Travellers' Wildlife Guides Costa Rica (Paperback)

by Les Beletsky (Author), Priscilla Barrett (Illustrator), David Beadle (Illustrator), David Dennis (Illustrator), John Myers (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Travellers' Wildlife Guides are aimed at environmentally conscious travellers for whom some of the best parts of any trip are glimpses of wildlife in natural settings.

The purpose of this series is to enhance enjoyment of a trip and enrich wildlife sightings by providing identifying information on the most frequently encountered animals in each of the represented countries.

With stunning color illustrations and photographs of amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds, this series is unique in that it aims to aid the visitor in identifying all types of vertebrate land animals while providing current information on the conservation statuses of the animals.

Not only for travellers, the Travellers' Wildlife Guides are for all those fascinated by wildlife and concerned about our environment.

Most travellers to Costa Rica want to experience its lush tropical forests and catch glimpses of exotic wildlife; toucans and parrots, hummingbirds and hawks, monkeys and big cats, frogs and toads, crocodiles, and (yes) snakes. Here is all the information you will need to find, identify and learn about Costa Rica's magnificent wildlife.

--Identification, distribution, and conservation information on Costa Rica's frequently spotted animals.

--Full-color illustrations of nearly 350 of Costa Rica's most common amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

--Up-to-date information on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of the families of animals to which the pictured species belong.

--Information on habitats and on the most common plants you will encounter.

--Brief descriptions of Costa Rica's most frequently visited parks and reserves.

--Information on ecotourism in general and on conservation in Costa Rica.

Easy-to-carry, entertainingly written, beautifully illustrated-you will want to have this book as constant companion on your journey.

About the Author
Les Beletsky is the author of numerous wildlife guides including Ecuador (co-author) in the same series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 414 pages
• Publisher: Interlink Pub Group; 1 edition (October 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566565294
• ISBN-13: 978-1566565295
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,866 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #18 in	Books > Travel > Latin America > Central America > Costa Rica
  #23 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Conservation > Wildlife
  #50 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Travel > Ecotourism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for travelers to Costa Rica!, April 11, 2007

By	JLBRBB (Virginia) - See all my reviews

My husband and I traveled to Costa Rica for two weeks in March 2007. We purchased this book to take with us. This is a good book. Its candid and informative text provides a good background for travelers unfamiliar with Costa Rica's ecology and natural history. The colored species index offers an excellant variety of Costa Rican wildlife.

The only downfalls are that the book is rather bulky (not great for taking out into the field with you) and the species index does not include butterflies (which we saw a lot of).

If you are a casual wildlife observer interested in a mix of animal species, this book is for you! It was perfect for us!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, May 6, 2007

By	J. Maclean (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a comprehensive, easy to use, and worthwhile book for anyone who wants more information than a name for CR flora and fauna. I refered to it a lot on our trip. Buy it in the USA as it is wildly expensive once you get to CR.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good news and bad news, February 20, 2008

By	K. J. Stock "Kathleen" (Woodland, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just returned from 10 days in CR and bought this guide (under seal so I could not examine it before purchasing) when I arrived there. This guide is great in that is provides wonderful data on amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals and lots of information on CR geography, conservation, ecology and related. The guides I met really like the book for the "friendliness" of the presentation. Unfortunately I found the book to be cumbersome because it separated the animal data from the plates and the book lacked cross-referencing, so there was a lot of back and forth trying to read about something then find its illustration. Also, the book is very limited in the varieties of each type of animal. Since my main interest is birding, I was very frustrated not to find many of the birds I was seeing. Lastly, I paid $48 for this book when I arrived in CR and later I saw it for $38; state-side the book sells for $20 or so. I think it is a wonderful overview book on animals of CR but I do not recommend it as a field guide.