[Steve G]

PART 1

TRIP DETAILS (The boring bit!)

The small & beautifully formed country of Costa Rica has long been a magnet for serious birders. For the European birder travel to Costa Rica has always been awkward & costly requiring expensive connecting flights often with travel time in excess of twenty hours. Until now such “expeditions” have either involved rather complicated arrangements or the expense of using a bespoke Birding travel company . However the introduction of package deals has now made Costa Rica accessible to the family birder as a potential family holiday venue whilst also making it a viable option for those birders looking for a Spring or Autumn break with the offer of something a little more exotic than Mallorca or Lesvos.


In May 2007 First Choice introduced package holiday deals involving a direct flight from London Gatwick to Guanacaste province in Costa Rica with accommodation available at a number of North Pacific coast resort hotels mainly in & around the Gulf of Papagayo . The season runs from May to October & offers 1,2 or 3 week packages with the provision for 2, 4 or 7 night split venue packages –the 2 night being for adrenaline junkies (whitewater tubing, Zip-lining, etc); the 4 night “Cloud forest adventure” involving short stays at Arenal & then Monteverde (lots of good birding prospects) with an additional river trip on the Rio Frio near Cano Negro; the 7 night “Grand Tour of Costa Rica” -involving a 7 night trip from west to east reaching the Caribbean coast before returning back to the Pacific coast. All of these 2 week options involve spending the remaining time at Pacific Coast resort-style hotels.

At the time of writing this report (27/07/08) I did a quick internet search of flights/holiday deals. A British Airways flight from London Heathrow to San Jose C.R for 2 weeks leaving on Friday 19th September & returning on Friday 3rd October is priced at £1,804 for 2 seats. Travel time is nearly 16 hrs & involves a Miami connecting flight.
A 2 week holiday in Lesvos staying at the Kalloni II hotel (bed & breakfast + airport transfers) leaving on Thursday 18th September & returning on thurday 2nd October is priced at £1066 for 2 people.
A 2 week fully inclusive package (all food + drinks+airport transfer) at the Papagayo Allegro hotel flying from London Gatwick direct to Liberia, Costa Rica leaving on Friday 19th September & returning Friday 3rd October (11 hours flying time –no connecting flights) is priced at £1618 for two people –cheaper than the BA flights & not a lor dearer than the package deal to Lesvos but with a much more exotic range of birds available. Even if you stayed in the coastal hotel for the full duration of the holiday a number of great sites are accessible for day trips in the Guanacaste area (Santa Rosa NP, Palo Verde NP, Rincon de La Vieja, Heliconias lodge) whilst the Arenal or Monteverde areas are also within easy reach but are best appreciated with at least a 1 night stay in one of the many lodges available there.

There are some freelance guides available who can take you to the appropriate sites as daytrips or who can arrange your own bespoke birding tour using your Pacific Hotel as an initial & final base. I would have no hesitation in suggesting the services of Carlos Jimenez as such a guide ( http://www.ecoexplorercr.com/ ) -more about Carlos later.


THE TRIP:
This report is essentially our experience of a First Choice Costa Rica package deal.
We spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica from july 4th to july 19th (2008). Our party comprised of myself, my wife, my 11yr old daughter, my 15yr old son & my 70yr old mother-in-law (aye, unbelievable but sadly true!) –none of my family have any interest in birds though my wife is into wildlife & wilderness. I booked a 2 week package which included the 7-night Grand Tour (which involved a number of activities such as white-water tubing & horse-riding) in an unsuccessful attempt to discourage my mother-in-law but the game old bird called my bluff!!!
The First Choice CR flight departs on Fridays @ 09:15am from London Gatwick arriving 11 hrs later @ Liberia in Costa Rica’s Pacific North West (they are 7 hrs behind British Summer Time). First Choice long-haul flights are generally of good quality with their economy seating offering a good 33 inch seat pitch. I’m nearly 6ft 3in tall & 17+ stone but had no problems with the seats or the in-flight comfort. The airport at Liberia is small & rather basic. We arrived in a tropical thunderstorm & got very wet as aircraft disembarkation was fully open to the sky! Negotiating airport immigration control was rather slow & cumbersome whilst check-in on our return flight was a real zoo –despite the extra cost it’s well worth pre-booking your seats. The return trip is usually about 10 hours long with a late afternoon CR departure & overnight flight arriving at Gatwick around 10am UK time.

