Northern Costa Rica. The Art in Nature. August 2-12, 2010
CLOSED
| GROUP SIZE | PRICE/PERSON IN DBL |
|---|---|
| 5 people | $ 3,510 |
| 6 people | $ 3,050 |
| 7 people | $ 2,885 |
| 8 people | $ 2,605 |
| 9 people | $ 2,540 |
| 10 people | $ 2,350 |
| SINGLE SUPPLEMENT $ 601 | |
Led by award-winning nature photographer Alexander (Sasha) Vasiljev and Foto Verde Tours’ co-founder and professional photographer Greg Basco, this trip was created to take you to the most exciting areas in northern Costa Rica, from the lowland tropical rainforest on the Caribbean side of the continental divide to an active volcano and enchanting mountain cloud forests. Costa Rica will bedazzle you with opportunities to capture its incredible landscapes and abundant wildlife. Colorful tree frogs, poison dart frogs, motmots, hummingbirds, reptiles, monkeys, sloths, are expected to be our subjects of photography among many others. Sasha and Greg will work with you to develop your nature photography skills through both formal teaching sessions and hands-on field shooting. During the trip we will be focusing on artistic presentation of our subjects. You will be sure to amass an exceptional portfolio from this instructive photo expedition.
ITINERARY
Day 1, August 2 - Arrival - San José/Hotel Bougainvillea
Our representative will meet you upon your arrival to the Juan Santamaría International Airport for a transfer to the Hotel Bougainvillea near the capital city of San José, where Foto Verde Tours’ Greg Basco will be awaiting your arrival. The hotel is surrounded by a beautiful tropical garden with orchids, bromeliads, passionflowers and other great subjects for macro photography. There is free wireless Internet throughout the property.
Overnight at Hotel Bougainvillea (no meals included)
Day 2, August 3 - Lowland Rainforest, Selva Verde Lodge
After breakfast, we travel to the Selva Verde Lodge located in the northeastern Costa Rica at an elevation of approximately 200 feet above sea level, surrounded by a 500-acre private tract of primary and secondary tropical lowland rainforest along the Sarapiquí River. It is home to over 500 bird species as well as many mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Selva Verde boasts excellent opportunities for photographing emerald basilisk lizards, two species of poison frogs, and birds such as motmots and collared aracaris. After lunch at the lodge, we cross a suspension bridge over the rushing Sarapiquí River and enter the lodge’s private forest reserve where we will work on dramatic compositions of the lush tropical rainforest. And photographing it’s wildlife In the early evening before dinner, Greg and Sasha will give a presentation on using artistic elements in your nature photography.
Hotel Bougainvillea (B) Selva Verde Lodge (L, D)
Day 3, August 4 - Lowland Rainforest, Selva Verde Lodge
Optional early morning bird hike before breakfast or time on your own for bird photography at the lodge feeders. After breakfast, we will depart for the La Paz Waterfalls Gardens, a cloud forest and gardens located at the base of the Poas Volcano. We will spend the day at La Paz putting our photographic skills to the ultimate test, photographing subjects ranging from butterflies and hummingbirds to emerald toucanets and orchids along with 100-foot high waterfalls – all in just a few hours! We will return to Selva Verde Lodge in the late afternoon with time to relax on the riverside terrace, have a cold drink, and review the day’s photos on our laptops.
Selva Verde Lodge overnight (B, D), La Paz Waterfall Gardens (L)
Day 4, August 5 - Lowland Rainforest, Selva Verde Lodge
Today we take the day to explore the boundless wildlife and macro photo opportunities on the lodge grounds. Among others we will make a special effort to find and photograph two species of poison frogs, the green and black and the strawberry. In the evening, we have a session with the famous red-eyed tree frogs that breed in a pond on the lodge grounds. We will photograph them using flashlights for environmental reasons. This technique has been developed by Greg to produce beautiful artistic portraits.
