Great Green Macaw
Endemics and Near-endemics of Costa Rica
Bird-less-visited parts of Costa Rica on this all-inclusive two-week journey!
February 8-22 2025 8 participants From $5,300
Trip Highlights
Carefully Crafted Itinerary
Bird Areas Less Traveled
Great Guide to Participant Ratio
You'll visit amazing and varied ecosystems, maximizing your birding opportunities. You'll also experience Costa Rica differently through interactions with locals and leaders of conservation efforts.
You'll bird southern reserves rich with biodiversity that far fewer tourists visit. You'll also take part in a pelagic birding trip off of Cabuyo.
Your primary guide, Luis Barrantes, is a Tico who knows the flora and fauna exceptionally well. Your other guide, the company owner, will be on his 27th trip to Costa Rica. There will be a maximum of 4:1 participant-to-guide ratio.
On this trip, you are not merely looking at birds and checking another one off your life list, though you'll do that hundreds of times, too. You will return home with a wealth of knowledge and will be an ambassador for Costa Rican conservation efforts. You will meet community leaders and hear from our guides about the conservation challenges locals face.
What Sets this Trip Apart from Others?
All-Inclusive: From the moment you step off your plane in San Jose to the moment of departure, all expenses are covered except some alcohol and items of a personal nature. Your registration covers your laundry, food, lodging, transportation, guides, and gratuities.
Great Value: Our trip visits top, less visited birding hotspots in Costa Rica, at a fantastic value. No other two-week trips match our price.
Meet Locals: At the trip's conclusion, you'll bird our guide's yard and tour his home to meet his spouse. Birding at his property always adds a few new species.
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Pelagic Birding: The trip ends with a pelagic birding trip into the Pacific Ocean, where you'll see many unusual bird species.
Itinerary at a Glance:
February 8: Arrival
February 9 & 1O: San Gerado de Dota
February 11 & 12: San Isido de General
February 13 & 14: San Vito
February 15 & 16: Piedras Blancas area
February 17 & 18: Tarcoles
February 19 & 20: Montezuma (pelagic birding)
February 21: San Jose
February 22: Fly home
Click here for a detailed itinerary
We acknowledge that our travels impact the climate. To mitigate our carbon footprint, we work with Sustainable Travel International, a non-profit focused on offering true carbon offsetting. We calculate the footprint from everyone's travels and then purchase a carbon offset greater than our overall footprint.
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We also contribute to Observatorios de Aves de Costa Rica, an organization that works on bird conservation and education in Costa Rica.
Golden-hooded Tanager
Violet Sabrewing photo by tour participant Don Killer
Steve Eshbaugh's experience includes working as a naturalist in Yellowstone National Park and many years for private nature centers. He has worked mapping prairie dogs for black-footed ferret restoration efforts, as a field botanist, and on the Everglades Restoration Project. Steve has visited Costa Rica more than 25 times.
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He holds a bachelor's in botany and a master's in environmental education. Steve led his first trip to Costa Rica in 1999.
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Steve loves sharing his knowledge of the natural world with other travelers.
IBlue Dacnis
Sunbittern
Resplendent Quetzal
Scarlet-capped Manakin
Red-legged Honeycreeper