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Costa Rica
Road Scholar programs are always excellent. So a trip to Central America
that was specifically for photographers appealed to me as Costa Rica has
a phenomenal diversity of plants and animals.
This was a nature-oriented excursion and they provided many good
opportunities for shooting birds, frogs, wildlife and other scenes. While I
would have liked to see, learn about, and photograph more of the culture
of that nation, I managed to capture many images that pleased me. I hope
you enjoy them also.
All photos Copyright, 2020 – Art Fabian
These photography programs are designed for several levels
of learners. In the past, I’ve usually been the most experienced
photographer in the group and often helped others with some
of their techniques. However, this time, several participants
had great equipment and certainly knew how to use it. They
were there to SHOOT! Instead of being the oldest, most
experienced photographer, I was just the old photographer!
Road Scholar Photography
Occasionally, I’ll add some comments
specifically for fellow photographers. If this
technical stuff is boring, just look at the pictures.
La Sabana Park
Below: Costa Rica’s national stadium. For what sport?
Football, naturally! (Which we call soccer.) However, the
sign in front advertises their minor league baseball field.
A Sunday afternoon béisbol game.
Did a whale get beached in
the park, or is that a several
year-old concrete sculpture?
Freshly squeezed
orange juice by the
ballpark. The sign
says 600 Colones
($1.00 US), so I
ordered one. When
the vendor saw me
pondering the
exchange rate, he
held up two fingers.
I happily paid him
two bucks just to get
his picture.
Grilled chicken (I think) vendor
using wood-burning, tire-rim grill.
My flight to San Jose allowed me a couple of hours to
explore before check-in time. A block from our hotel was
a large park where I could mix with locals and grab some
shots of city life. Gesture language worked well enough.
San JoseTwo-thirds of the country’s population of
5 million live in the metropolitan area.
With a decent economy and government,
in many ways it doesn’t look too much
different from other cities.
Throughout the country, every home, school, and
nearly every business was enclosed in its own
cocoon of strong, high fencing topped with barbed
or razor wire. The house at right even has electric
fencing around the top. We were told this is due to
the high drug problems from nearby Columbia.
Below, the walk sign both “walks” and
beeps, breaking into a run near the end
of the cycle. Yet you better look both
ways, as there are many motorcycles
and they treat red lights as sort of
optional.
All over the city the utility poles
were neat, but over-crowded, and
had extra wires for even more
connections.
La Paz Waterfall Gardens
Our first photo stop was a well-designed garden with native animal enclosures and at least five accessible waterfalls
on the La Paz River. This one, known as Templo Falls, amidst lush vegetation, is almost perpetually shrouded in mist.
The La Paz Waterfall
Gardens are a privately
run facility with lots of
local flora and fauna. At
this point, I think I was
more awed at simply
being in a tropical country
than in getting my
photographic act together
and I left some of my
equipment on our bus.
This panther was only a couple of feet
from me (with glass in-between), but
she seemed to be more intent on
watching another cage. She obviously
knew I wasn’t a tasty lunch
Costa Rica is known for colorfully decorated
oxcarts which were once heavily used in the
agricultural areas. Amazingly, we did see a
man leading his ox and cart down the
highway nearby.
There were lots of flowers around, but I
seemed to be off my game in capturing good
images of butterflies in their large pavilion. Oh,
well, on to the next location.
Keel billed toucan; amazingly colorful bill. Toucans
look like they stuck their face in a plastic mask.
I crouched under a roadway bridge to shoot this
angle of the La Paz Waterfall. Not having a wide-
angle lens, I did a five-frame vertical pan.
Selva Verde Lodge
Heavy showers came every afternoon. But at least
while we were there, they didn’t last long. There are
two seasons in this region: rainy and rainier.
I guess this room
is large enough
for me. The
warm humid
weather doesn’t
vary, so some of
the windows are
just screens and
can’t be closed.
Ceiling fans were
appreciated.
Nothing like breakfast overlooking tropical-bird feeders.
Left: The bus drove right into the lobby for us. But at night,
like elsewhere, a guard and gate shuts off the outside world.
Toucans
Above and below: Black-mandibled toucan
Right: Collared aracari toucan
I just can’t image having these fantastic birds coming to my bird
feeders. But a few bananas hanging on vines got these toucans to
come in and pose for us. Hmmm, if I put bananas on my bird feeder
in Ohio, maybe I can attract toucans!
Blue-gray tanager
Above: The uncommon Chestnut headed oropendola
Below: Montezuma oropendola (much more common)
Buff-throated
saltator
Not much to say here, except that capturing bird
pictures at fairly short range is just plain fun!
Gray-headed chachalaca. These
are big chicken-sized birds.
Right: White-necked Jacobin.
Like all hummingbirds, they
are so tiny they have to lighten
their load just before taking off
as this one is doing.
Palm tanager
Right: Whoever named
this reptile must have
been scared the first
time they encountered
it. It’s called the Jesus
Christ lizard.
Actually, it’s so named
because it can run
across water on its hind
legs for short distances.
Great kiskadee
Green iguana (which is mostly orange).
