• Finca Ecológica San Luis

    Finca Ecológica San Luis

    How do we secure the future of natural places?  This question has many answers, most of which require some form of economic incentive. One such answer is ecotourism.  Ecotourism at its core is visiting a place to observe its ecology, whether that be elephants in Africa, penguins on Antarctic icebergs or Quetzals in the Central Read more

  • Mirador El Pizote

    Mirador El Pizote

    This post represents an interlude in my stay at La Finca Ecológica (covered in a forthcoming post). Sergio picked me up at about 5 in San Luis and we drove up to his family’s property in Boca Tapada, near San Carlos by the Nicaraguan border. It was about a five hour drive because of a Read more

  • Reserva Curi-Cancha

    Reserva Curi-Cancha

    Today was a super fun day of birding at Curi-Cancha, a reserve that’s a little lower in elevation than Monteverde and a little closer to Santa Elena. I got there just as the reserve was opening at 7AM, and started seeing birds immediately. While the forest here might not be as pristine as that of Read more

  • Monteverde and Finca San Luis

    Monteverde and Finca San Luis

    The fun bird pictures are at the bottom of the post! But you should read through the whole thing for the full context. After arriving in Santa Elena I decided to take the next morning slow, so I woke up late (in birding terms, at 6:45) and enjoyed the free breakfast at my hostel. Afterwards Read more

  • The Trip Begins: Costa Rica

    The Trip Begins: Costa Rica

    The clouds have closed in as my bus makes its way west from San Jose. Out the window I can see several different kinds of pretty spectacular flowering trees; the most common one seems to be the vivid orange Poró Gigante which has no leaves right now for the most part, just bunches of tangerine-colored Read more

  • Packing!

    Packing!

    Well that’s it! I’ve got all my stuff packed up in my backpack and camera bag, and I don’t think I’ll be changing the list. I’m using the Osprey Farpoint 40L backpack, recommended by several one-bag travel experts. It’s got quite a lot of space, enough to fit a week and a half of clothes Read more