Compare Costa Rica by Cheepers Birding vs Tortuguero National Park Tour – 4-Day Independent Adventure by G Adventures
Compare details and see what other travelers are saying.
| Trip |
5 | Excellent
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5 | Excellent
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| Duration | 13 days | 4 days |
| Price From | $ 2,995 | $ 579 |
| Price Per Day | $ 230 | $ 145 |
| Highlights |
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| Trip Style | Group tour | Self-guided tour |
| Lodging Level | Standard | Standard |
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| Flights & Transport | Ground transport included | Ground transport included |
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| Meals Included |
9 Breakfasts, 8 Lunches and 9 Dinners |
3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners |
| Description |
Although most people think the best time to visit Costa Rica is December-May, Costa Rica is actually a year-round destination. Even in the green (aka rainy) season, days usually start out warm and sunny. As in many tropical destinations worldwide, 23 hours of a given day may be dry and pleasant, and during the 24th, the rain can come down with the force of a waterfall. In the highlands, rainy season typically brings an hour or two of rain midafternoon, allowing for great morning outings, a midday rest, and more birding in the afternoon. With green season comes nesting activity and the opportunity to see breeding behavior and birds tending their nests. We have scheduled our trip to coincide with veranillo (little summer), a relatively dry period that usually occurs mid-July to mid-August, particularly along the Pacific coast. The best of both worlds - green season bird activity with less rainfall to interfere with our birding, all at a lower price! |
Short on time but need more of Costa Rica? Tortuguero National Park, a remote coastal town only accessible by boat or small plane, is the place for you. Travel from San José through banana plantations to the Caribbean Coast where you'll catch a boat to Tortuguero. Spend three days exploring the canals, beaches, and jungles of this pristine nature reserve in search of turtles, birds, caiman, and, if you are lucky, the famous "Jesus Lizard." |
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to hotel in San Jose
You will be met at the San Jose Airport when you arrive and driven to your hotel nearby. We will meet at dinner to become acquainted with others in the group.
Meals: Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight San Jose (specific hotel TBA)
Day 2: Carara National Park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Cerro Lodge
After breakfast, we will begin our drive toward Cerro Lodge, near Carara National Park, one of the best birding sites in Costa Rica. Located in one of the most diverse areas of the planet, Carara National Park and nearby Cerro Lodge are amazing places for birding. Lying between two major biological regions of Costa Rica, the Tropical Lowland Dry Forest to the north and the Tropical Lowland Wet Forest to the South, Carara is situated at a meeting point for species of both regions. Carara National Park protects some populations of species on the brink of extinction such as the American Crocodile and the Scarlet Macaw. We will enjoy a mangrove boat tour in the afternoon.
Day 3: Carara National Park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Cerro Lodge
We will have a full day to explore the trails of Carara. In late afternoon, we will visit a bridge over the Tarcoles River where Scarlet Macaws fly over in groups of two as they return to their roosting sites for the night. In the river below, we are likely to see the endangered American Crocodile as well as some shore birds.
Target species for Carara and environs include Great Tinamou, Least Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Anhinga, Boat-billed Heron, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Mangrove Black Hawk, Crested Caracara, Purple Gallinule, Scarlet Macaw, Yellow-naped Parrot, Orange-fronted Parakeet, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Spectacled Owl, Bronzy Hermit, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, Blue-throated Goldentail, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Cinnnamon Hummingbird, Baird’s Trogon, Turquoise-browed Motmot, White-whiskered Puffbird, Fiery-billed Aracari, Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Plain Xenops, Spectacled Antpitta, Dusky Antbird, Orange-collared Manakin, Rose-throated Becard, Nutting’s Flycatcher, Royal Flycatcher, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Northern Bentbill, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, Mangrove Swallow, Rufous-breasted Wren, Rufous-naped Wren, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Scrub Euphonia, Blue-black Grosbeak, Orange-billed Sparrow, and Black-striped Sparrow, to name but a few.
Day 4: Cerro Lodge to Savegre Valley
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Trogon Lodge
After a morning of birding near Carara, we will depart for Trogon Lodge in the Savegre Valley. We will spend the next two nights and days here, birding the highlands. Guests of the lodge frequently enjoy the thrill of seeing Resplendent Quetzals as they fly across the courtyard or attend to their nearby nests. We will visit the highest mountains of the Talamanca Mountain Range, with elevations ranging between 7200 and 11,000 feet above sea level. Highland habitats such as the Tropical Highland Rainforest and the Subalpine Rain Paramo with its dwarfed vegetation should afford us the opportunity to see a myriad of species, including Highland Tinamou, Spotted Wood-Quail, Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge, Collared Forest Falcon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Ruddy Pigeon, Red-billed Pigeon, Sulphur-winged Parakeet, Barred Parakeet, Costa Rican Pygmy Owl, Dusky Nightjar, Magnificent Hummingbird, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Volcano Hummingbird, Scintillant Hummingbird, White-throated Mountain Gem, Green-crowned Brilliant, Resplendent Quetzal, Collared Trogon, Emerald Toucanet, Acorn Woodpecker, Golden-Olive Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Lineated Foliage Gleaner, Zeledonia, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Dark Pewee, Ochraceous Pewee, Black Phoebe, Black-capped Flycatcher, Mountain Elaenia, Timberline Wren, Ochraceous Wren, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush, Sooty Robin, Mountain Robin, American Dipper, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher, Yellow-winged Vireo, Brown-capped Vireo, Black-cheeked Warbler, Flame-throated Warbler, Elegant Euphonia, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Sooty-capped Bush Tanager, Flame-colored Tanager, Spangled-cheeked Tanager, Black-thighed Grosbeak, Slaty Flowerpiercer, Peg-billed Finch, Slaty Finch, Yellow-bellied Siskin, and Volcano Junco.
