Central and Southern Pacific Lowlands
A lodge on a 37-acre private reserve that runs straight into the forest of Piedras Blancas National Park, in the valley of La Gamba above the Golfo Dulce. The lodge has recorded more than 300 species of birds, in lowland wet forest it compares to Corcovado's.
What makes it different from the Osa lodges is the way in. It is three miles off the Interamerican Highway, open to a car all year, and 30 minutes from the Golfito airstrip, so you can land in the morning and be on the Bird Trail the next dawn without a boat or a long day on the road.
The early walk leaves about six with one of the lodge's local guides, works the Bird Trail and the garden for an hour and a half, and is back for breakfast. The bird the lodge names first is the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, found only round the Golfo Dulce.
The lodge has its own trails, one of them the Bird Trail, and three guided walks on them with its local guides: the early morning bird walk round the Bird Trail and the garden, a two to three hour birding and wildlife hike after breakfast, and a night hike along the garden and forest edge where owls are on the list. Longer walks for particular species can be set up on request. The forest here holds over 140 tree species per hectare, by the lodge's count. Boat tours on the Golfo Dulce go from the lodge too.
Photo: Esquinas Rainforest Lodge
Golfito
Immerse Youself in Nature!
★★★
Thirty minutes from the Golfito airstrip, on its own reserve bordering Piedras Blancas National Park, in the valley of La Gamba, with the Golfo Dulce forest at the door. The lodge we use to open the Osa and the Golfo Dulce without a long drive.
On the Bird Trail, the lodge's walk is for trogons, motmots, woodpeckers and manakins, and above all the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager. Its bird list carries the rest of the south Pacific endemics, each a regional endemic on the official list: Baird's Trogon, Orange-collared Manakin, Riverside Wren, Golden-naped Woodpecker, Fiery-billed Aracari, the Turquoise Cotinga and the rare Yellow-billed Cotinga, plus the White-crested Coquette among the hummingbirds.
Also on the lodge's list: the Red-capped Manakin, the Tropical Royal Flycatcher (your field guide may still call it Royal Flycatcher), the Spectacled Owl for the night walk, and over the forest the Scarlet Macaw and the King Vulture.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager | Driophlox atrimaxillaris | Tangara Hormiguera Carinegra | Regional endemic |
| Baird's Trogon | Trogon bairdii | Trogón Vientribermejo | Regional endemic |
| Orange-collared Manakin | Manacus aurantiacus | Saltarín Cuellinaranja | Regional endemic |
| Riverside Wren | Cantorchilus semibadius | Soterré Pechibarreteado | Regional endemic |
| Golden-naped Woodpecker | Melanerpes chrysauchen | Capintero Nuquidorado | Regional endemic |
| Fiery-billed Aracari | Pteroglossus frantzii | Tucancillo Piquianaranjado | Regional endemic |
| Turquoise Cotinga | Cotinga ridgwayi | Cotinga Turquesa | Regional endemic |
| Yellow-billed Cotinga | Carpodectes antoniae | Cotinga Piquiamarillo | Regional endemic |
| White-crested Coquette | Lophornis adorabilis | Coqueta Crestiblanca | Regional endemic |
| Red-capped Manakin | Ceratopipra mentalis | Saltarín Cabecirrojo | |
| Tropical Royal Flycatcher | Onychorhynchus coronatus | Mosquero Real Tropical | |
| Spectacled Owl | Pulsatrix perspicillata | Búho de Anteojos | |
| Scarlet Macaw | Ara macao | Guacamayo Rojo | |
| King Vulture | Sarcoramphus papa | Zopilote Rey |
The rooms are in nine garden cabins, two rooms to a cabin, each with a private bathroom, ceiling fan, full screens and a covered porch the lodge itself recommends for birding. A Jungle Villa with two bedrooms and a kitchenette sits on a hill 200 m from the lodge. The restaurant is for guests only: women from La Gamba cook modern and traditional Costa Rican dishes to order, with local produce and fish from the Golfo Dulce. Rain falls mostly in the afternoons, so mornings go to the trails and afternoons to the pool. Nights stay warm, rarely below 23 °C, and the power is from the public grid, so there is no generator noise.
Meals. guest-only restaurant, Costa Rican home cooking served at the table, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Inclusion in a standard stay not stated on the pages read.
Perfect for: a birder who wants deep rainforest on a porch without a boat or a flight.
Piedras Blancas National Park on the Golfo Dulce: over 35,000 acres of lowland wet forest, our lodge bordering it at La Gamba, 30 minutes from Golfito.
See the placeThe Golfito Wildlife Refuge on the Golfo Dulce: a hard hike with monkeys, sloths and tropical birds, macaws over the gulf, and our lodge at La Gamba.
See the placeNo fixed trip stays here yet; we build it into a custom trip.
Want to add a luxury stay to your trip? See every hotel we represent on CostaRica.Org (opens in a new window). We plan birding lodges and beach resorts in one trip.
Tell us the birds you want, your dates and how you like to travel, and we will come back with a first itinerary: the lodges in the right order and how many nights each one 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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