MY COSTA RICA TRIP

JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 14, 1996

It was a wonderful trip. I have probably said this each time but I swear this was the best trip I have ever been on. The group itself was wonderful, 10 of us plus 2 leaders, Dan from San Mateo and Jay from Costa Rica. We really had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and a lot of birds. Putting a bunch of strangers together under sometimes adverse conditions (like six people sharing one bathroom) can be tricky at times but we had no problems. As a group we saw 450 birds, I saw 370, from the beautiful quetzal, parrots, toucans, to small little warblers that were every color you can imagine. We walked in rain forests under hot skies and under extremely heavy rain, cloud forests, dry forests, open pasture land. We were from 9000 feet in the center of Costa Rica to sea level along the coast of the Pacific ocean. We were hot and humid, hot and dry, cold and damp, and wet and warm. We had every kind of weather Costa Rica has. They had an unusual amount of rain in one area while we were there and the road was closed by mud avalanches. We were isolated for a day but by the time we were supposed to leave a detour of two hours was open so we got out. One day the river was so close to our cabin door (five feet) that we put our suitcases up on a high shelf just in case! The people were all lovely and they take a lot of pride in their country. We met many local guides who were very knowledgeable about their country's nature habitat. Every one we met spoke some English and they were all very helpful. Costa Rica is not a third world country, I did not see anywhere near the poverty that we saw in Venezuela. Why Costa Rica? is a question commonly asked by people who are not birders or interested in other aspects of nature. Maybe some of the following quotes will help to answer this question:

In a region that is historically fraught with political upheavals and abuses of human rights, Costa Rica deserves credit for avoiding the turmoil that has scarred many of its neighbors, including Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. Costa Rica is Central America's most stable and purest democracy by a country mile; it has no army, a deep rooted respect for human rights, and well-educated people who will endeavor to make your stay a pleasant and comfortable one.

Its most striking feature, however, is the remarkable variety of flora, fauna, landscape, and climate within its frontiers. The country's national parks and biological preserves protect a vast array of habitats, covering more than 13% of the national territory, which should ensure the survival of its 850 species of birds, 208 species of mammals, 380 types of reptiles and amphibians, and more than 9000 different plant species - and that doesn't include the 1100 varieties of orchids. The country is also famous for its white water rivers and its Caribbean and Pacific coasts, with mile upon mile of varied pristine beaches backdropped by lush palms and rain forest. Some of the beaches are venues for the spectacular annual arribadas of nesting sea turtles; others are playgrounds for beachcombers, surfers, divers, and anglers.

12 percent of the country's land area is in parks and biological reserves, another 15 percent is legally set aside as forest reserves, protected zones, wildlife refuges, and Indian reserves. Five percent of all the plant and animal species known on the planet exist here, in a space that takes up three ten-thousandths of the earth's surface. The parks and reserves are showplaces for 10,000 species of vascular plants, 208 species of mammals, 850 species of birds, 160 species of amphibians, 220 species of reptiles, 350,000 species of insects and 130 species of fresh water fish.

The following is typed from the notes I wrote during the trip. I have added some points of information from the various books I have read.

