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Clouds to Waves Open Photo Adventure
June 1-11, 2007
December 1-11, 2007
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.
Bougainvillea Hotel (No meals included) |
Day
2
After breakfast, we 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 – such as the volcano,
magnificent, and gray-tailed mountain gem – 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.
Hotel Bougainvillea (B) Savegre Lodge (L, D)
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Day
3
This morning we will have a guided hike to try to locate
a Quetzal to be photographed along the trails in Savegre’s
property. We also will have a good chance of photographing
other birds such as trogons, acorn woodpeckers, and the
charismatic collared redstart. After a hearty lunch, we
will continue with our bird photography, either pursuing
more quetzals or continuing with hummingbirds. After dinner,
we can enjoy a hot drink by the fire and review our photos.
Savegre Lodge (B, L, D) |
Day 4
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. 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. We will take the afternoon
to concentrate on composing dramatic and colorful plant
photographs. After dinner, we will have a night hike to
look for tree frogs to photograph.
Savegre Lodge (B) Lunch en route TBD Wilson BG
(D)
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Day 5
We will take the morning to photograph birds around the
feeders. After lunch, we will descend to our next destination,
the Tiskita Lodge located on the South Pacific coast amidst
the wild forests and beaches of the Osa Peninsula, which
is home to some of the richest rainforest in the world.
We will arrive late afternoon and set up immediately to
take sunset photos of the beautiful beaches right in front
of the lodge.
Wilson BG (B, L) Tiskita Lodge (D) |
Day 6
After an early breakfast, we will roam the lodge grounds
in search of monkeys; we have the chance to photograph
all of Costa Rica’s four species – the white-faced
capuchin, mantled howler, spider, and squirrel monkey.
We will also be on the lookout for other wildlife, such
as basilisk lizards, poison dart frogs, and the magnificent
scarlet macaw. After a leisurely lunch, we will head into
the forest to concentrate on creating spectacular landscape
images of the forest interior and the nearby cascades
and waterfall. In the late afternoon, we will again focus
on sunset photos at the beach.
Tiskita Lodge (B, L, D) |
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Day 7
This morning we will head into Tiskita Lodge’s famed
tropical fruit gardens to photograph myriad tropical fruits
and the birds, including chestnut-mandibled toucans, Passerini’s
tanager, and fiery-throated aracari, that frequent the
fruit orchard. And like the birds, we are free to sample
as many fruits as we’d like! We will once again
enjoy a leisurely lunch and continue with wildlife photography
in the afternoon. Or if you prefer, take this afternoon
for a break from photography to relax, take a dip in the
Pacific Ocean, or go horseback riding. After more sunset
photos of the forest and beach, we will all relax with
a cold drink before dinner to share photos.
Tiskita Lodge (B, L, D) |
Day 8
We depart after breakfast this morning for Quepos, home
to the famous Manuel Antonio National Park. After lunch
en route, we arrive at our hotel and unpack before heading
to the Rainmaker Conservation Project up the road. Rainmaker
is set amidst vast fields of African Oil Palm and serves
to protect a sizable tract of Pacific Coast rainforest.
The forest reserve offers splendid views of the forest
from its suspended bridges. We will also pay close attention
to finding and photographing a rare gold and black form
of the poison dart frog (Dendrobates auratus).
We return to our hotel in the evening for a relaxing dinner.
Tiskita Lodge (B) Mono Azul (L, D)
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Day
9
Today we will spend the entire day in the Manuel Antonio
National Park, which boasts great photographic opportunities
of three-toed sloths, white-faced capuchin monkeys, ctenosaurs
(a type of iguana), raccoons, and basilisk lizards as
well as one of Costa Rica’s most beautiful beaches.
An overlook provides for excellent landscape photos of
forested bays. After exiting the park in the late afternoon,
we will scout the nearby beaches for sunset photos of
waves, sand, and palm trees. We return to our hotel for
dinner.
Mono Azul (B, sack lunch, D)
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Day 10
After a relaxing breakfast, we depart for the capital
city, stopping en route for a light lunch and to photograph
American crocodiles on the Tárcoles River. Upon
arrival at our hotel near the airport, we will have
time to relax a bit, confirm our flights, and pack before
adjourning downstairs to review our photos and caption
information. We will enjoy a farewell dinner at a local
hotel next to the restaurant.
Mono Azul (B) Lunch en route (TBD) Dinner TBD
Overnight at Buena Vista |
Day
11
Private transfer to the Juan Santamaria International
Airport for your departure flights back home.
Hotel Buena Vista (B) |
Clouds
to Waves Open Tour Pricing |
| #
of participants |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9
- 15 |
| price
per person |
$2,084 |
$2,003 |
$1,949 |
$1,869 |
$1,735 |
$1,729 |
Open
signup tour prices are in US dollars and include
all taxes and service charges. except for tips.
Prices also include all services as specified
in the itinerary above. Note that the prices do
not include international airfare. Final price
depends on the number of participants that sign
up. We will communicate the final price to you
no fewer than 60 days from the start of the tour.
Your reserve deposit counts as a payment toward
your total trip cost. Transportation is in a spacious
and air-conditioned minibus with a professional
driver. |
Click the button above to
reserve your spot on one of our open signup photo adventures.
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