Costa Rica Photographic Workshop/ Tour
22nd March till 2nd April 2025
Sat 22 MAR 2025
DEPART FROM SINGAPORE TO MADRID.
Arrival to Madrid, where we will spend the night and rest before the next flight to San Jose in Costa Rica.
Night in Madrid, Holiday Inn express Madrid Airport or similar.
Sun 23 MAR
ARRIVAL TO COSTA RICA
After a nice Churros breakfast in Madrid, we will return to the airport and fly to San Jose. Arrival and Reception at the Juan Santamaría International Airport. Transfer to the Hotel in San José.
Accommodation Bougainvillea Hotel in Mountain View rooms. Breakfast included. (room without a/c)
Mon 24 MAR
SAN JOSE – SAN GERARDO DE DOTA
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure in the morning to San Gerardo de Dota in private transport. Approximate duration: 2 hours
Accommodation Mirador de Quetzales Lodge in Standard rooms. Breakfast included.
Tue 25 MAR
HIGHLANDS BIRDING & OBSERVATION QUETZAL TOUR
Departure at 5:20 am. The Tour is a gentle walk through the cloud forest to observe the Quetzal habitat. Accompanied by an expert guide, you can enjoy the experience of observing and identifying a diversity of birds with unique characteristics, in addition to receiving intimate knowledge of the area. Duration: 6 hours approximately according to the group's rhythm.
Important: the activity is done in the property next to your staying lodge.
Return to the lodge for breakfast.
Schedule activity: USING THE DECK FOR HUMMINGBIRD PHOTOGRAPHY & OBSERVATION
Accommodation Mirador de Quetzales Lodge in Standard rooms. Breakfast included.
Wed 26 MAR
SAN GERARDO DE DOTA – PALMAR NORTE • VISITA A SIERPE
Breakfast at the Hotel. Departure at 7 am to Palmar Norte in the Pacific South. Approximate duration: 3 hours
Arrival to Sierpe at 10 am approximately and departure to the Mangrove Tour at 11 am.
MANGROVE TOUR ON THE SIERPE RIVER
Discover a hidden paradise in the mangroves of the Sierpe River, located in Costa Rica. The Sierpe River serves as the gateway to the largest virgin mangrove in Central America and is a refuge for numerous species of birds and other wild animals.
The natural beauty of the Sierpe River and mangrove canals is breathtaking, and the mangrove forest itself is mesmerizing.
Enjoy the boat tour to observe various animal species of the mangrove present in the area. The tour lasts approximately 3 hours by boat with a roof. During the tour, you will learn about the beauty and uniqueness of the tropical flora and fauna of the delicate ecosystem of the Sierpe River from an expert guide.
Return to the lodge for resting and lunch (not included).
Accommodation Brunka Lodge in Standard rooms. Breakfast included.
FROG NIGHT TOUR IN THE SIERPE MANGROVE
Departure around 5:10 pm to Sierpe to meet the local guide. We will board a small boat to cross the Sierpe river and then walk for 30 minutes on a gravel road to get to a forest trail where we are going to walk through mature and riparian forest. We will search for frogs near the stream where Sierpe's water tanks lie, so the condition of this stream is pristine; we all take care of it, since this is our town's water source.
We are not only going to look for frogs, snakes, and insects, but also for glowing mushrooms, and even Kinkajous if we're lucky! This tour is better during the rainy season (late May-Nov), but we do get to see beautiful frogs and cool stuff all year round. Duration: approximately 3 hours.
Thu 27 MAR
PALMAR – PUERTO JIMENEZ – CORCOVADO
Breakfast at the Hotel. Departure in the morning to Carate in Puerto Jimenez. Approximate duration: 3.5 hours
Once we arrive to Puerto Jimenez, we continue towards Carate to the operations office of the La Leona Ecolodge Hotel. The maximum time to get to Carate is 1:00 p.m. due to the tide and the walk along the beach.
Important: from Carate the group travel in two 4x4 cars from Puerto Jimenez to Carate.
We start the walk to La Leona Ecolodge. It is a 3.5 km walk along the beach. Both entry and exit from the Lodge are on the beach by walking. The luggage is stored for a few hours in the operations office and then taken to the Lodge via horse cart.
Accommodation Leona Eco Lodge in Tents Front Beach. Full board included.
NIGHT WALKING TOUR
Departure at 7:30 p.m. from the Lodge with the guide. From the La Leona ravine and going up to a trail which will allow you to explore the forest in search of adventure. This walk is special to see animals that are active at night, as well as to hear the sounds of the jungle. Among the animals you may see are frogs, insects, snakes, and if you're lucky, a tarantula. The are available rubber boots in different sizes for the walk. Important to bring your own flashlight.
Fri 28 MAR
CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK TOUR (at La Leona sector)
Departure from the Lodge in the morning with the guide. The entrance to the Corcovado National Park is located just 500 meters from the Leona Eco Lodge. The Leona sector is the main land access to Corcovado National Park. This is a walk that goes along the beach and crosses the Madrigal, Cementerio, Paraíso and El Barco trails. Most of the trails are within the secondary forest, but its entire upper part and surrounding mountains are primary forest. The trail is completely flat, and we only have to cross a river and several small ravines. On this walk we can observe the Ceibo trees (one of the largest on the Peninsula), “matapalos” trees, naked Indian trees, and jobo trees; endemic plants of the neotropics such as heliconias, and vines, fruit trees, medicinal plants, bromeliads, and epiphytes. Generally, we can see monkeys, anteaters, macaws, coatis, squirrels, tolomucos, mountain goats, many species of birds, such as turkeys, trogons, hummingbirds, tanagers, falcons, herons, among others. Sometimes, in a lucky day, we have seen the puma, the tapir, and the sloth bear. Duration: approximately 6 hours.
