On our last trip to Costa Rica, we rented a car and drove to Jaco. The rental car gave us a lot of flexibility and freedom to do/see what and when we wanted. We hired a local guide each time we ventured out to observe birds and animals in the nearby rainforest or river. Here are some reasons we hired guides:
Guides know where animals and birds typically hang out. They know the area and based on time of day they know the general area animals typically hang out. Within 5 minutes of parking our car at Carara National Park’s north trail, our guide spotted this ghost bat.
They know animal and bird behaviors. Our guide found this Lesser Nighthawk because he knew they sleep on the ground in the leaves during the day and hunt at night. Even after capturing the photo, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at because this little bird is so well camouflaged with the leaves. Had we been walking around by ourselves, we would have never found this bird sleeping about 10 feet off the trail.
They know the sounds they make. Our guide was able to locate the Hummingbird and Little Hermit in this video by hearing them first. It was no easy feat to hear the Little Hermit over the cicadas.
Guides communicate with other guides. Frequently on our tour our guide would talk with other guides and either tell them what he had seen or find out what they had seen.