Image: Margay, 5D MK II, 300 F4 IS L.F 7.1, ISO 400.Larger Image
Image:Chestnut-mandibled Toucan. 5d Mk II 300 F4 IS L. ISO 3200.Larger ImageArenal is located in central Costa Rica 90km NW of the capital of San Jose in the
Arenal Tilaran Conservation district and is home to many of Costa Rica's diverse animals and birds, it is a bird lovers paradise and a
volcanologists dream, the volcano is close to
La Fortuna which is every one's kick off point to explore the area, we stayed on our last trip at the
Arenal Observatory Lodge which is a very nice place to stay, its clean and well equipped and as close to the volcano as you can get, as a matter of fact most rooms have a view of the volcano and the extensive grounds include acres of land and trails to explore, bird watching is
supperb here.
Lago Arenal is also excellent for fishing, I managed to pull a 10 lb
Wapote out of the lake on one of my trips, use the local guide ,
Gato Negro from the
Lake Arenal Lodge. I saw 2 species of Toucan and also
Toucanets while visiting for just a few days and I am not a big birder, we also saw
Kinkajou and a
Margay as shot above. The area is home to
monkeys, Red Eyed Tree frogs,
Pizotes,
Sloth,
Hummingbirds,
Poison Dart Frogs and a large variety of exotic animals. I have visited here 4 times and still not come away with a good image of the volcano, weather usually being the part that kills it, maybe next time.
More info:
Arenal.net.
Ross Murphy
Images In Light
Image: 5D Mk II,300 f4 IS L at f4,spot metered, ISO 400, 1/250 sec click to view larger
Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 L II, 18 mm at f16, 3 stop GND soft, click to view larger.
