And don't miss the Santa Elena Coop either. it's a great story of ecosystem
restoration and as far as I'm concerned, some of the best coffee in the
world. I still order it all the way from there through Montana Coffee
Traders. that little forest near their coop has great birds, too.



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Nigel
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 7:08 PM
To: Vicki; Evan Houston
Cc: Tweeters
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Request for Costa Rica advice - La Selva and Rincon
areas



Hire a good guide at Monteverde and you should see Quetzals for sure. Our
guide (Chinchilla) was a polyglot with amazing birding skills. Go to
Selvatura while you are there! Ziplines, caoopy walkway, hummingbird
feeders, butterfly gardens and more.





From: Vicki <mailto:vickibiltz at gmail.com>

Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 3:25 PM

To: Evan Houston <mailto:evanghouston at yahoo.com>

Cc: Tweeters <mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Request for Costa Rica advice - La Selva and Rincon
areas



Hi Evan, Just to let you know our final plans for the the first two weeks
of May.



We contacted a travel agent in Costa Rica who is setting up all the driving
for us, because the roads are bad, and theft is a problem. We are doing
Selve Verde first, it can run 80-90 degrees, with high humidity, according
to the travel agent. Three days there, then off to Arenal Volcano area, for
4 days. One day on a boat to Cano Negro wetland area, Nicaragua's border...
Then a Taxi-boat-taxi to MonteVerde Cloud Forest where it will be cold and
damp, three days, driver takes us to the airport, and we head home. The
three places are for birds, as they have pretty good lists..Savegre Natural
Reserve sent me a list that was only 179, so we are not going to go there at
this time...

The three choices are the ones I got the most recommendations for, Arenal
being the highlight for my husband, due to the active Volcanos, and
wonderful caves offered there. They also have a number of Suspension
Bridges, with some also at MonteVerde. Monteverde also has a a set of
Zipline's. All have tour guides, and different activities. I did save a
number of information pages as PDF's , if you like, I can email them to
you...

Hope this helps,

Vicki Biltz

Bonney Lake, WA 98391

On Dec 13, 2012, at 7:55 PM, Evan Houston wrote:





Hi Tweeters,



In a week, I'm going with my family for an 8-day trip to Costa Rica, my
first time to the tropics! We're meeting my non-birding parents, who've
arranged for us to stay a few nights each at La Selva Reserve and in Rincon
National Park. With the lodging set, I want to try to arrange a few shorter
birding activities for me and possibly the rest of my family during our
stay. If you have any thoughts about any of the following questions, it
would be great if you could respond directly to me at my e-mail address
below.



- I see that La Selva Reserve offers early morning 2 hour bird tours, also a
nocturnal wildlife walks, and also private tours. Do you recommend any of
these options? Can you also walk around by yourself? I definitely want to
see as much avian diversity as possible here since I don't know when I'll
ever get to come back!



- And are there any other options at La Selva you'd recommend, such as
guides not affiliated with the lodge itself?



- We'll also be staying 3 nights at Rincon N.P. at Hacienda Guaciepelin. I
might be interested in doing something like a half-day outing in the general
area with a guide. If you know of any that you'd recommend (not
super-expensive) I would be interested in hearing about it, or if you have
other suggestions for the area. We don't speak Spanish.



Thanks!

Evan Houston

Seattle, WA

evanghouston at yahoo.com



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