I need some advice about whether we should try and see Manuel Antonio or not. We'll be nearby (sort of) at Villa Lapas, so we're considering splitting the two days we have there between Villa Lapas and Manuel Antonio. We're going the last week of May, first week of June and here's what we have so far (first two days are up in the air):
Day 1: Fly in late; stay San Jose
Day 2: Early to Manuel Antonio
Day 3: MA Park early morning, then to Villa Lapas early afternoon
Day 4-6: Early morning birding around Villa Lapas, then to Monteverde Lodge 3 nights
Day 7-9: Arenal, Lost Iguana 3 nights
Day 10-12: Selva Verde 3 nights
Day 13: Drive to La Paz & Peace Lodge
Day 14: Falls and/or Poas, then to San Jose
Day 15: Fly home early

Would we miss out if we don't do MA? We're not interested in hanging out at the beach, but we don't know if the park is a must-see. Are we trying to cram too much in? Thanks so much!

If driving SJ to MA, I think your Day 2 plan is unworkable. So I assume you will be flying from SJ to Quepos to get to MA. I don't know how early a flight you have in mind, but you're talking about flying, then getting transportation from the airport to the park, spend an hour or two there, and then backtrack. Frankly, I think it's a bad idea. You might e better off with the extra half day at VL or tour the National Theatre and the Gold Museum in SJ before leaving for VL.

Well, I'll give you my personal very subjective reaction. Manuel Antonio park reserve is very skippable, it just seemed so...affected by man, compared to the MONTEverde cloud forest reserve, which is much more pristine, actually primordial almost.

We preferred the Monteverde cloud forest reserve. We plan to return there again someday. We won't return to the Manuel Antonio park reserve.

In fact, and again this is our subjective family experience, the best thing about the Manuel Antonio park reserve is the beaches within the park are quite nice and werren't crowded when we were there. However we live near the southern california coast so weren't there for the beaches. And, you can see a sloth in the Manuel Antonio park reserve.

You know what my favorite experiences were in Manuel Antonio (where we spent 3 nights)? #1 favorite: the butterfly garden across the street from hotel si como no #2 favorite: the best espresso milkshake in the world at Cafe Milagro #3 favorite: the fun atmosphere at Hotel Si Como No and the fact that they tried to preserve the forest when they built the hotel, so it feels like you're in a tropical place.

so for us, the Manuel Antonio Park reserve was very skippable, but we saw it. Unless you really are dying to go to the beach which we werent...

Hope this helps. Just one person's viewpoint.

Thank you both for your help--I think we'll skip Manuel Antonio and go to Villa Lapas instead for the first two nights. I really want to see Scarlet Macaws!

There is plenty to do at/from Villa Lapas for two nights. It sounds like you are interested in birding, so you'll want a visit to Carara National Park; but you should also look into visiting Tarcol, there is an even better chance of seeing Scarlet Macaw there up close (at Carara you will most likely see them fly over, but hard to find them perched.) You can arrange a mangrove birding boat trip from Villa Lapas or from the Tarcoles Lodge.

I would skip MA also.
We saw many Scarlet Macaws in Corcovado Park.

jczinn--when you say go to Tarcol, are you referring to the Tarcol Lodge or the town of Tarcoles? Thanks!

The scarlet macaws forage in Carara and environs during the day,then roost for the night in the mangroves near the mouth of the rio tarcoles. A good idea is to go to the rio tarcoles bridge [on the 'main road' from San Jose] at about 5pm and watch the birds [macaws and lots other birds] flying over toward the coast.

Another plan ,as noted above, is to be at the mouth of the river [see the Costa Rica Gateway web site for directions to Tarcol Lodge] in the morning before the birds depart, or late in the afternoon, as they arrive. The river mouth area is also very good for shorebirds, frigatebirds, and pacific screech owls.

You very well might see macaws on the river trail at Carara. We have had even better luck right on the grounds at Villa Lapas. There is a trail that follows upstream the little rio tarcolito that flows through the Villa Lapas grounds. Macaws often forage on the hillside trees along here-usually quite high up in the trees. This trail and the lodge grounds have provided us some wonderful sightings of many species.