SUNDAY 1/28/96 Well we are off - Joyce came by at 5:00 PM and David drove us to the airport. We had plenty of time to check in for our 8:00 departure. There are 11 of us, Dan the trip leader, Nancy, Penelope, Pat, Rosalie, Joyce all alumni of Maryann. Also Gloria, Helen, Peter, Rich, and Dean. I think we will be a good group. Nancy started off the trouble making by bringing me a "gift". When I went to Antarctica I brought some fruit bars that I didn't eat and bringing one home I gave it to her in April when she arrived in Arizona and guess what, she wrapped it up and gave it to me at the start of this trip, so thus started the giggles. I have always said it wasn't me, it was Nancy who set me up. I guess this will be another fun filled trip. We flew to L.A. arriving about 9:30 for an 11:40 departure which was slightly delayed because of "engine trouble". But finally we left, had a pretty good dinner, and I even slept a bit. I had a window seat with no one in the middle which was nice. We arrived four hours later (6:00 AM their time) at San Salvador where most of the plane disembarked. It was interesting to see the country of El Salvador as we flew over, jungle to the ocean edge as well as barren volcanic mountains, near the airport cultivated fields. Again we had to wait while they counted the drips from the engine until they finally decided we could continue on to Costa Rica. So we finally arrived, none the worse for wear but oh so groggy. Fortunately we zipped through customs and were met by John Erb who was in charge of our travel arrangements. He had a bus waiting for us - a 32 passenger bus so we each had our own seat. It was fun driving through San Jose, Cartago, and various Central Valley towns on our way to Tuis and Rancho Naturalista. Rancho Naturalista is located southeast of Turrialba, 1.5 miles up a dirt road from the village of Tuis. They keep the road deliberately poor to discourage thieves. The ranch belongs to Kathy and John Erb and caters strictly to nature travelers. Fields of cane and coffee spread out below and Irazu and Turrialba volcanoes dominate the skyline to the northwest across a vast valley. Tropical forest is steps away from the lodge. The lodge is at 2,953 feet and is in the transition zone between premontane wet forest and premontane rain forest. (address Rancho Naturalista, Apartado 364-1002, San Jose Telephone 39-7138). Latin American towns seem to have a similarity about them and Costa Rica seems no different. Very neat and nice homes are sometimes next to shanties all mixed in with businesses and lots of wild traffic. Sure glad I'm not driving. The homes outside of the city are very small, maybe 20 by 20 feet but most have nice, lush yards surrounding them. I saw very little garbage during the whole time, except in San Jose itself. As we drove I saw lots of sugar cane being grown as well as bananas and coffee. Our bus barely made it up the hill to Rancho but what a lovely place - we were greeted by lots of birds, friendly hosts and lunch. After eating we sorted out our rooms, Nancy and I are sharing - fortunately as she keeps me on an even keel and won't let me be cross and crabby. We unpacked a bit and I got a real laugh from a card David had put in my suitcase. Then we started birding around the Lodge, so many birds especially the hummingbirds, so amazing. We saw the Clay-coloured robin which is Costa Rica's national bird, a rather drab looking bird whose breeding song coincides with the onset of the important rainy season. We met out local guide, Jay and went on a short walk to discover the area and more birds. At 4:00 we walked down to the river and sat above it and watch birds (including Hummingbirds) come to the pools to bathe. What a thrill that was. A good dinner, a cold shower (no hot water) and off to bed, very tired after two days with no sleep.

TUESDAY 1/30/96 What a day! We spent the whole day birding around the area. With only time out for meals and a one hour siesta I'm exhausted, but invigorated. We had some wonderful hikes and saw so many birds. How great to see birds like the Toucan in the wild. We are in a "premontane" forest (as opposed to a rain forest) so it is very pleasant. It is humid but not hot. We go in small groups of 3 or 4 so we really see the birds. Food is great, it is a lovely area. I'm having a little trouble keeping up my journal and bird lists. Costa Rica has twelve tropical life zones which are named according to forest type and altitude. There are dry, moist, wet and rain forests in tropical, premontane, lower montane, montane and subalpine areas. Within a life zone several types of habitat may occur such as deciduous forest, evergreen forest, mangrove swamp and littoral woodland.

WEDNESDAY 1/31/96 What a day! This will be short and I'll embellish it later. We left at 5:45 AM for Tapanti National Park, a two hour drive over wash board roads. Tapanti National Wildlife Refuge is in the rainforested northern slopes of the Talamanca Mountain Range in the Central Valley. Rain varies yearly from 100 to 280 inches depending on elevation. We drove in Rancho's two jeep like vans and that was really an experience. We drove through the town of Turrialba which was in the middle of a festival in preparation for a soccer match so that was fun to see. We could see the Arenole Volcano most of the way, it dominates the skyline. It was interesting to note the villages we drove through, small neat homes and lots of people walking and biking. Some were obviously going someplace like to work but there were many women out doing exercise walking and several recreational bikers, black bicycle shorts and all, and joggers. You have to have a well educated and financially stable class of people to have time for that. We saw lots of sugar cane growing and burning, they burn the fields before they cut it, partly to get rid of the snakes. They also have large fields of screen covered ferns which they grow for export commercial purposes. Most of the fences are living fences, they cut limbs for a fence, stick it in the ground and eventually they grow. We also drove through the towns of Paradisio and Orosi where they have a hydro electric plant on the Rio Grande Orisini. We spent the day in Tapanti which is a cloud forest at 4000 feet. I just love walking in the thick jungle with all the sounds and sights - it gives me a thrill like I can't describe. I may be hot, sticky, sweaty, and tired but it doesn't seem to matter - I only remember that part if I write it down. We had a lovely lunch that the Rancho staff had packed for us, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, juice, watermelon, cookies, and popcorn. By the time we arrived at Rancho it was dark (no dusk here it is light then suddenly it is dark - exactly 12 hour days and 12 hour nights year round). Our van could not make it up the hill so we got out to walk up, the van went on up intending to send the jeep down to get us but Nancy and I continued the walk up because it was incredible. First thing out of the van we hear a Crake (a type of wood-rail) in the bushes and then the fireflies started. They are so lovely, the way they pop on and off and the stars were gorgeous. It was a lovely night walk and we well earned our dinner.

