Montezuma OropendolaPhoto: ondrejprosicky
Three of our birding trips stay at Mawamba, more than at any other Tortuguero lodge, and it has two things the others do not.
The first is its own private reserve, five minutes away by boat, with a raised loop trail through the rainforest that the lodge walks at night. The second is the village: the lodge says it is the closest to town and the only one you can walk to from it.
Its naturalists say the early canal tour is the best bird hour of the day, and the grounds are good in between: Keel-billed Toucans feeding in the palms and oropendola nests hanging over the paths, both photographed by guests and staff at the lodge.
Fifteen acres on the strip between the canals and the sea, with a butterfly garden and the beach on one side. The lodge's guided boat tour runs into the national park's canals, and canoes and kayaks work the side canals. The night hike crosses by boat to the lodge's private reserve and walks a cemented loop raised about 80 cm off the forest floor, about an hour and a half. The lodge's fauna page counts more than 350 identified bird species.
Photo: Mawamba Lodge
Tortuguero
A Beautifully Designed, Elegant Resort in Remote Tortuguero
★★★
Fifteen acres between the Tortuguero canals and the Caribbean, reached only by boat or by air, with canal boat tours and night walks from the property. One of our clients wrote that bringing binoculars "really added to this great experience!"
Around the lodge, the two the lodge's own guests and naturalists photograph: the Keel-billed Toucan in the palms and the Montezuma Oropendola at its hanging nests. From the canal boat, the lodge's list has Anhinga, Green Heron and Great Blue Heron, with the Osprey over the water.
On the canals our Tortuguero page adds the Roseate Spoonbill, and after dark the Boat-billed Heron. In the trees along the water, the Great Green Macaw, the Great Potoo and, at the edge, the Sunbittern.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keel-billed Toucan | Ramphastos sulfuratus | Tucán Pico Iris | |
| Montezuma Oropendola | Psarocolius montezuma | Oropéndola de Moctezuma | |
| Anhinga | Anhinga anhinga | Aninga | |
| Green Heron | Butorides virescens | Garcilla Verde | |
| Great Blue Heron | Ardea herodias | Garzón Azulado | |
| Osprey | Pandion haliaetus | Águila Pescadora | |
| Roseate Spoonbill | Platalea ajaja | Espátula Rosada | |
| Boat-billed Heron | Cochlearius cochlearius | Pico Cuchara | |
| Great Green Macaw | Ara ambiguus | Guacamayo Verde Mayor | |
| Great Potoo | Nyctibius grandis | Nictibio Grande | |
| Sunbittern | Eurypyga helias | Garza del Sol |
Mawamba is a sociable, busy lodge built around its gardens and pool, with the canal on one side and the Caribbean beach a short walk the other way. Rooms are cooled by ceiling fans and the breeze rather than air conditioning, with screened windows, so you hear the rain and the forest at night. Breakfast is a buffet in the open-sided restaurant, lunch is often by the pool, and dinner can be a four-course menu on Katonga as it cruises the canals at sunset. Between boat tours, guests walk the beach path into the village for a coffee, and in turtle season join an evening walk on the sand.
Meals. open-sided main restaurant (buffet breakfast, a la carte lunch and dinner with Caribbean specials), a pool bar, and Katonga for a dinner cruise. The FAQ does not say what is included; that depends on the package.
Perfect for: a family who want a pool and a village to walk to between canal tours.
Tortuguero National Park has no road and is birded from a boat on the canals: spoonbills, the Boat-billed Heron, macaws, and the lodges we use there.
See the placeWant 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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