Costa Rica (Traveller's Wildlife Guides)

Rating:
Summary: good but not great
Review: For 30% less of the cost of this book, you could (as I did) pick up a superior book that details the history of conservation in the country's diverse geographical zones (seacoasts, prairies, jungles and volcanic highlands). That book is "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made."

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: This book provides a fascinating, well-written and often humorous overview of Costa Rican natural history as well as a detailed description of the most often seen wildlife. I cannot overstate how much this book enhanced my trip to Costa Rica and gave me a greater understanding of what I was seeing. It is not exhaustive, but unless you want to carry multiple, subject-specific books with you, this is the one to bring. It had information on virtually every bird and creature I saw there.

Rating:
Summary: excellent nature guide
Review: This guide has got three sections: an introduction to the neotropical ecosystems, a description of families of animal, and a section with pictures, for purposes of identification.
The second section is for people who are willing to dig deeper into this stuff, the first section gives a good introduction into Casta Rica and it's ecology.
To shallow for professionals, to deep for absolute beginners (only the last section will appeal to them), but very good stuff for the informed layman!

Rating:
Summary: A Versatile Guide
Review: This is a pretty good guide and introduction to the wildlife of Costa Rica and fills a particular need. Costa Rica is full of wildlife and as a consequence there are many wildlife guides out there. Many of these guides, while technically excellent, are too specialized for the basic tourist exploring the country. The problem is that one cannot carry all of these guides into the field at one time. This book consolidates wildlife encountered by a visitor into one book that fits readily into your pack. If you can only carry one guide, this is good choice.