THURSDAY 2/1/96 Today we spent the whole day on the property. In the morning five of us and Dan walked up the hill and enjoyed walking in the jungle and seeing birds, trees, one snake, frogs, and lots of ants. The leaf cutters are particularly interesting. You can see their path because they kill all vegetation in their paths. They carry a piece of leaf about five times their size back to their holes to feed the new ants. It is really fun to see the Trogons, Toucans, and Toucanets in the wild, they are so colorful and big. We did a lot of hiking with about two hours off for lunch and siesta. On the way back from the last hike of the day the Crake ran out in front of me near where I heard it last night so it was fun to see it. Rancho is a great place.

FRIDAY 2/2/96 This morning Dan and I went out at 6:00 to look for the Rufous Motmot which I had missed the day before. Missed again but it was lovely to be in the forest so early in the morning, quiet with people but so many birds songs and calls. It was thrilling. I did see a few more birds and it is now goodbye to Rancho Naturalista and on to Chacons which I understand is cold. Cabinas Chacon is owned by Efrain Chacon who has lived here for 35 years having started a dairy farm and an apple orchard. The Chacon's place is in San Gerardo de Dota between Cartago and San Isidro de El General in the Talamanca Mountains and is famous for Quetzals. It was originally built as a place for fishermen as fishing on the Rio Savegre is very good. About half the Chacon farm is in primary forest at 6,890 feet in elevation. (Address Cabinas Chacon, Apartado 482, Cartago. Telephone 71-1732) I am writing this on the bus so probably won't be able to read it. We are on a 32 passenger bus which is very comfortable but the paved roads resemble wash boards to say the least and some are unpaved. It is fun to drive through these small rural towns and isolated farming areas. The people have a definite European (Spanish) appearance as opposed to the darker Indian appearance of Mexicans and some South American people. The people are dressed in usual Western style and many people are out walking for exercise with lots of bike riding for transportation. Not many people have cars so they rely on buses and there are many buses running all the time and they have many stops along roads that don't even look like main roads. Many houses are very small, maybe 20 by 20-40 feet, about 2 rooms but they look well kept with flower gardens and fences. In the small towns the homes are all in a single row on either side of the road, right next to the dust and noise of traffic. There are a few less well cared for homes grouped in every so often. We just passed a big town of Juan Vinas which is very like many hill towns in California with many homes close together sloping up the hill. The fields along the road are planted with sugar cane and coffee. The coffee fields have banana trees planted for shade which the coffee needs. Forgetting that this area use to be all tropical forest it really is quite pretty and picturesque. At Cartago we made a rest stop at ..of all places.. Macdonald's. I have been to Macdonald's all over the world just to use the rest rooms. Cartago used to be the capital of Costa Rica and is a "typical" Big City but seems much cleaner than San Jose. There is a church in Cartago La Negrita at La Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles which is the center of a pilgrimage in August, a major Costa Rican event. It is a beautiful building. After the stop we took Route #2 south which is the Pan American highway, part paved, part dirt, all with lots of pot holes. All the roads are one and a half car widths wide which makes for interesting driving, especially in a bus. (The Pan American Highway extends from the Northern border of Mexico to the tip of South America.) Along the way we stopped at a place Rich had visited before to see the Quetzal. Eddie has owned the property for 40 years and refused to sell to the loggers because he knew he had something of value. He worked on the Pan American highway after getting up early in the morning to first milk cows in order to afford this ranch of about 120 acres. Well he has Quetzals on his property and shows them to tourist for about $5 a piece, guaranteed - if you don't see you don't pay. His four sons live on the property in separate houses and they all work there showing birds and running a restaurant. They were delightful people, taking us for a long one and a half hour hike where we eventually saw 3 Quetzals plus many other "good" birds. Oscar (the son who was leading us) was so careful to make sure each of us saw the Quetzals. For a bird so large and so colorful they sure were hard to see but so impressive. It was a wonderful forest, never cut and very thick. We were glad to pay them the $5 to help support their conservation efforts. Many local people seem to be aware of the value of their preserves and advertise as such. This will surely help to preserve the land. The Quetzals eat avocados that are very much smaller than ours and they swallow the seeds which then pass through their system. One of the sons collects these seeds and paints a Quetzal on them and sells them - they are darling and we bought all he had - it will make a nice Christmas ornament. We then continued on down to Chacon's. We are at 7200 feet on the Pacific slope and the road was the narrowest, steepest, roughest road I've ever been on. At some curves we had to back up and try again. Chacon's is a lovely place, many cabins and a lovely restaurant - people come here from San Jose on the weekend just for dinner, hard to believe they would drive so far. But it has been great food so far although beans and rice have been served at every meal - three times a day. I tried it but just can't eat it - after three bites I start gagging. Eggs are also served a lot and I can't even get close to them without gagging but there has been plenty of other food and I always have my raisins and power bars if I get desperate. Nancy and I and Pat and Rosalie are in a two bedroom cabin with a small sitting room and a bath. It is very cold and damp with no heat in the rooms but it is in such a lovely setting and we all brought warm clothes so we will be all right.

