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Nice trip and report Fred, and great ellies sightings in Rwanda, pity for those dangerous behaviours, we saw something like that in Kruger, in one occasion things could have ended very badly for the people in a car who didn’t gave space to a breading herd crossing the road. An€ I think that in the end the6 didn’t eve; realise the6 were putting themselves in danger.

Great trip report @Dave Williams - you got some superb images and it sounds like you had a lot of fun.

Snakes fascinate me as well.  It's one of the reasons we moved to Arizona (that and all the other herps here) and bought that T-shirt.  LOL   Alan

The Postscript! Without a doubt we had seen some great birds, a few mammals and the odd reptile too. The company was great too If I were to advise on planning this is what I would suggest. Hummingbirds and Quetzals were probably best seen at San Geraldo de Dota as although it was cold, it was dry and sunny. Were we lucky? I don't know but it was better than Monteverde from a weather point of view. I wouldn't waste a day walking the river there if I was on a birding trip though. I would highly recommend the boat trip at Tarcoles (but not the place we stayed)and it's worth heading that way just for that. I think there are probably more good birding spots we didn't explore although we found a couple ourselves. The birding ranch at La Ensenada Lodge I would give a complete miss to, too remote and you are stuck with the eating options they have to offer. I'm not sure what birding opportunities there are about but we didn't find too many but it is popular with bird tours it seems. Similarly, I'm hesitant about Cataratas Bijigua too. The garden birding was OK, but again the day we walked to the waterfall was a day's birding wasted really and the food options no good either! I'd have preferred to head to Monteverde and stayed near there and visited the park more than once. Santa Elena although commercialised probably had much, much more to offer in terms of accommodation and eating. Finally there was La Fortuna. Christian had had an input here for sure, he'd stayed before and chose it for the peaceful setting out of town. You couldn't fault that but for eating out it was a drive away and none of us wanted to forgo a couple of beers in the evening so we stayed in and suffered poor food! I would have loved to have booked in at Arenal Observatory again, pick carefully and get a good deal on price. The whole area is a great holiday location, I imagine the best inland tourist spot in Costa Rica perhaps? What makes a good holiday? Obviously on a birding one it's the number one priority but food plays a big part of my enjoyment and I have to say for me it was poor. Everywhere we stayed was very clean, some more luxurious than others perhaps but I guess the prices are comparable to the UK which is getting more and more expensive all the time.  The average income in the USA is twice that of the UK, so I have a feeling American tourists will probably see prices in a different light to me. The trouble is the countries they choose to spend their tourist dollars in also realise this too and take advantage wherever they can. Costa Rica is one of them in my opinion , they even price in dollars in many places. We had left our driver to choose the places we went to, I hadn't done any research at all, and I don't know what made him choose the places we did although as a birder/photographer himself I'm sure he prioritised that. I don't know what influenced my thoughts , maybe it was the greed of the driver to ask for $500 long after we had all agreed to paying all his expenses. Even he has baulked at the cost of a guide who had doubled his price from $150 to $300 in just one year. In San Gerado we were approached by one guide who asked us if we'd be interested in photographing a Quetzal at the nest, not at $100pp we weren't! Then there were the little things, the strictly portion controlled buffet meals , charging extra if you wanted fruit juice as well as coffee at breakfast which was already overpriced at $12. Trying to short change you wasn't the amount it was the way it was done, taking us for fools. Would I go back to Costa Rica? Yes, I think I would but I'd want to research and organise it myself making sure the trip ticked the boxes of my choice. One thing is certain though, my itch has been well and truly scratched so if I don't return I won't feel I have missed out. The world still has many options to visit and I haven't got the time to fit them all in. it's no wonder I have dropped out of the Big Year thread, it's taken a month to write this report I have been so busy.I didn't even attempt a list for Costa Rica but it must be over 150 I'm pretty certain. Next stop will be Majorca. This time we are renting a villa with a couple of friends. Good food is guaranteed as we will be self catering much of the time, the weather will be better than the UK and the bird migration in full swing. I'll try and report back on that one too! Meantime I'll leave you with the mystery bird from our last stop in Costa Rica and one of the last species seen too. The Clay-coloured Thrush  Clay-coloured Thrush by Dave Williams, on Flickr With all the stunningly beautiful birds to be seen in the country, this one was chosen as the National Bird. Interesting decision!  

