Row 1:

• Volcan Rincon de la Vieja with tropical dry forest in the foreground shot in July from the top of the monument to the soldiers killed in the Battle of Santa Rosa (1955). 28-105 lens.
• Road to Playa Naranjo in May. The red trunks of the Gumbo limbo trees (Bursera simarouba) stand out in an otherwise bare forest. 28-105 lens
• Corteza amarillo (Tabebuia ochracea) - Guanacaste's showiest trees can be even be seen from the small planes that fly from San Jose to Liberia. Definitely an eye-catcher during the dry season. Photographed along the Pan American Highway near the entrance to Santa Rosa National Park. 70-300 lens.

Row 2:

• Canyon along the Rio Colorado near Hacienda Guachipelin. Shot in May at the peak of the dry season, the trees are bare and the water level in the river is low. The white rock is ignimbritic tuff - a mineral rich material from nearby Volcan Rincon de la Vieja.
• Pineula - this terrestrial bromeliad (Bromelia pinguin) forms impentrable thickets in the forest. This photo was taken on the Las Pailas Trail in Rincon de la Vieja National Park - arguably Costa Rica's most diverse national park. It's got tropical dry forest, wet forest, hot springs, and cloud forest at the top of an active volcano. A hiking trail from the Park entrance goes 8km to the top. 28-105 lens.
• Madrono (Guettarda macrospermum) is a large hardwood that flowers in the dry season. This photo was taken in Palo Verde NP. 70-300 lens.
• Gumbo limbo trees on the Las Pailas Trail in the dry season. 70-300 lens.
• A wider view of the Gumbo limbo forest (I call this "Gumbo Limbo Gulch") on Las Pailas. 28-105 lens.
• Unidentifed tree near Lomas Barbudal National Wildlife Refuge photographed in May. 70-300 lens.
• Bamboo palm leaf (Chamaedorea costaricana) backlit in the forest of Las Pailas Trail. This mountain clustering palm has a wide altitudinal range from about 300-1500 meters. At higher, wetter elevations, stems can be up to 10m in length. In the drier conditions of Las Pailas, clumps were only about 3m tall. 28-105 lens.

Row 3:

• Gumbo limbo bark backlit at the campground along the Rio Colorado in Rincon de la Vieja National Park. This tree is widespread in the Caribbean and is found in tropical hardwood forests of South Florida. 28-105 lens.
• Tree cactus and Plumeria along the estuary on the north side of Bahia Junquillal Recreation Area north of Santa Rosa National Park. The hills drop vertically into the Pacific, yet a few trees and cacti have become established in the rubble at the base of the hill - just 2m above the high tide line. 28-105 lens.
• Forest at Rincon de la Vieja Mountail Lodge's trail to the sulfur spring. I had arrived at the Lodge mid afternoon and wanted to visit the "spring" I'd seen in brochures ( with swimsuit models, of course) before sunset. The map was vague about how long the hike was to the spring but I set out eagerly. The forest was so full of photo opportunities that I lost track of time. The photo was taken about the time I realized that if I didn't pick up the pace, I'd never find the spring, much less make it back to the Lodge before dark. So, I double-timed it and finally found the "spring" - a 3m diameter slimy green pool of warm water enclosed within a low wall of cemented rocks. If I'd brought a skimmer (!) so scoop off the algae and had more time, I might(!) have considered stripping down to my skivvies and taking a dip. But no...the light was dimming g fast so I had to almost jog (with a backpack of photo gear and a tripod) 45 minutes back to the Lodge as the last light faded from the sky. This photo is my favorite one from that hike. 28-70 lens.
• Forested slopes of Volcan Rincon de la Vieja from the open area of Las Pailas Trail. This section of the trail is famous for its always active mudpots and sulfur ponds. The clouds in the photo are steam from the many hot springs along the edge of the forest. Even in the wet season, the contrast between the sulfur rich soils of the springs and the wetter forest only 100m away could not be greater. One of my favorite trails in Costa Rica. 70-300 lens.
• "Gumbo limbo Gulch" in the wet season (July). Compare this to the photo above it taken at of the same area in May. 70-300 lens.
• Coyal palms (Acrocomia aculeata) - another favorite photo. Taken at the campground at Santa Rosa National Park. These intensely spiny palms are characteristic of the tropical dry forest and are found in dry habitats throughout Central America and on some Caribbean islands. Horses and cattle have replaced the large, extinct Pleistocene mammals that probably ate the fruit and defecated the hard seed, thus speeding its germination that would otherwise take up to three years (personal experience). 18-35 lens.
• A hillside full of the bamboo palm under the canopy trail at Buena Vista Lodge near Rincon de la Vieja National Park.I was traveling with a group of American travel agents who were being shown the lodge by a tour company from Guanacaste. Their guide was a good friend of mine and invited me along for the day to shoot promotional photos of the group. A nice side benefit was the opportunity to see a different park of Rincon de la Vieja and enjoy the aerial canopy trail for free. I don't know if my photos were ever used by the tour company. 28-105 lens.

Row 4:

• Guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) the characteristic tree of the dry lowlands of Costa Rica and the namesake for the nation's northwestern province. A massive tree with a canopy spread of over 100', its ear-shaped pods litter the ground in the dry season and are favored foods by many mammals. The largest known Guanacaste is in front of the lovely Hotel Espuelas on the Pan American Highway on the outskirts of Liberia. 28-105 lens.
• Dry forest, Santa Rosa National Park in May. This and the following photo were taken from the top of the monument in the Park. 70-300 lens.
• Dry forest, Santa Rosa National Park in July. 70-300 lens.

Good news, bad news...First the bad news - only remnants of Costa Rica's tropical dry forest remain - victims primarily of cattle ranching and more recently agriculture. The good news - Costa Rica is expanding the area of the National Parks and reserves in Guanacaste in order to preserve and to restore this critically endangered ecosystem. This story is well-told in William Allen's Green Phoenix - Restoring the Tropical Dry Forest of Guanacaste, Costa Rica (a must -read for anyone visiting the region) and it continues to this day.

The best places to see the tropical dry forest are in Santa Rosa National Park, Rincon de la Vieja National Park, Palo Verde National Park and Lomas Barbudal National Wildlife Refuge. All are part of the Guanacaste Conservation Area, have a variety of habitats and are easily accessible by car. There are plenty of small lodges and camping areas in and around these parks. The dry season is approximately November to June and is a good time to visit because of the ease of spotting wildlife in the bare forest and the greater likelihood of seeing trees in flower. The wet season follows and the trees immediately leaf out.