Shir had some class cancellations and we managed to leave home at around lunchtime on Friday the 25th.
Driving up the short route through Alajuela, skirting Poás and on to La Virgen to the Tirimbina Biological Reserve.
The reserve has two parts, we soon discovered. There is the Biological Reserve where we booked accommodation, and right alongside is the more upmarket Centro Neotropico Sarapiquís.
Staying at the Biological reserve was a lot cheaper and the room was very good to say the least. Room rate per night was $US 55.00 for CR nationals (having an ID does help!) Foreign visitors rate is $US 73.00 per room. Meals were a bit dormitory style but the food was very good.
The gardens from the entrance to the reception area provided some excellent birding, much better than in the mature rainforest which you access by crossing the Rio Sarapiquí via the 262m long hanging bridge about 22m above the river.
This of course will vary with time of day and season, we had some heavy rain during the stay and that made for dull birding in the forest.
Very close to the reserve David Lando Ramírez set up a new venture - Sarapiquí Eco-Observatory about six months ago. This is a very well thought out project where they have some open area as well as forest trails and also a roofed deck specifically for photgraphy. Fees start at $20 for the day and includes coffee or cold juice, and you can go for the afternoon plus the next morning, still counted as a day!
We also discovered a super nice tico-style restaurant just as you leave La Vírgen heading north, Mar y Tierra, on the left. Super good food!
The birding was very good with me finding five lifers and Shirlene eight.
On the way back we stopped as we always do at Cinchona. This is one of my very favorite places because of the fantastic birding there in 2008 on my first trip to CR. Sadly the whole town of Cinchona was totally destroyed seven days after I left by the 6.2 "Cinchona Earthquake" on 8 Jan. 2008.
The same family that had the restaurant then started to rebuild the place again. They started from nothing, with no electricity and clearly no money...these people lost everything they had. We could hardly believe the progress they made since Dec. when we last passed! They have now added some tables to the restaurant and built a small viewing deck with more feeders, so it is getting there, a must stop for any bider passing through!
As always, click on the photo to view the album, and enjoy!
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| Birding weekend in Sarapiquí |
Very nice. The blog is coming on great. Lots of very nice pictures. Thanks for sharing them. Regards
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