COSTA RICA
January 3 – 15, 2011
Photos courtesy Mark S. Garland
GENERAL INFORMATION
Costa Rica is a small Central American country whose natural areas support a dazzling variety of tropical wildlife. Land area is about the same as West Virginia (which is about the same as Vermont & New Hampshire combined), yet the country’s bird list is nearly 900 species. Habitats in Costa Rica include mountain forests (the highest peaks are above 12,000 feet), rain forests, dry forests, mangrove swamps, tropical marshes, and coasts on both the Pacific and the Caribbean. The country’s great species diversity is one benefit of this great habitat diversity.
Costa Rica is also a peaceful country with a social democratic system that provides quality public education, maintains high standards of public health, and offers reliable public utilities to all of its citizens. The country’s tourism infrastructure is excellent. For this trip, our group will stay in comfortable lodges surrounded by excellent natural habitat. All rooms have private hot water bathrooms. Food and water are reliably safe in all tourist areas, and meals are provided throughout the trip. Our group will travel together in a private mini-bus driven by a professional driver.
Our goals will be to visit many different habitats and to search for birds and other wildlife while we learn about tropical ecology and conservation. Our schedule is full – days will be filled with birding and other nature explorations – but there will be opportunities to skip some activities to relax around the lodges and/or explore on your own. We have not built time into the schedule for visits to the shops and museums around San José, Costa Rica’s capital, or any other city. Let us know if you’d like to see the city and we can help arrange for an extension of your stay.
This trip is limited to 12 persons.
PACE, WEATHER, AND TRAVEL CONDITIONS
The pace of our tour will be generally moderate, with most field time spent on slow-paced nature walks of two miles or less. We do plan to start early in the morning many days, as tropical wildlife is most active at dawn and shortly thereafter. Some early morning walks will be optional. We are also likely to offer one or more nocturnal excursions, after dinner, but these too will be optional. Sunrise will be about 5:30 am, sunset about 5:45 pm. Terrain is varied, with steep hills in places and with unpaved trails that can be uneven, rough, muddy, and/or slippery. Participants should be prepared for some time at higher altitudes, with two overnights at about 7200 feet and at least one day trip visiting areas above 10,000 feet.
Weather in Costa Rica varies dramatically with elevation. Lower elevations (Villa Lapas, Hacienda La Pacifica) can be hot, with highs in the 80s or low 90s, lows around 70F. High elevations (Savegre) can be chilly at night, the 40s or 50s being average, with highs typically in the 60s or 70s. Middle elevations (Bougainvillea, Arenal Observatory) are very pleasant, with highs in the 70s or low 80s, lows in the upper 50s or 60s. Rain is possible any day in Costa Rica, but generally as showers that come and go.
DATES: Monday, January 3 through Saturday, January 15, 2011
APPROXIMATE PRICE:
$3,540.00 per person, double occupancy; single supplement (payable if you request single occupancy or if we cannot find you a suitable roommate) is $510.00. A deposit of $500.00 will hold your place until September 3, 2010, when full payment becomes due. Registration must take place before October 3, 2010, but please note that our Costa Rica tours regularly fill months before the registration deadline.
PRICE INCLUDES:
Lodging for 12 nights, meals from dinner on arrival day (January 3) through breakfast on departure day (January 15), transportation around Costa Rica in a private mini-bus with professional driver, group activities and admissions, expert leadership, and resource materials.
Not included in the cost: round-trip transportation from your home to meeting point in San José, Costa Rica, bar beverages, telephone calls, laundry service, airport departure taxes (currently $26/person), gratuities for guide, driver, & lodge staffs, or other items of a personal nature. Tips for the guide and driver are customary in Costa Rica; most travelers choose to offer generous tips.
SEND DEPOSITS AND OTHER PAYMENTS TO:
NJ Audubon Eco-Travel
P.O. Box 126
Bernardsville, NJ 07924
(908) 204-8998
Make checks payable to the New Jersey Audubon Society
TOUR LEADERS:
Mark Garland lives in Cape May and works as a freelance naturalist. He has held the position of Senior Naturalist for the New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory and also for the Audubon Naturalist Society, based in the Washington, DC, area. He has led over thirty trips to Costa Rica, teaming with Charlie Gómez on most of these trips. He has led eight Costa Rica trips for the New Jersey Audubon between 2003 and 2010. He has also led Costa Rica trips for the Smithsonian Study Tour program, the Audubon Naturalist Society, and Massachusetts Audubon Society.
Carlos “Charlie” Gómez is one of Costa Rica’s most highly regarded naturalist guides. He has been leading tours for birding groups for over 25 years, mostly in his home country of Costa Rica, but also in Panama, Nicaragua, Belize, and South America. Before guiding he worked as the Station Manager of the La Selva Field Station, the cornerstone facility of the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of 64 Universities in the U.S., Latin America, and Australia. He also worked as field assistant to ornithologist Gary Stiles, principal author of A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. He is an expert birder and an exceptionally skilled all-around naturalist.