Hotel transfers from Liberia were all generally under 1 hour in a good quality air-conditioned coach. As we were on the Grand tour out transfer was nearly 2 hours as our first night was spent at a hotel which was also a working ranch –Hacienda Guachepelin. On the trip to the Hacienda (up a long bumpy dirt-track road) a few birds were seen including Inca, Ruddy & Common Ground-Doves, Great-tailed Grackles, Roadside Hawk, overflying Parrots (unidentified Amazona sp. -probably White-fronted) & a couple of cracking Turquoise-browed Motmots on power lines. We met the others who would form our group for the next 7 days -21 people in all & none of them birders! Our guide for the trip was a charismatic Costa Rican called Diego who had a great sense of humour & also proved to be a pretty decent birder.
There was little opportunity for birding on the first night but I managed some birding before breakfast next day (about 45 mins worth) in & around the immediate grounds of the Hacienda. Birds seen included Turkey & Black Vultures, White-tipped & White-winged Doves, Orange-fronted Parakeet, Brown-hooded Parrot, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Social Flycatcher, Streaked Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Masked Tityra, House Wren, Rufous-naped Wren, Clay-coloured Robin, Blue-grey Tanager, Palm Tanager, Blue-black Grassquit & Great-tailed Grackle. Walking slightly further afield would have produced much more!

After breakfast we had a 90 minute horseride through deciduous ‘dry’ forest –which I was apprehensive of in advance but which proved to be quite enjoyable (only my 2nd time on a horse –last was 26 years ago!). This was followed by Whitewater tubing. Whitewater tubing is not the ideal activity for a middle-aged fatman. I found the whole experience of running rapids & small waterfalls while sitting in a rubber-ring very unpleasant. I came out of the ring on a number of occasions & at one point was convinced I was going to drown. Being heavy my ring sat low in the water offering no protection from rocks –by the end of the 2km tubing adventure I had horrendous bruises over my right thigh/ hip /back with deep bleeding gouges & grazes over the base of my back which required antiseptic dressings. I also lost my footwear (as did many of our group). Certainly the whole experience was a real adrenaline rush but take my advice & skip this activity (a few of our group had the good sense to do so) –there are Trogons, Parrots, Tyrant-Flycatchers & Woodcreepers in the riverside woods in need of your attention!


After lunch we boarded our bus for an almost 3 hour trip to the Arenal area with a few stops on route for Howler Monkeys, our first Toucans & some scenic views of Arenal Volcano. The “Grand Tour” includes a 3 night stay in the Arenal area & according to the First Choice brochure we were due to stay in “the Los Lagos hotel (or similar)” –unfortunately for me we got similar in the form of the Arenal Springs hotel -more comfortable rooms (cabins) than the Los Lagos but with poorer birding in the hotel grounds. The Los Lagos sits below some quality rain forest on the slopes of the Arenal volcano with easy access via a track from the back of the hotel. I still got a chance to bird this as one of the Arenal days involved an afternoon of canopy Zip-lining which was accessed from this track via the hotel (see below). We were in bed by 9:30 pm & I was up @ 5:30 am the next morning for some early morning birding in the hotel grounds . I got cracking dawn views of the Arenal Volcano with some small lava flows being visible in the dim dawn light but got little serious birding done as we had an early start.
................to be continued..........

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

Fantastic Steve..lovely report and the pictures are real great my friend...keep it coming..and give a hug to your Out-law from me...her presence made the trip more intersting didnt it....and noticed at the tail-end..you met my howler kin too...lol...,..regards

[halftwo]

Hi Steve,
I seriously considered this package deal as a cheap way in to CR. 1st Choice also go from Manchester. Might still do so for a repeat visit - not done the NW yet.
Will be interested to hear how the "off-season" birding was - I presume 1st Choice get great deals on accommodation as they don't go in the peak tourist months.
Interesting too as I went with my non-birding wife.

Great account so far - takes me back.

H

[Stevie babe]

Such a means to avoid going via Miami or other US airports has got to be a tremendous bonus. Our next time to Costa Rica will avoid this at (almost) any cost.

Looking forward to your next part.

Steve

[kittykat23uk]

Sounds very interesting. Do you know if there are opportunities for scuba diving at the beach resorts? Gorgeous birds by the way!

