Costa Rica

Carara National Park

Apr 5-6

Situated on the banks of the Tarcoles River, near the Pacific coast, Carara National Park is located in a unique climate zone that joins the humid southern coastal region and the dry climate of the northern Pacific area, creating a rich mix of species from both regions. A highlight of the Carara Reserve is the chance to watch the orange-collared manakin dancing in its lek, an aggregation of males performing competitive displays to attract females who are ready to mate. Explore bird-rich trails through the forests in search of tiger-herons, antbirds, rufous-tailed jacamar, trogons, and royal flycatchers. Become one with the sights and sounds around you while looking for a cooperative mixed flock foraging together, or even a glance at one of the mammal species: collared peccaries, tayras, tamanduas, or agouti. Around midday, when the birds are less active, you’ll find beautiful butterflies like blue morphos flitting about. One of the highpoints of your visit in Carara may be the morning and evening stops at the Tarcoles River bridge to watch scarlet macaws fly to and from their nighttime roost in mangroves.

Embark on a two-hour mangrove boat tour along the Tarcoles River in search of giant crocodiles, along with shore birds, water birds, and raptors in the river and bordering mangrove forest. If time allows, you will also explore the visitor center and walk through habitat that is home to the great curassow and great tinamou, both seen side by side!

Guanacaste and La Ensenada National Wildlife Refuge

Apr 7-8

The Guanacaste Peninsula has a vast diversity of wildlife habitats, including tropical dry forests, marshlands, estuaries, and mangroves. Drive through the Pacific Lowlands on the Pan-American Highway passing through the arid landscapes of the Guanacaste-Gulf in the Nicoya region, which has distinctive flora and fauna endemic to this special region.

Explore La Ensenada National Wildlife Refuge on the Pacific Coast of the Gulf of Nicoya. You will stay at a family-managed lodge and ranch within the refuge where you will visit natural habitats, including dry forest and mangroves. Listen for mantled howler monkeys calling in the distance and look for other mammals including white-headed (-faced) capuchins, northern tamandua, white-nosed coati, and white-tailed deer. You can also see Pacific screech-owls and ferruginous pygmy-owl.

Arenal National Park and Volcano

Apr 9-10

Drive east into the highlands of the Continental Divide and down the Caribbean Slope to Lake Arenal with your first sights of the breathtaking Volcán Arenal, Costa Rica’s youngest and most active volcano. Arenal, last erupted in 2010, but can still become active at any time. Along your route, you’ll have time to stop for birds and picturesque views.

The Arenal Observatory Lodge, located within Arenal National Park, offers wonderful views of the volcano, sunsets over Lake Arenal, as well as tanagers, hummingbirds, and several species of warblers at the feeders – all viewed from the comfort of the outside deck. Extensive trails around the lodge provide opportunities to walk through montane rainforest in search of woodland bird species, monkeys, and midday butterflies. In the evening, you can choose to go owling in search of black-and-white owl, mottled owl, and striped owl.

Sarapiqui riparian zone and La Selva Biological Station

Apr 11-13

Continue down the Caribbean slope to Selva Verde Lodge, located in the tropical lowlands of Sarapiqui. Spend three nights at this lodge, situated on 500 acres of tropical forest adjacent to Braulio Carillo National Park and the Organization for Tropical Studies’ (OTS) La Selva Biological Station.

You’ll explore the wildlife-rich riparian zone along the banks of the Sarapiqui River for the great green macaw, an endangered species that depends on the Dipteryx tree, one of the emergent trees commonly found here, for feeding and nesting.

Visit La Selva Biological Station, one of the world's most important sites for tropical ecosystem research. Each year, many scientists and students from some 25 countries come here to study tropical ecology – perhaps you will run into scientists along the trails conducting their studies. La Selva is home to more than 420 bird species, 500 butterfly species, 120 mammal species, 55 snake species, and hosts a variety of different tree species on its 4,000 acres of old growth and disturbed tropical wet forest. Paco grew up nearby and used to work as a naturalist in this area, so he knows it very well. La Selva is the most likely place to find any of three species of tinamous in Costa Rica, plus woodpeckers, aracaris, tanagers, rufous motmot, trogons, caciques, purple-throated fruitcrow, and snowy cotinga. Also look out for peccaries (wild pig), agoutis, coatis, sloths, and the monkeys that frequent this area.

Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean

Apr 14-15

Travel by boat to Tortuguero National Park. Navigate through small resort areas and agricultural land, as well as secondary forest before reaching your lodge just outside the park.

At Tortuguero National Park, you will traverse the rich labyrinth of peaceful, narrow, and wide waterways, keeping an eye out for active wildlife along the banks and overhead. This area boasts 320 bird species, including tiger-herons, Agami heron, white-fronted nunbird, and all six species of kingfishers belonging to the Americas. You may also see caiman, iguanas, poison dart frogs, freshwater turtles, basilisk lizards, Honduran white tent-making bats, and three species of monkeys that frequent the banks. Also keep an eye out for slaty-tailed trogon, Montezuma’s oropendola, American pygmy kingfisher, bare-throated tiger-heron, and sungrebe.

If you have time, you may visit the Caribbean Conservation Center to see the outstanding exhibits of nesting turtles and forest ecology, with information on recent leatherback turtle activity in the area.

Return to San José

Apr 16

Depart, by boat, downstream through Tortuguero National Park where brown-throated (three-toed) sloths are sometimes visible in the trees. Drive from the Caribbean coast through Braulio Carrillo National Park en route to San José. Tonight, enjoy a farewell group dinner at your lodge.

Fly home

Apr 17

Depart San José for your flights home.