About the Photo Journal

In 2022, as the pandemic was winding down, I was able to take a tour in Costa Rica, which started in the capital,  San Jose, which took me to east coast, the volcanic/mountainous center, and returned to the east coast and returned to San Jose.  The tour included several eco locations, with carefully monitored access to endangered species. We also visited local, small restaurants, where we made our own food and watched as the owners harvested their own coffee, which they dried, roasted and ground on the site, for the freshest cup I have ever tasted.

Despite being in the swamps and jungle, we were not accosted by too many mosquitos and other insects, but we saw enough of them to know they were among us.  Several of our fellow tourists tested positive for COVID and had to stay a bit longer, in relatively luxurious accommodations, though the British citizens, on this tour, were able to go home for treatment, while US Citizens were required to quarantine until they tested negative.  Unfortunately, my wife was among those that tested positive, but the quarantine was in a very nice hotel.

I took hundreds of photos, as we crossed back and forth, across Costa Rica.  The photos started the same day we landed in the Capital of San Jose and ended when we returned to that location for the trip home.  The photos were mostly focused on the unique wildlife of Costa Rica, but many of the bird species migrate to the US and Canada, in the spring through the fall.

In the attached photos, you will see Capuchin and Howler monkeys, both of which can be very clever about stealing food items.  We saw Macaws, as our tour bus took us along the highway and during our hikes into environmental and tourist sites.  Macaws were also sighted from the bus, when touring, and the bus driver was easily convinced to pull over for the photographers in our group.

Another reason for pulling over was the sighting of sloths, which proved to be difficult to photograph, despite their being relatively large creatures that move very slowly.  Their hair supports colonies of algae, which cause their coloration to be easily blended into the jungle background.

Even when we were in the Capital, San Jose, we were able to start photographing the wildlife.  The government offices included a museum, part of which featured jungle plants and butterflies that are found throughout Costa Rica.  The butterfly exhibit also included the caterpillars for the large, blue and tan butterflies.  Several other, smaller varieties were included in the exhibit, as well as many exotic plants, that are common in Costa Rica.

These tours usually start with a dinner, where you are able to meet the other participants, and this was no exception.  The tour guide was one we had used before and we later had him for a tour of Scotland.  Everyone had good personalities and many had excellent cameras,

On the first day of actual touring we spotted sloths, which are difficult to see, even when you know where they are.  Their hair is grey colored, but they move slowly and they pick up a green color, which consists of algae growing on the hair.  They are slow, but their lifestyle, in trees, helps to protect them from predators.  Their aroma may also protect them and it looks like they don’t get fat on their leafy diet.  

Lizards were everywhere, including the very large iguanas.  They do very well in the heat and humidity and generally enjoy vegetation, when meat is not available.  Poison Dart frogs, which the local indigenous people used for a poison they made their arrows more effective at stopping the game animals that they hunt.  It paralyzes the creatures, even with a small scratch.  A derivative of that poison is still used in by doctors to ensure that patients don’t move during difficult operations.  The frogs have bright coloration, to warn off the predators.

There were several varieties of lizards, including various types of iguana and the famous “Jesus Christ” lizards, which are given that name, since they can run across water.  I guess crocodiles and cayman are the largest of the lizards, some reaching nearly 20 feet in length.  The some varieties of the iguanas also grow quite large, but are much less dangerous than the crocodilians.

The crocodiles grow to between ten and twenty feet in length.  The caiman are a bit smaller, but still represent a danger to humans, when in the swamps and lakes.  You frequently see the water birds in the same ponds, lakes and rivers, as the crocs and caiman, which seems to indicate that they are able to escape quickly, when one of the reptiles takes an interest.  Flight can be a serious advantage.

When I was a young lad, I really liked the fruit loops cereal, which had a Toucan on the cereal packaging, indicating that they ate fruit.  The ugly secret is that toucans are carnivorous and eat small birds, lizards and insects.  I guess that makes the cereal less appealing, but I am not a big fan of that super sweet, artificial fruit flavored cereal.

Costa Rica hosts a large variety of birds.  Some of them remain all year, but most migrate to Costa Rica, during the cold months and return to their northern or southern locations, where they breed and raise their young to be able to fly back to the tropics. Many of the water birds I saw were regulars in Bodega Bay, on the Northern California Coast.  Herons and egrets were very common, but I did find many that were colors that we don’t see in the US.

Anhinga are a type of bird commonly found in the swamps. Lakes and coastal regions of Florida.  Costa Rica has a large population of them.  They do not have a natural oil on their feathers, so they dive into the rivers, lakes and swampy areas, to fish, then must take time to dry their feathers

One of the oddest birds I photographed, was a Rail.  It truly looked like it belonged in a Doctor Seuss book, with a yellow beak, red head, blue neck, red and dark blue body, red legs.  Its wings are very short and compactly folded against the bod and the tail is very short, looking like a small sump, on the back side.  The toes are dark and short.

Hummingbirds are larger than most of our North American varieties.  They tend to be colored more brightly than our local varieties, as well.  They still behave like the ones we enjoy across the USA, fighting aggressively for their turn at a flower or a hummingbird feeder.

In the jungles of Costa Rica, we saw centipedes, leaf cutter ants, tarantulas, bats and even an ocelot, one of the largest cats in the Americas.  We were hopeful that we would see a jaguar, either the black of the orange with black pattens.  There are apparently only about 300 in Costa Rica now and they stay well hidden.  But, I did spot a jaguar painting on one of the tour boats’ outboard motors, which looks fairly lifelike, so I included it in this photo collection.  I have also included photos of a tourist boat on its way into the swamps and a local’s boat, which he is using for fishing.

We stopped at a cacao plantation, where they grow the trees that produce the fruit that contains the seeds from which chocolate is produced.  They gave us a great historical discussion of the evolution of the industry and we roasted, ground and tasted the hot cocoa that resulted from our efforts.  The history was very informative and the cocoa was very tasty!

I hope this document helps you to understand and appreciate the photos more fully.  It is not as good as a two week stay in the country, with travel from coast to coast, but I think the photos will be a good orientation, if you choose to take a tour, yourself.  I will caution you that Eco Resorts do not have air conditioning, so try to find those in the mountains of central Costa Rica, not in the hot and humid lowlands.  They do provide electric fans, but you are cautioned to leave windows closed, to be protected from mosquitos and large predators and monkeys.