[Leica] Costra Rica

[wbell@snaptrack.com (Walter Bell)]

Hi,
I was in Costa Rica 18 months ago in my pre-Leica ownership days. I was
on a pretty fast paced eco-tourist trip that concentrated on wilderness
areas: Corcavado in the SW, Monteverde and Rio Negro in the N and
Tortuguro in the E.
Most of my time was in rain forests and in boats on the rivers since the
trip was focused on wildlife observation. Based on my experience and my
itenary, I would recommend the following:

1. Lots of rain and high humidity.
2. Lots of low light conditions. I used a old 28 mm F2 for some of my
scenic best shots. Always a tradeoff between film speed and resolution,
but I shot mostly 100 ASA with some selective 400 ASA.
3. On the boats, motion was a problem, so again, the faster the
lens/film the better.
4. Most of the wildlife shots benefited from longer focus lenses,
outside the range of a rangefinder, but I took some good ones with an 28
- -85 zoom at 85 mm. So if you have a 90, you can get some shots, but
these are often low light shots in the jungle.
5. Take the best binoculars you can bring along. Fog proof would be
best. My non waterproof Nikons fogged up twice in the rain forest, but
this was pretty unusual.
6. I would take a flash for rain forest nature pictures (e.g. frogs at
dusk in the forest) that would otherwise be impossible. They don't look
too natural, but it is better than no picture at all!

BTW, I had now problem with thief, but was warned by the guide to be
careful in San Jose. The bigger issue for me was watching out in the
jungle for the large, very dangerous vipers (fer-de-lance) that are
sometimes stumbled on to by farmworkers. I never saw one, but it was not
for lack of looking!

On other thing, if you have a chance to go on a night jungle walk (with
a guide!) I would do it. We saw lots of great things at night in the
jungle, but you do need to be careful to watch for snakes on the trail

Have a great trip
Walter Bell