Fiery-throated HummingbirdPhoto: ondrejprosicky
Savegre is the San Gerardo de Dota lodge with forest on a scale the others we use do not publish: more than 500 hectares of private reserve by the lodge's own figure, with the Savegre river crossing it on its way down to the Pacific.
The lodge sits at 2,200 metres and its trails climb from there. The longest, Los Robles, runs 6.2 km through the oak forest to about 2,600 metres, past an oak the lodge calls milenario, a thousand years old. The short ones, Los Pioneros and Canto de las Aves, are under a kilometre and fine before breakfast.
The day is built around the quetzal tour at first light, run by the lodge itself, with half-day and full-day birding outings behind it. Then a sauna, which at this altitude is less of an indulgence than it sounds.
The reserve has five trails: Los Pioneros (0.4 km, the one for reduced mobility), Canto de las Aves (0.9 km), La Quebrada (1.6 km along a stream), Camino 4x4 (1.8 km) and Los Robles (6.2 km, the hard one). There is a lookout, the Mirador Siwö, and a wooden platform with a hummingbird feeder where the lodge's own photos show a telescope set up. The lodge runs a quetzal tour, half-day and full-day birding tours, a night walk with a guide, and a trip up to the páramo. It counts more than 250 bird species on the reserve.
Photo: Savegre Lodge Natural Reserve & Spa
San Gerardo de Dota
A Cozy Mountain Retreat in the Cloudforest Offering Fantastic Nature Tours and Birdwatching
★★★
A 400-hectare private cloud forest reserve at 2,200 metres, with over 170 bird species recorded on it and the quetzal among them. Heated rooms and a spa with a sauna, which matters at that altitude.
The Resplendent Quetzal, the one bird the lodge's own tour is named for. With a guide, all year.
Around the lodge and its feeders, the hummingbirds of the valley: Fiery-throated Hummingbird and Volcano Hummingbird, both regional endemics, and the big Violet Sabrewing.
Up the Los Robles trail into the oaks, the birds of the valley's forest: Black Guan, Northern Emerald-Toucanet (your field guide may still call it Emerald Toucanet), Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher, Collared Redstart and Flame-throated Warbler, with Sulphur-winged Parakeet passing over and Swallow-tailed Kite above the river. Higher still, in Los Quetzales National Park, the guides look for the Peg-billed Finch.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resplendent Quetzal | Pharomachrus mocinno | Quetzal | |
| Fiery-throated Hummingbird | Panterpe insignis | Colibrí Garganta de Fuego | Regional endemic |
| Volcano Hummingbird | Selasphorus flammula | Colibrí Chispita Volcanera | Regional endemic |
| Violet Sabrewing | Campylopterus hemileucurus | Ala de Sable Violáceo | |
| Black Guan | Chamaepetes unicolor | Pava Negra | Regional endemic |
| Northern Emerald-Toucanet | Aulacorhynchus prasinus | Tucancillo Verde | |
| Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher | Ptiliogonys caudatus | Capulinero Colilargo | Regional endemic |
| Collared Redstart | Myioborus torquatus | Candelita Collareja | Regional endemic |
| Flame-throated Warbler | Oreothlypis gutturalis | Reinita Garganta de Fuego | Regional endemic |
| Sulphur-winged Parakeet | Pyrrhura hoffmanni | Perico Aliazufrado | Regional endemic |
| Swallow-tailed Kite | Elanoides forficatus | Elanio Tijereta | |
| Peg-billed Finch | Acanthidops bairdi | Fringilo Piquiagudo | Regional endemic |
The valley floor holds the gardens, the river and the buildings, and the forest climbs straight up from there. Standard rooms share a pavilion; Junior Suites and Master Suites are separate cabins spread through the gardens. Nights here drop to 5 to 12 °C all year, so every room has electric heating, and the four Master Suites add a fireplace and a jacuzzi on a terrace over the forest. Breakfast runs from 6:30 at Las Bromelias, early enough to eat before or after a dawn walk, and lunch and dinner are there too, by table reservation. Afternoons are for the trails, the Siwo lookout or the Del Rio Spa. Wifi reaches the rooms, though only one Costa Rican mobile network has signal in the valley.
Meals. Restaurant Las Bromelias. Breakfast is included with every stay per the hotel's FAQ; lunch and dinner are not, and need a table reservation. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free on a day's notice.
Perfect for: a couple who want dawn walks in cloud forest and a fireplace to come back to.
The Savegre valley at about 2,200 metres, where we send birders for the Resplendent Quetzal: the birds, the lodges in the valley and how to get there.
See the placeThe oak forest on the ridge above San Gerardo de Dota: 12,355 acres of park, the quetzal with a guide, the six lodges at its edge and the trips nearby.
See the placeThe highest road in Costa Rica, over the ridge above the quetzal valley: the birds of the ridge at km 70, two family lodges on top and how to get 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.
Keep going: add more birds, lodges or tours, then turn your Wishlist into a trip.
