BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hamhed" data-source="post: 3208514" data-attributes="member: 70825">Designed in mind to to take family members on a tropical trip, my wife, Liz and I took my 88 yeard old mother, my 85 year old Aunt and my brother, Pete, on a very short trip on the 11th of April.  To cushion the tedious nature of the traveling, my mom and Aunt flew first class and we chose a direct (and costly) flight from Charlotte, North carolina.  Arriving in early afternoon, we met our rental car company, Wild Rider, (<a href="http://www.wild-rider.com/" target="_blank">http://www.wild-rider.com/</a>) at the airport and drove off to the Carribean lowlands.  My first time driving in Costa Rica, we decided to avoid San Jose and take the route through Posito and Vara Blanca.  We did not have a GPS in the vehicle but relied on printed maps.  As it happened, we had no confusion, wrong turns or other problems in navigation.  This also afforded a stop at the Cinchona Cafe for a leg stretch, some food and a few minutes with scenic views and hummingbirds.  We arrived at our destination, Heleconia Island Lodge, (<a href="http://www.heliconiaisland.com/" target="_blank">http://www.heliconiaisland.com/</a>) just after dark.  This particular lodge was chosen partially for the flat terrain, a necessity for the elderly couple but also for the beauty of the gardens, the bird life and the Dutch couple, Henk and Carolien, whom Liz and I remembered fondly from previous visits.We spent three full days and four nights there, eating most of our meals at the lodge and birding when it wasn't raining, which was often.  The feeders, one almost within reach on the dining area, had near constant activity.  A group of Howler monkees were seen daily and White-faced Capuchins twice.  The capuchins were not welcome as they rob the feeders of all the fruit as well as eating frogs, bird eggs and nestlings as they pass through.  Both Two and Three-Toed Sloths were seen though no other mammals made an appearance.  We went out after nightfall to find frogs and were not disappointed thanks to Carolien, who is very much in tune with the wildlife on her property.  She knows the frogs as well as the birds and plants, where they can be found and much of their natural history.  I posted this list of 88 species to eBird for our first full day there:<a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22938689" target="_blank">http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22938689</a></blockquote>

Verification