Costa Rica Birding
Horizontes brings you this trip with our travel partnerCaligo VenturesThe Birds and Natural History of Costa RicaDay 1Arrive in San Jose. After clearing customs, we will be transferred to our lovely hotel in the hills overlooking San Jose for our welcoming dinner and orientation. Night at Hotel Bougainvillea. Days 2,3 and 4After breakfast we will drive to Turrialba, and a very special lodge, Rancho Naturalista, where we will spend the next several days. This "birder's paradise" has one of the richest concentrations of birds, butterflies and plants to be found in Costa Rica, with over 400 species of birds found on the 125 acre ranch, and over 200 species seen from the lodge balcony. It is located in the pre-montane rain forest of the Caribbean slope, at a 3,000 foot elevation, looking out on spectacular, unobstructed views of both Irazu and Turrialba Volcanoes. During our stay we will bird for such specialties as Great Tinamou, Barred Forest Falcon, Sulphur-winged Parakeet, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Immaculate Antbird, White-ruffed Manakin, Snowcap, Purple-crowned Fairy, Scarlet-rumped Cacique, and such beauties as Emerald, Golden-headed, Bay-headed and Black-and-Yellow Tanager. Nights at Rancho Naturalista. Rainforest Days 5,6 and 7
From here we will start out early for our trip to Cerro de la Muerte, where we will ascend to the highest point on the Pan American Highway (11,000 feet), into montane and paramo habitat. In the highlands we will look for Long-tailed and Black-and-Yellow Silky Flycatcher, Sooty and Mountain Robin, Flame-throated Warbler, Sooty-faced and Yellow-thighed Finch, Timberline Wren, and if we're lucky, Barred Parakeet. In the alpine-like paramo we will look for Volcano Hummingbirds, Slaty Flowerpiercer, Black-cheeked Warbler, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Peg-billed Finch, and Volcano Junco. Nights at Cabinas Chacon. Days 8,9 and 10Following breakfast and morning birding, we will start out for San Vito de Java, just a few miles from the Panamanian border. We should reach the Las Cruces Biological Station and Wilson Botanical Garden in the afternoon. This 360 acre site of cultivated plantings and mid-elevation forest in the highlands of southwest Costa Rica is frequented by naturalists from throughout the world. It is famous for the Wilson Botanical Garden, a 20 acre cultivated garden that contains one of the most important collections of tropical and subtropical plants in Central America, with over 2,000 native species, and the second largest collection of palms in the world. The Las Cruces Forest Reserve is composed of 340 acres of primary and secondary montane forest, and is part of the Amistad Biosphere Reserve, an International Park jointly formed by both Costa Rica and Panama. We will spend these days exploring the wonderful trails of Las Cruces for Blue-crowned Manakin, Fiery-billed Aracari, Rufous-breasted and Whistling Wren, Turquoise Cotinga, and Spot-crowned Euphonia; we will explore the marshes for Gray-necked Wood-Rail, White-throated Crake, Pale-breasted Spinetail, and Masked Yellowthroat; and we will walk the Garden, where numerous hummingbirds, such as Fork-tailed Emerald, Charming Hummingbird, and White-crested Coquette, can be easily seen. Nights at Las Cruces. Days 11Following breakfast, and a final walk we will drive back to the San Jose area and our lovely hotel in the hills overlooking the city. We will have a special farewell dinner in the evening. Night at Hotel Bougainvillea. Days 12Following breakfast we will return to the airport for our flight home
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Costa Rica-based Horizontes Nature Tours has been designing family vacations, honeymoon tours, and educational and adventure travel programs to Costa Rica's most beautiful and biodiversity-rich destinations since 1984.
Today we will have an early departure for our trip to the highlands, and our mountain hotel, Cabinas Chacon. Located in the Central Highlands of the Talamanca Mountains, these cozy cabins are located on a remote, highland farm nestled in the San Gerardo Valley, surrounded by gorgeous scenery at every turn. The farm has extensive grounds and trails, and there is a good chance of seeing a Resplendent Quetzal only a few steps from your cabin. In the nearby cloud forest we should have the opportunity of viewing Highland Tinamou, Black Guan, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Violet Sabrewing, Green Violet-ear, Silvery-throated Jay, and one of the loveliest birds in the world, the Resplendent Quetzal.
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