"We had such a wonderful trip, and the highlight was definitely the time we spent with you. I hope we can do it again one of these years!"
Donna Hamer, New Jersey, USA

"I just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for making my first real birding experience a satisfying one. I was with the birding club you guided on the high trail in Carara Park...  Having an experienced guide made all the difference for me. Thanks again."
Peter Wagner, California, USA

"We would like to thank you for your great ability to find the hard birds at Carara National Park, we had spent a little over 2 weeks in Costa Rica, and we had the best day of birding at Carara, only because of you."
Lorna and John, United Kingdom

"I can not believe we got to see and hear 189 species on one day at Carara. We are impressed with your vast knowledge of the birds at the park."
Ian, United Kingdom

"Ma familie et moi personnelment sommes impresionne avec ton talent de conaitre les oiseaux de ton pays."
Leonard Bouffard, Montreal, Canada

"Your birding skills are exceptional, absolutely the best.  I will recommend you to anyone visiting Costa Rica."
Tong Ginn, USA

"I just wanted to tell you what a great time Betsy and I had birding with you at Carara. It was such a treat to see so many new birds with such an expert guide. It was the highlight of the trip for me."
Craig Walker, Tennessee, USA

"I have been meaning to write to thank you for the wonderful time I had birding with you. I sent an email to my friend in Denver, Todd Meyer, his email address is; tmyers@sagevargo.com I told him you may be heading his way this year and to get in touch to go birding in Denver. Your keen knowledge of the birds of Costa Rica was uncanny. I have never before seen a guide call in so many species without the use of tapes. How do you whistle some of those songs? It is truly an amazing gift you have and I am honored to have walked with you to experience a REAL birding guide. How did you like the CDs? Did the driver get you the sampler CD I sent back with him? Hope to hear from you again in the future. By the way, Saul, the naturalist from Rainmaker, says hi. He said he spent time studying with you in Costa Rica years ago. I told him about my trip with you and he said he remembers you being a really good birder back then too."
Brian St. Clair

"Hi Randall
My wife (Darlene) and I (Joe) from San Francisco California met you last month on a guide tour of Carara. We had a great time and you did a incredible job showing us the park and many, many, many birds and want to thank you for that."
Thanks,
Joe Oster

"Hola amigo,
como esta hoy? I am missing Costa Rica!! It is really very hot here, and so humid it isn't even pleasant to go into the pool! We have had so many birds nesting in our yard; we've had 4 clutches of wrens, two of cardinals, chickadees, blue jays, goldfinches, and catbirds. There are cardinals nesting in the rose bush that covers my kitchen window, so we really have a "bird's eye view"!! We had such a wonderful trip, and the highlight was dedinitely the time we spent with you Randall. I hope we can do it again one of these years! let us know how your real estate plans are going! My pictures are not very good...too dark and I just don't have decent equipment. So that is my goal for next year; savng money to invest in new camera gear. Although I have no idea what to buy! Maybe I'll look into an adaptor and digital camera for Jim's scope, and I'll just stick with my SLR but upgrade to a Canon or Nikon. How is your wife and daughter? I hope all is well with you. I miss the macaws! I watched a special about Macaws last night, in Brazil and Peru, and I'm ready for another adventure!
Adios....." Donna

"I just had the best 8 hours of birding in my life. As a 35-year professional wildlife biologist, birder and sometimes tour leader in the U.S., I speak from experience. When planning our two days at Carara National Park, Randall Ortega Chaves was recommended. He was the consummate field guide, expert at finding, identifying and discussing the ecological role of many species encountered. His pride in Costa Rica and his dedication to and love of Carara and the forest were evident. He advised that I put away my notebook because there would be no time to write, even the species names. He was right-the birds and other animals came non-stop. And he later recalled every observation for our records. I am likely not the first to recommend Randall for hard-core or casual birders". The boat tour with Luis was fantastic-especially so for my wife who had an easier time seeing everything from the boat. Among many impressive sights were close-up views of 19 Scarlet Macaws, a male Mangrove Hummingbird, nesting Turquoise Motmot, a Mangrove Vireo, three Mangrove Black Hawks being stooped on by a Plumbeous Kite, a flock of Brown-chested Martins and 3 Double-striped Thick-knees.
Thanks again for a fantastic experience,"
Paul Jorgensen

"I just wanted to thank you again for the best day I had in Costa Rica. You made our time together very enjoyable not just because of your extensive expertise but also because you are very nice to spend time with. It is very enlightening to discover what is most important and memorable to us in our lives. It is not always what we expect. I came to Costa Rica to see the birds and the rainforest but one of my most precious memories of the trip will be sharing tomato and cheese sandwiches with you. Thank you so much. I hope to spend another wonderful day with you when I come back, as I know I will. I was serious about my offer to have you stay at my house if you ever come to Maryland. I live in a nice birding area, not to far from the mountains, the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Keep me up to date on the progress of your books. I am very interested. When I came home from the trip I found I had a new appreciation for our own birds. I suppose we have a tendency to take them for granted after seeing them so often. Now I think I look at them with a new eye."
Kathy Rohe

"Randall, thank you for a wonderfull day in Carara. From all the birdguides we had in Costa Rica, you stand out as the best."
Patty & Patty

We returned to Texas yesterday after our last few enjoyable days with Joan and Lenny and my last bird in Costa Rica was a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl at the bottom of their garden! My only owl. Also saw Blue-crowned Motmots in the garden too. We can’t begin to thank you for those wonderful few days spent with you in CR and without you our experiences would have been very limited. In the end I saw 185 species, fewer than I thought, but forest birding is always very difficult and I missed a lot of what you saw. Anyway, as you know, I’m not a lister and far prefer quality to quantity, and you gave us plenty of quality. We shall long remember the boat trip and the Quetzals. Just one query, what was that treecreeper species we saw so well on our last morning at Savegre, just before going into breakfast? I’ll keep in touch once I get back to South Africa and will certainly steer anyone interested in the services of Costa Rica’s best guide your way. Love to Harmony and you beautiful daughter. Best wishes, Pedrito and Jenny."
Peter Steyn, South Africa.