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It’s actually a rather new hotel in town called Arenal Morana. It was a very good budget option at the time, everything brand new and well done. They’re also associated with the Xilopalo so you get access to their pool and free breakfast I believe. I’d highly recommend it, incredible views especially from the corner room. Like I mentioned in the video, I really value walking distance to restaurants and bars and it’s a perfect balance.

Thank you! I really hope to go birding Colombia some day soon! Any recommendations? The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a region that I'm really curious about. I've been in the area once before but sadly not for birdwatching... Birding in Costa Rica can also be much more productive, but the beach towns are definitely not the best places ;)

You're very welcome! Thanks for stopping by :)

Thanks so much :) These ID videos are a lot of fun to make!

Thanks! I'm still really struggling with them. Well, now I need to find some empids to see if it helped ;)

Oh, yes... I've found that some times the best cure is to just look at some other birds :D

Haha, thanks, I guess :) The nicer shots are made with a digiscoping setup, my phone through my scope. When things get shakier and grainy I've had to switch to my camera which has seen better days ;)

I never even noticed the squirrel monkey comparison , so true :D

@@jabirustories when I was working in our zoo, a colleague mentioned this, as she thought, there was a squirrel monkey, that managed to escape from the enclosure...but it just was a nuthatch in the trees 😅. From then on, I always think of squirrel monkeys when observing these birds 🙈🙂

Hey, thanks for watching - really happy you enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun to edit even though I didn't have too much footage of my own.

Thanks so much for the kind words, it really means a lot! Sounds like you had a great time in Costa Rica - I'm happy to hear that and to even have helped a little :) On "chasing" vagrants: Great point, that social aspect of birding can be really great! Thinking about it, it's something I do miss a little bit here.

Ist leider auch fast immer ein Umweg, auch wenn die Gegend rund um Pérez Zeledón ganz cool ist (zumindest aus Vogel- und Kaffeesicht...) Aber der Abstecher lohnt wirklich. Wann ist's denn endlich wieder soweit? 😉

@@jabirustories wenn's nach mir ginge...käme ich sofort👍😅. Aber hier sind im Moment so viele Dinge zu erledigen, das muss erst einmal gemacht werden, bevor wir an Urlaub denken können. Aber sollte was in die Planung gehen, melde ich mich 🙂👍

Very true - it’s much more rewarding to find birds on your own but the groups are a good fallback option

Agreed, it just feels strange to watch a bird from a crowd. To be fair, the guides in Dota do a good job of managing the groups and respecting the birds. But it’s really the only time I’ve experienced something like this here. Germany also seems to be quite tame in comparison to what you sometimes see from the UK or the US (and apparently Canada). Then again, I really try to refrain from twitching…

Thanks! It really does take away from the experience a bit but overall it’s such a lovely trip up there and I already know I’m going back next year. Once a year is enough for me though 😅 It always feels a bit dishonest to be complaining about these crowds, given that in the end we’re part of the crowd too… but yes, and poor lions 🫤

I agree, Dota is absolutely fantastic and the people really are incredible. When I went up there last year, my car broke down in the valley and our hosts went above and beyond to help us.

Haha, I had no idea! To be fair - while I'm not a fan of the crowds the guides do a great job at managing them. It was all calm and respectful. I do think it's great that people get to experience this. And you can tell that it's given the town a great opportunity that the people are making the most of. Despite the quetzal "madness", it's actually one of my favorite spots in the country!

Thanks, I’ll do my best 😅 Hope you had a fantastic time in Costa Rica!

Oh, I would love to come to Colombia. Hopefully soon 🙏 Thanks so much!

I'm normally not a fan of the sweet ones but I'll have to give them a try with that recommendation 😅Thanks a lot!

@@jabirustories yeah but not from the pulperías, those ones really suck. You need the real ones, they prepare them mostly christmas and easter

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it's really beautiful over here :)

Muito obrigado! A empadinha não era a melhor da Costa Rica, mas a vista talvez seja :)

Danke Dir! Der Aufenthalt war ein wenig improvisiert, aber es hat sich definitiv gelohnt :)

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! Hummingbirds are a great idea, I'll definitely do one! Well, with 50 or so species, I'll probably have to do an entire series :)

Thank you once more :) Really glad you found it helpful!

Working on it :) Thank you for watching and the kind words!

Thanks for the feedback! It's definitely something I can't do all the time but even while editing I felt it might be more immersive. Looking forward to trying something similar again soon, maybe for Global Big Day?

Thank you! It's really a fantastic place and I can only recommend spending a couple of nights in the area when visiting the country. It might not be as flashy as some of the better known hotspots but it's absolutely worth it for the birds :)

Bird feeder with fruit, e.g. banana

Thanks for stopping by! Yes, Pat's e-book has quite detailed descriptions of each spot. He also includes the information if a place has feeders.

@@jabirustories thank you, my friend

Sorry about that 😅 It’s quite the trip from Nosara but I’ve been dying to go again and make a video - happy to hear you enjoyed the place! Hope you had a great trip overall!

Thanks so much for the kind words! It’s true, Costa Rica is an amazing country for nature lovers but I’d say you have it quite good in Bavaria as well 😉 One day (hopefully soon) I’d love to return to Mittenwald to look for the ptarmigans. I tried once for a weekend but sadly I was turned away by some heavy winds. Still a beautiful corner of the world!

Thanks so much- I’m glad you enjoyed it 😊 Absolutely am planning to do it again but I might need to wait for the next migration season. By that time I’ll hopefully at least have an idea of the night birds too!

Thanks so much for stopping by - glad you liked it :)

Thanks! It wasn’t my finest day but an exciting one for sure 😅 Really looking forward to rainy season, I’m curious as to what will happen with my favorite spots then! Pura vida 🙂

Danke Dir :) Richtig schön, das zu lesen - die Bearbeitung hat ewig gedauert 😅

Thanks and thank you for checking it out :)

Monteverde is not the best place but Is a good one...

You could argue that Costa Rica is a tourist trap ;) I guess it depends on what you're looking for. If you want to experience authentic tico culture, it's not the place of course. Santa Elena is a town that caters to people (mostly tourists) who want to experience this natural gem. For sure, I could personally do without the ziplining, hanging bridges, and whatnot. But I'd be hesitant to call an area with such ecological diversity a "tourist trap". That's a label I reserve for Manuel Antonio (just kidding, kind of). For birders (and the channel is about birds after all), I'd be hard pressed to recommend a better place to see a Three-Wattled Bellbird, for instance. I'd say the popularity is justified. If I switch to making culture-based travel videos I'll reconsider :D

Shut up dude you are the trap in this nice video and channel! I’m from Monteverde and live in Chicago and believe I do not like here at all I’m just being responsible with my duties and that’s it but I miss it and a lot! So why don’t you go on your mental Trap and leg people do whatever they want ? Bye!

@@jabirustories what happens is that authentic tico culture is never a product. Because it's the authentic one, it doesn't come to you because you pay for it, but because you're part of the culture. You can't for example, buy the experience of an old guy from the rural area, you can't buy the love for cooking of a random señora, or the stories of the past about how we ended up being like this. Also culture changes and it's dinamic, our culture is integrating with yours which is also the reason why prices are leveling with the cost of living of parts of the us, and why we have better internet and many more things

@@joules_sw Well said, 100% agree!

Glad you enjoyed it :)

Hey!! Hola, vecino 😅 It’s a beautiful backyard for sure - absolutely worth protecting!