Kim and I had an amazing experience in Costa Rica on a National Geographic Expedition which mainly explored the different natural regions of the country. We landed in Costa Rica on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 and were met at the airport by a driver who took us straight to our hotel, the Marriott Hacienda Balen. This was a delightful hotel, and we mostly celebrated the fact that it wasn’t 10 degrees and snowing, like it was in our home in Michigan. The Expedition didn’t start until Tuesday evening, so we enjoyed the hotel on Monday and went downtown to the Capital, San Jose, on Tuesday. Didn’t really take too many pictures on either day, except we were treated to a stunning sunset on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday, March 19, we set out for the La Selva Biological Station and Reserve. After an early breakfast (they were all early!), the day did not start off so well. First, we ran into a lot of traffic in the Capital. That was to be expected, but in the middle of the traffic jam, I suddenly realized I had left my wallet, with all my cards and driver’s license back at the hotel. There was no way we were going back for it. Our guide, Fico, who was amazing in so many ways, promptly contacted the hotel, who found the wallet. Over the course of the day, he arranged for my wallet to be delivered to our next hotel. When it was returned the next day, all of the money and cards were there and a great relief.

The La Selva Biological Station and Reserve had an absolutely amazing amount of animals on a fairly short hike. The photography opportunities were hard though, as a lot of the animals were high in the tree top canopy. Kim had much better luck with her cell phone and putting the camera on a birding scope utilizing at as a telephoto lens.

A Semiplumbeous Hawk - Photo credit to my wife Kim, taken with her cell phone. (I know, I know, who needs a fancy camera!)

Ok, so these bats were under a leaf that our guides picked out and called us over two by tow to take a look at. Truly amazing (Photo credit - Kim)

A Keel-billed Toucan. Photo by Kim through a birding scope

A sloth (not sure if it is 2 or 3 toed). Photo by Kim, again through the birding scope

The next day, Thursday, March 20, we went to the Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge for a river cruise. Unlike the day before, this was a wildlife phographer’s dream! We took a riverboat cruise in one of the great wetlands of the world. This was a magical day, and I completely went through a memory card (about 1400 shots).

Immature little Blue Heron (A special shoutout to Rich Thomasy, who was on the tour with us and helped me identify most of the birds)

A Jesus Christ Lizard (or a Plumed Basilisk)

Another Jesus Christ lizard (They were posing so well!)

A Red Eared slider turtle (which in my research I found that it is actually an invasive species)

The US Congress…. uhm…. no… A gathering of Great Egrets

A note on the pootoo. The pootoo was high up on a tree, and how our guide found this bird is a tribute to his knowledge of the area and where to look. Fico was using a laser below the spot of the bird and telling us to look up, and it still took us minutes to find the bird. A truly amazing find.

A grey necked wood rail (Rich told me it was a great picture of the wood rail, then I had to figure out which one was the wood rail)

On Friday, March 21, we went to the Arenal Volcano National Park for hike which went partially up the mountain. The Arenal Volcano was dormant for hundreds of years went it suddenly erupted in 1968, and continuing erupting until 2010 when it went dormant again. Today was not the photography bonanza of the Caño Negro, but it was very interesting.

The sign for the trails. Our group took the medium trail

One of the guides along the trip was Isaí Madriz. Isaí is a photographer who conducts solo expeditions to find and document rare and new species of insects, glacier-dependent organisms and to chronicle wildlife interactions in remote areas of the world. He has a doctorate in Entomology. A literal bug doctor. I would have thought it hard to gain an appreciation for bugs, but Isaí made it fascinating. He is a fellow photographer (with all kinds of cool stuff for taking pictures of bugs) and an absolute delight to travel with. He is the executive director of Hidden Wonders. You can see some of his amazing photography and read about his work here: https://hidden-wonders.org/.

