This Costa Rica adventure started out with a night flight from Los Angeles International Airport to San Jose.  Why do the nonstop flights all leave around midnight?  Ugh.  I did manage to get a few hours of sleep on the flight and was picked up at the airport by Abelardo "Lalo" Benavides, our local guide with Birdwatching Central America.  

It was then off to the Hotel Bougainvillea, an independent hotel in the Central Valley which was only about a half-hour drive from the airport.  The hotel has ten acres of beautiful botanical gardens, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a wonderful restaurant.

A few hours later William Orellana of Beaks and Peaks Birding and Adventure Tours (based in Gracias, Lempira, Honduras) arrived and we set out to find hummingbirds on the grounds.