By the way, you are visiting some splendid birding locations. Your trip list will be long and memorable for sure. Please let me know if I can be of any help with birding elsewhere on your trip.

cheers

Jerry

Lorrie, Jerry (Gannetmusic) has given you some excellent advice--yes I was referring to Tarcol Lodge, at the mouth of the Tarcoles River (I didn't go into too much detail because I wasn't quite sure how serious you were about birding, in general.) The www.Costaricagateway.com site can give you directions, and they can also arrange a birding guide and/or boat trip from Tarcol lodge, or from Villa Lapas, if you request it. Highly recommended! They are the owners of both Tarcol Lodge and Rancho Naturalista (or at least, they were a few years ago...I am unsure of the connection now because they were trying to sell it at the time.) They arranged our second trip to CR (Villa Lapas, Rancho Naturalista, and Savegre) with guides and drivers and it was excellent. (Now we are planning our third trip, in February, and are doing it on our own.)

Anyway Jerry is right, the trails at Villas Lapas are excellent and we saw many birds right there, although only fly-over Macaws. We saw many Macaws roosting from the boat trip out of Tarcol lodge--also Boat-Billed Herons, Roseate Spoonbills, etc. Plus there are day-roosting owls right by the lodge. You can see a few of my bird photos from Tarcoles on my website--
http://www.jczinn.com/costarica/costa.htm

Thanks for all the info--I have copied them for reference! We're just amateur birders and photographers, but we love looking for wildlife. I love your pictures too, especially "bad hair day"! Now we're still deciding if we should add a trip to Cano Negro while at Arenal and also hiring a private boat/guide while at Selva Verde. Do you think Cano Negro end of May/beginning of June will be a good time for wildlife/birding? Have you ever been on the Sarapiqui?

Lorrie, if you are staying at Selva Verde Lodge, it isn't really necessary to hire a private guide, because they do have resident guides and daily bird walks,which I think you can just sign up for at no extra cost. As for the Sarapiqui boat rides, they are pleasant and you willcertainly see a few birds, but I don't recall that they were especially good for birding. You can see just as much walking the river trails at Selva Verde lodge.

We stayed at Selva Verde on our first trip to CR, but this time are staying in that area at La Quinta and have booked a full day birding guide for La Selva Biological Station. That is really geared to more serious birders, but you could look into that as well--they do offer half-day general birding walks(really, only a few hours).

I can't help you with Cano Negro as that's an area we haven't gotten to yet!

The general nature walks at La Selva are great. Some good insights into tropical forest ecology and always some interesting creatures.



The entrance road to La Selva EARLY in the morning [the last half mile or so before you reach the La Selva complex]and the open areas around the cafeteria and reception area can be EXCELLENT for birding and nature observation.

We've seen Tayra, Agouti, Peccaries, and myriad birds there on early morning strolls. I
highly recommend visiting La Selva.

cheers

Jerry

Thanks again guys! Here's one last question--I've been reading about La Selva having "abundant" poisonous snakes and bullet ants, so I'm now a little paranoid. Have you had any "encounters" with anything like these and should I be concerned? Should we bring boots or higher top hiking boots (rainy season too)?

A good rule of walking in the tropical forest is to stay on the paths and watch where you put your hands and feet! La Selva's main paths are all paved so visibility is excellent and you need not be overly concerned at all. Bullet Ants are big and locals say their bite is fierce but again, just watch what you touch.

We've spent 50 or more days in Costa Rica over the years and much of our time has been outdoors. In that time we have seen only a few snakes -and only two poisonous ones. These were a fer-de-lance at La Selva, curled up well off the path and another fer-de-lance on the grounds at Selva Verde.

cheers

Jerry

Yikes !! Yer scarin me !! We trekked lots in the jungle " off path " with our kids , all wearing sandals .... Should I have the Heebie Jeebies " ?? Where the heck did I think I was , some P.E.I. potatoe field !!? lol . Next time we'll carry big sticks and my 7 yr. old goes first !! Faith .

Faith, LOL......in retrospect my comments about snakes really don't look very reassuring!

Of course fer-de-lance are relatively timid but probably would not take well to being stepped on.

Now, Faith, with your PEI connection you do have access to a perfect snake repellent. [We've used it against rattlesnakes in Ontario....]

Just bring along a recording of Stompin'Tom singing 'Bud the Spud' or 'Gumboot Clogeroo'.....play it real loud for a minute or two and you'll frighten away every living thing in the forest.....

cheers

Jerry [remembering good friends and wonderful times on PEI....]

Why ..... My mom`s here right now , if I had of known she could have brought some of our treasured stash of vinyl with her ..!! But those are under lock and key . lol . Sorry Lorrie !

No problem--I'm just wondering if I should bring along some of that loud music--just don't think it would go too well with birdwatching!! And Jerry--the two places you've seen the fer-de-lance are two of the places we're going! Bummer!!!!