In 2016 I went to Costa Rica. Unfortunately, so did Otto. Records of hurricanes have been made since 1851 and in all that time Costa Rica has never experienced one. But of course it was bound to happen, when I decided to go. Otto was the name of the hurricane. It passed Costa Rica the day before I arrived. Although downgraded to a tropical storm, the consequences were serious. Nine people died and the country suffered from flooding, landslides and areas being completely cut off.

And then there was the rain. I went in the so-called dry season, but due to the hurricane, the daily rain fall exceeded what would normally fall in a month. Every day. Looking back at my photos it is not clear that it rained at all, but of course there is a negative correlation between the amount of rain and the number of photos taken. The rain could not detract from the stunning wildlife though.

Costa Rica is famous for its diverse wildlife, but I guess everyone has got a couple of species they really wish to see. The sloth was on top of my list. There is something about this slow-moving and slightly odd creature, which is utterly charming. Apparently, an extensive eco-system of algae, insects and other creep live in their fur, but from a distance they look fairly cuddly. I had only been in the country for a couple of days, when I saw my first sloth. It was quite close and did not seem to mind people gaping at it. That was a great moment.

Before going to Costa Rica, I had never heard of the scarlet macaw, but other travellers told me macaws were a ‘must see’. As it happened, my meeting with a large group of scarlet macaws became one of the highlights of the holiday. The macaws were in the trees quite close to a main road. A predator bird was roaming the area and ever so often the whole group of bright red birds would lift their wings and take off covering the clear blue sky with scarlet silhouettes. Eventually, they would settle down in a different tree and relax until the predator bird made them take off again. The sight was so beautiful, I got a lump in my throat.

I would have loved to get a photo of the macaw coloured sky, but my photographer skills were unfortunately not up for it. The macaws were flying high and fast in – at least to me – unpredictable patterns. Costa Rica, like other developing countries, have a seemingly unnecessary amount of utility poles and cables being scattered all over the place. Trying to capture the flying macaws on camera gave me a unique photo collection of cables, utility poles, tree tops, blue sky and combinations hereof. There were a few photos of birds as well. But I still have the memory very clear in my mind.       

As a rule I don’t use my camera in heavy rain. Seeing a baby sloth, I decided to deviate from this rule. Standing on the road while the rain was pouring down, struggling with my rain poncho and pointing my camera randomly to the tree tops trying to get the baby sloth into focus probably made me look like a complete maniac. It was a cute baby sloth though. 

Another animal closely connected with Costa Rica is the red-eyed tree frog. I saw it on a guided walk, or rather the guide saw it. Fair to say I would never have spotted it on my own. 

Costa Rica is a paradise for bird watchers. Many of these hope to spot the resplendent quetzal. One specific avocado tree in the Savegre Cloud Forest, not too far from the lodges in the area, is known as a popular Quetzal hang-out. This is no secret, so be prepared that you won’t be the only traveller standing there early in the morning staring hopefully at the avocado tree. The morning I went, the tree was visited by a male and a female quetzal. It was very enjoyable watching them. The male is the pretty one(!) with long tail and a helmet-like crest.  

Getting a decent photo of a humming bird is just marginally easier than capturing a flying macaw and requires a decent amount of luck and/or patience. Spotting them is easy though, they are all over the place.

I arrived in Gatwick Airport after two weeks in Costa Rica. Everyone was standing at the luggage carrousels waiting for the bags from Costa Rica to arrive. Following the bags around on the carrousel was a very distinct smell of weeks and weeks of damp clothes and trainers, which never got the chance to dry in the humid air before getting soaked again the next day. And the next… You could almost see a small cloud of humidity and bad smell over the bags as they went around. 

I had an amazing time in Costa Rica. It might have been better without the rain, but then again, that was an experience in itself and it surely helped to make the holiday a truly unforgettable one.

Have you been exploring the Wildlife in Costa Rica? Do you have a favourite memory?