Sloth baby, Folivora, climbing upside down in tree branches, costa rica, fine art wildlife photography print by Linda Dalton Walker — Young Sloth Hanging in a Tree. (See mom and baby here)

Bringing You Images of Costa Rica For Your Home

I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Wasatch mountains loom out my windows, the air is dry, and because we are in a desert, we receive about 10 inches of rain per year.

So, when I traveled to Costa Rica, it felt like a completely different world with:

Lush tropical forests
Brilliantly colored birds
And rain measured in feet, not inches.

Inside this blog:

I want to share with you why I traveled to Costa Rica,

What challenges I encountered,

The wildlife I was able to photograph,

And how you can bring my photography into your home - especially if you recently experienced Costa Rica yourself.

Keel-billed Toucan (ramphastosg sulfuratus) portrait of its bright green bill and green eye and yellow neck, and black body leaning into a plant on a branch, Costa Rica, fine art bird photography print by Linda Dalton Walker — Keel-Billed Toucan - What a gift to be able to photograph such a fun, cheerful bird. HERE is another adorable close-up portrait of the Toucan.

Why I Chose the Tropics

I traveled to Costa Rica to enrich my wildlife portfolio and to explore a part of the world I have not experienced before. I knew the colors would be more intense than anything I have found in the desert, and I knew I would be stretched creatively and personally.

I had hoped to capture images of:
Sloths hanging high in the trees
Toucans with their oversized colorful bills
Monkeys racing across branches
And the breathtaking Resplendent Quetzal with its three-foot long tail feathers.

Check, check, check, and check - so thrilled to have captured these images.

Splendid Leaf Frog, Cruziohyla calcarifer, on red flower, costa rica, fine art wildlife photography print by Linda Dalton Walker — Splendid Leaf Frog - those eyes and those colors. Wow! Check out this other frog, HERE.

Pushed Outside My Comfort Zone

Whenever I travel, I’m reminded how small I am in this world. It always makes me appreciate home even more.

There were moments on this trip when I had to readjust my sense of security.

Driving from the airport with someone I didn’t know, and navigating a language barrier at the same time, made me pause and question what I was doing by myself in a foreign country.

And then there were the rainforest realities:
Large Cockroaches - one was running near a pool lounge chair where I was trying to recover from my flight.

Large Spiders - one visited my cottage room. I bravely put it in a glass and released it out into the wild.

Buckets of pouring rain (And this was not even the rainy season)

Constant reminders that I was not in Utah’s desert anymore.

I often waited out storms, listening to the pounding rain on the roof while bird calls echoed throughout the forest, and as Howler Monkeys roared in the distance. It was intense, invigorating, and peaceful all at the same time.

Purple-throated Mountain-gem Female Hummingbird, Lampoons calolaemus, Costa Rica, brown and green hummingbird flying in to pink drop flowers, fine art bird photography print by Linda Dalton Walker — Purple-throated Mountain-gem female hummingbird

One afternoon, while I was out photographing hummingbirds, my room was invaded by the White-nosed Coati - image below. Seven of them tore open one of my bags, ate and stole my power bars, and emptied my suitcase onto the floor. Emergency housekeeping was called; it was such a disaster.

It makes for a good story now.

To add to this ongoing adventure, I came down with the flu and spent a few days in bed with a 102 degree fever. Being sick in a foreign country is unsettling in a way that’s hard to describe. Thank goodness I had a friend and her husband on the trip to check on me and bring me squash soup and ice.

Another note - I am vegan, and often find it difficult, but not impossible, to travel to foreign countries and get enough food and protein. In Costa Rica my diet consisted mostly of squash and rice. I still cannot stomach zucchini type squash, and it took me a bit before I could eat rice again.

Still, the wildlife, and the stunning landscapes before me, made all of this worth it.

Coati, Nasua Narita, Costa Rica, climbing in a brush. White nose and brown furry body. Fine art wildlife photography print by Linda Dalton Walker — White-nosed Coati. A small mammal related to the Raccoon family. Seven of them broke into my room and created a complete disaster.

Resplendent Quetzal bird, (Pharomachrus mocinno) male and female with bright green body with red and white on breast, fine art bird photography print by Linda Dalton Walker — Resplendent Quetzal Pair.

Wildlife Moments I’ll Treasure

One of my favorite experiences was photographing a mother sloth and her baby high above a fruit stand. They barely moved, the tenderness of that moment resulted in some of my favorite images from the trip.

I also captured images of the demonstrative Montezuma Oropendola in the pouring rain (I can still hear their call), the vibrant Keel-billed Toucan, and the striking Collared Aracari. There were also bats during nighttime photography, and brilliantly colored poisonous frogs and snakes. The brightly intense colors I was after were right in front of me.

And then there was the Resplendent Quetzal.

I discovered a male and female building a nest deep in the shadowy foliage. The light was low, and I did everything I could to capture those moments - and I am so happy with the results I achieved.

Brown Hooded Parrot, Pyrillia haematotis, Costa Rica, two parrots with green bodies and brown head standing on moss covered branch, fine art bird photography print by Linda Dalton Walker — Brown Hooded Parrot - I think they loved getting their photo taken.

Choosing the Right Image for Your Home

If you recently traveled to Costa Rica, or are thinking of going in the future, you may find yourself wanting to hold onto that experience, or you may want to transform a space with brightly colored tropical images.

You might choose a single large statement piece on canvas, such as a toucan or a vivid frog, to help anchor a wall. Or you might want to consider a small grouping. Odd numbers tend to feel balanced and cohesive, especially when the images have a common tone or location.

If you are interested, I’d be happy to help you choose artwork that fits your space and reflects Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has stayed with me - the positives and negatives, and isn’t that what life is about? And, no matter what, I learned about a different culture, I stepped out of my comfort zone, and I came away with images that will last a lifetime. Images I can share with you.

Sometimes the best way to honor that… is to hang it on your wall. Thanks for following along with my journey.

The birds from this adventure are found under my shop - birds of a feather, the rest are found under wildlife.

Contact me if I can help in anyway.
Linda Dalton Walker