SATURDAY 2/3/96 Up at 6:30 - got to sleep in today waiting for the fog to lift. We had breakfast at 7:00 after checking out all the hummingbirds at the feeder. They certainly feed you plenty. Costa Rica is not famous for its cuisine but the food hasn't been bad, not as good here as Rancho but ok. After breakfast we took off on a hike up the mountain. Dan warned us it was a hard hike but we would go slowly. It wasn't bad at all, about two and a half miles and we took 4 hours. I think he has finally stopped worrying about us. I told him that we figured that he thought he was taking 7 little old ladies and we have surprised him - he shyly admitted that we had. He is so serious he isn't always sure how to "take" us. We are pretty silly at times. The 7 women are all in our 50's and 60's and the three men are in the 40's. Dan is 39 and Jay is 29. We saw a Quetzal fly over head that was wonderful - such a long tail. I just loved walking in the forest - thick and dark and quiet with only the sounds of the forest. It was lovely. After lunch and a rest we walked along the river and eventually saw a Toucanet. They are so cute.

SUNDAY 2/4/96 Everyone reminded everyone else today is Malaria pill day! After breakfast we left Chacon's and drove to San Jose stopping along the way for a few great birds. We stopped at a grocery store to use the restroom and buy beer for the next place because they do not have any alcohol and we must have our beer. Drove through Cartago again and headed North. We could see Volcan Irazu in the distance - it last erupted March 18, 1963, the day Kennedy arrived on a state visit. Then we stopped at a Macdonald's in San Jose. The Ticos (The people of Costa Rica are referred to as Ticos because of their habit of adding the diminutive "ico" to the end of many words such as momentico.) are all so cute and pleasant to us and we are obviously not an oddity to them (like we were in Venezuela). They love their children and as I was taking a picture one lady posed her baby for me. We drove through Braulio Carrillo National Park but did not stop to bird because it has become a notorious area for robberies of birders. Assaults on tourists has become a serious problem for Costa Rica because tourism is the major industry, followed by bananas and coffee. Costa Rica does not have a serious violent crime problem but petty crimes - robbery and burglary - is rampant and growing. People have to hire guards to stay in their homes when they are away and putting bars and gates on homes is a big business and very common. Seems as if even "paradise" has problems. Too bad because Braulio Carrillo is a large, well know park which encompasses five life zones and many different habitats. We continued on to El Gavilan another lovely place with very thick forests. El Gavilan Lodge is just north of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui on a turn from the road to Guapiles. The guest ranch is between the Sarapiqui and Sucio rivers in a premontane tropical wet forest. It is near La Selva Biological Station. It is a 180 hectare preserve that used to be a cattle hacienda. They have lovely gardens and a variety of tropical fruit that they harvest for meals. We have two to a cabin, rustic but clean and comfortable. It is very hot and very humid (we are right next to a river) but we have a ceiling fan which helps a lot. Nancy and I sure are comfortable roommates and we seem to keep the dinner table rather lively with our stories and behavior. She plays the stooge to me and I can't believe how we giggle. My family would not recognize me on these trips but it is fun. I feel like a kid out of school. The guide here is a darling teenager, Eric and he took us on a hike in the forest and along the river. They keep rubber boots which we all borrowed to walk in and did we need them. The annual rainfall in this area is about 155 inches, there is no dry season here, just months when there is less rain. (The average for February is 7 inches and for December 20 inches.) We sloshed around and saw beautiful birds, Jay even saw a new one for him. He is an excellent birder and an unusually good group leader. He and Dan make a good team, each complimenting the other. Dan promised us a real hike tomorrow - we'll see. We had a good dinner and a nice visit around the table. It poured rain and was fun sitting under a metal roof in the open dinning area. There are no glass windows any place here. Our "windows" are all screened with overhanging roofs that keeps the rain mostly out (unless you are in Dean and Rich's room - their roof leaks).

