Birding in Costa Rica
Spring 2015 (20 February – 7 March)
Costa Rica is considered to be one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world and this was the holiday of a lifetime. Disbanding its armed forces in 1958 has allowed the country more money to spend on conservation and the environment. Costa Rica has achieved 95-99% renewable electricity by generating most of it from hydroelectric plants, but also from geothermic energy from the country’s volcanoes with a smaller amount from wind and solar power. In 2015, they were the first country in the world to supply all their power for 75 days in a row without the use of fossil fuels: very impressive. Costa Rica is a great place to visit and Heatherlea is a good company with which to travel. The group leader was Ian Ford and the local expert was Yehudi Hernandes.
We arrived in San José in the late afternoon and spent the first night at Hotel Bougainvillea in San José. Their gardens were amazing and the birdwatching started there.
Below is a link to posts from each area we visited:
- Tortuguero — Days 1 to 3 (21/2 – 23/2)
- Sarapiqui and La Selva — Days 3 to 6 (23/2 – 26/2)
- Arenal Observatory — Days 6 to 8 (26/2 – 28/2)
- Guanacaste area on the Pacific — Days 8 to 9 (28/2 – 1/3)
- Carara Biological Reserve — Days 9 to 11 (1/3 – 3/3)
- The mountains and Savegre River Valley — Days 11 to 13 (3/3 – 5/3)
Back in San José, we spent another night at the Bougainvillea Hotel and did some final birdwatching in their wonderful garden before we had to fly home.
It was a wonderful trip and one that I would highly recommend.