We just returned from three weeks in Costa Rica. This was a trip we had planned to take as soon as we had enough time in our busy lives to adequately explore that beautiful country. We thought that three weeks in a country the size of West Virginia would give us a good opportunity to sample its varied landscapes and wildlife. Guided by expert birder Carlos “Charlie” Gomez, we visited highland paramo, lowland rainforest, tropical premontane rainforest, cloud forest, mangrove swamp, coastal estuaries, dry tropical forest and the uplands of a volcano. We encountered almost 500 species of birds as well as butterflies, iguanas, three species of monkeys, sloths, variegated squirrels, agoutis, and peccaries. We rode a bus from destination to destination every few days and we hiked mornings and afternoons every day. We never got bored with the landscape or the wildlife. We hiked during drenching tropical rain storms and in desert heat, but more often than not, enjoyed beautiful weather. All in all we had a wonderful time, but we quickly realized that three weeks is not sufficient to see everything that Costa Rica has to offer. For example, we didn’t see the Arenal Volcano erupting, or scuba dive off Coco Island and there are about 400 birds we missed. The three weeks did give us enough time to see a lot of variety and get some really good photographs which will be used as the basis for future paintings. We were most impressed by the colorful wildlife and landscapes. Click the link above the mountain photo for a sampling of the hundreds of photographs we brought back, memories of a wonderful journey through Costa Rica.
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