Yesterday, Cristina and I got a tour around the neighboring land, which is a small forest. It was awesome! After the tour, when we were back in the house, I realized that my phone was not in my pocket. … wait, what? … More Zip it
If you ever visit the Neotropics, this book is a must-read. After reading the just under 400 pages of text you will have an idea about the tropical ecosystem(s) that you are visiting. … More How do the tropics work?
Only when I started writing these posts about our bird-watching gear, I realized that our smartphones are definitely part of it. Because we never leave the house without the smartphone, it is the natural last resort to take a picture of a bird. But it is also useful to make sound recordings and, together with a so-called clip-on, it can be used to make pictures through binoculars or telescopes … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 4 : Smartphone and clip-on
Our purchase of the telescope was a bit of a haste job. Because scopes do not come cheap, virtually all birdwatchers that we know or met or read on-line, advise buying a second-hand scope if you are a beginner. We followed the Swedish go-to second-hand website (called blocket.se) for a while but nothing in our price range showed up. … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 3 : Celestron Ultima 80 telescope
Some years ago, when our interest in bird-watching started, I bought a pair of Kite Forster 10 x 50 binoculars. At that time, it was a well-reviewed model for bird watching. Very good value for money, also for experienced birdwatchers. … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 2 : Kite Forster 10 x 50 binoculars
If you look around the internet a bit for beginners tips for bird watching, you will find the tip not to gear up too much at the beginning. The equipment such as binoculars, cameras, and telescopes are available in a great price range, starting from not cheap to insanely expensive. If you ask me, the very cheap equipment is not worth your money because the quality simply does not suffice. So we have a mix of equipment with various qualities for wildlife observation. … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 1 : Eyes, books, binos, scopes and cameras
A friend recently asked us how did we find the organizations in which we will be volunteering in Costa Rica, which triggered us to write this blog. Here are some of the strategies that we tried and how they worked for us. … More How to find volunteering opportunities in nature conservation
Last summer in Spain, we found out that our cat has diabetes. We had to learn new stuff: how to measure her glucose level on a daily basis, how to administer insulin, and where to get all the materials we need for it. Most importantly, we learned the implications for our Costa Rica plans. … More The cat got diabetes, or how good planning can not beat the universe
Recently, the lazy amateur birdwatcher was spotted close to the Nicoya peninsula coasts. Some good pictures could be taken to study this evasive (and nearly extinct) species in detail. … More The lazy, amateur birdwatcher and his equipment
Here is a tip from a long-haul traveler : get yourself a noise-canceling device. I had quite some days, weeks or perhaps months of traveling in trains and buses behind me when I ran into someone who let me hear through her noise-canceling device. The next day I went to the shop, paid a lot of money and improved my future travel experiences in immeasurable amounts. … More Noise-canceling devices
THE FLIP FLOP LIFE 