Day 0: arrival
I rented the perfect car for the trip: a Suzuki Jimny with four-wheel drive. The car needed to look the part, not just be able to get me from A to B. And the Jimny definitely looks straight out of Jurassic Park. I made the drive from SJO to Monteverde around dusk, which only took around two and a half hours. The final hour was in complete darkness, which coincided with the ascent into the cloud forest region. The road seemed pretty good though, so not an issue. It was still a really loopy road, but nothing that the car couldn’t handle. I got to the Los Pinos cabins in Santa Elena, the major town of the area, at around 8pm. Because it was the low season the place was pretty reasonably priced, and they even have a couple of trails inside the property, where I walked that night. Definitely would recommend staying there.
Day 1: Monteverde
The first proper day of the trip! My original plan was to spend three nights in the La Fortuna area, but right before booking I decided to split it: one day would get assigned to Monteverde, and the other two would be slightly to the south of La Fortuna, near the town of La Tigra. The reason was that La Fortuna was pretty pricey, and also this way I could sneak in some birdwatching in Monteverde, which is perhaps the most famous area in Costa Rica. I wanted to maximize my chances of seeing stuff so I hired a Esteban Mendez, a local guide that specializes in birds. And I’m glad that I did! Thanks to him I not only got a chance to see the ‘big three’ of the region (Resplendent Quetzal, Three-Wattled Bellbird, and Keel-Billed Toucan) all in one morning, but also a lot more species that I did not know about going in. If you’re interested in a tour like this, I can’t recommend Esteban enough.
After all of that I had a three and a half hour drive left to my next destination: the Birds and Breakfast lodge near La Tigra. Normally I would not have scheduled all this for one day, and would have done at least two nights in Monteverde. I only did it this way because my number of days were limited. And even though it was a lot, I don’t regret having added Monteverde because it was so fun. The drive to La Tigra was mostly uneventful, though I did notice how full the La Fortuna area was as I drove through it. And this was the low season, so I imagine things are a lot worse in the high season. So I don’t know if I would recommend it for a trip like this. If you’re interested in adventure tourism and that sort of thing then sure, go ahead. But to me birdwatching is an activity best done away from the crowds.
Day 2: Pocosol
Waking up at Birds and Breakfast was bliss. Not only was I greeted by an amazing traditional Costa Rican breakfast, but I got to have it in the terrace of the lodge, which is run by the amazing Marce and Fabio. They’re some of the nicest people I met in the trip, and if you’re interested in staying in this area I don’t think you’ll find a better place to do it. After some interesting activity in the feeder, Fabio and I left on the excursion for the day: the Pocosol station of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. As a guide Fabio is great and knowledgeable. And as a person he was very fun to chat with, which is important because otherwise you’re stuck with someone you don’t like for like ten hours. But I’m glad it did not happen.
The drive there was a little more challenging than the ones I did in Monteverde, and I was thankful to have the four wheel drive for some of the dirt roads. The Jimny did not let us down though. Pocosol means “very little sunlight” in Spanish, and it definitely lived up to that name. Not only was the canopy dense and the day cloudy, but it rained like crazy for big chunks of it. But this did not ruin a pretty fun day of birding in a very different setting than in Monteverde.
Day 3: Arenal
After two days of birding tours, I was looking forward to a little bit more independence and quiet. I really like guided tours, don’t get me wrong. That is definitely the best way of maximizing the number of species you can see in one day. But I also like to take things a little more chill and go at my own rhythm. And nothing like an entire day driving and birdwatching to do just that. I started with some early activity in Birds and Breakfast, and then left with the Arenal Observatory Lodge as my next stop. I would only spend the day there, for which you can book a nice Day Pass that includes an amazing lunch in the hotel restaurant. I definitely recommend this arrangement if you don’t want to stay at the lodge. They have a great couple of gardens with a very high amount of hummingbird activity, as well as an observation deck that leads to the main feeder. I didn’t spend too much time there though, and most of the time there was spent hiking in their trails.
Right when the heat was becoming unbearable I left Arenal for the actual lodging for the day: the La Selva Ecological Station in Sarapiquí. I didn’t really know much of the place when I booked it, just that it was a research station that also hosted guests and tourists that could stay in a separate building. I had to get there before 5pm because that is when their reception desk closes. After settling in I went on a walk before it got dark, which was a little miserable because of the number of bugs. The funny thing is that the way that the trip was laid out I ended up going from the amazing weather in Monteverde, with nice and cool afternoons thanks to the cloud forest, and with very few bugs; to the ok weather in La Tigra, where it was a little warmer and where there were more bugs, but still tolerable; to the lowland rainforest in Sarapiquí, where it was very warm and humid in the afternoons, as well as riddled with insects. But hey, that’s what happens when you travel in the Tropics, so you just gotta embrace it.