Costa Rica | Hog Island Audubon Teen Camp

Individual arrivals in Miami. Leaders will meet and make way to hotel. Dinner together as a group.

Early flight to Costa Rica as a group. Depart for the Sarapiquí region and Selva Verde Lodge. Make a stop at La Paz Waterfall Gardens, located in the cloud forest near Poás Volcano. More than two dozen hummingbird species have been recorded at the garden's feeders. Also observe one of the largest butterfly observatories in the world, bromeliad gardens, and striking waterfalls. Enjoy lunch on the premises around 1 pm. Check into Selva Verde Lodge and receive a warm welcome, learn about its history, and surroundings. Before dinner attend a Welcome Orientation to your program. This evening after dinner take a guided walk around the lodge in search of nocturnal creatures including frogs, bats, kinkajous and hundreds of species of insects.

Early morning bird walk around lodge grounds before breakfast. After breakfast, take a guided hike in the private rainforest reserve of Selva Verde. This large tract of primary and secondary premontane wet forest is teeming with avian species such as the Great Tinamou, Gartered Trogon, Keel-billed Toucan, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, and Red-lored Parrot. Study the forest as your guide discusses the complex details of the ecosystem and how life in the rainforest thrives. This afternoon, depart for the nearby town of Puerto Viejo and board a river boat for a cruise on the Sarapiquí River. This fairly large river is bordered by tropical riparian forest. We will have a chance to see a variety of reptiles, mammals, and many bird species such as Rufescent, Fasciated, and Bare-throated Tiger-Herons, Neotropic Cormorants, Anhingas, and Ringed and Amazon Kingfishers. This evening, listen to a presentation on the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

Early this morning, visit the Organization for Tropical Studies La Selva Biological Station (OTS), one of the world's leading institutions in tropical education and research. Receive a talk by a researcher at OTS and then hike along the trails in search of coati, collared peccary, mantled howler monkey, agouti, three-toed sloth, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Crested Guan, Great Tinamou, Pied Puffbird, and Spectacled Owl. Return to the lodge for lunch. This afternoon, participate in a reforestation project at a nearby farm. Planting native tree species allows the local people to benefit from rainforest conservation through sustainable wood production and habitat protection for wildlife, including the critically endangered Great Green Macaw. Visit Tirimbina Biological Reserve this evening to learn about the fascinating lives of bats.

Depart Selva Verde and head to Arenal. Make stops for birding along the way at various interesting locations. Explore Bogarín Nature Reserve in La Fortuna for the chance to spot the Russet-naped Wood-Rail, White-throated Crake, and Uniform Crake. Have lunch in town then explore the area surrounding Arenal Road and Lake Arenal, near Mirador Road. Continue on to the Arenal Observatory Lodge.

Today spend the full day exploring the trails at the lodge. Tonight after dinner, take a night hike with your guide.

Early departure for the airport with boxed breakfast for afternoon flight home. En route, stop at San Luis Canopy Park for some birding. Holbrook can assist with round trip flights to Miami.