Kari Harper

By Susan Mahr We got up early to make the two hour drive south to spend the whole day at Wilson Botanical Garden, the most famous botanical garden in Central America. But before we ever arrived we had an excellent ornithological experience. Just as we were getting ready to move on from a quick bathroom […]

By Susan Mahr The birds were singing before dawn, and the sun rose in clear skies, except for big fat clouds out over the water. Having arrived in the dark, the dramatic view over the dry forest filled with yellow-flowering trees stretching to the ocean was a surprise. It was 100 steps (plus some unpaved

By Susan Mahr Most of us managed to escape the chilly weather in the US to arrive in Costa Rica, but one person had to cancel due to injury and two others are still hoping to join the tour in two days after their airport was closed because of ice. A storm moving through the

By Susan Mahr On the last day of the tour, we started the day at Jardín Botáníco Lankester. This garden, maintained by the University of Costa Rica, is internationally known for its collections of epiphytes, especially orchids.  The orchid collection includes over 15,000 accessions from nearly 1,000 species, most of which are native to Mesoamerica. We saw

By Susan Mahr Hotel Bougainvillea where we are staying is famous for the blue-crowned motmots that reside here. Normally rather secretive birds of the forest, the motmots here will come in for food. They put out papayas, bananas and other fruit on tray feeders just outside the restaurant windows to lure in these blue jay-sized