[Steve G]

Originally Posted by kittykat23uk

Sounds very interesting. Do you know if there are opportunities for scuba diving at the beach resorts? Gorgeous birds by the way!

Yes. My son did some scuba-diving including a wreck dive. He saw quite a few Turtles ( Green & Olive Ridley I think) as well as various shark species & a considerable range of Pacific reef fish (significantly different from the Caribbean species he has seen).
He only managed to squeeze in a couple of days diving which unfortunately were associated with some heavy rainfall so the water was a little cloudy.

If you want something really special then consider diving in the Cocos Islands -this is one of the best diving venues in the world with large concentrations of pelagic species such as Hammerhead Sharks,etc being readily accessible. A number of dive companies access the islands by boat from the port of Puntarenas in Costa Rica. It's easy to get to Puntarenas from Liberia along the Pan-American Highway & much less hassle than coming via San Jose. As the pound is still doing fairly well against the dollar such a once in a lifetime package might well be achieveable. See: http://www.divingtravel.com/costarica.htm

[kittykat23uk]

Steve, thanks for the info. I know of the Cocos islands, though I think it would call for a holiday all in itself. Maybe in a few more years when I have some more experience. However, the diving around the resort sounds good enough for me. I see the price including the 7 day grand tour is around £1230 pp. I have also been looking into a trip to Belize, tailor made, for feb 2010, which would be a combo of diving and birding. Obviously it is coming in rather more expensive than this trip but that's what you get for being more specific regarding the sites you want to visit.

[Steve G]

PART 2

2nd Day

Our scheduled activity of the day was listed as a cultural tour –I nearly sat this out but was very glad I didn’t despite the limited birding exposure. We travelled first to an organic dairy farm (owned by a Don Carlos & his family)where we were shown the process of cheese-making, got the chance to hand-milk a cow & were shown a natural herbarium containing a range of plants used to treat various bovine maladies before sampling some of the cheeses in their nearby small restaurant. The birds around included Red-winged Blackbird, Buff-throated Saltator, Variable Seedeater, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Turkey & Black Vultures & Roadside Hawk.
We were then taken to the smallholding of a local (subsistence) farmer as a contrast to the relatively well-off dairy farm. Our hosts were the delightfully named Senior Aguinaldo (the Aguinaldo is a Government decreed Christmas bonus paid to all working Costa Ricans!) & his constantly smiling wife Felicitas (apparently named after the Roman goddess of good luck & success). Their home & small-holding clearly indicated that they were not well-off however Snr Aguinaldo grew a wide range of fruits, pulses & vegetables for the table & Sugar-Cane as a cash crop. We were shown around his small-holding & sampled some of his produce which included the sweetest Pineapple I have ever tasted. The family also had a small birdfeeder in the garden which drew in a small range of Tanagers (Blue-grey & Passerini’s), Honeycreepers (Red-legged & Green) & Euphonias (Yellow-crowned, Yellow-throated & Olive-backed) as well as a stunning huge Black-headed Saltator.
We then moved on to a small rural Primary school where despite it being a Sunday the local children turned up in full costume to demonstrate some local folk-dances. This was followed by a very tasty lunch cooked by the childrens parents . We were humbled by the whole experience & subsequently learned that First Choice have been making donations to local schools & have been supporting a number of rural regeneration projects–something that no other Travel company has done in Costa Rica. The only new birds seen here were adult & juvenile Gray Hawk & some unidentified hirundines –probably Gray-breasted Martins associating with some small swifts –probably Gray-rumped.
On return to the hotel we passed some cracking Cracids in the form of a family group of Crested Guans as they crossed a small pasture from one tree group to another . Within an hour we were leaving the hotel for a trip to Los Lagos hotel for canopy Zip-lining. I decided to do some birding instead & got a lift up the hillside with the zip-liners & walked slowly down birding as I went. The birds came thick & fast but unfortunately after an hour a thunder storm (with some impressive lightning) moved through pushing me into a hasty retreat downhill. Birds seen included cracking views of at least 15 different Swallow-tailed Kites (it was a pity the light was so poor as otherwise I could have gotten some cracking images), both species of Toucan, Rufous-winged Woodpecker, Montezuma’s Oropendola, Brown Jay, Shining Honeycreeper, Passerini’s Tanager, Masked Tityra, Cinnamon Becard, two stunning Long-tailed Tyrant Flycatchers & two unidentified Woodcreepers in silhouette (one was small-billed –probably Olivaceous whilst the other had a fairly large bill -? Cocoa or Spotted). When I got to the bottom of the hill I was told that the rest of the group had already returned to the hotel -when I finally caught up with my wife she was clearly shaken having found the Zip-lining a very frightening experience! A number of the group had pulled out of the Zip-lining part way down but as our kids wanted to complete it my wife felt obliged to see it to the end. Apparently the electrical storm had caught the Zip-lining staff unawares & everyone had to come down the lines at breakneck speed................. Trust me & sit this one out!
Later, as it was getting dark we were taken up the opposite side of Arenal volcano to a viewing point by a small river. The plan was to view some distant lava flows once the sun set. Unfortunately the top of the volcano was shrouded in low cloud & the views of lava were brief & hardly life-changing!

