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| Ecotourism |  |
| Costa Rica | |
We arrived at the Portland airport with time to spare on a rather mild winter day for February. Our 10:00 a.m. flight to Dallas and then on to Costa Rica turned out to be uneventful--unlike some of my other flights to Latin America.
At 8:00 p.m. we arrive at the San Jose International Airport that is actually located in a city approximately 15 miles east of San Jose called Alajuela. The airport is fairly small, which I find nice when arriving or departing from a strange place. We cleared customs quickly and found ourselves out front, where like all Latin American countries, there are lots of taxis, looking for a fare.
After a short wait, our shuttle bus arrived for our five-minute ride to the Hampton Inn. The Inn is locally owned but is a member of a national chain. With its covered entry way it looked much like a North American hotel, and it was nice to be greeted by Costa Rican clerk who spoke fluent English. We checked in and went upstairs to our room with a magnetic card door lock. It was about this time that I thought this trip was going to be pleasantly different from all my previous trips to Latin America. Jim Faust, my cousin who was traveling on his first trip with me, as our photographer, made note that this was an easy way to begin an adventure.
The next morning, after our continental breakfast which comes with the room, we were met by Richard Frisius, co-founder along with his wife Margot of "Amigos de las Aves" ("Friends of the Birds") a nonprofit company dedicated to saving the two species of macaws native to Costa Rica: the Great Green or Buffon's (Ara ambigua) and the Scarlet macaw (Ara macao). Amigos de las Aves has a successful breeding program going and is working toward the goal of reintroducing flocks of these wonderful birds into protected areas of the Costa Rican rainforest.
Just a five-minute ride from the inn we arrive at their 8-acre estate, "Flor de Mayo" ("May Flower") in Rio Segundo de Alajuela. The estate was formerly owned by the famous botanist and orchid lover, Sir Charles Lankaster, and was expanded to 16 acres in 1994. The estate is now home to not only many splendid orchids, a "bamboo cathedral" as Richard calls it (a magnificent site to behold), a citrus orchard and organic garden, and hundreds of other beautiful tropical plants, but to more than 80 macaws, with a total of more than 120 birds of various species. The estate was purchased by Richard and Margot approximately 20 years ago, when Richard retired from Pan American Airlines. The eight acres that were added in 1994 are the site for three aviaries, two that are 100x40 feet each, housing 16 pairs of breeding cages. The Scarlets are all located in one aviary and the Great Greens in the other. And there is a large flight where the macaws that are to be released can learn to fly. They plan to release the first six Scarlet macaws later this year.
For more information on this project or how to make a donation to the project you can E-mail Richard and Margot at "richmar@ticonet.co.cr". The following morning we were met at the inn by the folks from Costa Rica Expeditions, who took us to the airport in San Jose, which is a small airport for commuter planes, like the six-seater Cessna, we boarded for our one-hour flight to the Corcovado Tented Camp, located just outside the Corcovado National Park, one of ten national parks and reserves located in Costa Rica. Ecotourism is Costa Rica's number one income producer, ahead of bananas and coffee.
We landed on a small grass landing strip along the beach, where we were met by a horse, with a cart and, of course, the driver. Our luggage was loaded onto the cart (25 lbs. per person max.), and we were off to the tented camp, approximately a mile walk down the beach for us and the horse. Upon arrival at the camp we were met by Carlos, our host for the four-day stay at Corcovado. After a short meeting to explain such things as what was available to see and visit at Corcovado, like the platform located 120 feet up in a 400-year-old garlic tree (an absolute must do), the "Bad Boys" as they are called, are there to get you to the top; meal times; that the generator (which means lights) only runs from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. etc., Carlos then took us down to our tents.
Understand that these are not just any tents, but specially designed tents with plenty of screened area, built up off the ground on wooden platforms. I recommend you request tents one through five if you don't mind the sound of the surf--just 40 to 50 feet away at high tide. It is loud! I remember my first night at dinner, I mentioned to one of the other guests who had been there for several nights that it sounded like we might get some rain that night from the sound of the thunder. She informed me that what I was hearing was the surf, not thunder.
We stowed away our gear and had just enough time before lunch for a quick dip in the ocean to cool off. There are many things at Corcovado that you do not want to miss, but I want you to know that right on the top of the list are the meals--served homestyle, the five- to six-course meals are prepared in the stainless steel kitchen. Every meal was an adventure in itself. As a Vegan I had NO problem getting enough to eat. Plenty of fresh juice, fruit, soup, vegetables, fresh oven-baked bread, rice and black beans, and yes, there was meat on the table at dinner, too. No two meals were the same while we there. Of course when you are able to eat in an open dining room, with plenty of fresh air, what could be more pleasant? At lunch each day a beautiful red flower decorated each plate. (The pillows in the tents also are adorned with flowers for guests' arrival.)
