|
Birds, Cloud Forests, & Beaches
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) |
|
Day 2
After an early breakfast, you will travel to the Central
highlands for your full-day workshop with Foto Verde’s
Gregory Basco in the picturesque town of Zarcero. We will
shoot all day focusing on camera techniques with flowers,
songbirds, and hummingbirds and then sunsets and skies
later in the afternoon. Your lodging overnight will be
at the local Don Beto B&B in Zarcero, with dinner
on your own at a local restaruant in town (dinner price
not included).
Bougainvillea (B) Greg’s House (L) Don Beto
Overnight |
Day 3
After an early breakfast, you will depart for the Pacific
Coast where you will spend time photographing the fantastic
landscapes and wildlife that this area offers. Your first
stop is the Carara area, a pocket of wet tropical forest
amidst the otherwise drier tropical forests of the Central
Pacific Coast. Upon arriving at your hotel, you will have
time to unpack, have lunch, and then prepare your equipment
for a boat tour of the Tarcoles River, an excellent opportunity
to photograph American crocodiles and a number of waterbirds
such as tropical egrets, anhingas, and river ducks. You
will also have the opportunity to explore a stretch of
mangrove forest near the river mouth. Upon return to the
hotel, you can search for frogs in the pond areas near
the lobby and the hotel’s rustic chapel. These are
great places to find red-eyed tree frogs, gladiator tree
frogs, and hourglass tree frogs.
Don Beto (B) Villa Lapas (L, D)
|
|
Day 4
This morning you will continue on down the Pacific Coast
south to the 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.
Villa Lapas (B) La Cusinga (L, D) |
Day
5
This day you are free to photograph at leisure on the
grounds of La Cusinga. Or consider a trip to a photogenic
local waterfall (price not included, but may be booked
at La Cusinga). The beaches at Uvita and the nearby Ballena
National Marine Park are also beautiful and highly photogenic.
After lunch, you may want to visit the beaches here and
stake out your spots for late afternoon and sunset pictures.
La Cusinga (B, L, D) |
|
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.
La Cusinga (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)
|
|
Day 8
After breakfast, you will travel 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.
Savegre Lodge (B) Rancho Naturalista (L, D)
|
Day
9
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) |
|
Day 10
After breakfast, you will travel toward San José,
stopping en route for orchid photography at the Lankester
Botanical Gardens, which are operated by the University
of Costa Rica. You will have lunch on the road and arrive
back at the Hotel Bougainvillea in the capital city in
late afternoon.
Note: The Hotel Bougainvillea
offers free wireless high-speed Internet throughout the
property.
Rancho Naturalista (B) Hotel Bougainvillea (D)
|
Day 11
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) |
Click
the button above to fill out our online customized trip
form.
|
