"When you were young, would you ever think you'd be here?" David asks as the boat plows headlong through the blue Pacific waters. On our left, we can see the mountains of Panama that rise up from the water. On our right, is the Costa Rican shoreline. This place is paradise.
Wide-eyed, I smile and shake my head. He's right. It's a little surreal to be here.
"Me either," David responds. Like me, he comes from a rural area of the United States and has a modest upbringing. But here we are, on a boat surrounded by like-minded nature photography enthusiasts, and we're on our way to what may be one of the most remote national parks in the hemisphere.
Soon, we're hopping off the boat and wading through the warm ocean waters up to the shore of the Corcovado National Park in one of the many adventures in which we embark on the Costa Rica nature photography workshop. This place is the definition of off-grid. There are only a few essential buildings that, if they have power, are provided by solar. The water comes from springs replenished by the 12 feet of water that falls yearly in tropical rainforests.
We'll spend most of the day hiking the forests and searching for wildlife. We see tapir, monkeys, anteaters, sloth WAY up in the tree… and plenty of birds. While what we saw on our day hike would have been plenty for a week's worth of photography, we saw a ton in a single day.
Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula is famously diverse with wildlife. From the time we arrived, we started seeing all sorts of animals. On the very first day, we even saw the four species of monkeys found on the Osa. The monkeys are active and animated. It makes the shooting challenging, but the rewards of getting a successful photo are worth it.
Later in the week, we find a considerable troop of squirrel monkeys traversing the trees along a road. These diminutive New World monkeys are crazy acrobatic and fly through the air as they jump from tree to tree in an entertaining display of athleticism. Every now and then, one stops long enough for us to grab a quick shot of them before catching up with the rest of the troop. Besides the squirrel monkeys, we get good long looks at spider monkeys, howler monkeys, and the expressive capuchin monkeys.
As the week goes on, we see scores of tropical birds. Along the road, we stop to see a nesting pair of scarlet macaws, and down the road, scores of noisy red-lored parrots are feeding in the trees. While these are the big, quickly noticed birds, dozens of smaller birds flit in and out of the trees. These tropical songbirds are showy and beautiful.
Each day of this excursion is spent participating in various activities, while each evening, we dine on fine food and stay in the luxurious settings of our host resort. In other words, we'd rough it a bit in the humid jungles each day only to reward ourselves with the fineries that our lodging offered. The food (from the baked dorado to the grilled beef tenderloin) is amazing, and the hospitality of the Costa Rican people is unparalleled.
Our activities range from taking a river tour through the mangrove swamps of a jungle river to snorkeling in the clear waters of the Golfo Dulce. One day, we spent the morning photographing the slow-moving sloth, while in the afternoon, we got a chance to take images of the jungle's smallest creatures, such as reptiles and amphibians.
In all, the appeal of Costa Rica is the well-rounded subjects we find here. Every day is a good day for finding and photographing interesting photographic subjects. The best part of the experience, however, is the people. The locals with whom we dealt were always gracious and helpful. The fellow photographers who traveled with us were friendly and grateful and approached each day with a wide-eyed exuberance that kept people like us going afield.
Costa Rica is a part of us. I still can't believe I was there.
Plans are already in the works for Costa Rica 2026. Stay tuned and we'll let you know when we open next year's workshop.
Comments