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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hamhed" data-source="post: 3208546" data-attributes="member: 70825">We made three short side trips during our stay at Heleconia Island.  Pete, Liz and I spent a somewhat damp morning exploring Selva Verde (<a href="http://www.selvaverde.com/lang/en/" target="_blank">http://www.selvaverde.com/lang/en/</a>).  We accepted a generous offer to bird their grounds and have lunch for $17 per person.  We found out after getting our wristbands this did not include access to the mature forest across the river, a major disappointment since the goal was to get into the old growth found only in limited amounts at Heleconia Island.  Still, we easily spent the morning wandering the trails, birding when it was not raining; frogging when it was.  Our bird list was not impressive though Pete spotted a Snowy Cotinga and a Slaty-tailed Trogon showed near the feeder area.  That same evening, our entire group went to Horquetas where Jose Solis operates Frogs Heaven (<a href="https://es-es.facebook.com/frogsheaven" target="_blank">https://es-es.facebook.com/frogsheaven</a>).  The tour was first a slow walk through his food garden and ended as night fell, spotting a variety of frogs.  Our special treat, as guests of Heleconia Island, with whom Jose was good friends, was to have a traditional Costa Rican meal in a Costa Rican house with a Tico family.  On the final day, we five spent a very pleasant 90 minutes at the Nature Pavilion, in the company of Dave Ramirez.  The site is built and maintained for bird viewing and photography.  The Youtube videos I have seen do not do it justice.  Dave is obviously committed to a plan of constant improvement towards a goal of property protection through birder visitation.  There are some riverside trails, of which we explored only a brief portion.  My mom and Aunt enjoyed the constant activity and proximity of a good variety of species, some of which were seen at Heleconia Island but with more feeders and enough added diversity to be a worthwhile visit.  We finished our mid-morning diversion by stopping on the way back through Sarapiqui for a round of mora (blackberry) batidas (fruit shakes).</blockquote>

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