3rd Day

The following morning I managed a couple of hours pre-breakfast birding in the hotel grounds which yielded Pale-billed Woodpecker, Keel-billed & Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Long-billed Starthroat, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Streak-headed Woodcreeper & a cracking wee Common Tody-Flycatcher among others. After breakfast we boarded the bus & were bound for the Cano Negro region for our “magical floating safari through Rain Forest”. I had been looking forward to this trip as in the wet season Cano Negro contains a large shallow lake reputedly full of waterbirds. In transit we stopped at a bar in a small village adjacent to a river. The road bridge over the river was busy with traffic but from its parapet a great view of riverside trees revealed a huge number of Green Iguanas of various shape & size including large orange-coloured dominant males with crests & extensive dewflaps.
Our guide Diego advised me that a roosting Great Potoo had been seen on recent previous trips & should still be around. Unfortunately Diego did not accompany us on the actual boat trip & so I never saw the Potoo. Whats more this trip, despite being advertised as a boat trip on the Cano Negro was actually a trip down the Rio Frio –we still saw some good birds but the true Cano Negro trip is apparently much better & if at all possible try to ensure you do the true Cano Negro rather than just the river tour. As it was we saw Anhinga, Neotropical Cormorant, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Green-breasted Mango, Ringed, Green & Amazon Kingfishers & various passerines including Yellow-tailed Oriole . I did’nt get a chance to look closely at a group of distant Grackles though they were probably Nicaraguan Grackles & whilst on the subject our boat actually crossed the border between Nicaragua & Costa Rica before doing a pirhouette & returning back into CR territory –I suppose I can say I’ve now been to Nicaragua!

On return to the hotel we had a couple of hours in the afternoon before our scheduled visit to some volcanic hot springs. Initially I had planned to sit this out but Diego our guide suggested that it might help my ‘tubing injuries’ and in fact the whole experience proved very pleasureable with the hot volcanic mineral waters proving very therapeutic (or was it the many Pina Coladas we drunk whilst wallowing !!).
To be continued..........................

[Steve G]

....and a few more images from this part of the trip:-

[Motmot]

That's an excellent picture of a Rufous-winged Woodpecker, the best I've seen! There're no images of this sp anywhere on Birdforum, could be a great adition to the database/opus etc.
Beautiful pix and nice report by the way

[Dave B Smith]

Steve,
Great report and fantastic photos! Sounds like we took exactly the same Cano Negro tour you did!
Thanks,

[Steve G]

Originally Posted by Motmot

That's an excellent picture of a Rufous-winged Woodpecker, the best I've seen! There're no images of this sp anywhere on Birdforum, could be a great adition to the database/opus etc.
Beautiful pix and nice report by the way

Thanks for your kind comments. Once I finished the report I'll load up a larger image of the Woodie for Opus. I think Black-headed Saltator is also missing from Opus & I should have a few other missing species as well.

Cheers,

Steve

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

Way to go Steve..wow realy beautiful birds and exccellent pictures my friend....loved reading the report..keep it coming you hear.Thanks for sharing

[Edward]

Exemplary report Steve. I've followed you to Trinidad and Tobago in the past so I might have to do the same with Costa Rica, a place where my resolutely non-birding wife is still keen to visit.

E

[seanofford]

Great report! Am off with First Choice to CR on Friday - flight only deal. You have really whetted my appetite!
Sean

[Motmot]

Originally Posted by Steve G

Thanks for your kind comments. Once I finished the report I'll load up a larger image of the Woodie for Opus. I think Black-headed Saltator is also missing from Opus & I should have a few other missing species as well.

