12 12 12 eBook compressed quality V 3 PDF file April 15 2026 - Flipbook - Page 230
CONCLUSION: WHAT TWELVE DAYS REVEALED
Planning and Logistics: We treated the planning like a military operation,
with a spreadsheet that would make an accountant weep. We plotted a
route that maximized ecosystem diversity: marine, lowland rainforest,
cloud forest, and Caribbean swamp, all in one loop. We contacted local
guides months in advance — most Dennis knew personally, others we
found through recommendations. We blocked out a window in the dry
season when weather would likely be on our side (though as readers saw,
Costa Rican weather still had its say).
Being in our late 60s/early 70s, we added a few contingencies: an extra rest
day built in (which we laugh now, because of course we didn’t use it to
rest, we used it to chase more birds), food, nuids, coolers, proper clothing,
sunscreen and emergency meds. We thankfully didn’t need the latter
beyond Tylenol, beer and wine
Gear and Technology: Between the three of us (including Dennis) we
carried three mirrorless Nikon cameras (a Z 7, Z 8 and Z 9), a complete
stack of lenses from wide angle 14 mm up to 600 mm plus TC adapters that
brought our zoom capability to about 840 mm and two macro lenses for
our close up work with reptiles. . |ree iPhone cameras, two DJI Drones,
four tripods, an umbrella lighting system, and enough memory cards and
batteries to make sure we never fell short of our ability to capture what
nature presented. We also had a trusty spotting scope for long-distance
bird onds. And then there were the chargers, storage drives, and 3 laptops
for backing up images each evening (a ritual we never skipped, no matter
how tired — hard drives fail, folks, back up your stuf ! ).
Scarlet macaw backside with landing gear deployed.
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