..and noticed at the tail-end..you met my howler kin too...lol...
,
..regards
PART 1
TRIP DETAILS (The boring bit!)
The small & beautifully formed country of Costa Rica has long been a magnet for serious birders. For the European birder travel to Costa Rica has always been awkward & costly requiring expensive connecting flights often with travel time in excess of twenty hours. Until now such “expeditions” have either involved rather complicated arrangements or the expense of using a bespoke Birding travel company . However the introduction of package deals has now made Costa Rica accessible to the family birder as a potential family holiday venue whilst also making it a viable option for those birders looking for a Spring or Autumn break with the offer of something a little more exotic than Mallorca or Lesvos.
In May 2007 First Choice introduced package holiday deals involving a direct flight from London Gatwick to Guanacaste province in Costa Rica with accommodation available at a number of North Pacific coast resort hotels mainly in & around the Gulf of Papagayo . The season runs from May to October & offers 1,2 or 3 week packages with the provision for 2, 4 or 7 night split venue packages –the 2 night being for adrenaline junkies (whitewater tubing, Zip-lining, etc); the 4 night “Cloud forest adventure” involving short stays at Arenal & then Monteverde (lots of good birding prospects) with an additional river trip on the Rio Frio near Cano Negro; the 7 night “Grand Tour of Costa Rica” -involving a 7 night trip from west to east reaching the Caribbean coast before returning back to the Pacific coast. All of these 2 week options involve spending the remaining time at Pacific Coast resort-style hotels.
At the time of writing this report (27/07/08) I did a quick internet search of flights/holiday deals. A British Airways flight from London Heathrow to San Jose C.R for 2 weeks leaving on Friday 19th September & returning on Friday 3rd October is priced at £1,804 for 2 seats. Travel time is nearly 16 hrs & involves a Miami connecting flight.
A 2 week holiday in Lesvos staying at the Kalloni II hotel (bed & breakfast + airport transfers) leaving on Thursday 18th September & returning on thurday 2nd October is priced at £1066 for 2 people.
A 2 week fully inclusive package (all food + drinks+airport transfer) at the Papagayo Allegro hotel flying from London Gatwick direct to Liberia, Costa Rica leaving on Friday 19th September & returning Friday 3rd October (11 hours flying time –no connecting flights) is priced at £1618 for two people –cheaper than the BA flights & not a lor dearer than the package deal to Lesvos but with a much more exotic range of birds available. Even if you stayed in the coastal hotel for the full duration of the holiday a number of great sites are accessible for day trips in the Guanacaste area (Santa Rosa NP, Palo Verde NP, Rincon de La Vieja, Heliconias lodge) whilst the Arenal or Monteverde areas are also within easy reach but are best appreciated with at least a 1 night stay in one of the many lodges available there.
There are some freelance guides available who can take you to the appropriate sites as daytrips or who can arrange your own bespoke birding tour using your Pacific Hotel as an initial & final base. I would have no hesitation in suggesting the services of Carlos Jimenez as such a guide ( http://www.ecoexplorercr.com/ ) -more about Carlos later.
THE TRIP:
This report is essentially our experience of a First Choice Costa Rica package deal.
We spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica from july 4th to july 19th (2008). Our party comprised of myself, my wife, my 11yr old daughter, my 15yr old son & my 70yr old mother-in-law (aye, unbelievable but sadly true!) –none of my family have any interest in birds though my wife is into wildlife & wilderness. I booked a 2 week package which included the 7-night Grand Tour (which involved a number of activities such as white-water tubing & horse-riding) in an unsuccessful attempt to discourage my mother-in-law but the game old bird called my bluff!!!
The First Choice CR flight departs on Fridays @ 09:15am from London Gatwick arriving 11 hrs later @ Liberia in Costa Rica’s Pacific North West (they are 7 hrs behind British Summer Time). First Choice long-haul flights are generally of good quality with their economy seating offering a good 33 inch seat pitch. I’m nearly 6ft 3in tall & 17+ stone but had no problems with the seats or the in-flight comfort. The airport at Liberia is small & rather basic. We arrived in a tropical thunderstorm & got very wet as aircraft disembarkation was fully open to the sky! Negotiating airport immigration control was rather slow & cumbersome whilst check-in on our return flight was a real zoo –despite the extra cost it’s well worth pre-booking your seats. The return trip is usually about 10 hours long with a late afternoon CR departure & overnight flight arriving at Gatwick around 10am UK time.
