2012 Southern Costa Rica Photo Tour

TOUR OVERVIEW

Costa Rica offers much more than the primary birding circuit around San Jose, which typically covers Carara National Park, La Selva on the Caribbean slope, and the Talamanca highlands. Southern Costa Rica is much more tropical and offers a very nice diversity of habitats and birds not found farther north. While first-time visitors typically prefer exploring central Costa Rica, those enthralled with the country and wanting to see more should visit the less-traveled south next. We are thus offering a bird and wildlife photo tour along the southern circuit. During the tour we'll visit Talari Lodge and nearby Los Cusingos Reserve, a forested oasis in the agricultural area around San Isidro de el General south of the Talamanca Mountains, Las Cruces Biological Station and Wilson Botanical Gardens near San Vito and not far from the border with Panama, Esquinas Rainforest Lodge and reserve near Golfito, and Manuel Antonio National Park on the southern Pacific coast near Quepos. The tour is led by professional bird photographer Laura Fellows, who captured most of the images on our website, and an expert birding guide who will find and identify subjects for our photography.

PHOTOS OF SOME POSSIBLE SPECIES ON TOUR

TOUR ITINERARY

DATE	ACTIVITY	MEALS	ACCOMMODATIONS
1-Sat 01/21	Arrival	D	Hotel Aeropuerto
2-Sun 01/22	Early departure for Talari Lodge near San Isidro de el General, arriving by lunch. Stops en route to photograph highland birds. Afternoon photograph birds in lodge reserve.	BLD	Talari Lodge
3-Mon 01/23	Morning photograph birds in Talari private reserve. After lunch transfer to Wilson Botanical Gardens, stopping at San Joaquin wetlands. Lunch in San Vito.	BLD	Las Cruces Field Station
4-Tue 01/24	All day photograph birds in botanical gardens.	BLD	Las Cruces Field Station
5-Wed 01/25	Morning walk into secondary forest on Jaba Trail. Remainder of day photograph birds around field station.	BLD	Las Cruces Field Station
6-Thu 01/26	Early morning photograph birds in botanical gardens. After breakfast transfer to Esquinas Lodge near Golfito. Afternoon photograph birds in lodge reserve.	BLD	Esquinas Lodge.
7-Fri 01/27	All day photograph birds in gardens and along trails on lodge property.	BLD	Esquinas Lodge
8-Sat 01/28	Early departure for Manuel Antonio National Park near Quepos, about a 3-hour drive. Photograph birds and monkeys in the park. Continue to San Jose, arriving before dark.	BLD	Hotel Aeropuerto
9-Sun 01/29	End of tour. International flights home.	B	None

TOUR MAP

TOUR DESCRIPTION

DAY 1 - ALAJUELA

International flights arrive in the afternoon or evening. Everyone gathers at the Hotel Aeropuerto, a 5-minute taxi ride from the international airport, where they are met by the tour leader. Night in at Hotel Aeropuerto in Alejuela.

DAY 2 - TRANSFER TO TALARI LODGE

Early breakfast and departure for San Isidro de el General, about a 3½ hour drive. Stops en route to photograph highland birds in the Talamanca Mountains. Arrive San Isidro around noon. Lunch in area restaurant. Check in to lodge after lunch. Afternoon photograph hummingbirds at lodge feeders and other birds around lodge. Night at Talari Mountain Lodge.   Show Possible Species

DAY 3 - LOS CUSINGOS AND TALARI

Morning visit Los Cusingos Reserve, Alexander Skutch's old homestead and farm. Walk trails through forest in the reserve. Lunch at an area restaurant. Aftternoon walk trails on Talari Lodge property, photographing birds around the gardens and feeders. The property is reverting to forest and is a mecca for birds in a region that has been largely deforested for agriculture. We'll have our first chance at seeing and photographing Turquoise Cotinga. We also hope to photograph some other interesting birds such as Pearl Kite, Tropical Screech-Owl, Orange-collared Manakin, and Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush. Night at Talari Lodge.   Show Possible Species

DAY 4 - TRANSFER AND LAS CRUCES

Early breakfast and departure for Wilson Botanical Gardens and Las Cruces Field Station, about a 2½ hour drive. Stop at San Joaquin wetlands to photograph several wetland species, hoping to find Masked Duck and the near endemic Chiriqui Yellowthroat. Arrive San Vito around noon for lunch. Check in at field station after lunch. Afternoon photograph hummingbirds at at feeders and other birds around gardens. Night at Las Cruces Field Station.   Show Possible Species

DAY 5 - WILSON BOTANICAL GARDENS & LAS CRUCES

Early morning walk Jaba Trail, a wide gradually descending trail into secondary rainforest. Remainder of day photograph birds around the botanical gardens on field station property. Look especially for Turquoise Cotinga and Crested Oropendola around the dorm rooms. Night at Las Cruces Field Station.   Show Possible Species

DAY 6 - TRANSFER & ESQUINAS RAINFOREST LODGE

Depart after breakfast for Esquinas Lodge, about an hour's drive. Stops along the Esquinas access road toward La Gamba to photograph open country birds. Remainder of day photograph birds in lodge reserve, See next day for possible species. Night at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.