This guy came everyday to his sunning
spot on the same limb.
Just four rooms were in each cabin
connected by these beautiful
elevated walkways.
Black squirrel who
came to visit one of
our shooting locations.
I don’t know what kind of millipede this is, but he (she?)
was walking along the path at night and I only managed a
quick shot with my phone and a flashlight. About 4-5” long.
Photographing frogs was a major treat for me.
Left: Green and black poison-dart frog. I focus-stacked
five images to get this much depth of field.
Left: Red-eyed tree frog
Above: I call this “flashlight love.” Taken at night with a
couple of people holding flashlights on them. But they
never croaked about the lack of privacy.
Below: Frog egg cluster
on underside of a leaf.
The eyes of the tadpoles
are already visible.
Above: Strawberry poison-dart frog (blue-jeans
color morph). Quite tiny. Only about an inch long.
Scarlet macaws are the most colorful parrot variety. We had the
opportunity to photograph these wild birds flying when the
landowner tossed peanuts into feeders at each end of a field.
Below: Another macaw
had bullied and bit this one
causing a facial injury.
Upper left: Great green macaw. Parrots
can “talk” because, similar to humans,
they have strong tongues that
manipulate their food inside their mouth.
Upper right: Scarlet macaw enjoying
pineapple.
Right: White-faced monkey. When
peanuts were offered to the macaws, a
dozen or so of these came out of the
forest and picked up as many as they
could, including peanuts offered by the
tourists.
Left: Our Road Scholar guide, Alberto,
pouring freshly squeezed juice from
local pineapples. Delicious!
The rainforest canopy absorbs much of the sunlight
making photosynthesis (and photography) much more
difficult near ground level. It prevented me from getting a
good shot of the leaf cutter ants marching everywhere.
The weather pattern here is opposite of the US. The
humid air flows in mainly from the Caribbean Sea on
the eastern coast. As it starts rising above the volcanic
highlands, it condenses and produces rainfall of 13 to
15 feet annually on this side of Costa Rica.
I was surprised when told that even with all heavy
vegetation in the rainforest, the soil, while very
nutritious, is still quite thin. So tall trees grow
these buttress roots to stabilize themselves so
they can reach high enough to catch more
sunlight above the canopy.
Above: This tree’s opening
was large enough to walk
around inside.
Rainforest
Because there aren’t really any
seasons in the rainforest, trees
don’t have the usual rings to
date them. They have faint rings
which correspond to climate
cycles, e.g., periods of long-term
drought versus years of rain. So
trees are dated from historical
meteorological data.
The Selva Verde Lodge has its own rainforest preserve
on the other side of the river. It’s only accessible across
this neat suspension bridge.
This guy could always
be found sitting on his
log near the entrance to
the lodge. I think he was
just supposed to smile
and greet the guests.
On the way to our next hotel, a special stop was arranged just to
try to photograph some spectacled owls. We were led by a local
guide who bushwhacked a trail back to this family—parents on
the right and youngster with white head.
This bare-throated tiger heron
was fishing in a nearby river.
Honduran white bats strategically chew the ribs of large-
leaf plants to make a tent for nesting during the day.
Typical photographers,
everyone is aiming for
the best shot.
Fruits were heavily displayed at every
little roadside shop throughout the
country. This is what a convenience
store looks like to them.
Our bus stopped at this crossroads
market so we could use their facilities.
They immediately put out samples of
candied fruits and assorted treats to
entice us to buy. I bought some coconut
candy because it was good, but also in
thanks for their free restrooms.
Which of these are bananas and which are plantains? Answer below.Plantains or bananas?
Technically, I think everything in these pictures are fruits, although
they’re often treated as vegetables in cooking. For example, plantains
are just a starchier, firmer, less sweet version of bananas and they
can be baked or fried nicely. They were served in some fashion
almost every day. I enjoyed them, especially deep-fried with a
seasoned coating.
Both top pictures are plantains, although they fooled me. The green
ones are so firm they usually need to pealed with a knife.
Above: Sunset over our lodge in Savegre Valley.
My cabin (at the far end) was the highest and furthest from
the restaurant and our gathering place. Since I was already
starting at 7200 feet, every time I needed to get something,
I had a long, lung-busting walk up to my quarters.
Acorn woodpecker
Nice facilities but only a tiny portable heater.
At that elevation, it was in the 40s in the
mornings—and no heat in the bathroom.
Savegre Hotel Nature Reserve & Spa
The first evening in the Savegre Valley had a beautiful clear sky, so I decided to try a star-trails picture. Because of the lights from the
buildings, I couldn’t see a lot of stars, so I just set up my camera in front of my room and aimed towards the north, hoping to get the North Star
in the image. I didn’t realize that I was so far south—and in a valley—that the North Star was below my horizon (at the middle of the
concentric circles). Back home, I was amazed at the number of unseen stars and fascinated by their different colors.
Technical stuff: 140 images taken over 80 minutes (exp: 30 sec. each, f4.5, ISO 200), stacked and blended in Photoshop.
