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COSTA RICA HERPING GROUP TOUR 2023!

Looking for reptiles and amphibians in Costa Rica is an extraordinary experience.

They are present in all habitats and in every level of the forest. They range in size from the huge sea turtles to fingernail-sized frogs.  As a small country, Costa Rica is perfect for a herp tour and especially due to its great diversity.

 

The herpetofauna of Costa Rica is one of the best known and most studied in the Neotropics with over 400 documented species of amphibians and reptiles including 14 species of turtles, more than 200 species of snake, about 70 species of lizard, and 2 species of crocodile, 130 species of frog, 37 of salamander (the group with the highest endemism), and 4 of caecilian. The total of endemic species consist of 44 species of amphibians and 17 of reptiles.

WhatsApp Image 2022-06-04 at 12.43.27 PM.jpeg


Jump on to reserve your spot for just £500... with nothing more to pay until March 2023!

For the day-by-day itinerary, price and booking details, please contact paul@greigsmithtravels.com

Check out these reviews from Costa Rica 2022...

A lifetime dream achieved visiting the breathtaking jungles and rainforests of Costa Rica. The experience was both challenging, exhausting and downright brutal at times but balanced with excitement, exhilaration and simply left me in awe at the world around us.

The animals certainly didn’t disappoint - we worked hard daily to see as much as we could covering a huge array of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals.  Adam Radovanovic was an exceptional guide filled with an almost encyclopedic knowledge as well as good humour. 

All the above I had expected in various degrees, what I wasn’t expecting was the great company and inspiration I’ve found by some of the genuinely amazing people on this trip. 

Thanks to Paul Greig Smith and the team for a truly life changing trip! It was always meant to be a once in a lifetime trip but I’m already working on the next one.  
John, Costa Rica 2022

Love the sort of trips you put together. Great meeting so many like minded people. The fact that we keep coming back speaks volumes.  Ayesha, Costa Rica 2022

I have, and will continue to recommend you. Just keep the trips coming.

Stuart, Costa Rica 2022

The group I travelled with were both extremely excited and full of helpful knowledge and skills to apply to the areas we were herping in, especially the group  trip leader Adam - he was easy to speak to and full of knowledge and expertise in the relevant areas. 

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I hope you're well and that the Arizona trip is still going ahead as my first trip was such an awesome experience I need to do more.  Bring on Borneo next year!

Paul, Costa Rica 2022

2022 Costa Rica Group Pic

Costa Rica 2023:  13-27th May

  • Costa Rica's fauna is rich and abundant, making the country one of the 20 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world.
     

  • Known for its wet habitats - cloud and rainforests.  National Parks are home to more than 500,000 species - representing nearly 5% of the total species estimated worldwide.
     

  • You're guaranteed to spot mammals such as howler monkeys, bats and perhaps tapirs.  Keep eyes alert for snakes such as eyelash palm pit vipers, the elusive bushmaster, fer-de-lance, and more.  Look up to spot scarlet & great-green macaws, keel-billed toucans, and colourful quetzals.
     

  • And the frogs... they are everywhere!  Red-eyed tree frogs, blue jeans poison dart frogs, glass frogs, cane toads, and more!
     

  • And on this trip you'll have the chance to encounter green and leatherback turtles, spectacled caimans, basilisk lizards, tarantulas, rainbow grasshoppers and green iguanas.   


We've taken the successful 2022 tour, listened to our guest's feedback, and tweaked 2023 to be EVEN BETTER!


Arenal - Costa Rica's best-known volcano.  Your first stop is the awesome Arenal region, overlooked by the stratovolcano that towers at 5,000ft.  Enjoy a back-to-nature stay at the Arenal Oasis Eco Lodge & Wildlife Refuge.  Go in search of Costa Rica's rich flora and fauna, at this old-fashioned, rustic and charming lodge.