And so the end was near, Tuesday the 12th of March and we had had near perfect weather and it had only rained once, the previous morning at Arenal Observatory Lodge but the day had ended with some  sunshine with Phil sat on the deck watching the feeders and trees  while the clouds rolled over the Arenal Volcano.   If yesterday morning's rain was heavy, today's was absolutely torrential. We used to see the Arenal Volcano from this side too. We watched as all the schoolgirls left their various cabins and headed off for their waiting coach , perhaps 100m away. I guess they had been given a time to be there and there was no way of stopping them as there were no phones in the rooms. Maybe those in charge didn't care but these poor students were getting drenched like the one in the shot below, dragging her case behind her.   Our stay in La Fortuna was a success, I have to give the birding 10/10, the place we stayed 7/10 but the food once again sadly lacking. With our flights home from San Jose not until the evening we had the luxury of waiting until it stopped raining before going for breakfast. After that it was a leisurely drive back towards San Jose and the airport. We had good news though, our Lufthansa flight had left Frankfurt and was on its way to pick us up. it was one of very few Lufthansa flights to leave that day as the cabin crews were all on strike for the day. Fortunately our place was flying under the Star Alliance banner and was, Christian told me, staffed by German speaking Swiss crew. That was a relief, we didn't want to be stuck in San Jose and better still as it was an overnight flight we were not due back until the following day and the strike would be over. We'd been lucky missing the one day strike on the way out and our luck held again.   Having been before Christian had suggested stopping at the Costa Rica Eco Bungee platform which you would never have guessed was a bird watching spot, in fact I didn't see anything about bungee jumping but set in a lay by off the road is a row of souvenir shops and snack bars. Behind one of them there's a small platform where there is a zip ride station. The weather all the way there had been poor, we were up in the cloud forest and although it wasn't raining it was very misty and the prospects for photography didn't look good. I enquired at the visitor centre and was told it was $10 pp to enter the platform where there was a small feeding station loaded with banana. I told the girl I needed to look before agreeing to pay, and on doing so decided that there was very little activity and it wasn't worth $10 each. I offered her $5 pp which we would pay in local Colon. A price of 7000 was agreed and Phil gave her a 10,000 note. She went off to get change and with one hand gave him 1000 note in change. Phil challenged her saying we agreed 7000 to which she replied "Oh yes" and produced a 2000 note from the other hand. This summed up Costa Rica to us I'm afraid. Everyone is out to take advantage and squeeze every drop of tourist cash they can .  Anyway ,we went on to the platform and through the swirling mist saw a few birds sitting around on branches and occasionally coming down to eat some banana. Fortunately for us the weather improved and other than a brief period then the platform was swamped with helmeted zip liners the only other people there were two Aussie photographers and their bird guide. It turned in to a rather rewarding hour or so with I think five new species and a few we'd seen before. Crimson-collared Tanager Crimson-collared Tanager by Dave Williams, on Flickr Silver-throated Tanager Silver-throated Tanager by Dave Williams, on Flickr Bay-headed Tanager Bay-headed Tanager by Dave Williams, on Flickr Emerald Tanager Emerald Tanager by Dave Williams, on Flickr and even a "lifer" for Christian who we had to go and find as he'd lost interest having been and done all that before. The apparently shy and elusive Blue and Gold Tanager Blue and Gold Tanager by Dave Williams, on Flickr Wherever there are feeders with Bananas there seem to be Coatis and this place was no exception. White-nosed Coati by Dave Williams, on Flickr Another Chestnut-sided Warbler seen through the mist Chestnut-sided Warbler by Dave Williams, on Flickr Great views of Green Honeycreeper, although the male is Blue. Green Honeycreeper by Dave Williams, on Flickr Blue Gray Tanager Blue and Gray Tanager by Dave Williams, on Flickr Black-cheeked Woodpecker Black-cheeked Woodpecker by Dave Williams, on Flickr Tawny-capped Euphonia Tawny-capped Euphonia by Dave Williams, on Flickr Common Chlorospingus ( which still sounds like a foot infection to me) Common Chlorospingus by Dave Williams, on Flickr and last of all in my final bird shoot...suspense, I'll keep that for my postscript summary!! We headed back to San Jose stopping for a coffee on the way before dropping off our drivers suitcase as promised. He seemed to have fully recovered as he came to the locked gates of his property to meet us. With a face of that of someone whose just licked a cactus he largely ignored us, Christian offered a hand which he took as Christian told him he was sorry it ended the way it had. He just muttered 'yes" turned his back and went back up to the house. We had no guilt, he'd been well rewarded for his contribution. Was he really that bad that first weekend or had he a prior engagement he didn't want to miss and conjured up an excuse to get home? On the other hand if he was genuinely in agony the risk of him continuing and having another relapse was one we didn't want to take, and one he shouldn't even been suggesting either. As he has excommunicated us we will never know the truth now. Ah well, it doesn't matter. The trip had been a success, and that's what does.  