Hotel transfers from Liberia were all generally under 1 hour in a good quality air-conditioned coach. As we were on the Grand tour out transfer was nearly 2 hours as our first night was spent at a hotel which was also a working ranch –Hacienda Guachepelin. On the trip to the Hacienda (up a long bumpy dirt-track road) a few birds were seen including Inca, Ruddy & Common Ground-Doves, Great-tailed Grackles, Roadside Hawk, overflying Parrots (unidentified Amazona sp. -probably White-fronted) & a couple of cracking Turquoise-browed Motmots on power lines. We met the others who would form our group for the next 7 days -21 people in all & none of them birders! Our guide for the trip was a charismatic Costa Rican called Diego who had a great sense of humour & also proved to be a pretty decent birder.
There was little opportunity for birding on the first night but I managed some birding before breakfast next day (about 45 mins worth) in & around the immediate grounds of the Hacienda. Birds seen included Turkey & Black Vultures, White-tipped & White-winged Doves, Orange-fronted Parakeet, Brown-hooded Parrot, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Social Flycatcher, Streaked Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Masked Tityra, House Wren, Rufous-naped Wren, Clay-coloured Robin, Blue-grey Tanager, Palm Tanager, Blue-black Grassquit & Great-tailed Grackle. Walking slightly further afield would have produced much more!
After breakfast we had a 90 minute horseride through deciduous ‘dry’ forest –which I was apprehensive of in advance but which proved to be quite enjoyable (only my 2nd time on a horse –last was 26 years ago!). This was followed by Whitewater tubing. Whitewater tubing is not the ideal activity for a middle-aged fatman. I found the whole experience of running rapids & small waterfalls while sitting in a rubber-ring very unpleasant. I came out of the ring on a number of occasions & at one point was convinced I was going to drown. Being heavy my ring sat low in the water offering no protection from rocks –by the end of the 2km tubing adventure I had horrendous bruises over my right thigh/ hip /back with deep bleeding gouges & grazes over the base of my back which required antiseptic dressings. I also lost my footwear (as did many of our group). Certainly the whole experience was a real adrenaline rush but take my advice & skip this activity (a few of our group had the good sense to do so) –there are Trogons, Parrots, Tyrant-Flycatchers & Woodcreepers in the riverside woods in need of your attention!
After lunch we boarded our bus for an almost 3 hour trip to the Arenal area with a few stops on route for Howler Monkeys, our first Toucans & some scenic views of Arenal Volcano. The “Grand Tour” includes a 3 night stay in the Arenal area & according to the First Choice brochure we were due to stay in “the Los Lagos hotel (or similar)” –unfortunately for me we got similar in the form of the Arenal Springs hotel -more comfortable rooms (cabins) than the Los Lagos but with poorer birding in the hotel grounds. The Los Lagos sits below some quality rain forest on the slopes of the Arenal volcano with easy access via a track from the back of the hotel. I still got a chance to bird this as one of the Arenal days involved an afternoon of canopy Zip-lining which was accessed from this track via the hotel (see below). We were in bed by 9:30 pm & I was up @ 5:30 am the next morning for some early morning birding in the hotel grounds . I got cracking dawn views of the Arenal Volcano with some small lava flows being visible in the dim dawn light but got little serious birding done as we had an early start.
................to be continued..........
Fantastic Steve..lovely report and the pictures are real great my friend...keep it coming..and give a hug to your Out-law from me...her presence made the trip more intersting didnt it....and noticed at the tail-end..you met my howler kin too...lol...,..regards
Hi Steve,
I seriously considered this package deal as a cheap way in to CR. 1st Choice also go from Manchester. Might still do so for a repeat visit - not done the NW yet.
Will be interested to hear how the "off-season" birding was - I presume 1st Choice get great deals on accommodation as they don't go in the peak tourist months.
Interesting too as I went with my non-birding wife.
Great account so far - takes me back.
H