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We were soon on our way to La Paz Waterfall Gardens also home to the largest butterfly observatory in the world and humming bird feeding area.  After taking hundreds of photos of the multicolored butterflies and humming birds, we hiked through the cloud and rain forest of this private reserve catching great images of 5 tremendous waterfalls from 9 different scenic lookouts.  Later that evening, after a lovely group dinner at our hotel, Mentor Photographer, Roseanne Pennella met with the group and did a presentation of her impressive body of work.

The following day we set out for a 6-day adventure traveling from San Jose northeast to Tortuguero on the Caribbean Coast then west to Monteverde then back southeast to San Jose.  The first day we traveled 4 hours by bus through the Braulio Carrillo National Park flanked by the Tilaran Mountain range to the sleepy town of Siquirres where we boarded small motorboats that cruised on the Tortuguero River for 45 minutes to our accommodations at the Tortuga Lodge.   While cruising up the river our cameras were poised to catch our first shots of this immense tropical rainforest.

Our second day in Tortuguero was spent exploring and catching images of the flooded forest of the national park by boat.  As we floated deeper into the narrow canals of the rainforest, Sophia and our driver would scan the thick green vegetation with eagle eyes and sharp ears for all kinds of wildlife. (Having Sophia at the helm as our leader and naturalist was like taking a serious course in Costa Rican Biodiversity, Conservancy and Wildlife.  For a 25 year old, her knowledge was vast ranging from horticultural expertise to historical and cultural wisdom she so generously shared with us). We saw and shot photos of everything from Speckled Caiman (small crocodiles), many exotic birds, Iguanas, 2 and 3-toed Sloth’s to howler Monkeys swinging in the tree canopies above.  My favorite moments were the times when our guide would spot an animal close by and the driver would cut the boat engine and we would float quietly towards the animal and the only sounds you could hear were the birds, frogs and howler monkeys in the distance and the occasional clicking of camera shutters.  For me, Tortuguero was the most impressive leg of the trip from the exploration of the rainforest by canals to the beautiful yet simple and peaceful accommodations at the Tortuga Lodge.

One of the defining moments for us as a group was when a few of us went on a nighttime turtle watching walk on the beach in Tortuguero.  We were very excited and were told that the turtles make their way from the water to the sand to lay their eggs at night.  How cool to witness that….we thought.  After taking a boat from the Tortuga Lodge across to the Caribbean side of the river, we walked to the beach with our guide and began our trek.  In groups of 5 we walked single file in the pitch dark along the beach following our leader in 90 degree humidity for a 5 mile round trip trek!   I was wearing what I thought at first to be the “wrong” shoes for this beach walk…..3-inch high platform flip-flops. On the contrary, it turned out that they were like wearing a snowshoe in the sand and allowed me to keep the pace without sinking in the sand as we clipped along.  We walked and we walked and we walked and we walked.   And then….. a turtle trail, a turtle trail, yes, yes…….but no turtle Just as we turned around to go back, it began to rain and then it poured.  We walked even more briskly in the rain still looking for turtles, but there were none to be found.  Now most of us were soaked except for the few smart ones that brought their rain ponchos.  Merci Celestial (bless her heart) shared hers with me.  Being about a foot taller than Merci must have made us look like some strange hunched-backed, two-headed creature trying to stay dry as we crouched under her poncho together and rushed along the challenging soft sand back to our boat.  We arrived one group at a time back to our covered boat.  Then, trekker Phil Sievers (a born and bred Brooklynite) stormed into the boat completely drenched with his thick, fogged eye glasses and his even thicker Brooklyn accent and exclaimed, “ That was a long way to walk on the beach and not find one F---in’ turtle!!!! “  Of course, we laughed about this for the rest of the trip and promised Phil that he would see a F---in’ turtle before he went back to Brooklyn.  Needless to say, Phil never saw one F---in’ turtle!  How about the Bronx Zoo, Phil?!

After a small, chartered flight from Tortuguero to San Jose and a rocky but picturesque bus ride northwest, we arrived at the Monteverde Lodge, our home for the next 3 days.  During our stay here we explored and photographed the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a tropical frog farm (where many of us caught great photos of unusually colored frogs) and local elementary school children at the Escuela Cerro Plano, who performed traditional Costa Rican dances for us.  On our free day, many of us went on an excursion to the Arenal Volcano and Hanging Bridge Forest in La Fortuna de San Carlos.  The height and depth of the hanging bridges lent themselves to some very interesting wide-angle pictures that showed up in our final slide show.  We also spent a few hours at a beautiful hot spring in the area before returning to Monteverde.

Every night in Monteverde, after a great family style dinner (except for the bacon that nobody told me was in the salad!!) our very articulate and consummate mentor, Roseanne Pennella, met with the group for reviews and lessons in photography. Despite a couple of experienced photographers in the group, we had quite a few that were beginners to semi-experienced.  So, Roseanne, very patiently, broke down the often confusing backwards ratios that are used to determine exposure and drilled us on them.  On another night she gave a beginner Photoshop workshop and on our last night in Monteverde a session dedicated to lenses.   Despite her meticulous teaching, someone still asked in the end…”Has anyone seen my luggage?!”

Our last day was spent traveling back to San Jose from Monteverde with a lunch stop in the town of Sarchi.  For many, it was the last chance to purchase souvenirs and shoot those final shots.   Roseanne also took our group photo here in front of a very colorful reproduction of a huge oxcart wheel.  After our last dinner together, we presented our guide, Sofia, with a gift from the group and then we sat back and enjoyed the final slide show of our images recapitulating our memorable week together.