VENTURE TO The
Rainforests & Cloudforests
Of Costa rica
May 9- 20, 2009
Reservations and prepayment are required on all Ventures. Your place on this Venture will be reserved when your deposit of $300 has been received. Please make your check payable to VENTURES, Inc. and send it to this address or call the office with your VISA or MasterCard #.
Limited to 12 participants.
Costa Rica is a birding paradise, where beginning and experienced birders alike can enjoy tropical Central American birding at its very best. Highlights could include Resplendent Quetzal, Three-wattled Bellbird, Scarlet Macaw and dozens of hummingbirds. During this 11 day Venture to Costa Rica, we will have time to visit a variety of habitats in several areas of the country and a chance to see over 300 species of birds. We will visit Monteverde (highland cloud forest), Cerro de la Muerte (highland and elfin forest), Virgen del Socorro (mid-elevation moist forest), La Selva (Caribbean lowlands), and Carara (moist western lowlands). By staying two or more nights at each location we will be able to thoroughly explore each area we visit, and spend prime-time birding in the early morning and enjoy optional "owling" at night. Add to this Costa Rica's spectacular scenery, a wealth of tropical flora and butterflies, and colorful "Tico" culture and you have the ingredients for a truly outstanding natural history Venture.
Leader: Mark Welford
$2,975 from San Jose, Costa Rica (based on double occupancy, single room $425)
Price includes: All ground transportation, meals, service charges, entrance fees & gratuities (except for leader & driver/guides), information packet & bird check-list, leader/guide service throughout.
Not included: International Air to San Jose, Alcoholic beverages, laundry, and other items of a personal nature.
Boat-billed Heron, King Vulture, Bat Falcon, Crested Guan, Grey-necked Wood-Rail, Scarlet Macaw, Yellow-crowned Parrot, Squirrel Cuckoo, Crested and Spectacled Owls, Northern Potoo, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Green-breasted Mango, Volcano Hummingbird, Resplendent Quetzal, Slaty-tailed Trogon, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Broad-billed Motmot, White-whiskered Puffbird, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Snowy Cotinga, Scarlet-rumped, Emerald, Olive, Silver-throated and Black-and-yellow Tanagers, and many more.
Please plan to arrive in San Jose late on Saturday 9 May where we will be met and transferred to our hotel. (Hotel and transfer are included in the Venture cost) You may also like to spend a few days in the San Jose area before the tour begins. Just let us know what you decide to do and we can make hotel reservations if you wish. This itinerary may change depending on weather, road or other conditions
Day 1 Saturday 9 May
Dinner en route to San Jose After an early evening arrival in San Jose,
we will head to our hotel for a good night's rest, before beginning our birding
the following morning. Night in San Jose
Day 2 Sunday 10 May
Cerro de la Muerte (Highland Forest) After an early breakfast we will
drive for a few hours to the highlands. On arrival at Finca Mirador Quetzales we
will look for Resplendent Quetzal, Flame-throated Warbler, Fiery-throated
Hummingbird, Mountain Robin, and other highland forest species. This farm is one
of the best areas in Costa Rica to find the quetzal and this morning's birding
should be a fine way to start our trip. After lunch (should the weather permit)
we will travel higher to the paramo (sub-alpine) habitat, for birds such as the
localized Volcano Junco, Volcano Hummingbird, Timberline Wren, and Slaty
Flowerpiercer. Night in San Jose
Day 3 Monday 11 May
Pacific Lowlands After breakfast we will head towards the Pacific slope.
Here the birds and wildlife are different to those species we will see later on
the Caribbean slope. We hope to find Fiery-billed Aracari, Orange-ruffed Manakin,
Royal Flycatcher, Thrush-like Manakin, Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-mandibled
Toucan and Baird's Trogon. We will bird on the way to the coast, hoping for some
surprises en route! We should arrive at our lodge in time for lunch and spend
the afternoon exploring some of the trails around the Villa Lapas property.
Night at Villa Lapas
Day 4 Tuesday 12 May
Day trip to Carara Biological Reserve We depart early to witness the
morning flight of Scarlet Macaws. Each morning they move from their nighttime
roosts to their foraging sites in fruiting trees within Carara reserve. We will
stop at the River Tarcoles to view the dozens of sunning American Crocodiles,
which line the riverbanks just below the Carara Reserve. We will then spend the
rest of the morning exploring the vast complex of trails within the reserve.
