Barking up the right tree in Costa Rica
In the cloud forest low-hanging clouds hover around the upper canopy before condensing onto the leaves of trees and dripping onto the plants below. Looking up you can barely see the sky; such is the...
View ArticleThe oddities of sloths
Is there a mammal more intriguing, cute and downright odd than a sloth? They spend so much time hanging around in trees that they start to look like them. That makes them quite hard to spot, and even...
View ArticleMisadventure on the Rio Nosara
The electric boat moved almost noiselessly along the Rio Nosara. The birds on the banks seemed largely unaware of our presence. The sounds of the forest were all around us. But suddenly there was a...
View ArticleGallery: three times the fun in Costa Rica
Once you recognise that groups of three are visually among the most interesting photographic subjects you can find, you start to look for them everywhere. But they aren’t always easy to find. Having...
View ArticleGallery: in the garden, Costa Rican style
We stayed in some wonderful hotels in Costa Rica, and all of them had gorgeous gardens. The planting was true to the environment, with native trees and bushes and a real forest vibe. When we weren’t...
View ArticleHanging bridges and butterflies
Selvatura Park is one of several private concerns in the Monteverde area that offer various experiences to explore the cloud forest. While not offering quite the pristine ‘back to nature’ experience we...
View ArticleGallery: wildlife in the Caño Negra refuge
In the far north of Costa Rica, almost on the border with Nicaragua, is a magical place, or at least I found it so. The Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge is home to an immense variety of wildlife,...
View ArticleA short (hot) walk around Guiones
While the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica’s southwest is remote and wild, the Nicoya Peninsula in the northwest is rather more developed as a tourist destination. Nevertheless Pacific waves still pound its...
View ArticleGallery: spreading fern-fronds
There is something very intriguing about ferns. Almost prehistoric in nature, it is easy when among them to imagine dinosaurs walking the earth. Unsurprising perhaps, as these often-beautiful plants...
View ArticleGallery: pick a word (August 2024)
It’s Pick a Word time again. Another month and another set of five words from Paula to illustrate. Always challenging, always fun! And as always I've trawled my archives to find some words that I hope...
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