MONDAY 2/5/96 "It is raining buckets" is insufficient to describe the rain in this Caribbean low land rain forest. (We had crossed the continental divide coming from Chacon.) It was almost unbelievable last night how hard and how much it rained. I wouldn't have believed it unless I experienced it. The river is 1 meter higher than yesterday. The river next to our cabin is only 5 feet below and five feet from our door - we put our suitcases up on a shelf so we'd have dry clothes when we got back. We went to Le Selva Research station which is about 1 mile from us. La Selva is the flagship station of the Organization for Tropical Studies and is known as a premier site for rain forest research. There are many graduate students doing research here and they are working with several universities, the government, and the local people to further the protection of the forest and education of the people of Costa Rica. It was founded in 1963 and is on about 1500 hectares of premontane wet tropical rainforest, much of it not disturbed. We had to have a local guide go with us in the forest, that is their way of getting local support and providing local jobs, as well as giving us protection and information. What a day we had - pouring rain but we all had umbrellas and we saw many beautiful birds, including the Motmot I missed at Rancho - what a thrill that was - such an unique bird. I saw 23 new birds today and I only need 22 more to have 1000 total world birds. Lots of people in the group talk about lifers and numbers so I might as well join in - I'm so competitive. Anyway it was wonderful walking in the rain forest, just like one would imagine it. We saw lots of other creatures besides birds, including the Helicopter Damsel Fly which is 8 inches long and endemic to Costa Rica. I think it is the largest Damsel Fly and it was beautiful, black and silver. It hovers like a helicopter. It didn't rain most of the morning and we had a wonderful time. We ate lunch on a covered deck and then rested for an hour and then birded in the afternoon under our umbrellas. In addition to birds we saw a fast moving (for him) 2-toed Sloth. He climbed down from a tree (upside down) and crawled under the bridge we were standing on and up another tree. We saw a 3 toed Sloth, 2 Coatis, some Agoutis (a large rodent), and a mother Anteater carrying her baby on her back, riding like a jockey - what fun that was. We also saw these darling Poison Dart Frogs, they are red with blue legs so the locals call them "blue jeans". We had a wonderful guide, Gerardo who was so knowledgeable and knew several secrete hiding places, we even saw an owl roosting in the trees. Eric, our young guide from the lodge went with us. He is wonderful, 16 years old, and has only studied birds for one year. He is finishing high school on his own while working at the lodge and then he plans to go to college. He is a delightful young man and I really enjoyed talking with him - he reminds me of some of my more delightful students - the ones I miss. Good dinner and nice conversations - this sure is a fun group but I must stop being so silly all the time - what a reputation I have - I still claim it is mostly Nancy who feeds me the lines, she is just quiet about it so I get the blame.

TUESDAY 2/6/96 It rained all night again - we all have stories to tell. Nancy and I have a frog in our room who jumped on our heads at night. Rich and Dean have a leaky roof, and Pat had a swarm of ants. Gloria and Helen blew a fuse and had no electricity and last night they turned off the water at 11:00 because of the excess rain and Pete was caught in the shower! Well despite all that we had a good breakfast, every meal is served buffet with several platters, always lots of fruit, beans and rice, bread, and lots of juices. Dinner has the same plus meat or fish or chicken, sometimes potatoes, vegetables, usually cauliflower or beans, and a salad. This was pretty standard at most of the places. Well we went back to La Selva today and had a different guide, Rafael who took us through a different area of the forest which included some open areas that had been cleared and had not yet grown back. They are still in the process of buying up surrounding farms to extend the research station and develop an educational center for tropical studies. It rained most of the morning but our umbrellas allowed us excellent birding. Jay continues to be an excellent guide, very knowledgeable about birds and with good group leadership skills. He is very sensitive to the needs of the group and is very patient with us. (I realize in the retyping of this how repetitive some of my comments are but I guess I was impressed with the scenes, people, and birds!) We saw more and different birds - it is amazing what a large variety of species such small areas contain, especially when compared to areas in California which is so rich itself in bird life. We also saw some spider monkeys and a whole bunch (maybe 50 or so) of coatis running through the trees, several Mothers and lots of babies. The river (Puerto Viejo which means Old Port) was really high and had covered several places we had gone yesterday. We also heard the highway out of here was washed out by a landslide so we may be stuck here. I wouldn't mind. (We later heard that the road we came on through Braulio Carrillo Park was closed by 6 mud avalanches of 1000 cubic meters each. This was an unusual amount of rain for this time of year and in a short period of time. Rancho is very much dryer but even they had 12 inches in 24 hours and the bridge to Rancho was knocked out. The road through Braulio is the only road connecting San Jose with the Caribbean coast and was still closed when we left Costa Rica on the 14th.) We came back to the lodge, had our usual beer and giggle party before dinner, a fun dinner, and then the rest went owling and I'm alone writing my notes. Tomorrow another adventure. Oh I got my 1000 life bird today, a yellow tyranulet.

