San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica – So… I am in Costa Rica. By myself. Daddio and the twins are coming down to meet me in a few weeks. In the meantime, I have research to do, birds to spot,…
Winter Break Escape
Sarasota, Florida – This week the twins joined all of the other grandchildren of Massachusetts, making our annual winter break escape to Sarasota, Florida. I don’t love Sarasota: there are too many strip malls and traffic jams. But how I…
Adventure awaits in Costa Rica national parks
Covering some 10% of Costa Rican territory, the country’s national parks protect a stunning array of landscapes – wetlands and forests, caves and volcanoes, and habitats for creatures galore. This is the country’s greatest natural resources, and it’s all yours…
Venice Rookery
Sarasota, Florida – This is birding at its best. Pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass of wine, prop up your binoculars, and the birds come to you! Actually, they are coming home to roost at the Venice Rookery,…
Chilamate Rainforest Retreat
Originally posted November 2013. Chilamate, Costa Rica – Our first stop in Costa Rica is Chilamate, located on the Sarapiqui River in the country’s Northern Lowlands, a rainforest-covered region that was in danger of being completely converted to banana and pineapple plantations. With the growth…
Caño Negro
Caño Negro, Costa Rica – Daddio and I made our way to Costa Rica’s remote northern reaches to unleash our inner bird nerds, and the twins came along for the ride. (Bird nerds in training.) Caño Negro is a 10,000-hectare…
Monteverde
Monteverde, Costa Rica – Our week in Monteverde just flew by, and we barely scratched the surface on the cool things to do here. When I’m doing these gigs, we often rent a house, so we have a little room…
Half Moon Caye
Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize – I’ve been telling folks back home that the twins and I would be spending the week at an “island resort”. Woops. That’s a misnomer. The good folks at Island Expeditions call this a “base camp”.…
Stella’s Bakery
Monteverde, Costa Rica – It’s always a perk to live across the street from a bakery, in this case, Stella’s Bakery & Coffee Shop. To be honest, their pastries are not that great, and the sandwiches seem overpriced. But they…