Costa Rica 2025

For a quick look at 20 of my favourite photographs from the trip, click on the thumbnail below-centre.

For the story of the trip click on the thumbnails to open each gallery in turn.

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Home Page An arbitrary collection of 20 of my favourite photographs from this expedition



San Jose and Arenal
We were driven from San Jose airport to the Hotel Bougainvillea, where we spent the night. The following morning we wandered around the hotel's extensive gardens getting our eyes in for bird and macro photography before setting out after breakfast for Arenal Observatory Lodge. We stopped for lunch at a roadside resaurant in La Fortuna and did some more photography before proceeding to the lodge for a two-night stay.
As with two of the other lodges we stayed at, this lodge had a bird feeder. These are designed to attract the many species of bird to a location close to a viewing platform, for guests to view and photograph. This is excellent for maximising the number of species of bird seen and photographed, although some regard it as "cheating".
Some of us received instruction on macro photography, including using off-camera flash, while staying at Arenal Observatory Lodge. (See the separate gallery of macro photographs). Laguna de Legarto
After two nights at Arenal Observatory Lodge we set out for the lodge at Laguna de Lagarto, with occasional stops along the way to photograph birds spotted by our guide or leader. At the lodge we were able to photograph birds on a feeder from a viewing area in much the same way as at Arenal Observatory Lodge. The main difference was that the feeder here appeared more "natural". There were also a number of other activities laid on by the lodge. These were a boat ride on the River San Carlos, a session attempting to photograph bats attracted to nectar on flowers (unsuccessfully on my part!), a visit to view Black and King Vultures attracted by bait at a local hide, and finally a session to photograph captive snakes and frogs using flash.
We spent three nights at Laguna de Legarto and at each of the remaining two lodges.



Selva Verde
The lodge at Selva Verde is large and well-appointed, with a buffet style restaurant and a bar, along with trails through its extensive grounds. Food to attract the birds is laid out on tables in a viewing area, although this is cramped and the layout unimaginative.
The lodge is close to La Selva OTS Research Site. This is an education and research centre and welcomes visitors to the extensive primary and secondary rainforests. We had three visits to this site, over two days and in addition to the expected birds we were able to photograph monkeys, frogs, insects and spiders.
We drove out to a relatively new viewing location, known as the "Nest", where a good selection of bird species, includiong owls, were seen. I tried out my macro skills on a parade of leaf-cutter ants while others were attempting to photograph a Collared Manakin from a hide.
We also had an excursion to visit a local farmer turned guide, whose name was Cope. He has set up an observation platform at his home and is also familiar with other local habitats where he was able to find owls and members of the nightjar family for us to photograph. Savegre Lodge
It was a long drive to Savegre Lodge, during which we stopped off at a café that had a viewing platform for refreshment and photography. The lodge was the only one where there was not a conventional "bird feeder". Instead, part of the grounds was planted with hummingbird-friendly flowering plants. The lodge did, however, have access to a viewing platform nearby, where we spent one afternoon. We also visited a café further away that had a viewing platform to encourage visitors. In addition, the river Savegre ran along the boundary of the lodge and was useful for attracting birds that favoured that sort of habitat.
The location, in the Talamanca Mountains, is known for hosting the Resplendant Quetzal, and it is perhaps an understatement when I say that we were not disappointed! In addition to enjoying the bird life around the Lodge and further afield we were escorted on a long walk through primary oak rainforest, where we were able to view a large variety of plants and fungi in addition to insects and birds.


Macro Photography
In addition to birds and other creatures at some distance, requiring long focus lenses, we also photographed more traditionally "macro" subjects such as flowers, spiders and insects, both by daylight and using flash. These images, from various different locations, are all gathered together in this gallery. Reptiles and Amphibians
These photographs were taken at various stages during the trip, some were "in the wild", while others were taken under controlled conditions.



Behind the Scenes
The photographs in the previous galleries have generally been chosen to appear as natural as possible. Thus, any evidence of bird feeders and other "un-natural" features have most often been camouflaged or cropped out. This gallery is included to provide a glimpse of the props that were included to give us the best chance of seeing and photographing the wildlife.

