Adventuring and Birding in Costa Rica on Your Own

There are many travel companies that take people around the world on wonderful adventures, many of them specializing in wildlife and birds. Imagine, though, being your own travel guide and doing it all on your own. That is exactly what Jill Davies and two of her “Birder Friends,’ Mary and Pat, did when they set off for Costa Rica in late January for a three week adventure! They arrived in San Jose with a hotel reservation and the name of a bird guide. From that point they embarked on amazing adventures throughout the country, sometimes with a guide and often on their own following suggestions from people they encountered:

The bird guide drove them around central Costa Rica in her car for four days to the best birding sites and they stayed at her eco-lodge in the “cloud forest,” hiking and birding. The guide knew all of the birds by sight and sound. From there they got a ride to the Pacific coast, found a hostel and had four days adventuring out to tour a national park, kayak in mangroves, snorkel on a coral reef and “boogey board” in the surf. They then continued south to a lodge on the coast to visit a beach and marine park. Finally they were driven to the most southern part of Costa Rica where they were ferried by a small boat down a big river to the ocean and along the coast to a very comfortable tent camp on the Osa Peninsula. While there they toured a national park, snorkeled a coral reef, kayaked in the ocean to a lagoon and hiked along the coast, all along seeing hundreds of birds and native animals.

On Monday, November 21st, Jill will present a program at the Bitterroot Audubon meeting, on this exciting trip to Costa Rica. She will show photos of many of the 300 birds seen or heard. (She discovered that the best way to view hummingbirds and colorful fruit eating birds was to sit out on a deck and eat delicious food while watching the birds swarm the bird feeders!)

Jill is an amateur naturalist, organic farmer, food activist, outdoor enthusiast (hiker, skier, kayaker), and Director of Sustainable Living Systems, a non-profit organization.

Come join Bitterroot Audubon 7:00 P.M. Monday, November 21 at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge Visitors’ Center. The Refuge is located on Wildfowl, north east of Stevensville. THE PUBLIC IS INVITED. For more information contact Kay Fulton at 642-3794.