A Gelsemium elegans flower. In my research, this is an invasive species to Costa Rica

Lava which is slowly being taken back over by plant life

Lake Arenal. A manmade lake used for hydro electic power

A Japanese camellia, also an invasive species

This surreal scene is a Great Egret, hanging out in the beautifully landscaped area at the end of our hike. Lake Arenal is in the background

These carts, known as carretas, are a significant part of Costa Rican culture and history. They were originally used to transport coffee beans and other goods, and are now recognized as symbols of the country's heritage and artistry.

At this point in our expedition, we were changing locations from the Arenal volcano to the area known as Monteverde. It is also where the ‘adventure’ part, really kicked in. The day started out with a trip across a portion of Lake Arenal. Our main bus, which was an amazing bus with an even more amazing driver, dropped us off at the boat docks. We saw a couple of birds from a distance, but it was our one bad weather morning.

We were dropped off and divided into two groups, and each group boarded two smaller buses, but one of the buses was slightly bigger than the other. We were winding up this beautiful, very lush hillside on roads which were very muddy from the rains, when both buses stopped. Turns out they heard that a bus was stuck up ahead on this fairly narrow road, and they were trying to figure out a plan.

We were in the smaller bus, and our driver decided to ‘go for it’. We raced around the stuck bus in the mud, with some speed, and our back end fish tailing, and made it up the hill on the other side. We cheered the driver, and waited for the other bus, which did not make it, and got stuck. At that point we all exited the bus and a lot of discussion about what to do next, as the nearest town was still an hour away.

This was the good part of the road. That’s our bus in front.

The other bus, exited the bus, and walked up the hill to where our bus was and waited

A dump truck full of gravel just happened to be coming by with a load, and hooked up the bus to a tow rope and literally yanked our bus up the hill.

The other bus is just below the trees, being pulled up the mountain

The bus being towed by the dump truck full of gravel. Photo credit: Rich Thomasy

It did not feel like this situation was going to get resolved quickly, and we might have a long day on the side of the mountain, but, as it turns out, we ended up delayed by about an hour. Many kudos to the NatGeo guide team for staying calm under stressful circumstances, and for being creative in getting the problem resolved.

In the afternoon, we visited a coffee, sugar and cacoa plantation where they demonstrated making coffee, sugar and chocolate. This was with Don Juan Tours in Monteverde. Our guide was Jorge

The origins of chocolate the Cacao seeds

Turns out that getting sugar out of a sugar can is harder than anyone thought

The beginnings for coffee production with the coffee plants in the nursery

On Sunday, March 23, after taking part in a project to reforest the cloud forest, we did a hiking trail over a series of hanging bridges which put us on top of the cloud forest in Monteverde.

A swallow-tailed kite. Isai, at least I got one shot of this bird which was taunting me while I was trying to take a picture of a fast moving bird on a suspended bridge.

A yellow spotted millipede. Thanks to Isai for my new fascination with bug pictures

A trumpet tree. The red part is a young leaf bud. I thought the photo came out well.

Google says this is an Agapetes. I thought is was an interesting plant.

On Monday, March 24, we went to the Santa Rosa National Park in the northwest corner of the country. It was a fairly long bus ride to get there, and it was VERY hot this day. Not that many photography opportunities, but the history, wildlife and flora were interesting.

A black spiny-tailed Iguana. Photo by Kim

The last set of images is from the Tamarindo Wildlife refuge, where we took our 3rd boat ride tour through a mangrove forest. This was as amazing as our first boat tour, with a lot of wildlife. At one point, we got out of the boat and had some terrific views of monkeys.

I turned around to look at the other boat and there he was! Shooting at me! Blair was a fellow photography enthusiast.

Another view of the Playa Grande estuary

Last shots are two pictures taken by Isaí Madriz of Kim and I when we were stuck on the side of the mountain. If you made it this far, thanks for looking at the pictures. There are a lot, but there was a lot to take in. Kim and I had a fabulous time taking in the country and enjoying the company of a terrific group of new friends.

Lastly, a BIG thank you to National Geographic Tours. This was everything we had hoped for in a trip. Fico and Isaí were awesome!