Trip Report: Costa Rica, April 2011

During the last week in April, 2011, my wife and I spent a week in Costa Rica for some R&R and a little photography as well.
The roads in Costa Rica are notoriously bad, however, the Pacific Northwest region has undergone development more recently and has a decent road system. The drivers on the other hand, could use some improvement...
About the size of Vermont, Costa Rica has more biodiversity than Europe or North America, supported by beautiful coastal regions, numerous volcanoes, and mountainous cloud forests. I was in the Northwest Pacific region, on the pacific coast at Playa Conchal, and inland near Rincon de la Vieja National Park.
Playa Conchal is an amazing and unique beach, mostly composed of shell fragments instead of grains of sand. The fragments have been rounded and polished by the relentless action of the waves resulting in a beach comber’s paradise.
The tree that we spent many hours under, resting, reading, and relaxing... Life is good!
The area just off the beach was rich in wildlife, and every morning I would walk the small roads in the area searching for creatures to shoot.
A White-throated Magpie-Jay. These curious birds were very common on the coast, constantly keeping an eye on you, waiting for a food scrap.
A Orange-chinned Parakeet investigates a termite nest.
A Roseate Spoonbill skimming the water for food.
Enjoying a local Imperial at a little restaurant on the neighboring beach.
A traditional Costa Rican band played us a few tunes.
A Spiny-tailed Iguana soaks up the sun.
Just another beautiful sunset in Costa Rica!
Our next stop on our trip was a beautiful Borinquen Mountain Resort on the hillside of the Rincon de la Vieja volcano. This was our view from our bungalow.
Being on the side of a volcano, there are hot springs, fumaroles and other geologic wonders to explore.
I wanted to see as much wildlife as I could. With the promise of viewing toucans, up to 3 species of monkeys, blue morpho butterflies, and more, we signed up for an ecological tour on horseback. We were shuttled up to the stables in this neat old military vehicle. As you might expect, it was a bumpy ride in the back...
The sweeping landscape surrounding the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano.
Our guide enjoying the view at an amazing viewpoint!
Throughout the jungle, we saw huge fig constrictor trees. These trees start out with vines climbing up a larger supporting tree. As more and more vines combine and grow larger and larger, they surround and suffocate the supporting tree. Then support tree dies and rots away, leaving a hollow center and a great place for critters to make their home. These trees a truly unique and beautiful.
During our ecological tour, we were treated with seeing the endangered Geoffroy's spider monkey. These guys were true acrobats, swing through the jungle to check us out.
Petroglyphs on a cliff wall near our lodge.
We spent our last night in Costa Rica enjoying a volcanic mud bath and hot spring soak, watching howler monkeys forage through the trees directly above us. It was the a truly fantastic experience.
A Blue-crowned Mot Mot. Locals call this the Michael Jackson bird because of its flamboyant mating dance.
This beautiful sunset ended our amazing trip. The next morning we would make our way back to the airport and head home with plenty of great memories and some keeper photos too!