WEDNESDAY 2/7/96 Another day in the rain. We drove north about an hour and walked down the road that goes to Colonia Virgen del Socorro. We spent about 3 hours walking and had our umbrellas up most of the time but we still saw some new and wonderful birds. The road was washed out in several places and we debated walking across one spot because another landslide would make it impossible to return. But, even so, many cars and trucks were coming up and down the road. Going back on the main road there were lots of trucks and our bus driver (Francisco) asked about the roads. The road we took here is closed so this was the detour they were taking to get to San Jose and the West coast. Hope we make it out tomorrow. We stopped at a restaurant, now closed, to watch the Hummingbirds at their feeders. It is The Mirador at Cinchona. They keep the feeders up and birders donate money for the sugar water. I have never seen so many hummingbirds and so many different kinds all at once. It was fun to see them close up and really identify them, but it was rather like watching birds in a zoo, it was so easy! We also stopped at Selva Verde Lodge, a rather high class place were we were going to stay but they over booked and canceled us. I'm rather glad we didn't stay there because it has 100 guests so it is crowded and it was filled with elder hostel guests and lots of buses. We did bird around there and bought our bus driver a bird book, he has become hooked. Selva Verde Lodge, Chilamate is located on a 500 acre farm and private reserve. It is beyond La Virgen near the farthest point that you can go from San Jose on this road. This road is to the north of San Miguel. We often see Barva volcano shrouded in mist or downpours looming to the south. This is the San Carlos plain which is a frontier area. The San Juan River forms the Northern border of the region with Nicaragua. On the way home we stopped in the town of Puerto Viejo for ice cream and shopping. I went to the grocery store and bought coffee for family so my souvenir shopping is done. It is a funny friendly little town about 2 blocks long, lots of men around at 4:00. It is the major town in the northern lowland area. (I later read in the newspaper that this weekend the kidnappers of those two women last January 1 had left a message with the priest in this town.) A couple of hours rest, dinner and bed.

THURSDAY 2/8/96 We left El Gavilan at 8:15 arriving at Tarcol Lodge on the West coast at 12:45. It took us 4 and a half hours because the main road to San Jose was still closed so we went North, West, and South, retracing part of yesterday's trip. Part of this route had a landslide since yesterday and we had to wait half an hour while they cleared enough for us to get by. They did a little at a time, first enough for the cars, then us - when we left the trucks were still waiting. The weather is hard on the roads in Costa Rica and they really don't have roads high on their priority. Schools and medicine come first! I guess this is an unusual amount of rain for February even for Costa Rica. It was pretty driving through the mountains, La Paz (Peace Waterfall) is a beautiful Waterfall and we drove right past it, across a small bridge at its base. (8 km north of Vara Blanca) The small towns remind me of a green California Central Valley. The homes are small but mostly neat and even have some extra touches such as flower gardens. We dropped Jay off at Alejunda where he was going to take a taxi back to Rancho to guide some new guests for a couple of days since we didn't need him in Tarcol. We needed a bathroom break so the bus driver asked at a gas station telling them the women needed the facilities desperately. They were very nice and we trouped off to the men's shower room. The Ticos are really very polite and very used to North American Birders - they all know why we are walking around in boots with binoculars around our necks. So we continued on to Tarcol lodge. It is hard to describe Tarcol and do it justice. We drove to the end of a dusty dirty road passing many small dusty homes, some new, some old, some well kept some not. We drove through the town of Tarcoles which had a few rough looking buildings that housed food establishments of a sort. The lodge is a former home that has been converted to serve about 10 or so guest. Lisa is in charge and she and Brian live there along with Rolando the cook. Two helpers come in each day to clean and serve. Upstairs sleeps six guests (plus Rolando) with one bathroom. Downstairs sleeps about 6 with another bathroom. Pat and Joyce, Nancy and me, Rich and Dean are upstairs - it will be fun to see how we work out the logistics of this - it is rather like a co ed college dorm. Rosalie is downstairs and Dan, Peter, Gloria and Helen are in a house next door. It is very warm and humid but oh the Location! We are at the end of the Rio Tarcoles where it becomes an estuary influenced by the tides. All along the river and in front of the lodge is a Mangrove swamp that ends at the Pacific ocean. We can see the ocean and the ships out there. It is the end of the Nicoya Gulf and we can see the lights of the Nicoya Peninsula and Puntarenas from the porch. There is nothing between us and the sunset. We sat on the porch and watched the tide come in, along with many shore birds, it was lovely sipping fruit juice and just looking. Then Rich, Nancy, Joyce and I went on a boat ride up the river seeing all the birds nesting in the mangroves along the river. Also saw lots of crocodiles and the funny basilick lizard that is called the Jesus Christ lizard because it walks on the water. We went to the dock of the shrimp farm. An organization is teaching the natives to raise shrimp for a living instead of cutting down more forest, they are also growing more crocodiles. We docked there and walked to a small community that has a large sort of a bar/lounge out in the middle of nowhere. It has a long dirt road and people come to party on the weekends. Lisa bought us a beer and we sat there for a while and talked. We left in time to be in the boat during the sunset - it was just beautiful to see the red sky and all the parrots and other birds coming in to roost for the night - what a scene - I would never tire of watching the sun set. This place is so different from every where else - a new adventure.