Accommodation Leona Eco Lodge in Tents Front Beach. Full board included.
Sat 29 MAR
CORCOVADO – PUERTO JIMENEZ – MANUEL ANTONIO
Breakfast at the Hotel. Departure at 7 am back to Carate by the same access road, walking along the beach. Arrival at the operations office, where the 4x4 taxis will be waiting to get going to Puerto Jimenez. Our private transport will be waiting to continue to Manuel Antonio. Approximate duration: 5 hours
Accommodation Si Como No Hotel in Superior rooms. Breakfast included.
NIGHT TOUR IN THE MANUEL ANTONIO JUNGLE
Departure at 5:30 pm. An expert guide will lead you to discover the night side of Manuel Antonio’s Forest.
The Manuel Antonio jungle night tour is perfect to see frogs, lizards, snakes, tarantulas, insects, scorpions, spiders, kinkajous, and some other species in their habitat. You will enjoy a unique perspective of the jungle and its wildlife at night. According to research, most species are nocturnal, so they are exclusively active at night. This high biodiversity remains hidden by camouflage, which means that the animals are there, but it is not easy to find them without the expert gaze of an experienced guide.
Sun 30 MAR
MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK TOUR
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for the National Park Tour.
Manuel Antonio National Park is an exotic and biodiverse rainforest, it is a 33-year-old national treasure. There's plenty of wildlife you'll want to stop and watch (and learn about), all in their natural, stunning habitat. Watch sloths and numerous monkeys’ species travel through the tree canopy while hunting nocturnal silky anteaters and several types of non-venomous snakes that rest in the rainforest. Listen to the songs of the various birds that glide over your group, curiously in search of adventure.
See how many different types of flora and fauna you can see in this nature walk. Your experienced guide will help you spot this easily missed wildlife and take photos through it. You can take an additional hike through forest trails or enjoy pristine beaches after your guided adventure ends.
Accommodation Si Como No Hotel in Superior rooms. Breakfast included.
Mon 31 MAR
MANUEL ANTONIO – ARENAL
Breakfast at the Hotel. Departure to the Arenal Volcano area. Approximate duration: 4.5 hours
Accommodation Arenal Observatory Hotel in Standard rooms. Breakfast included.
The hotel is nested in an 870-acre property uniquely located right between Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal. The group can explore the rainforest, waterfalls, streams, and 11 kilometers (7 miles) of trails, seeking wildlife. Arenal Observatory Lodge is a renowned destination for bird watching in Costa Rica, with more than 500 species of birds noted so far in our forest. In addition, the hotel has: spectacular views of the volcano and Lake Arenal, 350-hectare nature reserve, 11 km of self-guided trails at the foot of the Arenal volcano, bird watching spots, with more than 500 species to see, observation towers to explore the forest from above.
Tue 1 APRIL
CAÑO NEGRO WILDLIFE REFUGE TOUR
Breakfast at the Hotel. Departure at 07:00 hours towards the community of Caño Negro, touring landscapes and plantations of pineapple, teak, and yucca among others. The Caño Negro Wetland enjoys the RAMZAR category of importance for humanity according to UNESCO. We will meet the local guide and we board the boat to enjoy a natural and wild spectacle. We enter to the heart of the wetland for enjoying incredible flora and fauna in its natural state. We can see alligators, iguanas, sloth monkeys, turtles, and birds. Then we will reach to Don Lulo’s place, our host, who lives on the banks of the river in the middle of nature. We get off our boat and enjoy a typical peasant meal, in addition to sharing experiences of the residents and meeting the Costa Rica of 50 years ago. Then we return by boat to our transport for the return to La Fortuna.
Accommodation Arenal Observatory Hotel in Standard rooms. Breakfast included.
Wed 2 APRIL
ARENAL – ALAJUELA • JUAN SANTAMARIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure to Alajuela to the International airport to take your departure flight.
Approximate duration: 3 hours.
Flight back home.
Thu 4 APRIL Due the time difference and the long flights, we will reach Singapore on Thu 4 Apr.
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Costa Rica Photography Workshop
- Cost 8Pax; SGD 7,760/pax.
- Cost 6Pax; SGD 8,475/pax.
- Single Room Supplement: SGD1,550.00
Optional Extension Bolivia Photographic Adventure
2nd to 12th April 2025
Once the Costa Rica Workshops finish on 2nd April, I’m planning to do an extension to Bolivia to visit the “Salar de Uyuni” the Uyuni Salt Flat and surrounded areas.
- La Paz (Bolivia)
- Uyuni
- The Red Lagoon
- Sucre
This will be a discovery tip or more an expedition trip to discover Bolivia, so we will book the flights and hotels but will be moving around by ourself using local transportation and with local guides on certain areas. I invite the adventure photographers to join me on this amazing country of an unforgettable photography experience.
Optional Extension Bolivia Photography Adventure Approx. Cost
- 2,500 to 3,000 US$ per pax.
- On this part of the trip we will be sharing all the expenses and divided by the number of travellers
