Trip Report

Costa Rica

February 2-17 2003

Adrian Royle with Bill Sterling

Required Book; A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Gary Stiles, Alexander F. Skutch, Illustrated by Dana Gardner

Useful Books;    A Travel & Site Guide to Birds of Costa Rica by Aaron D. Sekerak

       The Ecotravellers’ Wildlife Guide to Costa Rica by Les Beletsky

We flew from our local airport, Humberside near Grimsby, UK, to Amsterdam then to San Jose, CR, via Miami on Martinair. The winter weather was disturbing flights in the UK and The Netherlands meaning we had a tight connection in Amsterdam and our luggage was delayed. Nothing like travelling light. As long as we had our optics and field guide the trip could go ahead as planned. Normally I do very little in the way of planning a trip, giving me plenty of opportunities to change my mind and make the route up as I go along, but Bill is totally the opposite, planning every detail.

A night taxi ($75) took us straight from San Jose Airport to Tarcoles on the Pacific Coast. The extremely winding road was very busy with weekend traffic mostly heading back to the capital from the coast. Just a few hours sleep gave us a much needed rest before we were both ready to start birding dawn till dusk. Our hotel (Hotel Carara $35/night) was right on the beach, ideal for exploring the coastal area. At 5.30am standing on a black sand beach we waited for first light. Herons and Egrets passed over the water, from their very large roost site at the mouth of the Rio Tarcoles, just their silhouettes giving them away. The sunrise was superb, great colour in the fluffy clouds hanging over the nearby hills, with palm trees breaking the skyline, an ideallic tropical morning. It turned out to be the only memorable sunrise of the trip, made even more so as I spotted a large raptor like bird in the distance, a King Vulture, even before sunrise, one of my Big Three must see birds within minutes. It wasn’t long before the second of my Big Three was found. Tarcoles is THE place to see Scarlet Macaws, with several noisy pairs within a short distance of the hotel.

Tarcoles is a great place to start a Costa Rica trip, besides the excellent coastal area, sea, beach, mangroves, woodlands, farmland, rivers, there is the nearby superb Parque Carara. This is a small national park on the hillside by the Rio Tarcoles,  with a bird list to keep any birder happy plus a good mammal list, many of which will put in an up close and personnel appearance. We really enjoyed this park, although it does attract tourists who stop for the American Crocodiles sunning themselves on the river sandbanks below the high road bridge.

We stayed 3 full days at Tarcoles before moving on by bus to coastal Puntarenas then to Santa Elena/Monteverde in the mountains for a complete change of scenery and wildlife. This area is VERY popular with tourists, backpackers, adrenalin junkies and travellers of every shape, size and budget. It is a busy little spot all attracted by the wildlife either natural or man made. We were in town for the third of my Big Three must see birds. As soon as we stepped off the bus we had a hotel, the nearby Hotel Calibri ($10/night) just 200m from the bus station and town centre.

The important cloud forest reserves of Monteverde and Santa Elena are a few kilometres uphill from the town. A regular bus service to Monteverde takes just a few minutes and saves having to deal with the dust from the 4x4s and other vehicles which do make the route unpleasant to walk. The Santa Elena route is much better for walking but a bus service is also available. Our first trip to the cloud forest soon produced Big Three bird number three, Resplendant Quetzal. A pair was spending the winter in the park at a well known spot, easily found, just follow the crowds. Cloud forest is very different to rain forest and I do recommend several days in the area.

Bill had been in contact with a local guide via e-mail and had arranged to spend 2 days birding with him. We met him in Santa Elana and visited the Finca Ecologica Reserve, the White-nosed Coatis are a joy not to be missed. The next day we parted for a few days as Bill visited another cloud forest area with the guide while I moved on to Puerto Viejo de Sarapique on the Atlantic side where Bill would join me later.

The bus route took me back to San Jose then just another 2 hour bus ride to Sarapique. The best hotel in town is right next to the bus station and noisy. Not for me, I found a really cheap, ($3/night) unnamed place, not far from the main bank building and close to the river and the best walking route out of town. Ideal for me, as I love to walk all day, birding as I go. There is a very good restaurant across the road from the bus station, good for evening meals, also close to a supermarket for those vital daytime munchies when out in the field.

Just a few kilometres from town is the La Selva Reserve, a well funded US research establishment. Luxury rain forest birding, concrete paths though the forest, superb guides (not optional) and some even better wildlife. Some hard to find species such as Snowy Cotinga and Purple-throated Fruitcrow alongside all the easily seen mammals such as 3 Toed Sloth, Collared Peccary, not to mention the profusion of invertabrate life, Helicopter Damselflies being top of my list . This place is a must see reserve, the high $25 entry fee is worth it.

At the opposite end of town a route follows the Rio Sarapique through agricultural land and remnant forest. We walked this several times, up to 15km out, 15km back, lots of birds, including Great Antshrike, White-collared Manakin, Crested Guan and a troupe of Mantled Howler Monkeys. Seven days at Sarapique continually produced new species as well as being an enjoyable, friendly place to stay.

We totally enjoyed our visit, I will certainly be going back, probably to the south of the country around Corcovado National Park. Costa Rica really is a nature lovers paradise. Our trip list came to about 300 species which is my highest list to date.

Mammal List

Neotropical Otter, Nine Banded Armadillo, Northern Tamandua, White-nosed Coati, White-faced Capuchin, Mantled Howler Monkey, Agouti, Mexican Hairy Porcupine, Red-tailed Squirrel, Three-toed Sloth, Collared Peccary, Central American Spider Monkey

Photographic Equipment Nikon FM2, 50mm f1.8, 28-200mm zoom lens, extension tubes, Nikon flash, Fujichrome Sensia 100, Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 film scanner

For further information and photos contact me Adrian Royle

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