Birding Top Travel Experiences

The itinerary was a perfect blend of full-on activities with some down time for relaxation. The wildlife was incredible - especially the birdlife. Our guide was a passionate naturalist and gifted photographer, and was happy to share his knowledge with us. Every hotel had a different vibe - all really amazing places. We were also able to experience Costa Rican culture through local food, shops and tours - and for adrenaline, there was the fun of the looooong zipline!

The trip was great and the wildlife was amazing. A beautiful country and we met many kind and helpful people during our journey. We travelled in rainy season but only one event was seriously marred by the weather.
We had a very knowledgeable and helpful guide - he carried a telescope everywhere to help us see wildlife more clearly, and a lovely driver - also very helpful and felt very safe with his driving.
The pace was relaxed, perhaps helped by the fact that we were a very small group.
The hotels were generally not what we would consider Premium, which was disappointing, but all had comfortable beds. Only one of the hotels was remotely within walking distance of a town, village or restaurant. This made it impossible for us to experience the country on our own at any time, or to go anywhere without asking the guide and driver to take us there. Hotel meals were disappointing for us in that they had more of a Western twist to them, rather than Costa Rican, and were expensive compared to local restaurants. The final hotel did feel Premium, but it wasn't remotely close to anywhere on the trip and added several hours of unnecessary travel to our activities over a few days.

Well planned trip, with a few long drives, but interesting scenery and stopping points made them pass quickly.
The drive down to the hotel at Uvita for visiting Manuel Antonio was an unnecessary addition. It was a good 75 mins beyond the National Park and we thought there must have been somewhere closer. Having said that, it was a lovely venue!
Our guide, Diego, and driver, Luis, were both extremely helpful and sociable and just as enthusiastic about all the wildlife as we were.
Despite being the rainy season, we only got very wet a couple of times, which was less than I expected and we benefited from having fewer tourists at the various sites.