Caribbean Jewels

Arrive in Juan Santamaria International Airport where you will be welcomed by your guide and escorted back to your hotel. Depending on arrival time, you may also be able to do some birding on the hotel grounds.

DINNER INCLUDED – HOTEL IN SAN JOSE

The first place we visit in the trip is the Waterfall Gardens, a hummingbird’s heaven with some endemic mountain  species, not seen anywhere else. Nice place for middle elevation bird species, but the hummingbird garden is the highlight of the entire place with 26 documented species, three of them are endemics.

Paradise for photographers. The area is one of the most productive birding places in the whole country, especially for hummingbirds.

ALL MEALS – ARENAL LODGE

Arenal Volcano is the most spectacularly active in Costa Rica and its perfect cone is visible from most anywhere in the area. If we are lucky, the volcano will be showing in all its glory, and possibly even erupting off and on!

One the most beautiful environmentally-friendly projects in Costa Rica is Arenal Hanging Bridges, a natural corridor followed by migratory birds between North and South America.

We spend half day walking the trails and bridges, birding this lowland tropical pristine rain forest. Looking at birds from the hights give the chance to find raptors like Swallow-tailed Kite, Double-toothed Kite, Tiny Hawk, Bicolored Hawk.

ALL MEALS – ARENAL LODGE

These amazing wetlands, the natural habitat of more than 350 species of birds, are located in the  northern zone of Costa Rica.

Caño was declared Wildlife Area of International Importance in 1991 and also a wetland of international importance under the RAMSAR convention. Millions of birds arrive here to winter over during the dry season beginning in December.

ALL MEALS – CAÑO NEGRO LODGE

The day starts with a boat  trip  on  the  navigable  network  of lakes  and  channels  in  the  refuge. Among  the many birds found in Caño Negro are: glossy Ibis, black-necked stilt, neotropical cormorants, American Anhinga, Northern Jacana, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Snail Kite, Roseate Spoonbill, and blue-winged teal.

Target birds here: Lesser Yellow-headed Volture, Spot-breasted Wren, Jabiru, Grey-headed Dove and Nicaraguan Grackle, Nicaraguan Seed Finch, Greenish Elaenia whose only Costa Rican habitat is Caño Negro and other marshy areas just south of Lake Nicaragua.

ALL MEALS – CAÑO NEGRO LODGE

Lagarto Lodge is unspoiled and virtually unvisited spot, where birders can explore the Rain Forest at their own pace while staying at a cozy jungle hideaway. Laguna Lagarto is located in Northern Costa Rica near Boca Tapada and the Rio San Carlos River.

The lodge offers 500 Hectares of virgin tropical rainforest with an incredible variety of fauna and flora. 350 different species of birds have been counted such as Great Jacamar, White-fronted Nunbird, Red-throated Caracara, and Tawny-faced Quail.

ALL MEALS – LAGARTO  LODGE

First thing in the morning is waiting for the birds to visit the feeders. After breakfast the group visits a private property which is fantastic for photography and bird observation.

Very close views of Red-legged Honeycreeper, Shiny Honeycreeper, Blue Dacnis, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, White-necked Jacobin, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Crowned Woodnymph.  

Birding lodge grounds in the afternoon. One of the main attractions in this place is the hide for King Vulture.

ALL MEALS – LAGARTO  LODGE

Sarapiqui area is located in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica, renowned for the high bird diversity, the number of National Parks, private protected forests and bird sanctuaries, and the huge raptor and hawk migration that passes the region every year.

The target birds in Sarapiqui are the highly endangered Great Green Macaw and Sunbittern. Along the Sarapiqui River birders can find Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Snowy  Egret, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Green Ibis, Keel-billed Toucans.

ALL MEALS – SELVA VERDE LODGE

Early morning guided hike to La Selva Biological Reserve, owned and managed by the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of universities dedicated to rain forest research. La Selva covers an expanse of lowland rainforest on the Caribbean slope of northwestern Costa Rica.

La Selva is great for “big birds”, and we have the chance of seeing species such as Great Currasow, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Semiplumbeous Hawk, Tiny Hawk, White-crowned, Red-lored Parrot, Rufous winged Woodpecker.

ALL MEALS – SELVA VERDE LODGE

Birding the lodge trails before breakfast. During a good part of the day you will visit the property of a  local birder named Cope.

Is the best place in the country for close range views of Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Gray-necked Rail, Sicklebill, White-collared Manakin and Crested Owl. Stop on the way for Fasciated Tiger Heron, Nicaraguan Seed-Finch and Green Ibis.

ALL MEALS – TAPIRUS LODGE

The lowland rainforest at Braulio Carrillo is a dense pristine rain forest where much of the park is virtually inaccessible.

This park, which protects one of the last untouched expanses of Caribbean foothill forest in Central America, is the perfect zone for many of the Caribbean foothill specialties, including Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, Black-and-yellow Tanager, Blue-and-Gold Tanager, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Lattice-tailed Trogon, Sharpbill, Black-headed Anthrush, Ocellated Antbird Lanceolated Monklet, Red-headed Barbet, Brown-billed Scythebill, just to name a few.

ALL MEALS – TAPIRUS LODGE

First activity in the morning is a birding walk along the lodge trails for the last birds of the trip. After breakfast you leave to International airport, short trip of approx 1.5 hours.

BREAKFAST INCLUDED