Rancho Naturalista was built for birders, and everything about the day shows it. The hummingbird feeders hang off the balcony where breakfast is served, the fruit feeders are in the garden below, and the forest starts where the lawn stops.
The reserve sits on the Caribbean slope above Turrialba, with trails running from 880 to 1,200 metres through forest that joins the neighbouring properties. The lodge counts more than 450 species in its reserve and the land around it.
The late afternoon belongs to the hummingbird pools, shallow forest streams where the hummingbirds come down to bathe. That is where people go for the Snowcap.
Casa Turire, 9 km down the valley, is the comfortable bed. This is the one inside the forest.
The lodge gives its reserve as more than 120 acres, joined to neighbouring forested land, with more than 7 km of trails through primary and secondary forest and an orchard of native fruiting trees planted for the birds. There are three set pieces: the balcony hummingbird feeders, the fruit feeders in the garden, and the hummingbird pools in the forest. Verbena hedges around the lodge pull in the small hummingbirds. The lodge's bilingual guides take beginners, listers and photographers alike, and they need booking ahead, which we do when we build the trip. The trails can also be walked on your own.
Photo: Rancho Naturalista
Turrialba
A Birder's Paradise Awaits in the Central Valley Near Turrialba
★★★
125 acres of protected Caribbean foothill forest half an hour from Turrialba, hummingbird feeders on the balcony from the first breakfast, and resident bird guides our clients called "absolutely stellar". Five of our 45 recent birding itineraries sleep here, behind only Arenal Observatory and Trapp Family Lodge.
On the balcony, hummingbirds by the dozen: White-necked Jacobin, Green Thorntail, Crowned Woodnymph (the lodge's site still calls it Violet-crowned Woodnymph). In the verbena hedges the Snowcap, which the lodge calls one of the smallest hummingbirds in the world, and the Black-crested Coquette. At the hummingbird pools the Purple-crowned Fairy bathes, and the Dull-mantled Antbird breeds close by, which makes the pools the reliable place for it.
At the fruit feeders Gray-headed Chachalaca, Montezuma Oropendola and the Red-headed Barbet.
In the forest, the lodge's own specialities: the Tawny-chested Flycatcher, a regional endemic that breeds at the lodge, a lek of White-crowned Manakin that the lodge calls the most accessible in the country, and the Thicket Antpitta, which the lodge says is rarely seen but glimpsed now and then on a few trails. Below the lodge, the guides know the Río Tuis valley for the Lanceolated Monklet.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowcap | Microchera albocoronata | Colibrí Copete de Nieve | Regional endemic |
| Black-crested Coquette | Lophornis helenae | Coqueta Crestinegra | |
| Purple-crowned Fairy | Heliothryx barroti | Colibrí Picopunzón | |
| White-necked Jacobin | Florisuga mellivora | Jacobino Nuquiblanco | |
| Green Thorntail | Discosura conversii | Colibrí Colicerda Verde | |
| Crowned Woodnymph | Thalurania colombica | Colibrí Ninfa Verde-Violeta | |
| Gray-headed Chachalaca | Ortalis cinereiceps | Chachalaca Cabecigrís | |
| Montezuma Oropendola | Psarocolius montezuma | Oropéndola de Moctezuma | |
| Red-headed Barbet | Eubucco bourcierii | Barbudo Cabecirrojo | |
| Tawny-chested Flycatcher | Aphanotriccus capitalis | Mosquerito Pechileonado | Regional endemic |
| White-crowned Manakin | Pseudopipra pipra | Saltarín Coroniblanco | |
| Dull-mantled Antbird | Sipia laemosticta | Hormiguero Alimaculado | |
| Thicket Antpitta | Myrmothera dives | Tororoi Pechicanelo | |
| Lanceolated Monklet | Micromonacha lanceolata | Monjito Rayado |
The main lodge is the hub: a two-storey house with a long shared upstairs balcony and a living area, where rooms open onto decks and balconies over the feeders. The rest of the rooms are cabins at different distances into the forest, from Tanager and Motmot a few steps away to Jacamar and Honeycreeper set apart in the trees, and Antpitta up a stone stairway. Every room has a private bathroom. Guests eat together, so dinner is where the day's sightings get compared, and the kitchen handles gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian and vegan diets. Days run early and evenings end early. Wifi is in the downstairs lobby only.
Meals. family-style shared meals in the lodge; special diets on request. Whether meals are included in a standard stay is not stated on the pages read.
Perfect for: a keen birder who wants feeders off the balcony and a table of other birders at dinner.
125 acres of Caribbean foothill forest above Turrialba with a bird list over 450: the Snowcap at the pools, the feeders, the trails and how to get there.
See the placeThe Río Tuis valley below Rancho Naturalista, a few hours or the whole day: the Lanceolated Monklet, the tanager flocks and the trips that bird here.
See the placeCerro El Silencio above Turrialba, higher and more open than Rancho Naturalista: Red-fronted Parrotlet, both hawk-eagles and tanager flocks, and our trip.
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.
Keep going: add more birds, lodges or tours, then turn your Wishlist into a trip.
