Costa Rica: A Natural History Tour

Offered by the New York Botanical Garden

Itinerary

February 2-11, 2004

February 2: Depart Newark on Continental flight # 1905 at 4:40 p.m. Arrive in San Jose at 8:59 p.m. After clearing customs, we will be transferred to our lovely hotel in the hills overlooking San Jose.
Night at Hotel Bougainvillea.

February 3: Today we will have an early departure for our trip to the highlands, and our mountain hotel, Cabinas Chacon. Located in the Central Highlands of the Talamanca Mountains, these cozy cabins are located on a remote, highland farm nestled in the San Gerardo valley, surrounded by gorgeous scenery at every turn. The farm has extensive grounds and trails, and there is a good chance of seeing a Resplendent Quetzal only a few steps from your cabin. The colorful flowers of the poró trees (Erythrina poeppigiana) should be in bloom at this time. In the nearby cloud forest we should have the opportunity of viewing Highland Tinamou, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, and Violet Sabrewing, and additional opportunities of seeing one of the most beautiful birds in the world, the Resplendent Quetzal.
Night at Cabinas Chacon.

February 4: Today we will travel to Cerro de la Muerte where we will ascend to the highest point on the Pan American Highway (11,000 feet), into montane and paramo habitat. This is the northernmost extent of paramo habitat and will afford us the opportunity to see a vegetation type that is generally found only far south in the Andes. Plants seen on previous trips include Cavendishia bracteata, Macleania rupestris, and Satyria warszewiczii (all showy members of the blue berry family), Siegesbeckia jorullensis and species of Senecio (in the aster family), Gaiadendron punctatum, (a parasitic plant with showy flowers in the Loranthaceae), Calceolaria spp. (the pocketbook flower in the snapdragon family), and Drimys winteri (in the Winteraceae). In the highlands we will look for Long-tailed and Black-and-Yellow Silky Flycatchers, Timberline Wrens, and Barred Parakeets. Acidic sphagnum bogs are found in the alpine-like paramo. We might also see tree ferns, orchids, bromeliads, and agaves. Birders can look for Volcano Hummingbirds, Slaty Flowerpiercers, Black-cheeked Warblers, and Volcano Juncos. We will return to our hotel in time for dinner.
Night at Cabinas Chacon.

February 5: Following a final morning walk in this beautiful highland setting, we will leave for San Vito de Java, just a few miles from the Panamanian border. This is the site of the Las Cruces Biological Station and the Wilson Botanical Garden. This 360 acre reserve of mid-elevation forest in the highlands of southwest Costa Rica is frequented by naturalists from all over the world. It is famous for the Wilson Botanical Garden, a 20 acre cultivated garden that contains one of the most important collections of tropical and subtropical plants in Central America, with over 2,000 native species, and the second largest collection of palms in the world. The Las Cruces Forest Reserve is composed of 340 acres of primary and secondary montane forest, and is part of the Amistad Biosphere Reserve, an International Park jointly administered by Costa Rica and Panama. We will be lodged in private cabins.
Night at Las Cruces.

February 6: We will spend today exploring the wonderful trails of Las Cruces looking for Blue-crowned Manakins, Fiery-billed Aracaris, Turquoise Cotingas, and other birds; we will also explore the marshes. We’ll walk through the Garden area enjoying both the plants and the birds that visit the garden. Hummingbirds, such as Fork-tailed Emerald, Charming Hummingbird, and White-crested Coquette, can be easily seen visiting the flowers.
Night at Las Cruces.

February 7: After breakfast we will drive down the coast and board our boat that will travel through magrove swamps and the open sea to Marenco Lodge. Our lodge is located in one of the most important natural areas in Costa Rica, the Osa Peninsula. This area has retained a large part of its virgin rain forest, thus making it one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. Due to its long isolation, the Osa Peninsula is one of the "wildest" regions of Costa Rica. In addition to the rain forest, the peninsula encompasses several other vegetation types. We should see several species of mangrove in the mangrove swamps, floating aquatics such as Utricularia spp. (carnivorous bladderworts) and Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce) in the lagoons, Pachira aquatica with its bat-pollinated flowers in the swamps and Ceiba pentantra (the kapok tree) on alluvial flats. There, too, is the Pacific Ocean, with its tidal pools, offshore coral reefs, and seabirds. We have a chance for sightings of Humpback and Sperm Whales. Our rustic lodge is in a scenic (and warm) location with comfortable accommodations and cold water showers.
Night at Marenco Beach and Rain Forest Lodge.

February 8: We will take a short boat trip to San Pedrillo Station, the northernmost Ranger Station of Corocvado National Park where we’ll walk for about an hour along the beach to a forest trail along the Rio Pargo that enters Corcovado National Park. The park conserves the most important tract of lowland tropical wet forest still extant on the Pacific coast of Central America. In this glorious rain forest we will hope for sightings of Great Tinamou, Great Currasow, and Collared Forest-Falcon, as well as Sloths and Squirrel, Howler, White-faced Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys. If we’re lucky, we may glimpse White-lipped Peccaries, tapirs and the elusive cats.
Night at Marenco Beach and Rain Forest Lodge.

February 9: Today we will go by boat to Isla del Caño National Park. Ten kilometers off the coast of the Osa Peninsula, Cano Island rises like a giant emerald from the sea. Soaring coastal cliffs, white-sand beaches and a densely forested interior make Cano one of the most dramatic landmasses in the area. Indigenous pre-Columbian burial grounds on the island have contributed to its designation as a protected area, and we will have an opportunity to visit these sites. In addition, there will be ample time for swimming, sunning and snorkeling through schools of colorful tropical fish close to shore. Cano Island is surrounded by five platforms of low reefs where over a dozen species of coral grow abundantly. These shelves house countless life forms, from sea urchins to lobsters to giant conchs. We will return to Marenco in the late afternoon, watching for dolphins along the way.
Night at Marenco Beach and Rain Forest Lodge.

February 10: Following breakfast, we will leave Marenco by boat, and transfer to the local airstrip for our flight back to San Jose area and the charming Hotel Bougainvillea. We will have a special farewell dinner in the evening.
Night at Hotel Bougainvillea.

February 11: After an early breakfast we, will return to the airport for our flight home on Continental # 1906 departing at 9:00 a.m. and arriving at Newark at 3:07 p.m. (Costa Rica is one hour later than Eastern Standard Time).