Cheers,

Steve

Better with all those other sps, but feel sure that woody is most probably the
bird pic from this trip you can be most proud (proudest?) of. I haven't seen them all though and you may be hiding something even better!

Cheers,

Eduardo

[Stevie babe]

if your wife is interested as well - in spite of being a non birder - you cannot go wrong in Costa Rica.

Same with my wife although her interest in photography helped.

If neither of you have gone before and you have a general interest in the natural history it'll knock you over. be prepared to get up early in the morning though.

Steve

[Stevie babe]

Hi Sean,

Your flight only deal sounds very interesting. Was this easily negotiated? Can you tell us more. PM accepted

Steve

[halftwo]

Steve,
Excellent. Takes me right back, thanks.
I never saw any euphonias coming to feeders - all were fairly shy and never very close.
(And I watched plenty of feeders!) That's a great shot of one.
Looking forward to more.
H

[jtwood]

Super report Steve, I have been looking at this method of visiting Costa Rica for a while.
Missing out the adventure side of the trip. There are last minute deals at present costing £650 pp for two weeks is there enough birding in the Hotel area to last two weeks and do any of the Hotels have good garden grounds for Birding.
Looking forward to chapter three.
Jim

[seanofford]

Originally Posted by Stevie babe

Hi Sean,

Your flight only deal sounds very interesting. Was this easily negotiated? Can you tell us more. PM accepted

Steve

It's flight plus one night accomm (presumably to get round package regs). We are just hiring a car at the airport and doing our own thing.

Sean

[Steve G]

Originally Posted by halftwo

Steve,
Excellent. Takes me right back, thanks.
I never saw any euphonias coming to feeders - all were fairly shy and never very close.
(And I watched plenty of feeders!) That's a great shot of one.
Looking forward to more.
H

The makeshift feeder in Aguinaldo's garden pulled in Olive-backed, Yellow-throated & Yellow-crowned Euphonias as well as two species of Honeycreeper, two of Saltator & three of Tanagers. All this over a 40 minute period of watching!
It had to be the Pineapple -this guy grew the most fantastic tasting Pineapples I have ever had..........Pura Vida!

[Steve G]

