Costa Rica - The Final Leg

Resplendent Quetzal - Paraiso Quetzal, Costa Rica

Leaving Bosque, we had to drive past the location for the failed landscape sessions, but it was no surprise that conditions had cleared. There was no time to make amends, as we had to reach our next destination, Paraiso Quetzal, in time for lunch. We also had to travel via Zarcero and had a 20-minute opportunity to visit the amazing topiary gardens in front of the Iglesia de San Rafael. They are the work of one man, who could be seen at work on what must be the Costa Rican equivalent of painting the Forth Bridge.

Paraiso Quetzal is located in the cloud forest and boasts temperatures in the mid 20deg C range during the day, but can fall to around 4deg C at night. We were certainly grateful for the hot water bottles they supplied.

Arriving for lunch as planned, another 3-course meal, we settled in and spent the afternoon on the decking outside the lodge photographing the constant flow of Hummingbirds. The two main species were the Purple-throated Mountain Gem and the Green Violeteer, the latter of which we spent a lot of time trying to capture with its ‘ears’ protruding.

Next morning was an early alarm call, a quick coffee and a pre-breakfast start to get into position for the expected star of the show, the Resplendent Quetzal. We had the services of a local guide who through his contacts was able to take us to the most likely spot for it to appear. This involved a drive of about 5 miles in the bus.

Pretty soon we were set up beside a track with cameras pointing into a local garden. All of the group were full of expectation, but the time passed and there was no sign of the birds so the decision was to head for breakfast. However, before we had chance to get away, suddenly the female turned up and perched right in the tree we had been set up on. The shutters clicked away, but all too soon she was gone. At least we had seen a Resplendent Quetzal, but as beautiful a bird as the female is, the male with his long tail and green crest was what we really wanted.

Back at the lodge and with a hearty breakfast consumed, there was more time to shoot Hummingbirds from the decking while we waited for the first set up to be organised. This time, the beautiful Fiery-throated Hummingbird made an appearance and we were fortunate to have the right light to capture the colourful iridescence in its feathers. There was time for two set-ups to be worked on prior to lunch after which a wander in the gardens to see what other species we could find, before the two afternoon set ups. That left us just enough time to try for some sunset landscapes and natural Hummingbird silhouettes.

Our final morning was a repeat of the previous day, onsite by 6am and waiting. But this time we struck lucky as both the female and male birds put in an appearance. Even better, the male stayed for fully an hour and through the kindness of the homeowner, we were able to use both his porch and rear garden to get better views. Everyone left to go back for breakfast feeling extremely happy that we’d got what we went for. It had been a close call, but all was well in the end.

Fortunately, although this was our last morning at the lodge, we didn’t have to rush away. That meant we could spend the morning in the gardens to see if we’d missed anything the previous day and grab a couple more landscapes, before a leisurely lunch and setting off on our drive back to the capital San Jose.

Back at the Hotel Bougainvillea, it was perhaps no surprise that none of the group was keen to go out after dinner for another macro session. We did spend some time in the gardens before dinner, but knowing that we had a whole day there to kill next day, we collectively decided an early night would be in order.

The final day was never planned that way; we should have been on a plane back to the UK. However, when booking the trip, the flight timetables weren’t out and when they were published, BA weren’t flying the route on the day we had planned for. It wasn’t a huge problem and in some ways good to unwind, but the hotel gardens, good as they are, only have so much to offer.

Reflecting on the trip it was enjoyable and different to anything we’d experienced before, but we both felt there were too many set ups. To be honest, my favourite day was the first, which had been added last minute, again due to the BA flights timetable. It was more spontaneous and akin to the type of photography we prefer and are used to. Would we go again? Certainly, Costa Rica has a lot to offer the wildlife photographer.

Shooting by the Waterfall

Violet Sabrewing - Catarata del Toro

Beautiful as the setting of Bosque de Paz is, I didn’t feel it had enough to offer for the whole duration of our stay there. The itinerary detailed landscape chances close to the lodge, but on both occasions we checked them out, the cloud was so low there was nothing to see, let alone photograph. It was therefore fortunate that we had a day planned at the Catarata Del Toro waterfall, which was only a short drive away.

Essentially this was another day of set ups, but between sessions there was the opportunity to shoot in the grounds. Additionally, for those feeling energetic, there was the hike down to the base of the waterfall for further photo opportunities. It’s actually dropping into what was a volcano crater and has a 90m vertical fall.

The entrance to the site is through the café adjacent to the car park and is on the same level as the head of the fall. Exiting the café brings you to the start of the garden trails and the 1km descent to the base of the fall. This involves negotiating more than 350 steps, with various stop-off points to take in different views of the fall.

Being another wet day it was no surprise that none of the group made the descent, save for our bus driver. Enrique had been running regularly before breakfast each morning during the trip, but the terrain limited his chances at Bosque. He’d previously told us that in the past he had run up from the bottom of the path and posted a respectable time, but hadn’t seemed inclined to repeat it on this trip. However, while I was in the garden between my set-up sessions, he came running past me. No records this time, but big respect for doing it at all.

The set-ups were done under cover in a cordoned off area of the café and followed the familiar pattern. My first session consisted mainly of Violet Sabrewings, probably the second most common hummingbird we saw on the whole trip, after the White-necked Jacobin. Looking for something different, about halfway through my 30-minute session I had the set-up changed so that I could shoot silhouettes.

I employed this tactic on three of my four sessions, but now I’m back and looking through the images, I’m finding there are far less keepers than in the normal part of the sessions. Position of the bird relative to the flower is absolutely vital in silhouettes and in one of the sessions I’m left with 4 keepers from just shy of a hundred shots.

Naturally I realise this could be a reflection on my photographic skills, but compare that to 32 keepers from a similar number of normal shots and I feel it’s purely down to the subject matter.

Walking in the gardens I didn’t find much to photograph. The Bananaquits were as prevalent as ever and I spent some time with them, but the constant heavy showers weren’t helping. It was a relatively relaxed day as a result and some more beautiful images were added to the portfolio. However, the set-ups were beginning to get a bit repetitive and I was starting to yearn for the type of wild shooting we’re used to on safaris.

The site closes at 5pm and by that time we were on our way back to Bosque. Being only a short drive we were soon back at the lodge and breaking out the macro kit for a final night walk before dinner. The site is very productive for this genre and in a relatively small area too. We found much to photograph on each of the three nights, but on this last night, nothing new was found.

That was Bosque de Paz done and dusted. Next morning there was no time to do anything other than get packed up, have a final breakfast and board the bus for the journey to Paraiso Quetzal, via San Pedro, a trip of around four hours.