Back from Bosque Del Cabo...

Fabulous! Three weeks from today I leave for BdC. Can't wait.

Can't wait for the report and pictures. Make it lengthy and add lots of pics. We'll be there in 3 months! Looking forward to the rest.

It sounds like you had great animal sightings. I can't wait to read all the details. BdC is a wonderful spot!

Ahh, BdC! Love that place!

Sounds like a wonderful trip, atdahl.

Glad you had a great trip. The white hawk is one of my favorite's.

Sigh. . . .

good for you! Can't wait to see the pics!

OK. Some pictures are now on line:

http://www.focusedonnature.com/gallery/7356231_ZEsvD#473505495_HadfY

I am working on a trip report and should have that up in a week.

oh my gosh--awesome photos!!!

Can I just say WOW! I think these must be the best photos I've ever seen posted here. Are you a professional photographer? What type of camera did you use?

Thanks for the compliments.

Hipvirgochick, while I have sold a picture or two, I am just an amateurtaurusdude, not a pro. I won't be quitting my day job anytime soon.

To get these pictures I took about 20 pounds of camera gear and lugged a tripod around from dusk to dawn. BDC is amazing and it is hard to take a bad photo. Although, being out and about from 6AM to 10PM most days helped. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

Alan

Well, your efforts of lugging the gear around certainly paid off. I'm not quite that dedicated LOL! Your pics are definteley coffee table book material. I looked at the others on your site as well...all beautiful!

Alan, have you ever thought about doing a coffee table book? Your pictures are truly gorgeous. Roy should be worried!

Beautiful photos, love the one of the rock viewable from Congo and the pelicans.

Hi Your pictures are amazing - I am assuming you shot manually - what camera and lens did you use?

Thanks, Debbie

atdahl,
Your pics are truly incredible... You were also just in Belize at Chan chich?? Those pics were great too! If I only had the ambition to carry a tripod all the time...sigh.
Thanks for the remark on my pics earlier too even though there is little to compare....lol
Absolutely FABULOUS work!!

The pictures are absolutely fantastic. What an incredible eye you have. Thanks for posting. I also enjoyed your other galleries as well.

Thanks for the pictures. You had some fantastic subjects and you possess incredible skill behind the camera. Your 20 lbs of gear were worth it!

Why was this trip better than last? Where you went? Time of year? Or just pure luck?

How long were you in Bosque Del Cabo?

When you state you were out all day 6 am to 10 pm most days, was that alone or with a guide? Or a combo? Were you spotting with lights at night?

Thanks for the answers and if you want to just stick in a link to your website that will answer these, that's fine.

Wow, your photography work is really beautiful! Thanks for sharing with us! BdC is really incredible, isn't it?

Wow - your pictures are amazing! I love the ones of the monkeys swinging and jumping. You are very talented. Look forward to reading your trip report.

Thanks for all the compliments everyone. I am working on some trip reports and will post them in a week or so hopefully. Hopefully, I can answer everyone's questions in the mean time:

Speaking of coffee table books, I hear that Roy's book is due out this summer. I can't wait. I would pre-order it if I could. I have done some books for my personal use but have never sold any. I am considering this though and may need to make one more trip to BDC to get some more pictures.

Flycatcher: I should add a camera gear section to my website, but in the meantime here is what I took to BDC: Nikon D300. 70-300VR lens, 105mm macro, 18-55mm wide angle (I think I took less than 10 shots with this lens). I also had a good Gitzo tripod and ballhead and for this trip and bought a stand alone SB600 flash that my wife held for many of the night shots. This worked out great. Of course, I had a full compliment of accessories as well.

Steph, Yes we went to Chan Chich last year. Another amazing lodge. If you have any question about it you want me to answer feel free to contact me through my website. I do have a Chan Chich trip report posted in the archive section (Feb 2008).

