Our August meeting was an account given by Eddie Dell of the coach trip that he and Joy made in Costa Rica with Coates Wildlife Tours, where they were very efficiently guided by a local guide.

The name of the country means “rich coast” and it covers an area of 51,022 km² and is bordered by Nicaragua in the north and Panama in the south. It has a tropical climate with abundant rainfall and rainforest in the uplands. No minerals or oil and gas are found there and so no money is spent on maintaining a defence force. This results in more money being devoted to an excellent health system. The official language is Spanish and the population is approximately 4.1 million. It is a world biodiversity hotspot and its main income derives from tourism and the export of coffee, sugar, rice and bananas.

We saw the tropical garden of a hotel where Eddie and Joy stayed and where a school and a nearby residential block shared the use of the garden to walk or swim. We vicariously visited the Tarcoles River, seeing various birds and flamingos. There were some pictures from Carraru Reserve, including one of a fine ginger plant. The brilliance of the macaw’s plumage was striking. The tour also visited a wildlife refuge. The country contains many suspension bridges and we saw some pictures of these.

Eddie presented a variety of shots of iguanas, geckos and a caiman. Among the plants were tropical trees—some with aerial roots—and various orchids. Eddie says they saw many butterflies but they proved difficult to photograph. The tropical climate also produced a range of interesting fungi, which he photographed.

Eddie gave us an interesting talk and Johanna Notley also contributed stories of her experiences during her two trips to Costa Rica.

Margot Bentley