Our Northern Costa Rica Tour features excellent birding sites including La Ensenada, Monteverde, less well known but excellent sites near Bijagua, and Arenal National Park. The tour has the potential of recording over 300 species in 8 days. The best time to take this tour is late in the rainy season during October-November when ant swarms are active or during early dry season from January-March. During these months birds are in full breeding plumage and are most active. Accommodations are excellent throughout the tour.

 

 

 

 

The tour begins with a transfer to the dry woodland and savanna of La Ensenada Wildlife Refuge north of Alajuela. From there the tour visits middle elevation sites of the Tilaran Cordillera, notably famed Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and Selvatura. The former is a likely place to see Resplendent Quetzals and many other middle elevation species. The latter is one of the best places to see Three-wattled Bellbirds. The tour then proceeds north to Bijagua, where private forest reserves offer some of the best birding in Costa Rica. When army ant swarms are active, obligate followers such as Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo and Ocellated Antbird are very possible. From there the tour continues to Arenal National Park area, where birding the park and private forest reserve is excellent. A morning visit to a private reserve in Fortuna should allow great views of some rare, normally secretive crakes. After lunch the last day, the tour returns to Alajuela. The tour ends after breakfast the following morning.

ADDITIONAL INFO
(Not on Menu Above)

• Country Map
• Accommodations
• Photos from Past Tours
• Travel Information

BIRDING LOCALES

• Arenal National Park
• Carara National Park
• Celeste Mountain Lodge
• Heliconias Lodge
• La Ensenada
• Monteverde Area