My husband and I are planning our first trip to CR over the coming December holidays. A friend of mine recommended Rancho Naturalista and I've been communicating with them. They have availability for 3-4 nights out of the week we want to spend. I'm thinking that we probably wouldn't want to spend more than 3-4 nights there anyway, but instead more to some other eco-lodge in different habitat or a different part of the country.
The price -- $410/day (if we hire a guide for both morning and afternoon of every day) -- is affordable for us, but pushing it. (If we found another lodge at around the same price, that would work out to about $2,800 for the week.) However, my husband suggested that before booking it, I check out the price of birding tours.
Well, I thought I could expedite that process by asking for your collective wisdom on the matter. Are there tours that:
1) are about a week long
2) have no more than about 8 birders (and preferably less) coming along
3) can guarantee that I will be able to keep medicine constantly refrigerated or cooled in a thermos w/ ice for the whole week
4) have good, dependable guides and are in general a good, dependable outfit
and
5) charge about $1,400/week per person.
In other words, should I even bother looking into tours, other options? If so, what might they be? Could we arrange our own lodging, then hire local birding guides in various places? Would this be hard to set up for someone (like me) who has never birded in CR before?
Thanks!
The price -- $410/day (if we hire a guide for both morning and afternoon of every day) -- is affordable for us, but pushing it. (If we found another lodge at around the same price, that would work out to about $2,800 for the week.) However, my husband suggested that before booking it, I check out the price of birding tours.
Well, I thought I could expedite that process by asking for your collective wisdom on the matter. Are there tours that:
1) are about a week long
2) have no more than about 8 birders (and preferably less) coming along
3) can guarantee that I will be able to keep medicine constantly refrigerated or cooled in a thermos w/ ice for the whole week
4) have good, dependable guides and are in general a good, dependable outfit
and
5) charge about $1,400/week per person.
In other words, should I even bother looking into tours, other options? If so, what might they be? Could we arrange our own lodging, then hire local birding guides in various places? Would this be hard to set up for someone (like me) who has never birded in CR before?
Thanks!