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 afabian@woh.rr.com.

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