On many of my personal backcountry trips – and even on some of my work ones – I tend to see a lot of wildlife.
Wildlife and Bird Watching
Bears on this trip and this one. Moose on this trip and this one. Any number of birds, smaller mammals, and amphibians would grace me with their presence.
On the Costa Rica trip, I was getting out-naturalist-ed by most of my outdoors students. They saw sloths and fer-de-lances. They showed me their photos of Jesus Christ lizards and caimans. They told me stories of armadillos.
I may have spotted the parrots first and danced with the butterflies. I may have watched a kingfisher dive over and over for its lunch. It made me happy to see how excited each person was with whichever fauna happened to catch his or her attention.
I figured I must have been in a different headspace for this trip: worrying about students’ health, listening to excited stories, getting to know my colleagues, and paying attention to all the ins and outs of the trip just in case I had the good fortune to be asked back.
It felt like all of that may have been enough for Costa Rica’s wildlife to say, “Sorry, Kate. This is not your trip to see us. We’re going to hang out with the students. Better luck next time.”
Up next: San Jose.
Kate Monahan Outdoors 