JALC’s Annual Central American Adventure
The Birds and Natural History of Costa Rica
January 4 - 11, 2011
Land Package Tour Price, $2,450.00 (not including airfare) includes:
Airport Transfers at San Jose – Guided Ground Transportation – Meals and Accommodations – Accompanied by an Expert English Speaking Costa Rican Naturalist Guide – Taxes, Service Charges, Gratuities (except for Local Naturalist Guide and the Driver on the Entire Tour which is left to your discretion.)
*Tour price is based on double-occupancy and a minimum of ten paying participants.
Prices are subject to change without notice.
For current airfare and further information: contact Life Science Faculty, Prof. Nelda W. Hinckley at (618) 549-5588 or 457-7676 ext. 8323, Room C255, or neldahinckley@jalc.edu.
Students register for Biology 240, 3 hours credit.
Send $100 deposit check, payable to Caligo Ventures, Inc., to Nelda Hinckley, John A. Logan College, 700 Logan College Road, Carterville, IL 62918.
Costa Rica is a bird watcher’s dream. Few places in the world can boast of so many different birds in such a small area, 820 species of birds - more than all of the United States and Canada combined – have been reported in Costa Rica, a country the size of West Virginia.
Bird watchers are delighted when they hear that there are 75 bird families represented here that include 51 species of hummingbirds, 48 warblers, and 45 tanagers. Not only is Costa Rica’s avifauna diverse, but also well protected by a world-renowned national park system, and well studied by scientists from around the world.
Lying between two great continents, each with its peculiar avifauna, Costa Rica is a land bridge where the faunas of the two continents meet and intermingle. Largely due to its geographical position and the diversity of its habitats, Costa Rica’s avifauna is exceptional and its interesting and diverse mammal population is equally exciting.
This tour will introduce you to the incredible range of habitats present in this small nation… cloud forest, elfin forest, paramo, and humid coastal forest, lowland and mid-elevation rainforest.
January 4 Upon arrival in San Jose, we will meet at the airport and immediately drive to San Gerardo de Dota area, to our mountain hotel, Savegre Lodge. Located in the Central Highlands of the Talamanca Mountains, these cozy cabins are located on a remote, highland farm. 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. Dinner and night at Savegre Lodge.
January 5 After breakfast we will drive to Sierpe area and board a *boat along the Sierpe River and out into open sea, arriving at Casa Corcovado Lodge. Situated high above a hill, nestled in the rainforest and cooled by the Pacific Ocean, the lodge is located on a 170-acre private reserve bordering Corcovado National Park in one of Costa Rica’s most important natural areas, the Osa Peninsula. It was carefully designed and built by an American naturalist with more than 25 years of local experience, and offers accommodations constructed with the highest concern for conservation in harmony with the landscape and the environment. We arrive in time for lunch and then enjoy a walk in one of the trails around the lodge in the afternoon. This area has retained a large part of its virgin rainforest, thus making it one of the most biologically diverse regions left in the world. Dinner and night at Casa Corcovado Lodge.
January 6 Full day visit at Corcovado National Park. This remote and rugged National Park on the Osa Peninsula protects the largest expanse of Pacific Lowland Rainforest in Central America. We will travel into the park by boat, and spend a whole day exploring the trails, enjoying a swim in the cooler river pools, and taste a picnic on the palm-fringed beach. Visitors are awed by the grandeur of the trees and the incredible plant diversity. Sightings of Great Tinamou, Great Currasow, Collared Forest-Falcon, Rufous Piha, White-throated Shrike Tanager, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager are possible, along with sloths, Squirrel Monkeys (one of the last strongholds of the species), howler, White-faced Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys, White-lipped Peccary and the chance for a tapir or one of the elusive cats may be seen. Night at Casa Corcovado Lodge.
January 7 After breakfast, we will be transferred to Sierpe via *boat where our motorcoach will be waiting to continue drive to the Las Cruces Area, with a stop en-route for lunch. Our home for the next two nights, at over 1,000 meters, is the idyllic Wilson Tropical Gardens. Night at Wilson Botanical Gardens.
January 8 Full day to explore the area. Wilson is primarily a research station, but offers guests some of the best birdwatching in Costa Rica. One of the more surprising things about Wilson is the range of species from both high and low elevations that seem to meet here. This mid-elevation tropical rain forest is home to such specialties as Blue-crowned Manakin and Fiery-billed Aracari, and the gardens produce numerous hummingbirds such as Fork-tailed Emerald, Charming Hummingbird, and White-crested Coquette. Night at Wilson Botanical Gardens.
January 9 & 10 After breakfast, we will return to the San Gerardo Valley Highlands and the cozy cabins at Savegre Lodge. In the nearby cloud forest we should have the opportunity to view Highland Tinamou, Black Guan, Silvery-throated Jay and one of the loveliest birds in the world, the Resplendent Quetzal. Another trip take us toward 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. In the highlands we will look for Long-tailed and Black-and-Yellow Silky Flycatcher, Sooty and Mountain Robin, Flame-throated Warbler, Sooty-faced and Yellow-thighed Finch, Timberline Wren, and if we’re lucky, Barred Parakeet. In the alpine-like paramo we will look for Volcano Hummingbirds, Slaty Flowerpiercer, Black-cheeked Warbler, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Pegbilled Finch and Volcano Junco. Nights at Savegre Lodge.
January 11 Following a hearty breakfast, we will drive back to San Jose for our flight home from the international airport. Required check in time at the airport, will give time for some browsing its numerous shops.