Home Page		An arbitrary collection of 20 of my favourite photographs from this expedition

	San Jose and Arenal We were driven from San Jose airport to the Hotel Bougainvillea, where we spent the night. The following morning we wandered around the hotel's extensive gardens getting our eyes in for bird and macro photography before setting out after breakfast for Arenal Observatory Lodge. We stopped for lunch at a roadside resaurant in La Fortuna and did some more photography before proceeding to the lodge for a two-night stay. As with two of the other lodges we stayed at, this lodge had a bird feeder. These are designed to attract the many species of bird to a location close to a viewing platform, for guests to view and photograph. This is excellent for maximising the number of species of bird seen and photographed, although some regard it as "cheating". Some of us received instruction on macro photography, including using off-camera flash, while staying at Arenal Observatory Lodge. (See the separate gallery of macro photographs).	Laguna de Legarto After two nights at Arenal Observatory Lodge we set out for the lodge at Laguna de Lagarto, with occasional stops along the way to photograph birds spotted by our guide or leader. At the lodge we were able to photograph birds on a feeder from a viewing area in much the same way as at Arenal Observatory Lodge. The main difference was that the feeder here appeared more "natural". There were also a number of other activities laid on by the lodge. These were a boat ride on the River San Carlos, a session attempting to photograph bats attracted to nectar on flowers (unsuccessfully on my part!), a visit to view Black and King Vultures attracted by bait at a local hide, and finally a session to photograph captive snakes and frogs using flash. We spent three nights at Laguna de Legarto and at each of the remaining two lodges.

	Selva Verde The lodge at Selva Verde is large and well-appointed, with a buffet style restaurant and a bar, along with trails through its extensive grounds. Food to attract the birds is laid out on tables in a viewing area, although this is cramped and the layout unimaginative. The lodge is close to La Selva OTS Research Site. This is an education and research centre and welcomes visitors to the extensive primary and secondary rainforests. We had three visits to this site, over two days and in addition to the expected birds we were able to photograph monkeys, frogs, insects and spiders. We drove out to a relatively new viewing location, known as the "Nest", where a good selection of bird species, includiong owls, were seen. I tried out my macro skills on a parade of leaf-cutter ants while others were attempting to photograph a Collared Manakin from a hide. We also had an excursion to visit a local farmer turned guide, whose name was Cope. He has set up an observation platform at his home and is also familiar with other local habitats where he was able to find owls and members of the nightjar family for us to photograph.	Savegre Lodge It was a long drive to Savegre Lodge, during which we stopped off at a café that had a viewing platform for refreshment and photography. The lodge was the only one where there was not a conventional "bird feeder". Instead, part of the grounds was planted with hummingbird-friendly flowering plants. The lodge did, however, have access to a viewing platform nearby, where we spent one afternoon. We also visited a café further away that had a viewing platform to encourage visitors. In addition, the river Savegre ran along the boundary of the lodge and was useful for attracting birds that favoured that sort of habitat. The location, in the Talamanca Mountains, is known for hosting the Resplendant Quetzal, and it is perhaps an understatement when I say that we were not disappointed! In addition to enjoying the bird life around the Lodge and further afield we were escorted on a long walk through primary oak rainforest, where we were able to view a large variety of plants and fungi in addition to insects and birds.

	Macro Photography In addition to birds and other creatures at some distance, requiring long focus lenses, we also photographed more traditionally "macro" subjects such as flowers, spiders and insects, both by daylight and using flash. These images, from various different locations, are all gathered together in this gallery.	Reptiles and Amphibians These photographs were taken at various stages during the trip, some were "in the wild", while others were taken under controlled conditions.

	Behind the Scenes The photographs in the previous galleries have generally been chosen to appear as natural as possible. Thus, any evidence of bird feeders and other "un-natural" features have most often been camouflaged or cropped out. This gallery is included to provide a glimpse of the props that were included to give us the best chance of seeing and photographing the wildlife.