The Arenal Volcano National Park spans almost 30,000 acres of rainforest and contains bizarre landscape of solidified lava flows and lush natural forest, home to howler monkeys, toucans and over 350 bird species.  Plus, 135 species of reptiles including the feared fer-de-lance, boa constrictors, parrot snakes and numerous lizards and iguanas.

Join a local Herpetologist one evening in search of herps and on the second night relax at a hot spring.


Driving on to the Sarapiqui Region, 
La Selva Verde Lodge is your upmarket stay.  A 500-acre rainforest reserve and lodge with pool, you'll hear the constant noise of howler monkeys in the surrounding Almendro trees. 

Sarapiqui is simply astounding.  Exotic smells, unusual sights and sounds, your senses are constantly bombarded!  Listen to the frog chorus in the night, the constant call of birds, the smell of tropical hardwood trees... this is dense, atmospheric rainforest.

Nearby 
Le Selva Biological Reserve is your next overnight stop.  And the list of herps here is simply mind-blowing!  48 amphibian species, 87 species of reptiles - many of which you'll find along the forest trails or in clearings.   Over 1,500 species of orchids, and supposedly between 50 and 100 different tree species in just a few acres!  Scientists, biologists, students and wildlife lovers return time and again to this spectacular location.












Heading northeast, travel 3-hours to Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve, for
Bushmaster Project camp.  A once-in-a-lifetime experience, staying 1km in to the rainforest, with no electricity, at the biological research station located in the middle of primary rainforest. 

We don't suggest this is an easy stay, yet equally there's nothing too difficult to overcome.  No internet, no cellphone signal, this is back-to-nature, and perhaps reminds us all how much we've come to rely on technology.  Take a break from the world and turn your attention to the spectacular wildlife on show at this remote location offering
an outstanding herpetology experienceSloths, snakes and birds can be spotted directly from the platform, whilst on guided hikes you'll explore jungle trails that take you to small creek habitats, hilly slopes, dense rainforests, large rivers, beautiful scenery that you will rarely see again.  Home to helmeted iguanas, Panamanian dwarf boas, annulated boas, glass frogs, dart frogs, red-eyed tree frogs, and many venomous snakes, such as different colorations of eyelash vipers, fer-de-lance, hognosed pitvipers and coral snakes.  

After that feast of wildlife, take a well-earned rest for two nights in the coastal town of
Puerto Viejo.  Adjacent to the spectacular Cahuita National Park, spend a morning at the Sloth Sanctuary, before snorkelling one of Costa Rica's best reefs.  Next morning, drop by the Jaguar Rescue Centre - home to injured and orphaned animals including sloths and monkeys.  Then, enjoy an afternoon of guided hiking at Cahuita National Park.  Keep an eye out for armadillos, raccoons, sloths, capuchin monkeys, and more snakes.

New for 2023, your adventure continues at
Pacuare Reserve - reached by road and local canoe.  With over 25 years history of protecting leatherback turtles and collecting data about nesting trends, and more, Pacuare is one of the world's most important turtle nesting beach.  Just under 4 miles of coastline is patrolled every evening, by volunteers, research assistants and groups of visiting students.  

Another stay that comes without electricity, you'll be too busy helping the local staff to notice!  Help under an amazing star-filled night sky with the marine turtle census, watch for hatchlings, join a crocodile tour, hike the rainforest and visit a small lagoon to view beautiful agami herons.

Last, but far from least, stop at 
Tapirus Lodge, in Braulio Carrillo.  This is yet more lush rainforest, home to a wonderful amount of frogs and toads, which you can hope to spot on day and night treks within the 475 hectares of protected nature reserve.  6,000 species of plants envelope the lodge, making this another epic herp-rich location.

With nights at the start and end in San Jose, this tour is a 15-night herp and wildlife heavy tour.



Jump on to reserve your spot for just £500... with nothing more to pay until March 2023!

For the day-by-day itinerary, price and booking details, please contact paul@greigsmithtravels.com.

 

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