Selva Verde, down the road, is a lodge on a river. La Selva is a research station of the Organization for Tropical Studies that also takes guests, and that is the whole difference.
A day visitor here has to walk with a guide on one of the station's tours. An overnight guest can walk the trails alone at any hour, which for a birder means being out on the research trails at first light while the day visitors are still on the road.
The list behind it is the other reason. The station's bird list is over 450 species long, and its Christmas Bird Count has been run every year since 1985.
The station is a working research site. You walk it with the station's naturalist guides, an early bird walk among the tours, and you eat with the scientists. Overnight guests may also walk the trails on their own at any time; day visitors may not. The station's Christmas Bird Count, run since 1985 over a 12 km circle around it, had its best year on 15 December 2018: 381 species in one day, with 538 recorded across all the counts.
Photo: La Selva Biological Station
Sarapiquí
Visit a Research Center Working to Protect Nature's Diversity and Bounty
★★★
A working research station of the Organization for Tropical Studies, about 1,600 acres of lowland forest with a bird list over 450 species long. You walk it with their naturalist guides, early bird walk included, and eat with the scientists.
The birds we bring people to Sarapiquí for, around the station: the Great Green Macaw, the bigger and rarer macaw, and the Keel-billed Toucan, with the Great Jacamar and the hanging nests of the Montezuma Oropendola in the tall trees.
Three trogons share the forest: Slaty-tailed Trogon, Gartered Violaceous Trogon and Graceful Black-throated Trogon. On the trails nearby and on the Sarapiquí River, look for the Sunbittern at the water and the Great Potoo on a snag at dusk, and the Golden-hooded Tanager and Scarlet-rumped Tanager at the forest edge.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Green Macaw | Ara ambiguus | Guacamayo Verde Mayor | |
| Keel-billed Toucan | Ramphastos sulfuratus | Tucán Pico Iris | |
| Great Jacamar | Jacamerops aureus | Jacamar Grande | |
| Montezuma Oropendola | Psarocolius montezuma | Oropéndola de Moctezuma | |
| Slaty-tailed Trogon | Trogon massena | Trogón Coliplomizo | |
| Gartered Violaceous Trogon | Trogon caligatus | Trogón Violáceo | |
| Graceful Black-throated Trogon | Trogon tenellus | Trogón Cabeciverde | |
| Sunbittern | Eurypyga helias | Garza del Sol | |
| Great Potoo | Nyctibius grandis | Nictibio Grande | |
| Golden-hooded Tanager | Stilpnia larvata | Tangara Capuchidorada | |
| Scarlet-rumped Tanager | Ramphocelus passerinii | Tangara de Passerini |
This is a field station first and a lodge second, and that is its charm. Visitors share the grounds with researchers, and the rooms are plain: cabins with a private bathroom, a fan and a balcony, family houses with a kitchen, and dormitories for groups. Meals are served in the dining hall at set times; one OTS page describes grab-and-go service that you can eat there or take to your room. Mornings start early with a walk led by a station naturalist, and evenings can include a night tour. Expect heat, humidity and rain, and basic comfort.
Meals. station dining hall, set meal times. Inclusion not confirmed on a live OTS page.
Perfect for: a curious traveler who would rather learn how a rainforest works than have a spa.
A working research station of the Organization for Tropical Studies in Sarapiquí, with a bird list over 450 long and 57 km of trails. Where we stay.
See the placeSelva Verde on the Sarapiquí River, a lodge of ours: 204 hectares of primary forest, 15 km of paths, the river at the garden's edge, and the birds.
See the placeTirimbina in Sarapiquí: over 600 hectares of rainforest, a bridge across the river to an island, a canopy bridge 35 metres up, and 9 km of trails.
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.
Keep going: add more birds, lodges or tours, then turn your Wishlist into a trip.
