Costa Rica ...and scratched an itch!

[Soukous]

1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

he suggested Panama too. Not as commercialised and the birding just as good in his opinion.

 

I've also been told good things about Panama. It is quite high on the list.

[douglaswise]

I thought I might chip in on the subject of Panama.  My wife and I visited the country ten years ago.  We divided our activities between freshwater fly fishing and ecotourism, the latter in a rainforest lodge just below the Costa Rican border.  We chose Panama because we thought it would provide cheaper but otherwise similar experiences to those available in Costa Rica.  While I might have selected badly with my Panama destinations, I have to say that I would rank it among the worst of my overseas experiences - the only bonus being plenty of sloths.  I'm obviously a slow learner because I have repeated my mistakes and, in the last two years, have attempted to combine fishing with wildlife in two other countries - Belize and Guinea Bissau.  If one goes anywhere as a generalist with no huge knowledge of birding, one needs specialist guiding and, in rainforest areas, it seems that you'll need scopes just to see let alone photograph birds unless you go to places that put out feeders or provide specialist hides.

 

 

[Whyone?]

21 hours ago, xelas said:

@kittykat23uk, I believe Costa Rica can be done affordably, but you would need to do your own driving, and that also means sharing the cost of the vehicle and of the room with one more person. Guides are welcomed but not obligatory, at least not for birding....

For our recent trip, we travelled as a group of 4 (2 couples) which perhaps helped with costs and logistics?

 

I am happy to self-drive as I prefer the freedom this affords, and most of our accommodation where private home rentals. 

 

Perhaps the most interesting of these - it was certainly a dive into the unknown for us - was a property close to the mouth of the Sierpe estuary which was accessed only by boat. 

 

We planned our trip so we had a 4x4 rental vehicle for the first 12 days, and then handed this back (slightly alarmingly just passing the keys of a brand new Toyota Fortuner to a chap who claimed to be from Alamo in a bar in Sierpe!!!) and relied on boats / car transfers and 'planes for the remaining 10 days.  The house in the Sierpe estuary came with a boat and a boat man / guide - included in the price and was ours to use as and when we wished.  Obviously we needed to source and carry all our supplies to the house as there would be no 'popping to the shops for a pint of milk'!  We minimised what we needed to take with us (largely breakfast stuff. fruit, beer and wine!!!) because there was an option to have a local lady come in each afternoon and cook us a (full 3 course) dinner for ~$12 per person.  She was spectacularly good - great company and a wonderful chef (professionally trained).

 

'Our' chef

 

Access to our own boat / guide 24/7 and a dinner cooked every evening for what I consider an extremely reasonable cost I believe shows that there are still interesting and affordable options in Costa Rica.  

 

I'll post more information / pictures in my trip report over the coming days.

Edited April 18 by Whyone?

[kittykat23uk]

That sounds very interesting! I look forward to reading about it 

 

[Dave Williams]

@Whyone?That stop looks very interesting indeed!

 

I think I have opened a debate here on costs and what is defined as expensive, maybe I should have referred to things as 'value for money".! 

My overall appraisal of Costa Rica was maybe not offering value for money in some areas, particularly the cost of food and eating out because the quality didn't match the price.

We stayed in a B&B for two nights Lancashire over Easter and for a similar price to a cabin in Costa Rica we had a very comfortable and well appointed room and a superb and filling breakfast offering. They even left a help yourself decanter of sherry to set you up before going out for dinner or as a nightcap when you got in. I was happy with that!

[michael-ibk]

Thanks for a very informative read with excellent photos Dave. Quite amazed to hear about the costs at Arenal these days, has certainly changed a lot since I've been. About guides - I guess it depends a bit if birding or bird photography is your focus. I agree with Alex you don't really need one for the latter in countries like Costa Rica. Ecuador would work very well for that too, lots of places with what I called "Disneyland" birding. But if you are trying to get all the tough ones, it's vital to have a guide. And yes, lots of amazing excellent local guides around. More often than not my experience with locals has been great, but some were atrociously bad (like in Guyana).

[AfricIan]

I hadn't realised just how far behind on this TR I'd got @Dave Williams so a belated thanks for a great report on parts of CR that we didn't visit - our trip was pretty much all south of San Jose.

With regard to @douglaswise& @Soukousthoughts on Panama,  I hope to get a brief report of our trip in February started fairly soon.  Our trip was more "holiday with some wildlife" and whilst we enjoyed the trip, our wildlife experiences were a lot less than I'd hoped for, I'll explain more in the report. 

[Kitsafari]

thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic photos of the gorgeous birds - all of which are unknown to me. Not sure when we will finally find our way to South America but I can't wait to see those birds in your images in person.