After returning to Villa Lapas for lunch, we have the opportunity to spend more
time in the rich Carara reserve that afternoon. Night at Villa Lapas
Day 5 Wednesday 13 May
Drive to Monteverde We will have a final walk around the Tarcoles area
this morning to maybe see a few more species. After breakfast we will head
toward the cool highlands of Monteverde, famous for the Resplendent Quetzal and
a host of other highland species. Arenal Volcano is on the way and sometimes
lava can be seen flowing down the mountainside. We will arrive in Monteverde
late afternoon and should have time for a walk on the trails behind our hotel.
Our hotel sits below the edge of the cloud forest, and a few special species can
be found on the grounds, such as White-eared Ground-Sparrow, Orange-billed
Nightingale-Thrush, Chestnut-capped Warbler and Rufous-and-white Wren. Night at
Monteverde
Day 6 Thursday 14 May
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve One of the most well-known reserves in
Costa Rica, Monteverde holds an excellent selection of birds. By quietly walking
the trails we may be lucky enough to see a small covey of Black-breasted
Wood-Quail, Little Tinamou or Prong-billed Barbet. The thick forest canopy of
green can make the birds hard to find, but after a full day in Monteverde
Reserve we should have a good bird list, such as Slaty-backed Nightingale
Thrush, Black Guan and Black-faced Solitaire. Night at Monteverde
Day 7 Friday 15 May
Santa Elena Reserve Today it's a full day in the cloud forest, plus a
visit to the feeders at the nearby Hummingbird Gallery. We may see Emerald
Toucanet, Orange-bellied Trogon, Three-wattled Bellbird, and of course we will
be on the lookout for Resplendent Quetzal. The furnarid family is well
represented in the cloud forest and we may find Red-faced Spinetail, Spotted
Barbtail, Ruddy Treerunner, and Streak-breasted Treehunter. After lunch we will
visit the hummingbird gallery where a blizzard of hummers throngs the feeders.
Violet Sabrewing, Magenta-throated Woodstar, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, and
the endemic Coppery-headed Emerald are all common. Night at Monteverde
Day 8 Saturday 16 May
Drive to Selva Verde We will leave Monteverde early this morning for the
Caribbean Lowlands. Arenal Volcano is on the way and sometimes lava can be seen
flowing down the mountainside. We will bird en route and arrive at Selva Verde
Lodge in the afternoon, where we may take a walk around the grounds. We may see
Laughing Falcon, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, White-crowned Parrot, Violaceous Trogon,
Fasciated Antshrike, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Cinnamon Becard, Golden-masked
Tanager, Shining Honeycreeper, and Crimson-fronted Parakeet. Night at Selva
Verde
Day 9 Sunday 17 May
Virgen del Socorro and La Paz waterfalls (Mid-elevation) Virgin del
Socorro is one of the wettest forest types in Central America, and we may
encounter birds not found at higher or lower elevations. Some of the birds we
may see are Collared Trogon, Red-headed Barbet, Emerald Tanager, and
Golden-browed Chlorophonia. On past Ventures, we have also found Scale-crested
Pygmy-Tyrant, Sooty-faced Finch and Lanceolated Monklet. Night at Selva Verde
Day 10 Monday 18 April
Braulio Carillo National Park Today we will head up in elevation for
some of the spectacular species found at Braulio Carrillo National Park, such as
Lattice-tailed Trogon, Spotted Woodcreeper, Striped Woodhaunter, Spot-crowned
Antvireo, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Snowcap, Black-and-yellow, Olive, and both
Tawny-crested and Speckled Tanagers. Braulio Carrillo is also known for its ant
swarms, and we will be on the lookout for army ants with any attending Ocellated
Antbirds. Night at Selva Verde
Day 11 Tuesday 19 May
La Selva Biological Reserve La Selva is a working field station situated
in a large, relatively undisturbed tract of rain forest. A boardwalk trail
system gives access to the area's varied habitats, including virgin forest,
second growth, overgrown plantations and successional thickets. Among the 389
species recorded at La Selva are White-whiskered Puffbird, Purple-throated
Fruitcrow, Rufous Motmot, Red-capped Manakin, Crimson-collared Tanager, Snowy
Cotinga, Semi-Plumbeous Hawk, Striped Cuckoo, Streak-crowned Antvireo and
Fasciated and Barred Antshrikes. Night at Selva Verde
Day 12 Wednesday 20 May
Drive to San Jose International Airport for our afternoon flights back
home
Due
to weather and other conditions, this itinerary is subject to change.