Day 1
We had an uneventful trip from Tucson to Houston to Liberia, Costa Rica. We arrived as the sun was setting so when we went for our taxis, it was dark.
As usual, Costa Ricans are friendly and helpful. We arrived at our hotel, settled in, then met for dinner in the restaurant.
Day 2
The next morning we were already spotting interesting birds in the hotel’s extensive gardens around a big pool.
After we collected the rental cars, we went to Walmart to buy supplies and then drove to our next hotel near the Palo Verde National Park. Google said the park is temporarily closed. We tried to check into it but no one can give us a definitive answer so as a consolation we are taking a guided boat ride with lunch into the park on the Bebedero River.
We spent the afternoon on the extensive grounds of our hotel birding and admiring monkeys in the trees, aguotis, many interesting birds, and nearly tame deer. Adjacent to our hotel is a bird sanctuary filled with very noisy toucans and parrots.
The list of birds I saw today includes: squirrel cuckoo, Rufous-backed wren, clay-colored thrush, Hoffman woodpecker, white lores gnatcatcher, cinnamon hummingbird, social flycatcher, scissor-tailed flycatcher, and an orange-fronted parakeet. The more experienced birders saw even more birds than me.
We had a delicious dinner in the hotel restaurant tonight. I had a dish called “casado” which means “married”. I had grilled fish, rice with black beans, plantains, salad, and fried cheese. It was filling and tasty. The flan was excellent.
Back in our room, we made an attempt to get organized for tomorrow’s adventures and went to sleep early.
Day 3
Today we took a fantastic boat ride with Blue Pass Tours. We drove to the river and stopped once for birding at a series of ponds. I took a good photo of a wood stork flying overhead.
At the river location, we ate a good lunch and then met our guide, Gustavo. He was leading another tour of Americans and we kind of added ourselves to their tour. He was very knowledgeable and showed us many birds and other animals.
We saw an anteater sleeping in a tree, many crocodiles, howler monkeys, iguanas, lizards, and so many birds.
Today’s bird list includes: long-tailed manikin, green kingfisher, black-headed trojan, orange-chin parakeet, Inca dove, red-billed pigeon, green-breasted mango, mangrove swallows, cattle egret, wood stork, greater kiskadee, crested caracara, grooved-bill ani, tropical kingbird, black-necked stilts, little heron, great blue heron, bare-throated tiger heron, black-crowned night heron, Muscovy duck, and turkey vulture.
Day 4
We took a very pot-holed and bumpy road to Santa Elena after recent flooding rains. We arrived in touristy but still cute Santa Elena and checked into our hostel. There’s a reason young people stay at hostels. Two of the five beds in the room were bunk/loft beds. The windows don’t close and the towels are pathetic. We didn’t have a/c and there was no hot water. Most of the hotels I stayed in in Africa were far better.
So, okay, I got myself a room for $33/per night. We had a fun afternoon exploring the town, eating lunch at Sabor Tica, and sharing a big pizza for dinner at the Quetzal Hotel. We went to bed early to be ready for our 6:30 am meeting time with our guide Jason.
Day 5
We found our guide just fine at the CASEM Artists Coop in Monteverde. Nothing looked familiar to me from my first stay here in 2006.
Right away, before we even left the parking lot, we spotted numerous birds, including the motmot, which we had seen the day before at our hotel.
After a bit of birding, drinking coffee, and chasing monkeys away from our food, we decided to visit the Curi Canchas Reserve to maximize our chances of seeing the crown jewel of birds in Latin America: the Resplendent Quetzal. Jason led us 5 minutes away on his motorcycle and we paid the entrance fee, then headed up a wide trail into the cloud forest.
After days of drenching rain, we were so lucky to have clear, mostly sunny weather. Anyone who’s been here longer than us has long, dreadful stories about the rain.
We started to spot birds right away. Or really I should say Steve and Jason were spotting birds both by listening to their calls and seeing birds. I saw lots of them with plenty of coaching from Jason. He had a telescope on a tripod and he was a master at locating the birds. There were perhaps 15 groups of birders there and the guides all helped each other out, letting the others know exactly where they saw which birds.
Jason also managed to keep a list of birds seen for us on eBird and before we even parted, he had shared the book with us. Amazingly, we saw 31 birds INCLUDING the Resplendent Quetzal. It was extraordinary.
Quetzals eat avocados and wild avocado trees are massive but covered with small fruits. Quetzals eat two or three at a time, then spit out the pits. The main symbol and currency of Guatemala is the quetzal, but unfortunately, Guatemala let the old-growth avocado trees get cut down so it is much easier to see a quetzal in CR than in Guatemala.
We spent till about 11 am walking and birding, and frankly, we were all tired out so the tour was over.
We said goodbye to Jason and visited the Colibrí Café (hummingbird cafe) at the entrance to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. They had about 6 feeders out and there were probably 30 birds buzzing around us, ignoring us, bickering, then flying to the roof of the gift shop.
After an afternoon of travel planning, and picking up clean laundry, we returned to Sabor Tico for another good meal.
Tomorrow we pack up and the true birders are off to the south for two stops while Linda and I plan four glorious nights in La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano National Park.
Day 5
Linda and I split off from the other three in our group to spend four consecutive nights at the same hotel in beautiful La Fortuna by the Arenal Volcano. We took the long, but mostly smooth road to La Fortuna and arrived at lunchtime.
We were delighted by the improvement in our accommodations. Our room is brand new and we have a balcony overlooking the Arenal volcano. The pool seems nice and the grounds are a treasure trove of bird-watching opportunities. A beautiful river literally runs through the property.
After we settled in, we drove toward the town and stopped at a walking path to see sloths, birds, and exotic plants. It was a huge success. I saw a huge sloth and a sort of toucan!
We ate a yummy dinner in town and drove by the hotel we’ll stay in when we visit next week.
Back at the hotel, we made our plans for the three days we’d spend here.