DAY 7 - ESQUINAS RESERVE & PIEDRAS BLANCAS

All day photograph birds on the lodge property and optionally in adjacent Piedras Blancas National Park. The best access to the park is from Esquinas Lodge, but the trails are steep and often muddy so our time in the park will be limited at best. Excellent opportunities to photograph birds are available along forested trails on lodge property. It's a great place to photograph southern specialties such as Baird's Trogon, Rufous-winged Woodpecker, Black-striped Woodcreeper, and the Costa Rican endemic Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager. Night at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.   Show Likely Species

DAY 8 - TRANSFER & MANUAL ANTONIO PARK

Early departure for Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park, about 3 hours via the nearly completed new road between Dominical and Quepos. Several hours photographing birds and monkeys in the park. Mid-afternoon continue to San Jose, about 2½-3 hours from Quepos. Night at Hotel Aeropuerto in Alajuela.   Show Likely Species

DAY 9 - END OF TOUR

Tour ends with breakfast at the hotel. International flights home.

ACCOMMODATIONS DURING TOUR

HOTEL AEROPUERTO

Hotel Aeropuerto is a comfortable hotel located 5 km from the international airport outside San Jose in Alajuela. The acclaimed hotel restaurant offers a wonderful breakfast buffet and a la carte lunches and dinners. Its 24 single and double rooms feature queen-size beds, air conditioning, private bath with hot water tub and shower, cable TV, telephone, and coffee maker.

TALARI MOUNTAIN LODGE

Talari Mountain Lodge is conveniently located 15 minutes from San Isidro and not much farther from Los Cusingos on the road to Chivas National Park in southern Costa Rica. The lodge occupies a 20 acre secluded property consisting of gardens, secondary forest, and some riverfront access. There is a small swimming pool for relaxing during mid-day breaks. The restaurant offers panoramic views of the hills and mountains and features excellent food, Chilean wines, and Belgian beer. The nine comfortable rooms at the lodge have one or two double beds, private bath with solar-heated water, a small refrigerator, table and chairs, and ceiling fan. Each room fronts on a terrace that offers views of the nearby mountains.

LAS CRUCES BIOLOGICAL STATION

Las Cruces Biological Station is located a short distance west of San Vito in southern Costa Rica. It is primarily a research facility located on the property of Wilson Botanical Gardens and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies. It welcomes visitors with advance reservations. Rooms are well maintained, well ventilated, and well lit. Each has a private balcony overlooking the gardens where birds can be viewed in the nearby trees. Rooms feature double and twin beds, ceiling vans, private bath, and hot water showers. Meals are served cafeteria style within the main dining hall. There, visitors can mingle with researchers working at the facility if they so desire.

ESQUINAS RAINFOREST LODGE

Esquinas Rainforest Lodge surrounded by the dense wilderness of Piedras Blancas National Park in Costa Rica's remote southern zone. The large main building is thatched with over 70,000 palm fronds and is a mere stone's throw from dense jungle. It features an open living room, library, bar, and restaurant that offers high-standard cuisine. The lodge is known for its exotic cocktails, fresh-grown vegetables, and fish just caught from Golfo Dulce. A 10-mile network of trails leads into primary rainforest from the lodge. Beautifully landscaped gardens attract some 200 species of birds as well as numerous butterflies and mammals. Each spacious bedroom offers double or queen-size beds, private bath, hot water showers, and ceiling fan. TOP

LAURA FELLOWS

Laura L Fellows is co-founder of Exotic Birding LLC with Jim Wittenberger and conducts most of our tours as leader and tour coordinator. She has worked as a professional photographer since 1983. Laura's vision as a bird photographer is to portray birds and other animals as they live and behave in their natural environments. She published her vision of such "Environmental Portraits" in the December 2007 issue of Nature Photography magazine. Her photos have been used in biology textbooks and on professional websites. Before embarking on her current venture with Exotic Birding, Laura had 16 years professional experience as a commercial photographer and advertising studio manager for an internationally recognized studio in Atlanta. In that capacity she organized, coordinated and executed major photography assignments for numerous national advertising campaigns on location in the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and many states in the US. She founded and directed a photography workshop program in the Tuscany region of Italy, where she lived for 3 years. Through her efforts the workshop attracted many internationally renowned photographers as guest instructors. She speaks fluent Italian and is now gaining familiarity with Spanish. She has lectured as an invited speaker in the art department at the University of Georgia and many photo clubs, has exhibited her photographs in galleries, and has curated 5 photography exhibitions in the USA and Italy. Laura has enjoyed a life-long love and fascination for birds and nature. Some of her many photographs can be seen throughout our website.

MARIO CORDOBA

Mario Cordoba has been guiding tours in Costa Rica since 1992. He is a university graduate with training in eco-tourism guiding. He worked for a year as resident naturalist/birding guide at Arenal Volcano National Park, then 3 years for a Costa Rican tour company. Since 1996 he has worked as a free-lance birding and naturalist guide for various Costa Rican tour companies including Costa Rica Expeditions. He has led tours for National Wildlife Federation, Cornell Adult University, International Expeditions, California State University, Holbrook Travel, Elderhostel, various North American birding tour companies, several Audubon groups, and other organizations and private parties. Mario is an excellent birder and is also very knowledgeable about botany, wildlife, politics, and history of Costa Rica. His former clients describe him as very patient even under the most trying circumstances. He comes highly recommended to us by the owners and staff at Savegre Mountain Hotel in San Gerardo de Dota. We welcome him as guide for our birding tours to Costa Rica.