Overview
Despite its Lilliputian size, Costa Rica is a microcontinent unto itself. The nation’s twelve ecological zones are home to more butterflies than the whole of Africa, as many plant species as Europe, and one-tenth of the world’s bird species… in a country occupying less than three ten-thousands of the world’s land area! It’s like a scene from one of Sir David Attenborough’s TV series. For wildlife photographers, it’s the crème de la crème of the neotropical world. Join award-winning travel journalist Christopher P. Baker and world-class wildlife photographer Jeffrey Muñoz for an insider’s journey through Costa Rica. With Chris’s deep knowledge and Jeffrey’s eagle-eyed expertise, you’ll capture breathtaking landscapes and elusive wildlife while experiencing the country through the eyes of two passionate guides.
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive San Jose’s Juan Santamaría airport and transfer to our luxurious hilltop Xandari coffee-estate hotel and spa, with an idyllic setting on the lower slopes of Poás Volcano and vast views over the Central Valley. Our hotel has been named one of the top 10 resorts in Central and South America by both Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure. Its lush grounds and bamboo forest are alive with a rich menagerie of animals and birds–a breathtaking landscape exuding heavenly scents. Overnight: Xandari Resort & Spa
Day 2: This morning we’ll rise bright and early to drive up the mountain to Poás Volcano National Park, where we’ll hike a short trail to the edge of the crater rim as mists swirl around us. In early morning, we stand a good chance of clear skies and an amazing view of both the distant Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. We’ll also wander through the wind-battered elfin cloud forest, full of trilling birds, such as the endemic Volcano hummingbird, mountain elaenia, long-tailed silky flycatcher, and purple-throated mountaingem. In the afternoon, we’ll walk Xandari’s own forest trails to photograph flowers, birds, and whatever animals we may chance upon. Agoutis and coatis are frequently seen on the ground, while white-faced monkeys scamper along branches, and sloths move with the deliberation of a tai chi master. And the gardens are a lepidopterist’s dream. Overnight: Xandari Resort & Spa
Day 3: Today we’ll drive through coffee country along the Cordillera Central. We’ll stop in the artisan town of Sarchí to photograph craftsmen working with lathes and tools still powered by an age-old waterwheel at Fábrica de Carretas Eloy Alfaro, the only workshop in the country still making Costa Rica’s famous carretas (oxcarts) featuring the 16-pie-wedge-piece wheel gaily painted in floral designs. It’s now justifiably a national historic treasure. We then descend to La Fortuna, at the base of Arenal Volcano. Here, we’ll settle into our hotel, famous for its steaming natural hot springs tumbling from the mountainside amid a tropical Fantasia in a series of exquisite cascades—a chance for sublime photography and an equally sublime soak in the pools. Needless to say, the setting abounds with birds… from aracarias and hummingbirds to blue-capped motmots and chestnut-mandibled toucans. Overnight: Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa
Day 4: This morning, we’ll depart our hotel early to arrive Catarata La Fortuna when the gates open. After photographing the falls from a mirador (lookout), we’ll descend the trail into the steep ravine to the base of the cascade, which plunges into a jade-colored pool. Stunning! In mid-afternoon, we’ll head to Arenal Volcano National Park to hike the trails. We’ll hope to spot coatimundis, howler monkeys, sloths, white-faced capuchins, jaguarundis, and other denizens of Arenal’s forests, plus such birds as crested guans, black-headed trogons, and yellow-throated euphonias. Time permitting, we may photograph sunset from Arenal Observatory Lodge, boasting a spectacular view of the volcano and Lake Arenal from the flank of Chato Volcano. Overnight: Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa
Day 5: Drive east today to the northern lowlands, a vast watery mosaic of dense rainforest and lagoons, close to the Nicaraguan border. Basing ourselves in the heart of tropical lowland rainforest within Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge, this is the perfect place to photograph rare tropical birds and such hard-to-spot wish-list creatures as tapirs, spider monkeys, ocelots, and–the ultimate prize!–jaguars. Our time here might include a river safari, and a night tour that provides a chance to photograph bats. Overnight: Maquenque Lodge
Day 6: Today we’ll dedicate ourselves to photographing bucketlist endemic birds, including Great Green macaws, Great curassow, sungrebe, Scarlet macaws, and–a highlight–King vultures from a sensational King vulture hide. This is undoubtedly the best place in Central America to spot these beautiful endangered raptors. Plus, we have a very strong chance of seeing caimans and even American crocodiles, and perhaps even Neotropical river otters in the Río San Carlos and adjacent lagoons. Overhead, the dripping branches are festooned with orchids, bromeliads, ferns and vines. Overnight: Maquenque Lodge
Day 7: Our relatively short drive this morning takes us to the Sarapiquí region, where we’ll base ourselves at Selva Verde Lodge & Reserve. This afternoon is free for you to partake of optional activities, such as a Sarapiquí river cruise, whitewater rafting, or a visit to a local school. Overnight: Selva Verde Lodge & Reserve
Day 8: This morning we’ll dedicate our time to wildlife photography at Selva Verde’s 500-acre private rainforest reserve bathed in aqueous sunlight… a great place to spot blue-jeans poison-dart frogs, green-and-black poison-dart frogs, strawberry poison-dart frogs, collared peccaries, snakes such as eyelash vipers and terciopelos (fer-de-lance), plus two- and three-toed sloths, and Honduran white bats, among a zillion other species! In the afternoon, we’ll focus our lenses on frogs and snakes at a local serpentarium—a good chance to break out your macro lens! Overnight: Selva Verde Lodge & Reserve
Day 9: Today we depart the lowlands and drive between Barva and Irazú Volcanoes, crossing the Continental Divide through Braulio Carillo National Park. We’ll stop for a fascinating artisanal gourmet chocolate experience at Sibú Chocolate, then continue into the Talamanca Mountains. After checking into our fabulous boutique hotel, above the lovely hamlet of San Gerardo de Dota, we’ll spend the late afternoon birding in Los Quetzales National Park. This area has the country’s highest concentration of Resplendent quetzals… an improbably iridescent green bird with a fuzzy punk hairdo, crimson belly, and two 40-inch-long tail plumes. Perhaps even more than the King vulture, it is considered by photographers the Holy Grail of tropical birds! Overnight: Dantica Lodge OR Trogon Lodge.
Day 10: We’ll start photographing quetzales in the early morning as we walk through acuacate-producing laurel forest. Our trip is timed for mating season, when the males fly through this region displaying their meter-long tails in swooping flight! There are many local activities, such as trout fishing and horseback riding to enjoy until we again set out in late afternoon to photograph quetzals as they perch in wild avocado trees, uttering an unmistakable multi-note chirp–keeloo keow kowee keow k’loo keow–like exotic denizens in a Henri Rousseau painting. Overnight: Dantica Lodge OR Trogon Lodge.
Day 11: We drive back down the mountain via Barva, one of the best-preserved colonial enclaves in Costa Rica. Here, we’ll visit the taller (workshop) of master mask-maker and artist Adrián Arguedas, or Luís Fernando Vargas, who create caricature masks for Barva’s famous annual masquerades. We’ll spend the afternoon and evening at leisure on the exquisite Finca Rosa Blanca coffee estate, on the lower slopes of Barva volcano. Overnight: Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Farm & Inn
Day 12: Today, you’ll transfer to San Jose’s Juan Santamaría airport for your flight home.