violetear
Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird
Purple-Throated Mountain Gem
Violet Sabrewing

We decided a guided birding trip might be a great way to see some of the local birds in and around the Monteverde area. So, on Larry’s recommendation we hired “Freddie” a local guide and birding enthusiast. Freddie arrived at 06:30 in the morning and we drove with him in his 1974 Toyota land cruiser to the outskirts of town on Highway 605 (just a gravel road). During the course of 4 hours we saw numerous birds and even a very large Variegated Squirrel.

Variegated Squirrel

Some of the birds I was able to photograph were:

White-Fronted Parrot
Keel-Billed Toucan
Northern-Baltimore Oriole (male): a visitor from Canada

Another park we explored upon Larry’s recommendation was Curi Concha. He suggested this was the best park for a guided day time and evening walk. It is a smaller park but also not as busy with people so much easier to see wildlife. As all of Larry’s recommendations, this one was spot on as well.

As we were waiting for our guide close to the information centre we noticed a small group of people gathering around the back of the building so we went to explore. They were watching this small mammal, a White-nosed Coatimundis, (Coati, as the locals call them), a member of the raccoon family.

White-nosed Coatimundis

The walk with the guide during the day revealed a lot of information about the park and the area. The guide was a wealth of information and able to show us some sights we never would have seen on our own.  The guide also introduced us to digiscoping. Digiscoping is a buzzword for the activity of using a digital camera to record distant images by coupling it with an optical telescope.

Photos from the day time walk.

Orange-Bellied Trogon
Magenta-Throated Woodstar
Fence Line

We returned in the evening for another guided hike with David as our guide.

Photos from our evening walk:

Lime-Colored Glass Frog
Scorpion: glowing in a black light
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Stripped Pit Viper: in attack position

Well it was time to pack up and say good bye to Larry. We fueled up ($1.00USD per liter) and drove to our next “home away from home” in the Tamarindo area.  We happened to do a small scenic detour trying to locate the place but we found it with a little help from the security guard at the gate of a neighbouring property. The name of the gate is “Manatonga”. First appearance of gate and property was quite nice but as we drove up the driveway it was rather unkempt looking around the owner’s house. I was a little concerned about the 4 rescue dogs she had but they were very friendly and not a bother at all. There were also 2 rescue horses on the property that wondered around and that was why the gate always had to be kept closed. Jessa (the owner) showed us to our villa.

It was spectacular. One of the first things you saw was the door to the villa. It was beautiful hand carved wood with a large parrot in the design. The villa was only a year or so old, 400sq feet of clean, open space, marble tile floors, king size bed, A/C, great bathroom, lots of outlets, internet not so good and no dressers or closets for putting stuff away. There was also a lovely deck with an amazing view; looking over the top of the trees you could see the Pacific Ocean.

Jessa (the owner) is from Canada, she is super friendly and helpful with things to do and see around the area. She had a few recommendations of restaurants in the area to try, so we headed to one of them for lunch in Tamorindo.

Tamorindo is a small town on the Pacific coast, in the province of Guanacaste. It is a small town but lots of people, very tourist orientated. We found Nuciy’s, the restaurant Jessa recommended. She was right; the food was good, the service was great, the view of the beach and ocean amazing. It was a little expensive at $40 USD for two meals.

After lunch we drove around back roads watching for birds and wildlife. We headed north around Huacas and Salinas. All the back roads are gravel, very rough and full of pot holes at times. We saw several different bird species during our afternoon adventure and came across a pack of Howler monkeys.

Juvenile Howler Monkey

We stopped along the road and got out to watch and photograph the monkeys and birds we were seeing. While there a group of young Tico men and boys herded some cattle by us, moving them to a new pasture. Once those cattle were safe in the pen they went down the other way and brought some more cattle back to the same pen. Now their job was done so they stopped to talk to Dan.

Dan and new friends

Dan is seen here with some new friends. He speaks English and they speak Spanish but a lengthy conversation was had. A smile and genuine interest in another person does not require a translator.

Over the next couple days we continued to explore the area and travelled numerous back roads. Some of the roads were not very well travelled. One road was so desolate looking, twisting and turning through the jungle I thought for sure we were going to come upon a drug cartel’s dwelling but instead we came upon a quiet, quaint little beach with just a few people enjoying the sun and the sand.

Some of the birds we had the pleasure of photographing:

Grey Hawk
Pale-billed Woodpecker

We were also lucky enough to see another group of Howler Monkeys. We stopped to watch them foraging and playing around. As we watched the dominate male moved in the trees to be close to the road and then all of a sudden he launched himself off the tree and jumped up and over the road, safely landing in a tree on the other side. The remainder of the group followed him one by one.

Young Howler Monkey jumping the road to get to the other side

The group was much bigger then we initially thought. They were spread out and moving slowly. It seemed like one or two monkeys would jump the road, then we could hear some more moving closer and jumping too. I think we counted about 26 before we lost count as our attention was diverted by a mother monkey with a very young infant.

Howler mother with infant (under one month of age)

What a sight to see. The baby was clinging to her chest and abdomen, hanging on for dear life. She wanted to cross the road too but would not jump. So we watched her to see what she would do. Problem solved, she walked the power line to get to the other side. At one point she was right above my head and so close I could not get her in the frame of my camera. It was a special treat to see.

The group was now foraging and playing on the other side of the road without putting any hands or feet on the ground.

Well, our time in Costa Rica is coming to an end. It is time to say good bye to Jessa (from Canada) and make our way back to Liberia. We have to return the 4X4 and our flight back to Calgary leaves early in the morning. But time for one more small adventure.

Instead of taking the highway back to the city we decided to explore some more of the back roads. We had all day so we should have enough time to see a bit more of this lovely country. One of the roads we ended up travelling had several washed out sections where the concrete culverts could not accommodate the water of a recent storm. Some make shift detours were made so vehicles could get around the wash outs. Glad we were able to continue on as it would have taken quite some time to retrace our path.

Some of the birds seen:

Groove-Billed Ani
Eastern Meadow Lark: another visitor from Canada

We also explored the beach community of Playa Del Coco and this is where we saw some Brown Pelicans and terns diving and fishing for mullet (fish for lunch).

Brown Pelican diving for dinner

We had a great time in Costa Rica, met some great people, enjoyed many local foods, viewed the differing landscapes from the mountains to the beaches, and had the pleasure of watching and photographing some of the diverse bird species and wild life. There is so much to see and do but so little time. We might just have to come back.

Enough adventures for this trip, time to head home, back to Canada.

What adventure is next?