Day 5: Savegre Valley
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Trogon Lodge
A full day of birding at Savegre and environs.
Day 6: Savegre Valley / La Selva
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight La Selva Biological Station
After some final early-morning birding in the highlands, we will leave for Sarapiqui and La Selva Biological Station, one of the most bird-rich environments in the Caribbean lowlands. La Selva’s fauna is very diverse, including large species from the most amazing predators like jaguarsthrough the most incredible variety of amphibians and reptiles. We hope to find many of the 400 species of birds listed at La Selva including (but not limited to) Slaty-breasted Tinamou, Great Curassow, Green Ibis,Sungrebe, Semiplumbeous Hawk, Olive-backed Quail-Dove, Great Green Macaw,Great Potoo,Long-billed Hermit,White-necked Jacobin,Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Blue-chested Hummingbird, Violet-headed Hummingbird,Green and Rufous Kingfishers,Lattice-tailed Trogon,Pied Puffbird,White-fronted Nunbird,Rufous-tailed Jacamar,Keel-billed Toucan,Rufous Motmot,Broad-billed Motmot, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker,Cinnamon Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker,Northern Barred Woodcreeper, Dot-winged Antwren, Bicolored Antbird, White-collared Manakin, White-ringed Flycatcher, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Snowy Cotinga, Purple-throated Fruit Crow, Red-throated Ant-Tanager,White-throated Shrike-Tanager, Plain-colored Tanager,Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Olive-backed Euphonia, and Black-faced Grosbeak.
Day 7: La Selva Biological Station
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight La Selva Biological Station
We will spend a full day birding La Selva, one of the most important locations for the study of tropical ecosystems in the world. La Selva comprises some 3900 acres of tropical wet forests in the Caribbean lowlands and foothills of the Central Volcanic Mountain Range. La Selva has an elevation of just over 100 feet above sea level and it averages over 13 feet of rain distributed evenly over the year.
Day 8: La Selva
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Sun Sun Lodge
We will spend another day at La Selva, searching for any species we might have missed, before moving on to Sun Sun Lodge.
Day 9: Braulio Carrillo National Park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Sun Sun Lodge
We will spend the entire day birding the trails at Braulio Carrillo National Park.
Day 10: Tortuguero
We will depart early this morning from Sun Sun Lodge to board a boat which will take us to Tortuguero, "Land of Turtles". Although it can be reached only by plane or boat due to its remote location, Tortuguero National Park is the third-most visited park in Costa Rica. The park possesses great biological diversity due to the existence within the reserve of eleven different habitats including rain forest, mangrove forests, swamps, beaches, and lagoons. It is a key Ramsar Site. We will enjoy birding by boat and on trails, a night tour to see nesting sea turtles,
Day 11: Tortuguero
Day 12: Tortuguero to San Jose
Day 13: Departure
Meals: Breakfast
Today you will be transported to the international airport in San Jose for your flight home.
Day 1 San José
Arrive at any time, arrival transfer included.
You will be met at San José International Airport and transferred to your hotel for the night. There are no planned activities, so enjoy the city on your own.
Day 2 San José/Tortuguero
Travel to Tortuguero National Park and enjoy guided boat trips and wildlife viewing within the canals and coastal jungle. In leisure time, relax at the secluded lodge or take an optional nocturnal animal-spotting boat excursion in the evening.
Enjoy a a delicious Costa Rican breakfast en route as we transfer by road then boat through the famous canals of Tortuguero. This tropical eco-paradise is home to countless bird and animal species, and you will have many opportunities to view and photograph wildlife.
The tropical rainforest gives way to prime secluded beaches, ideal nesting grounds for Green turtles (nesting July-October) and Loggerhead, Hawksbill and Leatherback Turtles (nesting March-June). We cannot guarantee you will see turtles but odds are fairly good from July through October.
Day 3 Tortuguero
Enjoy a guided boat trip and jungle walk in search of caiman, monkeys (spider, howler, and white-faced Capuchin), sloths, and basilisk lizards.
Take advantage of this excellent opportunity to spot a variety of birds, monkeys and other wildlife. In our downtime, relax at the secluded lodge on a hammock or at the pool or beach. Opt to explore the gardens and beach, or go kayaking.
Day 4 Tortuguero/San José
Head back to San José after breakfast. Tour ends on arrival.
After an early morning breakfast, it is time to return to San José, where the tour ends back at the starting hotel location. Have lunch on the road, returning to the capital in the afternoon.
Post tour accommodation in San José (not included) is recommended. Please speak to your sales agent.
