Over 108,000 acres of forest on the slope between the Central Valley and the Caribbean lowlands, most of it primary forest, reaching up to the Barva Volcano. The park's own list is over five hundred bird species.
Most people only drive through it. The highway to Guápiles, the Zurquí, runs right through the park, and our Caribbean trips cross it early in the morning on the way to Tortuguero.
For a birder we stop. Tapirus Lodge sits at the park's edge, on a private reserve the National Audubon Society lists among the best birding places in Central America, with over 400 species around it. Because the park is on the road to the airport, the last morning of the trip is a birding morning, not a transfer.
The park's own description names two birds that people ask us for by name: the Resplendent Quetzal, with a guide, all year, and the Bare-necked Umbrellabird, a regional endemic of these wet slopes.
Around them, tanagers and hummingbirds, the birds that fill most of a morning here.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resplendent Quetzal | Pharomachrus mocinno | Quetzal | |
| Bare-necked Umbrellabird | Cephalopterus glabricollis | Pájaro-sombrilla Cuellinudo | Regional endemic |
| King Vulture | Sarcoramphus papa | Zopilote Rey |
Fly into San José. The park is on the highway between San José and Guápiles, so it sits on the way in from the airport or on the way back to it. La Selva Biological Station is next to the park on the lowland side.
All year. It rains in every month on this side of the country, so the rain layer comes with you.
One lodge, 3 km from the pin and the only nature lodge right beside the park, where tapirs on the property are the house speciality.
Photo: Tapirus Lodge
Braulio Carrillo
Come see nature surround you!
★★★★
Right next to Braulio Carrillo National Park, one of the only lodges that close to it, and tapirs on the property are the house speciality. The lodge itself says it is not the most luxurious place in the world, and the forest is the point.
A few minutes on the form, and one of our Costa Rica specialists comes back to you personally with a first itinerary: the lowlands in the right order with whatever else is on your list, and how many nights each stop really needs. That first version is just a place to start.
Or call us: 1 (800) 996-1139 from the US and Canada, +506 4052-2140 in Costa Rica.
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