Costa Rica: Biology

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Length

13 days

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Destinations

San Jose & Cahuita

Program includes

  • Roundtrip Airfare
  • 12 Nights of Accommodation
  • Daily Continental Breakfast
  • All Ground Transportation
  • Historical & Cultural Walking Tours
  • Nocturnal Wildlife Tour
  • Travelers Insurance
  • Full Time Guidance & Assistance

Program highlights

  • Cahuita National Park Wildlife Tour
  • Tortuguero Sea Turtle Museum
  • Bribri Educational Day & Waterfalls
  • Manzanillo and Gandoca National Park Tour
  • Rio Fortuna Waterfall
  • Arenal Volcano National Park
  • Santa Elena and Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserves
  • Carara National Park
  • Manuel Antonio National Park
  • Group Surfing Lessons

Itinerary

Day 1 – Departure

  • Depart for San Jose, Costa Rica
  • San Jose Airport Pickup; Hotel Check In
  • Program Orientation
  • Welcome Dinner & Group Discussions – The group will be taken for an authentic dinner with a variety of menu options to cater all diets.

Day 2 – Cahuita

  • Breakfast – Day Briefing
  • Transfer to Caribbean Coast – Cahuita (approx. 3 hours)
  • Check In & Town Orientation
  • Group Surfing Lessons – The gentle waves of the Caribbean coast are the perfect place for beginners to learn to surf.
  • Nocturnal Wildlife Hike – This is a great way to discover a big variety of nocturnal animals that live in the coastal tropical rainforest. At night is when this area really awakens. The darkness will give a very different feel to the hike and their eye reflex makes it easier to spot animals.

Day 3 – Cahuita

  • Breakfast – Day Briefing
  • Cahuita National Park Wildlife Tour – Local Flora &  Fauna.The park was originally designated as Cahuita National Monument in 1970, and re-designated as a national park in 1978.
  • Bribri Educational Day – Traditional Meal, Medicinal Plants, Chocolate Making, Sustaining Traditions, Discussions about Shamanism
  • Bribri Waterfalls

Day 4 – Cahuita

  • Breakfast – Day Briefing
  • Travel to Manzanillo (approx. 40 mins)
  • Naturalist Tour of Manzanillo and Gandoca National Park – The Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge protects almost 70% of the southern Caribbean coast and includes some of the area’s most beautiful beaches. The refuge officially begins at the Cocles River (one mile south of Puerto Viejo) and extends 19 miles south to the Sixaola River at the Panamanian border. The refuge protects beautiful beaches, coral reefs, lowland tropical forests and several of the country’s most endangered habitats including the only jolillo palm swamp in Costa Rica.
  • Return to Cahuita

Day 5 – Tortuguero

  • Breakfast – Day Briefing
  • Transfer to Tortuguero (approx. 3.5 hours)
  • Check In & Town Orientation
  • Tortuguero Sea Turtle Museum – In this  museum and conservation center, the group will have the opportunity to learn more about the different species of sea turtles that nest and lay their eggs on the beaches of Tortuguero. Better understand their life, habitat, why it is so important to protect them and also learn about the efforts that are made to preserve their habitats.

Day 6 – Tortuguero

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Tortuguero National Park Wildlife Tour and Boat Excursion – Tortuguero National Park is another significant turtle nesting site in Costa Rica including the endangered green turtle. Home to around 170 species of reptiles and amphibians, this park is also the habitat of 60 species of mammals and 300 different species of birds as well.

Day 7 – La Fortuna

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Transfer to Arenal (approx. 3 hours)
  • Rio Fortuna Waterfall – La Fortuna Waterfall is a thundering, towering cascade of water that hurdles down a steep canyon along La Fortuna river near the Arenal volcano.

Day 8 – La Fortuna

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Arenal Volcano National Park Wildlife Tour – The location of Costa Rica’s most active volcano until as recently as 2010, Arenal National Park contains a bizarre landscape of solidified lava flows, lush natural forest and tropical flora and fauna which includes howler monkeys, toucans and over 350 bird species.

Day 9 -Monteverde

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Transfer to Monteverde (approx. 3 hours)
  • Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve Wildlife Tour

Day 10 – Monteverde

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Wildlife Tour – The Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve of the Tropical Science Center is the first private area for the conservation of wildlife founded in Costa Rica in October of 1972.

Day 11 – Manuel Antonio

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Transfer to Carara National Park (approx. 2 hours)
    Carara National Park Wildlife Tour – The park is known as a birder’s paradise, but you can spot here many other species of animals. The park is rich with fauna and flora, like insects, spiders, monkeys, huge trees, and the destination is favorite with wildlife enthusiasts, and bird watchers.
  • Continue to Manuel Antonio (approx. 1.5 hours)
    Town Orientation

Day 12 -San Jose

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Manuel Antonio National Park Wildlife Tour Transfer to San Jose (approx. 2.5 hours)
  • Souvenir Market
  • Farewell Dinner & Program Closing

Day 13 – Return

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Airport Transfer
  • Depart San Jose, Costa Rica for Home

All of our programs are 100% customizable

Is there an experience you would like to provide that isn’t included in our itineraries?
Let’s add it!

Are there sites that better fit your subject than the ones provided?
Let’s swap them!

Contact us to get started building a fully-customized itinerary.
Tell us your dream program and we’ll make it a reality!

All of our programs are 100% customizable

Is there an experience you would like to provide that isn’t included in our itineraries?
Let’s add it!

Are there sites that better fit your subject than the ones provided?
Let’s swap them!

Contact us to get started building a fully-customized itinerary.
Tell us your dream program and we’ll make it a reality!