Part 3


4th Day
The following morning we left early for the Arenal hanging bridges Rain forest walk. The trails were amazing & despite being part of a group of 21 non-birders I managed to see some good birds.
Before the start of the trail we were treated to some acrobatics by a cracking male Green Hermit. Once on the trail birding became much more difficult. There was no shortage of bird calls or movement in the canopy but getting a look at what was calling proved very difficult. There were tantalising glimpses of forest floor species which were clearly spooked by the size of our group –it was exasperating to hear a new call only to see a brown blur disappear into the undergrowth. New species which did show included Violaceous Trogon, Rufous Motmot, Broad-billed Motmot, Collared Aracari & a brief Rufous Mourner (separated by call from the very similar Rufous Piha). A break in the canopy yielded views of Swallow-tailed Kite & a rather distant soaring Short-tailed Hawk. Some canopy fruits had attracted Brown-hooded Parrots & an assortment of small colourful passerines including Passerini’s Tanager, both Green & Shining Honeycreepers & Tawny-capped Euphonia.
Views from the suspended bridges in the canopy allowed inspection of bromeliads & various other epiphytes including a number of impressive-looking orchids. Weird insects were everywhere with some cracking multicoloured Butterflies including the huge & fabulous Blue Morpho. We also saw various mammals including Mantled Howler Monkeys, Three-toed Sloths & a cracking wee Armadillo (?Northern Naked-tailed rather than 9-banded) rooting about in the undergrowth. Clearly this is a site that should be savoured at a slow & steady pace rather than at a brisk walk!
Following the Hanging bridges trip we made our way by bus to the Sarapiqui area of the Caribbean lowlands via a few stops to view Sloths & Howler Monkeys. The First Choice brochure indicated the next overnight venue would be Selva Verde lodge or similar ......unfortunately we again got the similar!! We stayed in a lodge called Sueno Azul . The accommodation was of better quality than Selva Verde with air-conditioned rooms overlooking a small lake which held Spectacled Cayman, roosting Neotropical Cormorants & Great Egret, Green & Ringed Kingfishers & Northern Jacana. The lodge was accessed up a rough track which ends at a large river. A small road bridge over the river can take light vehicles only & so our bus took a separate track where we disembarked to cross a pedestrian suspension bridge which crossed a wide section of river –it all had a rather Indiana Jones flavour to it.
Selva Verde lodge has access to a significant area of primary & high-grade secondary rain forest which is reached by a pedestrian suspension bridge over the Sarapiqui river. It is only possible to enter the reserve accompanied by a lodge guide but the birding around the lodge can be tremendous. I was really disappointed that we didn’t stay at Selva Verde as it would have yielded more & better birds than Sueno Azul. Our itinerary did include a guided tour of this reserve however the tour was in the heat of the afternoon & so the birding was pretty crap –I would have far rather stayed here allowing early morning access to the reseve but it was not to be! Check out the Selva Verde website for an idea of what to expect: http://www.selvaverde.com/lang/en/
Independent travellers visiting this area should consider staying at the La Selva biological station run by the OTS –it is somewhat expensive but probably offers the best birding of any single site in Central America ( see: http://www.ots.ac.cr/index.php?optio...162&Itemid=348 )
Our afternoon rain forest walk at Selva Verde was almost completely birdless! We did see both Strawberry & Green & Black Poison Dart frogs as well as an Eyelash Viper but these were little compensation! I managed to corner the Selva Verde guide to find out what was normally about but I was clearly just torturing myself. However the guy took pity on me & told me to give him a few minutes to settle our group in the bar for light refreshments following which he promised he would find me something special. True to his word he returned & bid me follow him down the track to the river where we negotiated some large boulders. In the distance I could see a large Kingfisher perched and I thought he was planning to show me a Ringed Kingfisher ..... a reasonable bird but one I had already seen! Instead he pointed me in a different direction & conjured up an absolutely cracking pair of Sun Bittern –pure quality man!!! I spent about 30 minutes watching these cracking birds until my wife appeared & informed me I was holding the group back from returning to base. This sighting proved to be one of the highlights of the trip! Apparently the section of the Sarapiqui by Selva Verde lodge almost always holds a pair of Sun Bittern though at times they can be a bit elusive –if you ever come here then check the boulders either side of the river with care as they are probably about. It was a much happier man that returned to the Sueno Azul lodge that night!

5th Day

I was out birding by 5 am . The forested area around the Sueno Azul lodge yielded Montezuma’s Oropendola, both Toucans, Mealy Parrots & a Lineated Woodpecker. On crossing the pedestrian suspension bridge I came to a patch of woodland which held a pair of fairly large Woodcreepers. After a frustrating 15 minutes chasing them around tree trunks I finally got good views of Northern Barred-Woodcreeper! A loud repeated ‘Gua-cho’ call from an open area with some dead trees drew my attention to a perched light-coloured raptor with a black bandit-mask ...it was a Laughing Falcon, one of my target birds! Returning back across the river two Little Blue Herons flew by whilst a lone Bare-throated Tiger-Heron was fishing from a large boulder in the centre of the river. A short detour to the small lake delivered a fishing Ringed Kingfisher & a noisy pair of Northern Jacana.
For a final time we all crossed the Indiana Jones bridge getting on to the bus for the next stage of our journey......to Tortuguero.

Most birders visiting Costa Rica don’t travel to Tortuguero as it’s awkward to get to & impossible via a hire car. Our bus travelled for about 2+ hours from Sarapiqui before reaching a natural canal along a dirt-track. The previous night we had divided our luggage with the suitcases staying on the bus (which headed off to San Jose) & only lightweight baggage accompanying us to Tortuguero. We then completed the journey (almost 90 minutes) by boat. Much of this boat trip was at speed though we did slow down & occasionally even stop when we passed something interesting. Great & Snowy Egrets, Neotropical Cormorants, Anhingas & an Osprey were all seen as were good numbers of Green & Amazon Kingfishers. At one point we sped by a smallish Kingfisher perched in a shrub at head-height, I got a poor & brief view but Diego (our guide) who had spotted it first insisted it was a Green & Rufous Kingfisher –sadly I’ll never know ( Diego was rarely ever wrong however!). We did get the opportunity to stop for a group of 4 Green Ibis & though not too close I did get some (poor) images. Amongst various freshwater turtles & American Crocodiles the other bird highlight was two sightings of King Vulture –one fairly close to the boat when we were travelling at full belt, the other being noted in the distance when we stopped to photograph a big Croc.

