Savegre – Rancho – La Selva – Caño Negro - Arenal – Punta Leona

Introduction

It is always somewhat of a trial, especially in your advancing years, to come to terms with long-haul flights. In fact, it can put you off travelling to a great many destinations. If there is such a thing as compensation for the tiring experience of long distance flights then Costa Rica is it. The country is an all round destination, good food, great accommodation, scenically beautiful, fantastic wildlife and wonderfully friendly people. It always amazes me how varied a landscape such a small country offers and the diversity of birds reflects the great range of habitats present. If you haven’t yet been then go or at least put it on your life’s wish list!

By way of relaxing before and after our main tour, we booked an extra night prior to the start and at the end of our birding tour. We used the Hotel Bougainvillea in San Jose as our start and end point. I thoroughly recommend this hotel, set within its own grounds, beautifully landscaped and with several birds and plants to interest those given to strolling through gardens at their own pace. The ambience, the food and friendly staff all conspire to relax you after your journey and makes for an ideal last night in preparation for your homeward flight.

We set-off from San Jose to our first lodge based in the valley of the Rio Savegre, a wonderfully isolated location within the boundaries of the Reserva Forestal Los Santos. It makes for a good starting point for visitors from the ‘north’ as it is perhaps the coolest temperature of all of our destinations. It’s good to get acclimatised for the hotter parts to be visited later in our journey. Of course the area is also special for its birds and here we are always lucky enough to see Resplendent Quetzal, not to mention being ideally placed to visit Paramo habitat in the higher reaches of the valley which provides good birding for alpine species.

From Savegre we journeyed on for our next stop, Rancho. It’s always a little disappointing to read negative press on this location. We have enjoyed our stays here and it can be relied upon to produce some stunning birds, plus great food! With beauties such as Snowcap, Brown Violet-ear, White-vented Euphonia etc., the area has never failed to produce birding highlights. It was good to see the gardens had been better managed and some scrub cleared, out back of the lodge, so you get a better view of the canopy woodland on the slopes. We use our own guide throughout the tour, so I can’t comment on the quality of the in-house personnel, but those who have taken to accompanying us on the trials have seemed okay.

Our next stop was La Selva, normally one of our highlights, but this year we had rains and the entrance to the main reserve was flooded and impassable. Fortunately we were in good hands and our guide was able to show other, accessible areas and we managed some decent species. I actually managed to catch-up with Nicaraguan Seed Finch this trip, so having dipped on previous visits I was a happy man. El Tigre marsh and Pozo Azul both came-up trumps for a number of target birds and lessened the disappointment of not being able to gain access to La Selva. It proves the value of having local guides with you when the unexpected can give problems.

We varied our route this year to take-in Caño Negro and again the rain continued to fall. At least the rains lightened and became sporadic. We were able to get around and visit all the locations we were keen to see. The weather had descended from the north and we missed the main storm front which hit the pacific side of the country with unexpected and rare high winds. A bizarre site, as a result of this weather front, was to witness a Magnificent Frigate Bird quartering the marshes as we entered the reserve! We made a pleasant river ride and here I managed to get another bogey bird of mine the elusive Mangrove Cuckoo. Our accommodation, I felt, was not the best and certainly we won’t stay here again. It was a shame, because the birds here were impressive and the area I enjoyed.

The next port of call was Arenal Observatory Lodge, a great lodge and welcomed so much more this year after our last lodge. It really is a stunning location and we were extremely lucky to get wonderful views of the semi active volcano for the second year running. The weather cleared and we were back into sunshine again! We did the hanging bridges again, but it is proving perhaps too popular with tour parties and not necessarily those with an interest in wildlife. We tended to focus on the area immediately surrounding the lodge and these trials can be fantastic with canopy flocks normally providing highlights to our walks. The feeders here always entertain and this year was no exception, with the White-nosed Coatis still persevering in their attempts to mount the feeders, we managed the ever present Emerald Tanager, a beauty amongst a spectacular family.

Our final destination was Punta Leona. For me this is the perfect place to spend the last nights of the tour. It is a resort, but is also a refuge for Scarlet Macaw amongst many other fine and beautiful species. It gives the less ornithological minded partner/other half a relaxing surrounding with beaches and pools close to hand, but it is also within striking distance of such great birding sites as the Rio Tárcoles and Carara national park. We had some very fruitful walks through the canopy of the forest in Carara and also two excellent river rides on the Rio Tárcoles. Also the grounds around and within the resort itself make for some memorable walks. Again I managed a new species here with Ruddy Quail Dove providing some superb views, normally so reclusive I reckon I was lucky to add this species.

Our last night and morning was spent at the Hotel Bougainvillea on the outer limits of San Jose. Another great tour and can’t wait until next year!

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