Hi Megan,

I just got back from a trip to Costa Rica last week, we had a great time
and I'm still tallying up my bird list. We stayed around La Fortuna and
then in Manuel Antonio.

As far as bird books the Birds of Costa Rica is the best, and our guides
said so too. It is a bit old, so unfortunately the ranges are not very
accurate anymore.

When around Arenal we did a birdwatching trip on the grounds of our hotel (
https://treehouseshotelcostarica.com/ Treehouse Hotel) and booked it
through out hotel as well. I asked them for the contact information of our
guide that I can send to you when they respond. His name was Antonio and he
was really great, but did use a lot of playback (if that bothers you). We
also visited Arenal 1968 to hike around there and see the volcano and
wildlife. For my non-birding parents they still had a great time there.
Make sure to bring your raincoats though! We did not go to Cano Negro so I
can't help you there.

We then went down to Manuel Antonio and stopped at Carara Nat Park en
route. Carara was nice and birdy but very hot in the afternoon. I can
recommend an amazing guide for the Manuel Antonio area, Johan Chaves (
https://www.manuelantoniobirdwatching.com/ ). He is really passionate about
birds and wildlife but is also just the nicest guy you could ask for. He
made sure I got great digiscoped photos of everything we saw and was very
sweet checking in with my mom who was walking with a cane due to an injury.
Our tour was supposed to be from 7-9 am and he was with us until almost
noon. He is writing a Wildlife of Manuel Antonio book which looks great! I
would contact him sooner than later. Manuel Antonio can get pretty crowded
with lots of tour groups but Johan knows that place really well and was
getting us away from crowds as much as possible.

I don't know the Sarapiqui area at all, but I think if you contacted Johan
he might be able to help you with your decisions.

Way to go Emily! Good luck with your 500 birds! Feel free to email me if
you want clark.erica2 at gmail.com

Erica Clark



--
Erica Clark
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Biological Sciences
Fort Hays State University
Hays, KS 67601
clarkerica2 at gmail.com
585-410-7744
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