Selva Verde Lodge overnight (B, L, D)
Day 5, August 6 - Northwest Rainforest, Arenal Volcano
After breakfast, we travel to the La Fortuna area for photography of the famous Arenal Volcano. We stop on the way to photograph green iguanas at a river bridge, a fantastic opportunity for eye level photos of these reptiles before arriving to Arenal Observatory Lodge. We will have time to unpack, relax for a bit, and discuss some of the concepts of landscape photography – the use of small apertures to maximize depth of field, use of polarizing filters, controlling light with graduated filters and combining exposures as well as composition. We will put these to practice while photographing the volcano and the lake Arenal in late afternoon light and at night after dinner. Surrounded by lush pre mountain forest at 3,000 feet above sea level the lodge grounds afford some of the area’s best photographic views of the Arenal Volcano and the surrounding hills as well as fantastic sunsets over the lake. We will also discuss some long exposure techniques that we’ll use to photograph the volcano with its glowing lava flows.
Selva Verde Lodge (B), lunch en route, Arenal Observatory Lodge overnight (D)
Day 6, August 7 - Northwest Rainforest, Arenal Volcano
After breakfast, we head to the nearby Hanging Bridges forest reserve. This primary forest is a lush transition between lowland rainforest and mountain cloud forest and is filled with great variety of palms. There is a beautiful waterfall nestled in the forest along one of the trails. The hike consists of a series of bridges, giving a unique opportunity to observe the forest from the canopy level. We will be able to photograph air plants (epiphytes) and wildlife in the tree tops, not normally seen from the ground. After our hike, we enjoy a leisurely lunch at a local restaurant and then head back toward the Arenal Observatory Lodge, taking our time along a back road that is frequented by howler monkeys, white-throated magpie jays, and other wildlife. Upon arrival, we have another chance to photograph the sunset over Lake Arenal and later the active volcano at night.
Arenal Observatory Lodge overnight (B, D), lunch at local restaurant
Day 7, August 8 - Northwest Rainforest, Arenal Volcano
We dedicate this morning to photographing montezuma oropendolas, scarlet-rumped tanager, green and red-legged honeycreepers, and emerald tanagers at the lodge feeders, which we will set up with attractive perches. Just before lunch, we depart for the Snake Zoo in nearby El Castillo. The Snake Zoo is run by Greg’s friend Victor Quesada. Victor and his staff will help us to photograph unique color forms of the amazing eyelash vipers, parrot snakes, and vine snakes on natural stages that we will set up on site. This is a great opportunity to photograph a number of species that are very difficult to find in the wild. We will also continue our work on multiple flash setups for pleasing macro lighting effects. After, we can enjoy a delicious home-cooked lunch as well as refreshments and coffee throughout the afternoon. We return to the Arenal Observatory Lodge in late afternoon to photograph the sunset and the Arenal Volcano.
Arenal Observatory Lodge overnight (B, D), lunch at El Castillo Snake Zoo
Day 8, August 9 - Mountain Cloud Forest/Monteverde
After breakfast, we head out for the famed cloud forests of Monteverde at over 5,000 feet above sea level. We arrive for lunch. In the afternoon we photograph hummingbirds followed by sunset. In the evening we will have a group discussion on our progress and share our favorite photos from the trip so far.
Arenal Observatory Lodge (B), lunch en route, Hotel El Establo overnight (D)
Day 9, August 10 - Mountain Cloud Forest/Monteverde
After an early breakfast, we head to the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, one of Sasha’s favorite places for rainforest landscape photography. After lunch, depending on the weather, we will go back to reserve or photograph at the frog pond.
Hotel El Establo overnight (B, D), lunch at local restaurant
Day 10, August 11- Monteverde to San José
Depart for San José after breakfast. We will enjoy a light lunch at a local restaurant en route and then arrive to the Hotel Bougainvillea late afternoon. We have free time to relax and pack before enjoying a farewell dinner.
Hotel El Establo (B), lunch en route, Hotel Bougainvillea (D)
Day 11, August 12 – Departure - San José/Airport
Private transfer to the airport for your flight home.
Hotel Bougainvillea (B)
End of Services
- Lodging as specified
- Meals as specified
- Private transfers to and from airports and hotels on first and last days
- Professional driver and private transportation in spacious, air-conditioned tour bus
- Professional bilingual photo/nature/culture guide
- Photo guide assistance with workshops and informal photo learning
- Photo guide assistance with caption and ID info for your images
- Entrances and fees for all described activities
- Taxes on all services listed above
- Biodegradable water bottle for each participant
- Airfare
- Airport departure tax (US $26)
- Alcoholic Drinks
- Gratuities
- Non-meal time snacks
- Non-meal time soft drinks and bottled water
- Souvenirs
For more details or to register for the tour, please visit Foto Verde Tours web site :