First couple of days back in Costa Rica

     It feels good to finally be back down here! As anyone who has spent time in this beautiful country can can tell you, four months away is just way too long.

     My flight down here was a late one. I took off from Fort Lauderdale at 11:31pm, but due to the time change I arrived in Costa Rica at only 12:15am. That was a quick flight! So fortunately it wasn't too late of an arrival. I grabbed a cab and shot off to my usual hostel for the night.

DAY 1:

     The morning came fast. I awoke with much anticipation for the day. I started it off right, with some out-the-window birding from my third floor room. All the San Jose usuals were about: Crimson-fronted Parakeets, Rock Pigeons, Rufous-collared Sparrows... even a Broad-winged Hawk soaring over the valley. Rachel met me at the hostel early that morning so we could get a nice start on our trip to the Poas Volcano. We grabbed a breakfast of AMAZING gallo pinto with eggs and tomato, and again for anyone who has spent time in the coutry- just to make you jealous- a large cup of costa rican coffee! THE BEST!

A lake at the top of Vocan Poas

    Poas Volcano is a short two hour bus ride from San Jose, a very popular day trip. It happens to be the first place I ever visited in Costa Rica, back in 2006. One of the country's many national parks, Poas sits at 2700m in elevation, which makes for a nice cool temperature during the day. We were only there for four hours, as we were bound by the bus schedule, but that ended up being more than enough time to walk all the trails and grab a cup of coffee before the bus departed. The time spent there was just casual hiking and picture taking, so I can't say I was actually birding- though I did manage to see eight new species of birds! All (obviously) high elevation specialists. After Poas, Rach and I went back to San Jose for dinner and hanging out. All in all it was an awesome day, and a nice welcome back to the country.

The crater where all the action happens- Volcan Poas

New birds for the day:
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
Slaty Flowerpiercer
Silvery-fronted Tapaculo
Black-billed Nightingale-thrush
Large-footed Finch
Yellow-Thighed Finch
Blue-and-white Swallow














DAY 2:

Road through the mountains
and pasture to Irazu 

     Today's adventure was a visit to another nearby volcano- the Irazu Volcano. This one sits substantially higher in elevation than Poas. It is the second tallest volcano in Costa Rica, at just above 3400m! It is also, in my opinion, much colder than Poas. I finally got a chance to test my new fleece- Arc'teryx Apache 1/4 zip- and see some of the birds often found at timberline. This trip was even shorter, again bound by the bus schedule. It lasted only about two and a half hours. I did manage to see another four species of birds which were new to me. Very exciting!

These leaves are over 4ft wide!

The vegetation changes
greatly as the elevation increases

Slopes of the volcanic crater

     After Irazu I met up with Rachel and headed to the city of Heredia, where she is living, and where the Universidad Nacional is located. We had drinks and dinner "on the town" which was nice. This part of Heredia Central has a wonderful college-town feel to it. The area is full of restaurants, bars, and cafes, which are in turn full of students. Night spent in Heredia at a great place called Casa Ciudadela.

New birds for the day:
Volcano Hummingbird
Timberline Wren
Sooty Robin
Volcano Junco

To give an idea of the size of this area, there is a group
of five people standing together in the barren plain.

The mist can cover the entire mountain
in a matter of seconds.

Love my gear!

DAY 3:

     It's now Thursday night, my third day in Costa Rica. It has been a pretty basic and relaxed day. I spent the day in Heredia Central, and now I'm typing this up from downtown San Jose. Rachel and I are spending the weekend in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, which is on the southern Caribbean coast, just above the Panama border. We have a god-awful early bus tomorrow morning that leaves San Jose at 6am, which means we're to be up at 5am... but four and a half hours after that, it's all black sand beaches, lowland Atlantic bird and herp species, amazing surfing, and a rum filled Afro-Carib vibe till the weekend's end! 

I'll try and update after this weekend.

PURA VIDA!