This truly is a paradise for Scarlet macaw lovers. If you have wanted to see macaws in the wild, but were not quite ready to "rough it," then Corcovado is the place for you.
Just a ten-minute walk up the beach is the Corcovado National Park (54,000 hectares), which includes a wide range of habitats from wet, mainly impenetrable rainforest to dripping, steamy cloud forest, oak forest, to seashore and swamp. The park is located on the Oas Peninsula on the southern Pacific Coast, with miles of flat sandy beaches. White Face, spider and howler monkeys swing from the trees along the trails. Poison-dart frogs, Jesus Christ lizards, iguanas, hummingbirds, toucans, jaguars, and the largest population of Scarlet macaws in Central America can be found in the park, along with hundreds of other species of plants and animals.
Viewing Macaws here is as easy as sitting on one of the benches in front of the ranger station or laying down on the grass and watching the Scarlets come into the tropical almond trees that separate the ranger station from the beach. On two separate occasions I was able to view these spectacular parrots eating in the early afternoon, not more than 25 to 30 feet above me. In all my visits to known wild macaw sites throughout Latin America, this is the closest I have ever been to watch and photograph wild macaws. They appear to have no fear of humans being close at hand.
Back at the tented camp, seeing Scarlets is as easy as relaxing in one of the many hammocks tied to palm trees, with your back to the ocean and looking toward the hills covered with secondary growth rainforest and a little farther up the hill, primary rainforest. First you hear them announce themselves with their loud cries as they fly overhead. It seems almost as if they want to make sure you don't miss seeing them.
Corcovado Tented Camp was created for those people who truly love remote wilderness. It was mentioned in a recent "Outdoor" magazine as one of the top 10 places in the world to visit. One of the things that makes the camp so special are the guides. Paul Ruiz at only 18, I found amazing. Paul, who was born in Fairfax, Virginia, moved at the age of seven to Costa Rica to live with his grandfather, a Bri Bri Indian who lives much today as his grandparents lived a hundred years ago. It was while living with his grandfather that Paul learned to appreciate nature and learned the ways of his ancestors as well as the rainforest and its inhabitants.
When asked how long he had been working with Costa Rica Expeditions, his reply was, just one year legally. It seems you must be at least 18 to work in Costa Rica. Paul, however, has been at the tented camp for more than four years. He is unschooled in the traditional sense, but his in-depth knowledge of the animals, the birds and the plants is very impressive, and I feel privileged to have met this remarkable young man. When talking about the military of Costa Rica, Paul replied, "The frigate-birds are our air force, the ants are our armies and the turtles are our navy." Wouldn't it be great if all the counties of the world could have this type of military?!
On the morning of fourth day at the camp it was time to sadly depart this wonderful, unspoiled place on our planet. So we packed up our 25 lbs. each of equipment, loaded it on the cart and took one last walk down the beach to the air strip for our flight back to Alajuela.
We were met at the airport by Jennifer, who is in Costa Rica as a volunteer at Amigos de las Aves. Working closely with a North American veterinarian, she helps the release program move forward. She was helping Margot handfeed three of four Blue and Gold babies that were hatched just before we arrived in Costa Rica. The parents were only interested in caring for the first-born, so the other three were removed for handfeeding. A Scarlet was also hatched while we were there and was being handfed also.
On our last full day in Costa Rica we traveled north of San Jose to an elevation of approximately 3,000 feet to the home of Reg and Joachim Riedel, where they operate IPEAT. The institute located on 40 acres adjacent to the Braulio Carrillo National Park is a U.S.-based, not-for-profit organization that has established itself as a rehabilitation and release center for many native and neotropical migratory birds. It was heart-warming to see the love these two have for the birds in their care. The flights were all of good size for the respective birds and were all full of tropical plants to create as natural environment as possible for the birds.
It was then time to leave Amigos de las Aves for our 10:00 a.m. flight back to Portland, through Miami and Dallas before arriving back in Portland.
I want to thank two very special people who were our hosts during part of our stay in Costa Rica and would encourage you to help support their Scarlet/Great Green release program with your donations. Donations can be made through the Macaw Landing Foundation with a note that it is to be forwarded to Amigo de las Aves.
Thanks Margot and Richard, for opening your beautiful home to two strangers. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my wife Susan, without whose understanding of my love of these magnificent parrots, and her overseeing the operations of Macaw Landing while I am away in the rainforest, these trips would not be possible.
To schedule your vist to Corcovado contact Kit Herring at Tropical Nature Travel, South America's only non-profit travel agency, with the net proceeds going to conservation projects in Peru, at "inatur-1@ibm.net." Your visit will help save the macaws and their home, the rainforest of Central and South America. You will have a "bon voyage."
To book this trip, contact Tropical Nature Travel
Click here to see related photos.
