Arrive in San José, Costa Rica
Apr 2
Arrive in San José by this evening for an overnight at your hotel, located on ten acres of beautiful gardens that attract a multitude of birds including some you might not see on other parts of the trip!
Lush and verdant throughout the year, Costa Rica is a fantastic place for bird lovers. This small country sustains some of the world’s most productive ecosystems. Explore various tropical environments through Savegre River Valley, Carara National Park, La Selva Biological Station, and Tortuguero National Park to maximize your experience. Spring boasts exceptional weather and more animal activity, including migrating birds along the Continental Divide, the backbone of Costa Rica, plus monkeys, sloths, crocodiles, peccaries, and agoutis. Enjoy the friendly people and delicious food of Costa Rica at brilliantly situated lodges while you explore this Central American hotspot.
HIGHLIGHTS
Itinerary Updated: November 2020
Date | Description | Lodge | Meals |
---|---|---|---|
Apr 2 | Arrive and meet your guide in San José, Costa Rica. | Hotel Bougainvillea, San José | D |
Apr 3-4 | Experience the cloud forests of the Savegre River Valley and the resplendent quetzal. | Suria Lodge , Savegre River Valley | B, L, D |
Apr 5-6 | Discover rainforest habitats of Carara National Park on the banks of the Tarcoles River near the Pacific coast, including a mangrove boat tour. | Hotel Villa Lapas, near Carara National Park | B, L, D |
Apr 7-8 | Explore the tropical dry forests, marshlands, estuaries, and mangroves of Guanacaste Peninsula. | La Ensenada Lodge, Abangaritos | B, L, D |
Apr 9-10 | View active Volcán Arenal and walks in Arenal National Park on tropical forest trails with great birding. | Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park | B, L, D |
Apr 11-13 | Explore tropical lowland rainforests of the Caribbean slope along the Sarapiqui River, including visits to Braulio Carrillo National Park and the La Selva Biological Station, a world-famous tropical research facility. | Selva Verde Lodge & Reserve, Chilamate | B, L, D |
Apr 14-15 | Boat to Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean coast to explore rich narrow waterways through the rainforest by boat. | Laguna Lodge, Tortuguero National Park | B, L, D |
Apr 16 | Return to San José for a farewell dinner. | Hotel Bougainvillea, San José | B, L, D |
Apr 17 | Flights homeward. | B |
Paco has over 20 years of experience guiding wildlife, natural history, and birding tours throughout Costa Rica. He grew up near the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) Station surrounded by his family’s passion for the diverse local plants and animals. Paco became the first resident naturalist guide at Selva Verde Lodge’s tropical reserve and participated in the first intensive training course for naturalist guides. Paco studied English and Ornithology at the University of Florida and worked at La Selva Biological Station in Sarapiqui before starting his own tour company.
Arrive in San José by this evening for an overnight at your hotel, located on ten acres of beautiful gardens that attract a multitude of birds including some you might not see on other parts of the trip!
© Debbie Thompson
Enter the misty highland cloud forests in the Talamanca Mountains and the Savegre River Valley where you will look for numerous species of flora and fauna. The jewel of these forests is the resplendent quetzal, considered by some to be the most beautiful bird in Central America. You’ll also bird watch on the Savegre Hotel’s private 400-hectare nature reserve, visiting bird feeding stations and walking through gardens, along trails in the forest, and along the Savegre River.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Depart San José for your flights home.
Explore this lush and diverse country full of colorful birds and wildlife with our experienced and knowledgeable guide.
9.991539, -84.198725
Type | Cost Per Person |
---|---|
Trip Cost, double occupancy | $7,550 |
Single Supplement | $1,405 |
Costs are per person, double occupancy, not including airfare, singles extra. See Included and Not Included sections for more details.
If you are a single traveler, we will find a roommate for you, but if we cannot find you a roommate, we may charge you a single supplement. Single rooms cost extra and are subject to availability.
Payment | Due Date | Amount Per Person |
---|---|---|
Deposit | Due now to reserve your space | $500 |
Second | May 1, 2021 | $1,000 |
Final | November 1, 2021 | Remaining balance |
Payments are due based on the schedule above. All reservations require a deposit to confirm reservation of your space.
Until the Final Payment due date, deposits are refundable except for a cancellation fee of $150 per person, which can be applied toward another trip if reserved within six months of the canceled trip’s departure date. Cancellations are non-transferrable. No refunds are given after the Final Payment due date.
Temperatures vary greatly – the Pacific coast is often hot while the cloud forests can be cool. Although December through May is the dry season, expect rain anytime. The average temperatures in April range from 63°F (17°C) at night to 95°F (35°C) during the day, depending on the location within the country.
You will view most wildlife by walking along trails or from small boats. Walks are generally a few hours and include flat trails, uneven terrain, and hills. Paco will offer optional night walks when he thinks it will enhance your overall wildlife experience; these walks are weather and moon dependent.
Airfare is not included in trip costs. Detailed logistical information and the contact information for our recommended flight-ticketing agent are included in the Trip Materials we will send you. Please let us know if you are arriving earlier or staying later as we are happy to assist you with any extra overnights that you might want to arrange.
Flights you (or a travel agent) book: Arrive in San José, Costa Rica (SJO) by the evening of April 2. Depart from San José, Costa Rica (SJO) anytime on April 17.
Lodging ranges from rustic to modern, all with private baths. While most lodges do not have air conditioning, some have fans. Almost all lodges have open-air dining and common areas.
You will travel by air-conditioned mini-bus and occasionally by boat.
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