Land in Motion: Portraits of Guanacaste
Article by: Lior Berman — Wildlife Photographer
Guanacaste
Guanacaste is often defined by its extremes. Months without rain give way to sudden abundance. Forests shed their leaves, then erupt back into life. From dry hills to volcanic shores, every inhabitant here is shaped by seasonality, timing and restraint. This series follows that rhythm, moving through forest, rain and sea, tracing how life persists in a landscape that is never static and evolves to match its rhythm.
1. Turquoise-browed Motmot
The turquoise-browed motmot is one of the most recognizable voices of the dry forest. Perched quietly along forest edges and open woodland, it watches the landscape from above, its long tail swinging like a pendulum. These birds thrive where trees thin and sunlight reaches the ground, feeding on insects, small reptiles and fruit. In a forest defined by scarcity, the motmot is a constant presence, perfectly adapted to heat, dust and open space.
Photo Credit: Lior Berman
2. Porthidium ophryomegas
Among fallen leaves and sun-baked soil, the forest hides its defenses. Porthidium ophryomegas, one of the dry forest’s venomous vipers, lies motionless — its pattern dissolving into the ground beneath it. Ambush is its strategy, patience its strength. In a landscape where energy must be conserved, stillness becomes survival, and camouflage is the difference between hunger and success.
Photo Credit: Lior Berman
3. Rhinophrynus dorsalis
For most of the year, the burrowing toad remains invisible beneath the hardened earth. Then, with the first heavy rains of winter, Rhinophrynus dorsalis emerges. Its sudden appearance transforms the night. Roads, ponds and forest clearings fill with movement and sound as this ancient amphibian rushes to breed before the water disappears again. Its life is timed to the rain, compressed into brief windows of opportunity shaped by generations of adaptation.
Photo Credit: Lior Berman
4. Bull Shark | Murciélago Islands
Off the volcanic shores of Murciélago Islands, the dry forest gives way to one of the most dynamic marine environments in the eastern Pacific. Here, a bull shark slows its movement as butterflyfish gather to clean its scarred skin. These islands rise from deep water, where currents collide and nutrients concentrate, creating ideal conditions for large predators. The shark’s presence speaks to the health of these waters, where balance is maintained through constant interaction rather than dominance.
Photo Credit: Lior Berman
5. Hawksbill Turtle
In the same waters, a hawksbill turtle glides past rocky reefs shaped by ancient eruptions. Its narrow beak is specialized for feeding on sponges that grow along volcanic substrates, linking its survival directly to the geology beneath the surface. These turtles navigate vast distances, yet return again and again to coastlines like Guanacaste, where fire and ocean have created habitats found nowhere else.
Photo Credit: Lior Berman
6. Ocelot
As night settles over the forest during the transition between seasons, an ocelot pauses beneath the canopy, scanning the darkness. With the absence of larger cats in much of the region, it has become one of the forest’s primary nocturnal hunters. Moving silently along trails shaped by dry riverbeds and fallen trees, it reads the landscape with precision. In the quiet hours, the forest belongs to those who move unseen.
Photo Credit: Lior Berman
The Shape of Change
Guanacaste is not defined by a single moment or species, but by change itself. Life here survives by waiting, emerging, retreating and returning. From the dust of the dry forest to the depths of the Pacific, every inhabitant carries the imprint of a land shaped by extremes. To witness this place is to understand that resilience is not loud or dramatic. It is patient, and precise, deeply rooted in time and cultivated by years and years of evolution. To witness it is a gift.