A boat trip is always a great way to come closer to birds and other animals. More and more I am interested in returning to India.

Claire and I spent a night there in 2008 - that same year Zvezda and Tanja and I also had the pleasure to enjoy the tumbling rocks ... just not from the Smithsonian room.   Your hummers shots are top notch pro stuff, congratulations!

I also see the eye ring that looks white for me.   Peter, I would have loved to have that beer but it wouln’t be possible,we landed, picked up the cars and drove immediately to Nelspruit in order to arrive to our first night hotel before dark.

I’m not able to ID larks, rufous-naped would be a new species for me but it’ll be dificult with this picture.

No, I don't believe we did. I would assume that our driver didn't feel the need to detour into the town itself, thinking that we had enough fuel at the time 🤔? Or maybe assumed there would be other places to stop en route, which there didn't seem to be! 😂 But yes for anyone considering this route it looks like that would have been a good option.. 

A great trip to the end, but the desert sections are definitely more challenging if the focus is on wildlife rather than scenery.   My abiding memory of Namibia is how quickly and radically the terrain can change. One moment you are on what looks like a never-ending dry plain, the next you are in a canyon's kissing cousin!   Logistical question: did you not pass through Henties' Bay on your way to Spitzkoppe?   Thanks for taking us along.

Thanks Nathan...I was getting above myself thinking I didn't need to check the ID out properly and assuming I recognised it! Another image from our final stop coming up soon shows a hint of Chestnut.

I don't think so. There is a distinct and too-large eye ring. Pedro, I think your ID is probably correct.   I can't argue with either the African Pipit or the Sabota lark, although that's no guarantee either.   But I have a problem. You were in the Kruger and didn't pop around for a beer? Eish wena!

We left Chobe Safari lodge at around 10 am - we had only another 270km's to go and because of the rain it was a real adventure   Before not too long we were travelling through the Chobe Forest reserve where we saw our first Sable (3 lovely bulls) , ground hornbill, hyena and Elephants. Joster advised us to put the poncho's on - yes we needed them     Leaving Chobe Safari lodge - let the Safari begin. Poncho's ready   Poor quality photo in the rain of the Sable's Common scene on the journey to Khwai - water everywhere. More rains coming and the rain was heavy.......... Ghoha gate     Chobe forest reserve Oops upside down   Butterflies at Ghoha gate   Ghoha gate through to SAVUTI there was plenty of rain and water