Trip Report – Costa Rica
November 1st, 2009I returned to Costa Rica for seven days this time spending the majority of the time in the mountain ranges and a little time on Caribbean Coast. I had a wonderful time, despite this being the start of their rainy season and it raining at some point on all but one day In the mountain areas the roads are treacherous to say the least. Granted some of these roads were in areas that suffered damage from the earthquake this past January but other were not. In addition to the road conditions you add in free roaming cattle, ox, dogs, chickens, horses, children sitting on the edge of the road playing, and fog / low clouds in some areas and you have a lot to deal with. All and all the driving provided it’s own adventure especially after dark!. Don’t get me wrong I would do it again without hesitation.
Costa Rica has a wide selection of wildlife and I chose to spend some time on this trip photographing Hummingbirds. For this I enlisted the help of Greg Basco / Verde Tours who is a Costa Rican Photographer. Greg is an American but has lived in Costa Rica for the past sixteen years and is very knowledgeable about Costa Rica. He is also a real nice person. Hummingbird photography is a bit specialized requiring props and multiple flashes, which Greg can provide. This is invaluable as transporting light stands, and the related equipment by air is a bit costly, bulky and if something happens to it in transit you will have a real problem. Greg obviously knows which areas have which species and which lodges are better than others for photography which saves valuable time.
Catarata del Toro – Is one place I visited and had excellent results with every species of hummingbirds that frequent the lodge. Sorry I don’t have a species count as of yet as I have not had time to go through all the images. Catarata del Toro is a beautiful property that overlooks a spectacular 300ft waterfall. Unfortunately they suffered some damage in January’s earthquake and had just re-opened less than a week before my arrival. Accommodations there are a bit primitive (no internet, TV, etc,) but are quite adequate. You pretty much need to plan on eating on the property as the nearest towns are a bit of a drive. There are trails there you can hike on. The main trail leads all the way down to the base of the waterfall. While I did not see them, there are Monkeys in the area as well as Toucans and Quetzals which according to the owner frequent the grounds of the lodge as they put food out for them as well as the hummingbird feeders. I did hear the monkeys on a number of occasions. They also have a wide variety of plants on the grounds that one could photograph.
La Paz Waterfall Gardens – Is another place I visited that is worth mentioning. This is a privately owned ecological park that is located about an hour and a half from San Jose. It and the roads leading to the facility suffered damage from the earthquake too and both are still under repair. The road is passable but caution should be used and the park still has some areas that are closed. The facility is just spectacular, I was amazed at the craftsmanship and detail that went into building this facility all the way down to the restrooms. Honestly I don’t go around admiring restrooms but the uniqueness of these caught my attention.
There are five waterfalls on the property. There is a walk through aviary where you have the opportunity to photograph varies birds in a natural environment. I would recommend getting there early as I found the birds more cooperative before there had been food put out. Inside the aviary you will encounter a few species (raptures, scarlet macaws) that are in their own smaller enclosures and you won’t be able to photograph them unless you are willing to shoot through wire. There is an enclosure with six Toucans that you can enter. These guys are adorable and quite tame. You will be limited here due to the size of the enclosure and the limited natural light. Close-up headshots with a macro lens and fill flash is ticket. There are also a number of wild species of birds in the area should you want to bring a long lens. They get twenty-four species of hummingbirds. Unfortunately I do not think they are receptive to setting up multiple flashes, props and such so the photographic opportunities for hummingbirds here are limited.
There is a butterfly house, a frog house, orchard house, and lavish amount of plants on the property that could provide endless photographic opportunities. In regards to the frogs, they are mostly sleeping during the day so patience is needed. You may want to hit this area late in the day and inquire with the staff about the possibility of waking up some of the frogs.
Admission is a bit pricey by U.S. standards for a facility without any thrill rides, and it looks small from the road. I assure you though it is worth visiting. They have a restaurant on site that serves a buffet style lunch. Again there is not really anything else close by so you should plan on bringing something or eating at the faculty.
I also went repelling at two waterfalls not mentioned above on this trip. That was a blast and repelling is something I haven’t done for close to twenty years. I also found two musicians from Nashville performing classic rock at local bar in San Jose on my last night who were quite good. They apparently visit the area a couple of times a year performing.
When returning I was selected to be searched by customs. I guess being there for seven days and having three pieces of luggage looked out of place. Before they even said much I retrieved and presented the officer with my stack of Form 4457’s which lists and certifies each piece of photography equipment I am carrying was taken abroad from the U.S. and not recently purchased, being subject to duty. After seeing these the officer hardly looked at my stuff and never mentioned the word duty. I have been carrying these forms for a few years waiting for this situation after hearing of another photographer being challenged that he just purchased his equipment and it being subject to duty. They did casually look through all my bags and asked some random questions such as what city I was born in. I would highly suggest if you travel with a lot of high dollar equipment regardless if it looks new or not you take the time to fill out these forms and get them certified before taking a trip outside the U.S. It can alleviate any question about there being a duty on the item(s). You can get the forms on line and once filled out have them certified by any customs officer. Typically just go to your airport early before your next trip and locate the customs office and they will be happy to help you. You only need to do this once and keep the forms for all future trips. Just remember to fill out new ones for any new equipment you purchase.
If you are unsure if I really enjoyed myself, I already have another visit planed for January and if the opportunity presents itself I may get there again before that trip!
While not following my own advice from a Journal entry or two back I had the most productive morning with the White Pelicans in Placida for flight shots yesterday that I have had in a year or two. Now truth be told I really didn’t head out looking to photograph anything. I was going out specifically looking for one juvenile brown pelican that had been spotted two days in a row at the same bridge in Placida with his foot tied to his chest via a treble hook. While it’s reported the bird still flies he isn’t having an easy time catching food and is in danger of becoming entangled as he is also trailing fishing line. As I was up early I thought I’ll drag my gear along and see what type of shots I can get out at the white pelican island first. I was figuring it would be a few brown pelicans and great Blue Herons and such. Not sure why, maybe the cold front that rolled in or the tide being wrong but the whole flock of white pelicans was not interested in leaving the island. Many would take flight to move from one side of the island to the other when the gulls would get upset about something. This led to two and half hours of opportunities with these guys. I still would not change my recommendation based on one morning though. Over the years I have seen them totally leave the island before sunrise too many times!
While I didn’t find him I found another pelican that had himself hooked with line and tied to an island. This is really awful to see as a bird is litterly on deaths doorstep at this point. If the line doesn’t break or some kind person doesn’t find them in time they litterly will starve to death or hang themselves depending on how they are hooked and entangled. Either way it’s not a pleasant way to die and totally avoidable. This pelican wasn’t too bad off. He was only hooked with a standard hook into his one wing and entangled himself in a way that hook wasn’t being pulled on when he tried to move about to get free. I suspect he hadn’t been entangled too long as he wasn’t weak, thin or dehydrated yet. After cutting him out branches I brought him on the boat and was able to easily remove the hook. After checking over, making sure his wings still extended and moved properly I was able to set him free and that honestly made my day.