At 12:10 AM 9/19/97 -0400, Suiebill2 at aol.com wrote:
>My wife and I intend travelling to Costa Rica and from all the messages I
>have read of late, it would almost appear as if we could have a tweeters get
>together down there at Xmas.
>Someone asked about bird books and I have found one titled
>" a travel and site guide to birds of Costa Rica by Aarond Sckerak( sp?)"
> costs$13.56 at amazon.com.
>Bill Stark
>Kirkland
>Suiebill2 at aol.com
>
>

Hi Tweeters

I'm a new responder but have eavesdropped on your conversations for awhile
and certainly appreciate the to-and-from flow of comments and ideas.

re: Costa Rica. Fantastic. Go. Enjoy. Add to your list. Get
frustrated and enjoy some more.

Books: A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by F. Gary Stiles and Alexander
Skutch.

A Travel and Site Guide to Birds of Costa Rica by Aaron D. Sekerak

Suite Guides: Costa Rica by Dennis W. Rogers

All of the above were in stock at Flora and Fauna Books in Seattle in the
Pioneer Square area. My car is set on "Home" and finds the store
automatically - it is in a basement and you had better have great will
power or a healthy wallet because the book offerings are truly
overwhelming. Butterflies, bugs, dragonflies, plants, animals -- yeah,
just like their name suggests!

Travel comments: As anywhere (Seattle, Vancouver ore San Jose, CR) watch
your personal bags. Richard lost his bag (with guides, binos, camera, etc)
unloading from a cab. The risk is the same anywhere. The solution - know
what you have and have one person responsible for the cab's trunk ane one
for the sidewalk, etc. We stayed in Coca Cola (the low rent district of
San Jose) and had no problems.

Transport: We did local buses and taxis when necessary. Cheap.
Frustrating but workable.

Good birding locations: The whole country! Seriously, you can Hoffman's
Woodpecker right in the city parks downtown. La Selva - when we were there
it required the day before reservations but the plae is great (don't miss
the Great Currasows, Rubra rubra?, in the botanical gardens. The staff
know when they wander through. Great trails. Being low budget birders, we
walked from Sarapiqui to La Selva early in the morning and got a lot of
unexpected birds between town and the reserve but it is a good walk.
Hedgerows, roadsides and farmer's fields produce amazing sitings and a
whole different list of birds than in the rainforest. As everyone says --
don't be frustrated by the scarcity of birds in the jungle -- they are
there and just sitting on a log and waiting and listening can be
productive. Watch the little poison dart frogs hopping on the trails and
enjoy.

Tapanti good birds and easy access by walking the road.

Braullio Carilio National Park -- they have had some incedents there
between banditos and tourists. We had no problem three years ago but I
still hear the cautions. From then or now??? Our best birding there was
through the tunnel and downhill to the small station where you'll have to
pay a fee to enter the park. Go uphill into the cover and find one group
of birds go accross the road and toward the river and get an entirely
different list. Coquettes were visiting the flowers at the station and
station manager's house.

Last, but not least, would all of you consider posting a trip report on
return?

Bob
taylorrt at geocities.com