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Extended Nature Photography Tour
Day
1
Arrival to Costa Rica. Meet our representative at the
Juan Santamaría International Airport and transfer
to your hotel on the outskirts of Costa Rica’s capital
city, San José.
Note: The Hotel Bougainvillea
offers free wireless high-speed Internet throughout the
property.
Bougainvillea Hotel (No meals
included) |
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Day 2
Today, you will be picked up at 6:15 AM, for your bus
ride through Braulio Carrillo National Park in the Central
Volcanic Mountain range, to the Caribbean lowlands, where
a boat will be waiting to take you to the Tortuguero National
Park area. Breakfast is en route, at the Suerre Hotel,
and you will be arriving for lunch at Tortuguero. Upon
arrival, you will have the afternoon free to explore the
beautiful grounds around the lodge looking for flora and
fauna to photograph.
Suerre Hotel (B) Evergreen Lodge (L, D) |
Day 3
Today the activities include three different boat rides
to different areas of Tortuguero’s canals. First,
a before-breakfast boat ride, especially good for birds.
In the morning, visit to Palma Canal and in the afternoon,
boat ride to either Harold or Aguas Frias canal. This
will be a relaxing day for photographing the abundant
wildlife, such as aquatic birds, monkeys, sloths, and
caimans (an alligator relative) that frequent the canals
and the lush vegetation that surrounds them. In the evening,
you can search for nocturnal tree frogs on the lodge grounds.
Evergreen Lodge (B, L, D)
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Day 4
After breakfast, you will transferred back to the Guapiles
area, via boat and bus. After having lunch at a local
restaurant, we will proceed to the verdant Turrialba area,
where Rancho Naturalista is located. A famous location
for birdwatchers, Rancho Naturalista is known for the
diversity of birds, especially hummingbirds such as the
elusive Snowcap, that can be found along the several trails
and around the lodge itself. The feeders on the lodge
grounds offer unparalleled opportunities for hummingbird
photography.
Evergreen Lodge (B) Lunch en route TBD Rancho
Naturalista (D) |
Day
5
All day devoted to photography, especially around the
bird feeders in the lodge’s proximity. Hummingbird
photography is rewarding but requires patience and a bit
of practice to produce the images you want. In the afternoon,
visit the trails on the lodge grounds for landscape photography
of the misty cloud forests. Optional activities such as
horseback riding and river rafting are also available
if you want a bit of adventure and a break from photography.
Rancho Naturalista (B, L, D) |
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Day 6
After breakfast, you will have a scenic drive to the beautiful
San Gerardo Valley. Nestled at 10,000 feet above sea level
in between the peaks of Costa Rica’s highest moutain
range, this picturesque location has one of the most abundant
populations of Resplendent Quetzals in the country, as
well as many hummingbirds that are easy to photograph
around the feeders at your lodge, which has its own private
reserve of oak cloud forest. Arrival for lunch is followed
by free time to explore the grounds and do some photography
around the feeders.
Rancho Naturalista (B) Savegre Lodge (L, D) |
Day
7
This morning you will have a guided hike to try to locate
a Quetzal to be photographed along the trails in Savegre’s
property. You will also have a good chance of photographing
other birds such as trogons and the highly photogenic
collared redstart. After a hearty lunch, you are free
to photograph more hummingbirds or to do scenic photography
of the oak forest and beautiful rushing cloud forest streams.
You might also consider driving a bit along the road in
search of acorn woodpeckers to photograph.
Savegre Lodge (B, L, D)
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Day 8
Morning departure for the San Vito area in Coto Brus,
not too far from the Panamanian border, with lunch en
route (price not included). Founded by Italians after
World War II, San Vito hosts one of the most impressive
tropical botanical collections in the world – the
Wilson Botanical Gardens at Las Cruces Biological Station.
Owned and managed by the Organization for Tropical Studies,
the gardens and field station are also an important habitat
for a number of bird species endemic to the southern part
of Costa Rica.
Savegre Lodge (B) Las Cruces (D) |
Day
9
All day at Las Cruces to photograph at your leisure. The
feeders just outside the restaurant offer good opportunities
to photograph silver-throated tanagers, Passerini’s
tanager, and the blue-crowned motmot. Since the botanical
collection covers a wide variety of plant families, there
are always colorful specimens of bromeliads, orchids,
heliconias, and palms that make for dramatic closeup images.
Las Cruces (B, L, D)
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Day 10
This morning you will travel down the mountain to the
Pacific Coast. You will be staying at La Cusinga Ecolodge,
which is an excellent spot for photographing wildlife
such as chestnut-mandibled toucans, fiery-throated aracaris,
and green and black poison dart frogs. La Cusinga also
offers spectacular views of the beach for images of waves
and sunsets. You will have all day to relax and photograph.
Las Cruces (B) La Cusinga Lodge (L, D) |
Day
11
In the morning, you will travel by horseback to photograph
a beautiful local waterfall. After lunch, you can visit
Ballena National Marine Park, a particularly good location
for seascape images. Spend the afternoon staking out your
spots, and prepare to take your images as the late afternoon
light begins to develop.
La Cusinga Lodge (B, L, D) |
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Day
12
After breakfast, transfer to Carara area in the Central
Pacific area. Carara is an important transitional zone,
where the Dry forest from Costa Rica’s Northwest
overlaps with the Rainforest of the South Pacific, resulting
on an extraordinary diversity of wildlife, including birds.
Arrival for lunch is followed by some time to relax and
settle in. For the afternoon, boat ride on the Grande
de Tarcoles River, famous for its giant crocodiles. The
ride also gives the opportunity to observe many species
or water and shore birds on the river banks and on the
mangroves. Return to the hotel for dinner and free evening.
La Cusinga Lodge (B) Villa Lapas Hotel (L, D) |
Day
13
Mid morning departure, with lunch en route, for the Palo
Verde Biological Station on the western side of the Gulf
of Nicoya. The Tropical Dry Forest found at this research
station, run by the world famous Organization for Tropical
Studies, is a completely different habitat where you will
find many different species of birds, insects, and plants
to photograph. You will have the afternoon to explore
the grounds around the lodge or enjoy the pool before
photographing the forest and nearby wetlands in late afternoon
light. After dinner night walk.
Villa Lapas Hotel (B) Lunch en route TBD Palo
Verde Biological Station (D)
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Day 14
Early morning boat ride through the brackish mangrove
estuaries to photograph this fascinating habitat and the
fauna that dwells within it. After lunch, you will have
the afternoon free to explore the trails and wetlands
in search of photographic prey including migratory bird
species, tarantulas, and landscape photographs.
Palo Verde Biological Station (B, L, D) |
Day
15
Late morning departure for San Jose with lunch en route.
You will arrive at the Bougainvillea Hotel in late afternoon,
with time to photograph the orchids and bromeliads in
the tropical gardens or just to relax and pack.
Note: The Hotel Bougainvillea offers free wireless
high-speed Internet throughout the property.
Palo Verde Biological Station (B) Lunch en route
TBD Hotel Bouganvillea (D) |
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Day 16
Private transfer to the Juan Santamaria International
Airport for your departure flight back home.
Note:
The Hotel Bougainvillea offers free wireless high-speed
Internet throughout the property.
Hotel Bougainvillea (B) |
Note
: Due to the somewhat complicated nature
of this particular itinerary in combining water and land
transport, we recommend using Foto Verde transportation
rather than traveling on your own via rental car.
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the button above to fill out our online customized trip
from.
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