FRIDAY 2/9/96 What a day - started at 5:30 for breakfast and then we went to Carara by 6:00. Carara Biological Reserve is a tropical forest area in the central Pacific coastal region. It is the northernmost tropical wet forest on te Pacific coast, in the transition zone to he tropical dry forests further north. All around are fields devoted to pasture and rice cultivation but most of the Reserve was a virgin forest when its 4700 acres were separated by the government from an agrarian settlement project in 1978. Carara is in a transitional area with varied elevations. Tarcoles is just past Carara, a sleepy village one kilometer off the highway where it begins to run close to the sea. The first excitement happened as we got out of the bus. Two men were walking down the road followed by a slow car and one had a gun. Lisa started hollering "He's got a gun, he's got a gun follow me". I'm not sure what we thought we were going to do. Well it turned out they were park guards looking for trouble makers and they apologized for scarring us. As they left one said "Don't Worry Be Happy!" But we had a few scary moments. We don't bird Braulio Carrillo National Park because they have had a rash of tourist robberies. In fact our bus driver's son, who also drives a bus was hijacked, beaten and robbed of all the tourist's luggage last Jan 7 so he must have been doubly nervous today. Well the government is going to have to work hard to stop this because tourism is the number one industry in Costa Rica and this problem plus the kidnapping up North will affect tourism. But all's well and we have another story to tell and embellish. I asked Nancy if she got tired of hearing me tell the same old stories every time we were in a new group and she said no because they were different each time! Anyway we had a wonderful birding day. Saw many wonderful birds and I love walking through the forest. This is a dry tropical forest, hot and humid. I can't believe I enjoy it, but I do. Once I accept that feeling wet and sticky all the time is normal I can ignore it and just enjoy the experiences. You certainly don't need moisturizers here. We ate lunch at a rocky creek bed which was pleasant although hot and sticky - can't believe I was having such a great time. One of the neatest things we saw today was the Orange Crowned Manakins on their lek. 6 or so males were snapping their wings and vocalizing to attract one female. They looked like bright orange puffy tennis balls and sounded like popcorn popping. Some of us stood for a long time just watching them. We also saw White Faced Capuchin Monkeys and an Armadillo and a Fer-dy-lance! It was vicious and many of us moved very quickly away while Dan tried to get close to see it! He is like a little kid! We came back about 2, rested an hour or so and then Lisa took 6 of us to the top of a waterfall - Costa Rica's highest, about 600 feet. We watched hawks and Vultures fly over head and the Macaws fly in to roost and 5 Fiery Billed Araceris go in and out of a snag that had several nest holes, like an apartment. We ended the evening with a beautiful sunset. I would love to watch sunsets every night. After dinner Joyce, Nancy and I set outside for a while and watched the lights of the fishing boats in the gulf and the fireflies in the mangroves. It was so special.

SATURDAY 2/10/96 Up at 5:30 for toast and coffee (the coffee sure has been good everywhere) and then a two and a half hour walk in the mangrove forest. It sure was warm but a pleasant walk with lots of birds. Despite the heat and sweaty discomfort I surprised myself by really enjoying this place. Actually Tarcol has some lovely scenes and I love being on the ocean - the sounds and the smells. I'd almost say this has been my favorite place, maybe partly because we as a group have become so close by now. After a big breakfast Lisa took some of us to the beach. I didn't want to go swimming in the ocean but put on my shorts and went with them. It was about 45 minutes south of Tarcol at the end of the gulf so it was interesting to see some other areas along the way. We went to Playa Herradura, a Tico beach so we were the only gringos there, clearly told by our pale skin. It was a sheltered, palm-fringed, black-sand beach. Nancy, Pat, Joyce, Dan, and Peter went swimming, I just waded. You can go out very far and the water is very warm. It was pleasant with a small breeze but even though we were only there less than an hour we all got sun burnt. The sun is very intense here. Because it was Saturday there were lots of people as it is only a couple of hours from San Jose. Because most Ticos do not own cars they get together and rent a bus for a day to come to the beach. So there were lots of families having fun in the water or on the beach in the shade of the trees. It was a fun day. Got back in time for lunch and then spent two hours reading and resting on the porch enjoying the view of the estuary and distant ocean. About 4:00 we split into two groups again and Lisa took us to the "Warbler Pools" It was nice looking down on warblers as they bathed - such pretty little birds and on the way back we saw a painted bunting and a Motmot. We also stood on a hill that had a 360 degree view and watched the sun set. Macaws flew over head and many egrets flew into their roost. It was awesome - a beautiful sight. Another delicious supper. The cook here, Rolando is a delight. He is about 24 years old and cooks and serves us three meals a day, all very good and formally served. Sat on the deck for an hour drinking beer and enjoying quiet companionship.

