Is the Rain Going to Stop

Grey-tailed Mountain Gem - Bosque de Paz

After the early morning session at Arenal in the dry, we left with high hopes we had seen the back of wet weather for a while. Sure, we were operating in and around cloud forest and rain forest, but a little dry wouldn’t go amiss. Our destination was the Bosque de Paz Lodge, which their website describes as; ‘a lush jungle paradise, surrounded by magnificent cloud and rain forests’.

Our route took us over the well-known Iguana Bridge near the town of Muelle, where we stopped to photograph the Green Iguanas. They weren’t hard to find and there were plenty of them, right outside the ice cream and gift shop beside the bridge. On one side of the shop there is an open balcony where it is possible to picture them in the trees. During the breeding season the males take on an orange colouring and there were a few such specimens to see on this occasion. It was very hot there and the ice creams are strategically placed, but a word of warning if you go there. Some of the so-called ice creams are actually sorbets.

Fairly soon it was time to move on so that we could arrive at Bosque in time for lunch. It was still dry when we arrived, but not for long and while we were checking in the heavens opened again. As with our time at Laguna del Lagarto, we were able to stay under a degree of cover to shoot hummingbirds in the rain and after lunch all of the group eagerly unpacked their cameras and got to work.

This was quite a challenging session as we tried to shoot a variety of hummingbirds hovering before dipping their beaks into the feeders. The session lasted until we had really lost the light and that was the cue to change to macro lenses and flashguns to venture into the grounds until dinner. In a circular walk of no more than 300m we found a variety of frogs, Katydids, Stick Insects, Flatworms, Praying Mantis, Spiders, Caterpillars, Snails and Moths.

We were very lucky at this location as we were the only guests and consequently had exclusive attention from the friendly staff. The food was very good, as it had been all the way so far, but some of us were tiring of the black beans and rice at every meal.

Next day was a succession of hummingbird set ups and opportunities to walk in the grounds between the sessions. There were one or two landscape images to be had here as well as the wildlife activity including a couple of Agouti and a rather tame White-nosed Coati that kept us amused during our visit. Some of us took the opportunity between sessions to repeat our efforts of the previous afternoon with the hovering hummingbirds.

As the light faded there was the chance to photograph the lodge, lit up and reflected in the river and waterfall that runs alongside it. Like the previous evening, we ventured out with the macro kit to see what we could find before dinner. Grasshoppers, Anole Lizards and the rather fine looking Virginia Ctenucha Caterpillar were added to the list this time.
Normally I don’t blog about bedroom activity, but on this occasion I’ll make an exception. While I was attending to a middle-of-the-night call of nature, Rose spotted a large spider on the wall beside the bed. Her instruction to me to put a glass over it, then seal the top of the glass with a sheet of paper before removing it to outside just wasn’t going to work. It was far too big for that. Calling on my ingenuity skills honed over 30 years as a fireman, I cast my eyes around the room to see what I could use. At this point one of the unusual phenomena encountered in Costa Rica came to my aid.

In general, the plumbing over there doesn’t allow for toilet paper to be flushed away, therefore receptacles are provided for it to be placed in there. The basket we had for this purpose was a perfect size, although there was no way an A4 sheet of paper was going to seal the top. So it had to be placed over the offending arachnid and then dragged down the wall on to the floor, checking all the while that it hadn’t escaped. Next it had to be dragged across the floor to the door about 4m away and out on to the balcony. Final act was to turn the basket on to its side and withdraw into our room, shutting the door and ensuring it hadn’t followed.

When we checked in the morning, the spider had gone to live elsewhere. It may have been harmless, but on the other hand not being a spider expert, it may not have been. We ventured down to breakfast and made ready for a whole day excursion out from Bosque, but more on that next time.

Arenal Observatory Lodge

Red-eyed Tree Frog

Our next destination was the well-known Arenal Observatory Lodge, a location with an interesting story to tell. But first, we made a detour on the way there to take in a family farm where we had the opportunity to photograph Scarlet Macaws, Great Green Macaws and hybrids, as well as Capuchin Monkeys. This was a welcome break from the transfer, an opportunity to stretch our legs in the warm sunshine while we took a number of flight shots, before sheltering from the usual late afternoon downpours.

It was dark and still raining when we reached the lodge and checked into our room about 150m down a steep path. Originally, the lodge was a cattle ranch on a mountainside, but in 1968 that all changed when the mountain proved itself to be a volcano and promptly erupted. Four years later the ranch was taken over by the family who still run the site today and was identified by the Smithsonian Institute as a safe location from which their scientists could monitor volcanic activity. The owners built a small lodge to accommodate the scientists, some students and tourists and as the tourist numbers increased, the lodge and the 870 acres of grounds were developed to form a private nature reserve. Today it is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, not forgetting over 500 bird species.

Our main reason for being in this location wasn’t confined to the lodge as we had sessions booked over 2 days at the Arenal Eco Zoo. This was to give us the opportunity to hone our macro techniques on a variety of frogs, snakes and spiders. There was also an opportunity to visit a butterfly centre close by. Being honest, the name Eco Zoo is somewhat grand for what is essentially a hotch-potch of reptiles etc. in tanks.

Earlier in the trip we were asked if we wanted to do a night walk while we were at the zoo, a bit of a curved ball as none of us had expected it and neither of the guides had previously experienced it. We all agreed and after the King Vulture ‘extra’ at Laguna del Lagarto, it seemed to represent good value for money. What we didn’t know at the time of agreeing was that we would need wellington boots, which none of us had. Waterproof walking boots were not sufficient. So before we set off, the owners of the zoo had to cast around to find boots of varying sizes to fit five of us. Inevitably we ended up with odd pairs, odd sizes and wrong sizes in most cases. An inauspicious start for certain.

There were two more issues to deal with, one being the fact that it had been raining almost non-stop for two days. The other was the fact that we then had to take a 20 – 30 minute drive to the walk location. When we eventually arrived, it quickly became clear that this was not how we’d imagined it. There was no path, it was pitch black and still pouring with rain. Parts of the walk were, unsurprisingly, muddy therefore slippery and quite steep in places. In short it was downright dangerous and had in no way been risk assessed. Rose had the misfortune to trip over a tree root injuring her knee, a problem from which she is still suffering two months later.

After attempting the first photo opportunity with a snake, three of us decided we no longer wanted to expose ourselves to the apparent dangers and informed the guide we were going back to the bus. It’s fair to say he wasn’t happy, but equally neither was I that he had exposed us to the situation without first assessing its suitability. It’s a shame this wholly avoidable incident happened, but next day we were due to move on to our next location, hopefully a fresh start.

During our time at the lodge we didn’t do much in the actual grounds, which we thought was a shame. The pre-breakfast shoot on the first morning was cancelled, as the rain was torrential. A pity the same action wasn’t taken in respect of the walk that evening. On the following evening we ventured into the grounds after dinner and did some macro work with off-camera flash, mainly centred on Red-eyed Tree Frogs.

Suitably enthused by this session, we were all out again before 6am next morning for what was to be our first and only daylight session there. We had a couple of hours before breakfast and managed to grab some previously unseen hummingbirds, Crested Guans and Variegated Squirrels. This session left us both wishing we’d had more daylight time in the grounds, but all too soon it was time for breakfast before departing for our next lodge.