Explore Guanacaste, Costa Rica! *FULL*

This November, join Dan and Candace on a brand-new birding adventure in Costa Rica! Guanacaste is the northwesternmost province in Costa Rica, home to dry tropical forest and bordered on the east by a series of protected National Parks along the slopes of several active volcanoes. We’ll visit both, and throw in some mangroves, to boot! This itinerary allows us to drive a little less and walk a little more in this unique and underbirded region. 

We begin our trip on the slopes of the Tenorio Volcano National Park, where large tracts of intact cloud forest host a stunning diversity of birdlife, including the secretive Yellow-eared Toucanet, Oscillated Antbird, and Lattice-Tailed Trogon. We’ll spend two days exploring the trails and roads in the vicinity of our charming lodge. Next, we move north to Rincon de la Vieja, an active volcano in the dynamic transition zone between dry and wet forest. Here, the trails are a bit steeper and host specialties like Black-eared Quail and Tody Motmot, along with plentiful parrots, tanagers and tinamous. We’ll also take a day trip downslope to the famous Santa Rosa National Park, the largest intact tropical dry forest in Central America. Here is our best chance for Thicket Tinamou, Long-tailed Manakin, Barred Antshrike, and Yellow-green Vireo, among many others.

We’ll work our way down the bank of the Gulf of Nicoya to La Ensenada Wildlife Refuge, exploring farm fields, salt flats and mangroves. We’ll be serenaded by Howler Monkeys as we seek out Mangrove Cuckoo, Yellow-naped Parrot, Tropical Screech Owl, Black-headed Trogon and White-throated Magpie Jay, plus warblers, kingfishers and waterbirds birds galore. We’ll also make a day trip to the famous Palo Verde National Park, our best chance at the very elusive Jabiru, plus a wide array of wading birds, butterflies and dragonflies.

This trip is a bit shorter than our regular Birding Costa Rica ecotour, with less driving and more hiking, perfect for a green pre-holiday getaway! Please join us for this wild and wonderful adventure.