A post and photos worth sharing from Trip Advisor forum
 

I just wanted to share these awesome photos with anyone who might not be on Trip Advisor forums. The frog photos are some of the best I've ever seen, so make sure you get to those!

By mjneenan

“ Captioned rain forest pictures - La Selva Biological Station ”
Jun 24, 2009, 6:57 PM

Hello! I was with my wife and son last year at Arenal and Manuel Antonio for a week each and decided I wanted to go back to Costa Rica on my own to focus in on nature photography. I chose to spend a week at La Selva Biological Station, near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui.

I had a very nice time there and spotted much wildlife. If you are interested in the wildlife of the rain forest, I would like to invite you to look through a web album I just put together today, a few days after my return. I have captioned all images, with identifications or little stories of what I saw. The images will best be seen in slideshow mode, because they will fill up most of your monitor that way. You can alternate, then, between captions being visible or hidden, if what I wrote gets in the way, sometimes.

I should warn you, however ... there are a fair number of images of insects and spiders, up close and personal. If you are not fond of either, I ask you to at least try to view them! Rain forest insects and spiders can be quite beautiful with amazing colors and patterns!

Here is a brief, rough order to the pictures:

1. Intro to La Selva and their setup

2. Rain forest plants

3. Mammals, including some monkeys and peccaries

4. Birds, including toucans and parrots

5. Snakes, lizards, iguanas, and anoles

6. Many very colorful frogs

7. Insects

8. Spiders

9. Fungi

10. Chocolate tour at nearby Tirimbina Reserve.

There are quite a few pictures - 140 in all, but I have chosen images to tell stories or illustrate a tiny glimpse of the beauty of Costa Rica's nature.

Go to picasaweb.google.com/mjneenan and click on the album that says, Costa Rica, June 2009, La Selva

I hope you make it to Costa Rica soon .... or return if you have already been there! Amazing place ... Pura vida!

Thanks hipvirogchick

I enjoyed allthe pictures.

Thanks for posting, you sure must of had a great time

Wow, those are some amazing photos! I'll have to go to tripadvisor and comment on them!

For a high school biology teacher, La Selva is like Disneyland!

Those are beautiful; I love the red-eyed frog pictures. He must have been in heaven.

hvc, #107 in the backyard collection - close up of ducks is fabulous. it should be on a christmas card.

Thanks, hip, for bringing these over to us. I don't check in at TA very often. These are fabulous, and I enjoyed the narrative. I've sent an e-mail to Mike expressing my awe!

Glad you guys enjoyed them. I should tell him to post over here, but I don't think he's on Fodors...yet. ;-) I thought the narratives really made them special.

Thanks for the link, hip, he is really a great photographer! I hope I see a fraction of what he captured when I am there in November. The frog photos are just outstanding.

I've been wanting to go to Tirimbina for some time now -- this will certainly inspire me to get there or to La Selva. And they're so close to SJO! thanks

Hello, Fodor's Costa Rica forum regulars! I am the original poster of the La Selva web album in Trip Advisor. I came home today from teaching and was pleasantly surprised to get an email from Hipvirgochick letting me know that she had put up a link here to my Trip Advisor post. So, I found this forum and just read all of your comments ... how nice to see so many compliments! I did have a wonderful time, indeed, at La Selva for my solo week there last June. My wife, son and I were also in Costa Rica for two weeks the summer earlier - we were at Arenal for one week and then at Manuel Antonio for a week. There's a web album as well from that trip. You can reach it through the original picasa link above in Hipvirgochick's post.

I very much enjoy photography and have much fun on trips trying to capture what I see. I have only had a digital camera for a little over two years now .... but I have been thrilled to be able to post these sort of web albums to share what I have seen and invite conversations from those who see them, read my captions, and have followup questions ... particularly those who may be visiting the same places in the near future. One of my career fantasies growing up was to be a National Geographic photographer/writer. I never pursued either avenue, but in the last couple years, I am having some real fun posting these albums and seeing others' photos and trip reports, as well.

I have been a Trip Advisor member for about three years. I didn't until today know much about Fodor's forums, but I have to say, I am quite impressed that Hip's post garnered nine responses in less than 24 hours. Wow! Are all Fodor's forums that responsive? As you can see, I registered today with Forum's, so count me in!

We will be going to Kauai this December for 10 days and I will be doing another solo biology/photography trip to the California north coast in March for my spring break - my wife is VERY understanding of my need to be a "biologist." At least play biologist, with camera in hand! :)

I am looking to get to the Osa peninsula within the next few years. I am not sure, though, that my wife would understand three trips to Costa Rica, in such close proximity to each other, when there are so many other places that we haven't been to yet. What do you guys think? Is the Osa (especially Bosque del Cabo - did I say that correctly?) that unique, that I really MUST get there?!

With Trip Advisor, there is a little box you can check if you want an email notification of any responses to a post. But I don't see that here. Does it happen automatically?

Thanks again for your warm words! And yes, I loved the frogs and the insects at
La Selva - great place!

Mike

Oops, I mean I got an email from shillmac. :)

Hi Mike,
Yes, you "said" Bosque del Cabo correctly. Okay, don't take my word for it! :) You'll get a few confirmations here on Fodors!

Welcome aboard!

Hi Mike -- I'm the one who posted your photos here. I hope that's ok, I just thought they were too terrific not to share. By the way, I'm travelicious on TA. Don't ask where I get the silly screen names. ;-) You would be in heaven at Bosque del Cabo!

Hipvirgochick/Travelicious, I'm glad you did post them in Fodor's. It's fun for me to share with as many as possible. ... Bosque del Cabo is definitely calling me. We usually have our next 2-3 trips lined up already a year or so in advance, so I will shoot for Osa for summer of 2011, I think. My wife, son, and I will be going to the Canadian Rockies for our big trip this upcoming summer - never been there!

Your photos from La Selva are wonderful. I have to show my kids, they will think they are so "cool!" I must admit I looked through all of your albums - all great photos, wish I had your photography skills.

Hi Mike
Just a note to say that we try to choose a new destination each year---so many places we haven't visited. This next year, Costa Rice,(Bosque del Cabo is calling me too) but I could return to the Canadian Rockies every year--we've been 3 times. I posted a trip report from our visit there in Sept. '08--and probably '04. Check back and read some of the old posts from JudyinCalgary--she gave lots of great info.

Great photos! I think I commented on your thread over at TA too (as midori). Yes, you should definitely look into Bosque, if you love photography, and wildlife, it's really one of the best!

LindainOhio, thanks for the recommendations for the Canadian Rockies ... I will check them out today.

And it looks like the Osa is a must, based on all of your glowing words. Can't wait to get back to Costa Rica ... I have fallen in love with that country.

Wow...these are making me so anxious for our January trip. The photos are fantastic. And the colors in the frog pics are so vivid...definitely National Geographic worthy!