Carrie

All of the postings are so informative. Thanks to all. We are planning a trip to CR and as part of our journey would like to stay someplace that will offer us the ability to see nature (monkeys, birds, etc.) up close and personal. I've been reading about many places and realize that some people want nature, but kept at a distance. Not me!! Where could we go/stay that will give us the optimal experience? Thanks in advance.

Ally

Manuel Antonio and Osa Penisula will have what you want. Both will have monkeys, the Blue Morpho Butterfly, sloths, Tucans, etc.<BR>I saw more monkeys in the Manuel Antonio area, but the Osa area will have the Scarlet Makaws that are not found in Manuel Antonio.

Kristin

Yes, Manuel Antonio is definitely a great place for wildlife. Monkeys everywhere, and dozens of other species. Be warned though, it is very popular and can be quite crowded in the high season... because of that, I found the monkeys almost disturbingly accustomed to seeing people, grabbing trash and food scraps off picnic tables, etc. If you want a really "wild" wildlife experience, there are probably better places, less crowded parks, etc. (Unfortunately, M.A. was the only one we had a chance to see).<BR><BR>I also had great wildlife viewing experiences in Tortuguero - different types of monkeys, crocodiles, birds, snakes, frogs... and it seemed much more wild and untouched to me. We weren't there at the right time, but if you can catch it when the turtles are spawning, it's supposed to be amazing.

Gina

Carrie, we planned our trip to Costa Rica because of wildlife. We chose these three places because we knew we will see there variety of birds and other animals<BR>Lapa Rios in Osa Peninsula<BR>Savegre Lodge <BR>Monteverde<BR> <BR>We also stayed in Vista del Valle near the inernational airport. We chose this place because it sounded great, got many recommendations on this board and it was close to the airport. When there we realized it is a wonderful place to see many birds and the grounds of the Vista are splendid with many blooming bushes, flowers and trees. The highlight was spotting Laughing Falcon and Squirrel Cookoo.<BR><BR>Savegre Lodge is known for Resplendent Quetzal. We saw I think more than thirty of them and very close. It was my goal to see this amazing bird and I have to admit he is more beautiful than any picture. Female Quetzal is magnificant too altough she gets much less publicity. There are 30 km of hiking trails on the property and guides Marino and Walter are fantastic and passionate guides. Further the beauty of the gorgeous stream is hard to describe in words This stream has trout fishing. Many flowers and plants and trees blooming and epihytes growing on every tree in the rainforest. However, this is much simpler place than Lapa Rios.<BR><BR>Monteverde we enjoyed for its unique flora and we spotted there a couple of quetzals, trogans, many hummingbirds, mixed flock of birds. A wonderful spot to watch hummingbirds is Hummingbird Gallery near the entrance to Monteverde Cloudforest Preserve. Flora of the cloudforest is amazing. If you ever go there take a walk during a light rain and place looks so different than whe the sun shines<BR>Also we visited in Monteverde area two nice places: Orchid Garden and much better and more active Butterfly Garden. Any other questions please ask. As you see my husband and I pay attention to our surrondings and the optimal experience of being as close as possible to nature is very imprtant to us and was a main reason for visiting Costa Rica<BR><BR>Lapa Rios was the best place to see two kinds of toucans and we watch them so close on the branches of the tropet trees right outside our porch. Also there four kind of monkeys were frequent visitors. Scarlet macaws flew every morning from the beach and sometimes landed near the lodge but they were always deep in the foliage and never had a chance to take good picture of them. But you should see my photos of the toucans. There were many other birds and animals. I have to say that Lapa Rios was the best place fpr variety of fauna

Iza

I would definitely recommend going to Osa Penninsula if you want to experience nature up close and personal. We stayed at Lapa Rios and can recommend it, but there are other (less expensive) options in the area. As to Manuel Antonio, as some previous posters noted, monkeys abound in that area but they are very used to people feeding them which makes the experience of seeing them more like visiting a zoo than visiting their natural habitat.

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