Starry Night
In Costa Rica, one of the goals is to see the Resplendent
Quetzal. Our bus headed up the road at 5:30 AM to where
there were already crowds of people straining to see it—yes,
there was just one. I managed to get a sub-par image (right),
but at least I can say I saw what may be the most hyped bird
of Central America. My tripod is on the left.
The Savegre
Hotel grows
their own plants
for decorating
the property
including this
amaryllis and
succulent.
Below: One evening I
walked down to the
Savegre River as it was
getting dark, with most of
the light coming from
nearby buildings. Too dark
to see the pool of water
under the sedges that I
stepped in. But I managed
to catch this scene before
walking very wet-footed
back to my room.
We were taken to Cerro de la Muerte, the highest point—11,322 ft—in the Costa Rican
section of the Inter-American Highway. Although its name means “Mountain of Death,”
we all managed to survive the picture-taking opportunity.
First, I captured the panorama (bottom). Then, when the
view no longer held my short attention span, what
caught my eye was this weathered stump and a
back-lit bromeliad blooming inside an evergreen bush.
One of our assignments was to spend about an hour
creating moving water scenes. Since the Savegre River
was a swift, fast dropping stream, it was pretty easy to find
white-water shots. I was equally fascinated with the lush
green growth on almost every square inch of trees.
Right: Male white-throated mountain gem
Below: Female white-throated mountain
gem. (Although the female has more
coloration overall, the male must have
gotten naming rights to the species.)
Below: Female Talamanca
hummingbird
Above: Green violetear hummingbird
Above: Female scintillant hummingbird
Several hours at two
locations were specifically
designed to capture
hummingbirds. Obviously,
with this variety of fast-
moving, beautiful birds,
we burned through a LOT
digital memory!
One of the most pleasant walks was several
hundred feet above our lodge. Fortunately, a
jeep ferried us up the steep road to a serene
forest of evergreen oaks. The path must have
seemed more like home to me as I thoroughly
enjoyed the leisurely stroll.
The light patches on the other side of the valley are clear-cut forests
being replanted. Our lodge is down behind that tree in the middle.
While we waited for our jeep to return, a light fog swept down the
valley and the sun directly behind us created this rainbow. What a
coda to our Costa Rican visit!
On the left is Erick Castro, our naturalist leader. In the red vest is Alberto
Fernandez, our photography expert. At far right is Freddy, our bus driver,
who not only handled all the traffic of Costa Rica, but our heavy luggage as
well. The rest of us were participants from five states.
Road Scholar programs (formerly called Elderhostel)
always choose places with good food and you never have
to deal with payments or tips. Fortunately, Costa Rica
serves an abundance of fruits and vegetables with all
meals so we could eat healthily.
Road Scholar
Digital Photography
in Nature: Capturing
the Best of Costa Rica
This was my seventh Road
Scholar program. I simply cannot
recommend them highly enough.
The organization, activities,
learning, accommodations, and
food are all top notch.
Fortunately, with the frequent
rain, there was a great covered
porch to aim at bird feeders and
flowers about a dozen feet away.
This was the Paraiso del Quetzal
lodge and restaurant which
obviously attracts a lot of bird
watchers.
Right: The fiery-throated
hummingbird is well
named. Every time it
turns its head, it flashes
different bright colors.
Left: Scintillant hummingbird in
back and Talamanca in front.
Doing what Road Scholars do best,
gathering for delicious meals.
Above: This is one of my favorite
photos because the color, the detail
in the wings, and the white cloud
background will give it many useful
possibilities.
“Move over, buddy! This is
my branch.”
Female Talamanca poking
at Fiery-throated. Based on
two of these photos, I’m
guessing the Talamanca are
the more assertive species.
Right: Lesser violetear
hummingbird. If you look closely,
you’ll see the misty rain drops
throughout the photo.
Below: Male Talamanca
Below: Lesser violetear
being pushed aside by
Talamanca hummingbird.
Our last night was at the
Wyndham Hotel in San Jose.
Like other tropical resorts, it
has many open walls and
court-yards. However, it’s
within a high-fenced compound
and I couldn’t just go out and
explore the neighborhood.
Below: Green violetear on left with Fiery-throated on right. I had
trouble identifying many of these because they look so similar
when their iridescent colors don’t flash.
Sharing nectar this close together never seems
to be possible with the Ruby-throated
hummingbirds that come to our feeders at home.
The Slaty flowerpiercer bites the
base of the blossom and sucks the
nectar through the side of flowers.
Left: Little things
fascinate me. I liked this
orange squeezer that
produced my very fresh
glassful.
Above: The bread selection for
breakfast was fantastic. However, I suspect
they’ve had complaints from people who’ve taken
samples from that basket without reading the sign.
Heading back home, it was easy to see that
every roof is either red or white metal which
sheds water easily. I don’t remember seeing
a single shingle roof.
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed my slice of Costa Rica.
Feedback is always appreciated at [email protected].
Since we never needed to make change
except for small personal purchases, I only
ended up with 175 Colones in my pocket—
about 29¢ worth.
Goodbye, Costa Rica