Eventually we arrived at a large lagoon passing the small town of Tortuguero (which has no roads or vehicular transport). Our brochure stated that we would be staying in Pachira lodge or similar & once again we got the ‘similar’ option. We stayed at Laguna lodge which was more rustic & slightly more basic than Pachira Lodge BUT fortunately it is the better birding option! By the time we checked into our cabins the light was starting to fade. It also started to rain............in fact it absolutely pissed down!!
One of the special features of Tortuguero is that in season it holds the most extensive Turtle nesting beaches in the Caribbean –mainly Green Turtles but also Leatherbacks & small numbers of Loggerheads. Marian & I had previously enjoyed a fantastic evening watching nesting Leatherbacks on Trinidad & thought we would like to repeat the experience with the kids. We therefore booked a Turtle viewing trip for that night ($60 each for the guide & permit). Sadly we did not find this a very satisfying experience. On booking the trip there was no information or advice offered regarding what was expected of us on the trip. Once booked we were told we would be allocated a trip time which would be posted later in the evening. Predictably we were given a very late time so we were leaving for this trip whilst the others were going to bed! Eventually we were collected by boat from the lodge & taken to the National Park headquarters in Tortuguero. After some initial confusion our guide gathered our group together (consisting of Marian, myself, our two kids & a group of young Americans). He passed comments about the gaudy light-coloured clothing worn by some in the group (having been on such trips in the past we were aware of the need to wear dark clothing). He then had a go at those who were wearing open footwear advising that we would be trekking through jungle in the dark & there was no knowing what they could stand on. Lastly he asked who had brought a camera along –I held up my hand, it was then clearly my turn to get it in the neck! He indicated that it was irresponsible of me to have brought a camera as it was forbidden by the park authorities! I apologised & explained that no-one had advised us of this (meanwhile others in the group were hastily hiding their digital compacts!) & besides I had only intended to take non-flash images at a high ISO setting by the light of his torch. He advised that if I removed my camera from my back-pack it would be confiscated & he would be at risk of losing his licence. Whilst disappointed I clearly had to respect local regulations (In Trinidad we were permitted to photograph the female Leatherbacks when they were actively laying as at that stage they go into a torpid state). On this high note we began our trek along a forest path in near pitch-darkness stumbling & cursing as we went, but at least it had stopped raining! After 30 minutes walking we were brought out onto the beach at a point where a female Green Turtle had just finished egg-laying (a large rotting log lay nearby). We watched her cover over her nest, create some ‘dummy’ nests as camouflage & then eventually return to the sea. Throughout this time we were treated to stupid comments & juvenile idiotic behaviour by a small number of the American contingent who waved little hand torches randomly, ambushed each other in the dark & whooped loudly . One also had a cigarette lighter which he repeatedly lit -presumably with the intention of flaring his own flatus!!!! –so much for avoiding light-pollution on the nesting beaches! Eventually we re-traced our steps back to town & got the boat back to Laguna lodge. The next morning we discovered that the nest we had attended was only a few hundred metres away from our lodge (recognised the rotting log)–happy days!!!!
Clearly I did not enjoy our Turtle-viewing experience. The only good thing about it is that at least the permit fee is invested in protecting these beautiful animals. Perhaps our experience was not typical & I would not want to put others off. If you do wish to view nesting Turtles please ensure that you are advised of what is expected of you in terms of clothing, footwear & behaviour in advance. Hopefully the park authorities will change their guidelines to allow use of non-flash digital cameras & infra-red sensitive camcorders but if not the local regulations have clearly still to be respected.
To be continued.......................

[Steve G]

And some more images:-
The cone of Arenal Volcano with small lava flows just visible. Green Ibis & a few of the other beasties we saw.

[kittykat23uk]

Great stuff! I am watching this thread with interest. It sounds like you found parts of this trip quite frustrating from a birder’s point of view, but then its important to remember that this is a general package trip not aimed primarily at birders.

I’m sure you will come on to this, but it would be interesting to read your thoughts on whether you think the 7 day grand tour was worth the extra, or whether you would in hindsight have chosen the 4 day package, a tailor made trip arranged through local birding guides, or to bird more locally either independently or with a guide?

Do you know whether true Cano Negro boat trips are available from the beach resort hotel as an optional excursion?

I don’t suppose whale watching was available from the beach resort was it?