How to do Costa Rica in a week
Radhika Aligh
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I'm inches away staring at the most beautiful bird I've ever seen, the scarlet macaw. And although it looks half as pleased to see me, I'm utterly mesmerised by its grace and vivid shades of red, blue and yellow.
A few trees along, a couple of cobalt-coloured hyacinth macaws are perched on a branch accompanied by green parakeets. Now that in itself is a successful day of birding by any standards; except, we are not in the wild but at Rescate Wildlife Rescue Centre (formerly ZooAve) in Alajuela on the outskirts of Costa Rica's capital San Jose. Built on 34 acres of tropical forest, the centre rescues over three thousand animals every year, the vast majority of which are released back in the wild.