Above: On several previous trips to Costa Rica, I’d photographed many iguanas, usually from forest trails or from boats along the riverbanks.
They were perched on branches, basking on rocks, or scurrying away from me, but never actually in the water. So, imagine my surprise when, on arrival day of my March 2025 Holbrook Travel trip, I walked through the gardens of the Bougainvillea Hotel and found this striking iguana having dinner in the lily pond. It was an unexpected and memorable encounter, and it set the tone for what was another outstanding adventure with Holbrook. Moments like this are why I keep returning to Costa Rica. The wildlife always finds a new way to surprise you. This photo was taken with a Nikon Z9 paired with a 600mm f/4 lens.
Below: While walking along the beachfront at a lodge in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca on Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean coast, I heard a noise behind me in the branches of a low-hanging tree I’d just walked under. I turned and found myself eye-to-eye fifteen feet away from this remarkable sloth. I actually had to step back to fit the scene into the frame. It was one of the most memorable and intimate sloth encounters I’ve had in all my trips to Costa Rica. This photograph was taken during a trip extension that Holbrook Travel arranged for me, and both the main trip and the extension were exceptional. Captured with a Nikon Z9 and a 600mm f/4 lens.
Photos and story by Ron Ceton, Ceton's Photo Place
Costa Rica | Birds, Wildlife & Photography with Stephen Ingraham