SUNDAY 2/11/96 Happy Birthday to Dan. He doesn't know we know it is his birthday today and the cook is making a cake for dinner and Lisa is making us a card to sign. He will be so embarrassed, but it will be fun. He is really a fun leader, like a little kid. Anyway we were up early for breakfast at 5:30 and off the Carara Park. We saw several additional birds this time. Starting around 9:00 about 100 tourists from a cruise ship came through in groups of 10 or 15. We had seen the cruise ship in the water last night while sitting on the porch. They were mostly from California and were interested in what we were seeing. We went back to Tarcol for lunch and I'm now sitting on the deck where we are all lined up reading, writing, napping, studying, etc for 2 hours - oh this is the life. PM - Nancy, Pat, and I had a lovely afternoon bird watching from the porch while the rest went to the warbler pools which we had done yesterday. While they were gone Lisa painted a beautiful macaw for Dan's birthday card and we all signed it and we had a cake with candles, it was fun and Dan was really pleased. (We wore our Dan designed tee-shirts which have the following birds on them: Scale-crested Pygmy-tyrant, Black-striped Wood-creeper, Barred Antshrike -male and female, Long-tailed Hermit.) I'll be sorry to leave this place - Lisa and Brian have enjoyed us too. Lisa is a great guide and hostess. She said we were an unusually involved and active group but that is what we are here for - not to just rest! Jay came back today to finish guiding our trip so he joined in the birthday party. We were all glad to see him. He is an unusually skillful birder with excellent people skills and he is only 29.

MONDAY 2/12/96 Up at 6:00 for a 3 hour walk in the Mangrove forest for some new birds then on to Solimar which is north of here in the Guanacaste region. The area is totally different from the others. There is no forest, all open cattle fields with scrub trees. Most of the beef for Costa Rica and for export is grown here. It was an interesting two and a half hour ride. Solimar is hot and has almost a constant wind so the dust is horrific. We are staying at a pretty nice lodge and the food is good. The windows have screens covered by open shutters so it is like a gale through here. I'm sitting on my bed getting my hair blown dry, but of course sand is mixed in with the wind. But this is more comfortable that the humidity of Tarcol. Nancy and I are huddled around our one little light bulb in the middle of a hugh room. Very few places have had adequate reading lights but this is the worst. Anyway after siesta we walked to the estuary to see an incredible number of birds. The wood storks roost in the trees and there were hundreds of them plus all the other exciting little birds. We also saw crocodiles and more monkeys. Dinner - pleasant conversation and bed. I'm a little sad to see this trip end. It is so fun and carefree but then I miss David and am ready to be with him.

TUESDAY 2/13/96 These trade winds are something else - I sure wouldn't want to live here. It howled all night long, blew the sheet off my bed, so different from the rest of Costa Rica. After breakfast we went birding from 6:30 to 11:30. We saw lots of birds but not in my favorite kind of habitat. Part of the time we were in a Gallery forest. This is an evergreen forest along a stream bed that keeps its leaves as long as there is enough water in the ground. Then we walked through hot, dry, dusty, cow pastures. Saw some Brown-mantled Howler Monkeys. Came back and some of us had a quick swim in the pool before lunch. This is a rather poorly appointed lodge but it does have a pool. The guys really had a rough night with tree limbs hanging and doors slamming. Dan climbed up and broke off the banging tree limbs. Lunch was late because the electricity was out and they didn't have any matches to light the gas burner. Fortunately Dan had a lighter (he smokes a pipe) so he lit it for them and we had lunch - siesta and then we had one last birding trip walking near the lodge for several hours. After dinner we went through our total bird list. As a group we saw about 435 birds and heard another 15. I saw about 370 of those. That is really an amazing number of birds - about half of all that Costa Rica has. It was a great trip and I think we all had a good time.

WEDNESDAY 2/14/96 This morning we were up at 3:30 in order to leave at 4:00. We arrived at the airport near San Jose by 7:00 for a 9:00 departure. Did a little shopping at the airport and had some breakfast. Again as we left Costa Rica the plane was almost empty but we filled up at San Salvador (where we had to wait on the plane for an hour). Had a pleasant flight, empty seat between us and pretty good lunch and arrived at the L.A. airport to a mess. Our plane landed at the domestic terminal where (after standing in a crowded hall way for 20 minutes) we were herded like cattle to the international terminal to collect baggage, go through customs (another half a hour line)- get our baggage back on the plane and then took another bus back to the domestic terminal for our flight to San Francisco. Surely they could make it easier on their passengers! Oh but then we arrived home on time to the smiling faces of our spouses - Nancy and I were quickly off the plane and greeted by Walt and David and on to home. I will enjoy the memories of this trip for a long time to come.