Customer Reviews

Costa Rican Wildlife: An Introduction to Familiar Species (International Nature Guides)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I wasn't holding out much hope for value on this little "brochure" of wildlife but it turned out to be very nice to have. We just returned from a trip to Panama and Costa Rica and the guides - experienced naturalists with National Geographic and also from the parks and the Smithsonian - used it along with others. They are available for different regions and types of wildlife and I purchased two more when I was down there. Easy to carry on a hike, easy to refer to and great for the kids. They are certainly very basic but we were in isolated areas and some of us only got glimpses of an anteater or agouti so as the naturalists were talking about it, we could look at the guide and try to spot it again. Then if I only saw the tail, I knew what it looked like! Hiking up 300-500 ft. on muddy uneven trails with a camera in one hand, binoculars around my neck and a small backpack with water and such, it was hard to pull out a book for reference so if your trip is going to be at all like that, I recommend them.

Although this pocket field guide is extremely limited - only listed three species of butterflies - it did enable us to identify the difference between Howler, Spider and Capuchin monkeys. It sufficed as a guide for my week long (and first visit) to Costa Rica. However, if you are spending more time in the rainforest, I would recommend a more detailed guide for your area(s) of interest. Enjoy.

This is effectively a foldout brochure (laminated) with only a few animals/birds, and very little information. You can get almost as much information from your general guide book for Costa Rica. I could only recommend this as something to give children to look at to keep them busy during the trip.

You gotta have this little book of wildlife treasures on hand, because you will see most of these creatures if your visit is at least a week!

Another book I read before my visit was "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made," one of the most imaginative travel-writing efforts I have read lately. Like an anthropolgical text with far too many tangents, it gathers the best and brightest attractions in Costa Rica to explore in essays the various themes of the country. This means that the selections are as diverse and strange as the points-of-view they represent. Standouts include "House Made of Rain" about a day in the rainforest, "Why No Empire?" explaining why the Spanish Invasion apparently skipped Costa Rica, and "Women Under Tico Paternalism."

These are great for families, casual wildlife fans. For die-hard bird fans, you'll need the BIG Birds of Costa Rica book.

This handy pocket guide has the most frequently seen species, but I expected a bit more. Handy, but not what I expected.

The guide is intended to be a quick reference guide to some of the more common and most interesting creatures of Costa Rica, as indicated on the back summary above the UPC symbol. This waterproof pamplet accomplishes this goal just fine. Pamphlet is VERY sturdy (no worries in ALL weather) and pictures 1 inch square. Captions list Latin name, size in inches and centimeters and, for some, a short phrase describing an interesting feature. Opens to be 8 1/4 inches by 24 inches, double-sided.

I can only think of a couple minor things it doesn't list but should:
1. Region where animal is found
2. Indicator to mark rare species (so you won't expect to see them)

This fold-out pamphlet offers tiny pictures, scant details and more birds than anything else. It also emphasizes what tourists want to see (including very rare species) at the expense of what they are likely to see, so calling it a guide to "familiar species" is rather optimistic. This publication is not really very useful. Better to have separate guides: one for birds (there's one available in this same series, but I'd recommend a proper field guide to Costa Rica's 900+ species of birds) and one or more higher-quality, expanded guides covering other wildlife (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects).

This booklet was offered as a bundle with another book I purchased. The booklet itself is well done, but not very extensive re: the wildlife of Costa Rica. It seemed to be a bit pricey to me, even at a discounted rate, for what I received.

When I bought this, I was expecting something a bit more substantial. It is literally a small laminated pamphlet. However, I think it is useful to have (in addition to a more extensive field guide-type wildlife book). It's much more convenient to use for quick identification than trying to whip out a big book on a hike. I also like that it's durable and laminated. I do plan to use this on my trip, but this would also be a good resource for kids to use also.