Costa Rica – Top Twenty Photos – Lee Aspland Mindful Photography

Our trip, to visit my sister and family in Costa Rica this January, helped to rekindle my dwindling passion for photography. There was something about the place that provided a great filip to my jaded seeing eye.

It was the equatorial light that changed the sunsets. The marvelous wildlife. The fabulous scenery. The people. My family. And of course being in the sunshine instead of dodging raindrops in Wales.

We were there for three weeks. Overnight in San Jose, then flew on a little plane to Uvita, on the Pacific Coast, for the majority of our stay. The last few days we visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We saw plenty of interesting sights and I eventually settled on 200 photos to keep.

Now, I’ve set myself the task of sharing a personal top twenty. They’re not in any order, so you can choose your favourite. Enjoy!

The macaws travel in pairs, the partner of this one was on another almond tree close by. Spectacular colours.

Those Pacific rollers were big and full of power. I loved body surfing in there. Like diving into a washing machine.

So many of the beaches along this stretch of coast looked like this. Jungle to the edge of the sands.

We were visiting local waterfalls when the woman on the till asked if we’d seen the sloth in the trees above the car park. What a great spot.

Nauyaca Waterfalls were a very hot hike (32 c) along an uphill trail. The views were worth it.

Tarcoles River Bridge is noted for the American Crocodiles that congregate below in the Tarcoles River. As a consequence it’s quite a tourist spot, but as it was on our route up north it was an essential stop.

Lovely golden light gracing this beach scene with my sister

Dinah demonstrates the beauty of a Costa Rican beach at sunset

Those equatorial sunsets are quite spectacular. Look carefully, you can see Venus.

A romantic photo at the same beach, using a slow shutter speed and a little movement.

We were lucky to be invited to a release of baby turtles. Conservationists remove the eggs from the beach, to stop loss to predators and collectors, raise them, and then release them when they’re ready to head to sea. There were 90 at this release.