Atravelynn, we went to BDC the same week in February in 2007. That trip was great and caused us to fall in love with the rainforest. This trip was better only because we saw more wildlife (more snakes, peccaries, coatis and birds). We pretty much hiked by ourselves except for an afternoon offsite birding trip with Carlos (to see the White Ibis) and a sunset tour with Phillip (highly recommended even for "regulars" like us) just for his knowledge. At night we only had flashlights but have learned the eyeshine tricks to id wildlife and we ventured to the Tropical Garden pond at night which was really fun (The sound of frogs and toads was close to deafening).

The only small disappointment from this trip was the lack of rain made the poison dart frogs (we only saw two) and the adult Red-eyed Tree Frogs (we saw no adults) scarce. Just two of a hundred reasons to go back again...

Incredible pictures! Thanks for sharing.

It was great meeting you and the Mrs at BDC. Thanks for all your assistance on the Nikon. As it turned out shooting in manual mode with Monkeys was not fun nor fruitful in our blurry pictures. Yours are truly incredible. I have gone through a ton of pics that would have been really nice (nothing compared to what you posted) if only the auto focus was functional. Again very nice meeting you and awesome pics.

I have started to post trip reports. They are in blog format (reverse chronological order) so you may want to click on the archive section on the right under February 2009 to read them in order:

http://www.focusedonnature.com/gallery/6360693_Qmm68

I'll check out the site.

So it was safe to walk around on your own day and night in search of wildlife. I'm thinking about wild animals as a safety issue rather than people. No lurking jaguars?

I only wish that there were lurking Jaguars. That would have been great.

No, we have never worried about our safety in either Costa Rica or Belize from the wildlife. According to the cat expert we met at BDC, there has only been one recorded account of a cat attacking a man on the Osa. Apparently, it was a scientist studying Pumas in Corcovado that hadn't bathed in quite some time and probably smelled like a peccary. The guy wasn't hurt anyway.

We are careful to watch where we step and we hardly ever go off an established path. Stick to those rules and you will be fine.

Thanks for the path info. I'd actually be more concerned about startling a snake than a jaguar. Sometimes peccaries in numbers can be aggressive, too.

You never know where the "attack" might come from. A pair of harmless mating snakes fell on woman in our Costa Rica nature walk group as the guide was explaining something.

You do have to be careful, use a flashlight, etc. When we were there Philip was going back to his cabin and nearly stepped on a Fer de Lance right in the middle of the path. His flashlight spotted it just in time. There are coral snakes as well. We never saw anything like that though; if they hear you coming, they try to get away.

atdahl, exciting photos! Thanks very much for sharing! I'll be reading your trip report. We're thinking of visiting the Osa for the first time at end of January 2010. It will be our first trip to the Osa, but our second trip to Costa Rica.

We fly into San Jose first, and will attend a destination wedding near Jaco. What's the best way to get from that area down to the Osa, in dry season (end of January 2010)? If we drive I'm concerned about the roads...especially since bumpy roads for hours would bother my shoulders which have tendonitis. Is flying better? Also not easy for me since I'm afraid of flying. But I fell in love with Costa Rica on our first trip! I suffered green rainforest withdrawal symptoms when we returned home to San Diego!

I'm thinking that Bosque del Cabo on the Osa sounds like a great spot for my biologist husband and I. (I'm not a biologist...I'm the poetic dreamer...he's the biologist/herpetologist.)

Did you also go into the corcovado national park?

Look forward to reading your trip report...

Hi Melissa,

I have never driven to the Osa so it is hard for me to comment on the drive from Jaco. However, I am sure it is multiple hours and flying always seems like a better option in my book. The planes that both Nature Air and Sansa fly are 12 to 18 seaters and safe. I have always felt that planes this size are safer than big jets because these planes can glide down and don't fly very high. The view is exceptional and might make you forget about any fears.

We did not go to Corcovado because everything you want to see is at BDC which doesn't make the full day expensive trip worth it in my book.

By the way, I have finally finished the last trip reports:
http://www.focusedonnature.com/gallery/6360693_Qmm68

atdahl,
Great trip report and pictures! Thanks for sharing. We got back from BdC a few weeks ago, and while we didn't see as much wildlife as you did, we still saw a lot.

Hope to be able to go back someday...