Advice for Costa Rica first-timer
Hey all! Long time reader here; first time poster.
Going on a Costa Rica trip with my girlfriend and her family at the end of February, and I’d love to get some expert advice on where to spot certain animals.
The itinerary they have planned is primarily centered on touristy areas in/around Arenal. We are there for 5 days in total excluding travel days.
I’ve never been to Costa Rica and I’ve also never travelled with my girlfriend’s family (super excited for both!), but my understanding is that they are mainly up for the touristy stuff, and don’t have quite the same enthusiasm for finding wildlife.
With all of that said, I’d still like to try to find some animals that have been on my bucket list, even if it means my girlfriend and I sneak off for a few hours or a day.
Does anyone have advice for places in or around Arenal (and potentially within a couple hours transit) where I could have good chances of spotting kinkajou, three toed sloth, tamandua, and silky anteater? What about places with at least some chance of spotting tayra, olingo, margay, jaguarundi, and/or ocelot?
I know this is not the focus of this forum, but I am also very interested in herps, so I was wondering if Arenal and/or nearby areas are good places to spot eyelash viper, terciopelo, basilisk, and/or red eyed tree frogs?
Also worth mentioning is that I am a grad student with limited funds, so the more budget friendly the better haha, but I am willing to spend a bit within reason for the right adventure.
Thanks so much in advance – looking forward to your responses!
-Skyler
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giant eland
Hello Skyler and welcome to Mammalwatching!
One of my all time favorite places is Tirimbina Lodge which looks like only a bit over 1 hour from Arenal. A ton of unique bat species that are visible during the day with the star of the show being the Honduran White Bat. Be sure to set up a tour with Emmanuel- whatsapp# +506 8719 0750.
Monteverde would also have a chance for a lot of the mammals you mentioned and is under 3 hours drive from Arenal. Vino De Backer is a great guide there- here’s his whatsapp: +506 8502 7056.
Here’s a link for the last trip I took there and visited both sites I just mentioned: https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/CR_TR_AMVS_Mar22-compressed.pdf
In general the app iNaturalist will be a huge help for finding good locations for all wild animals- herps included. For instance Silky Anteaters have been seen right next to Arenal as recently as three months ago.
Best of luck and I hope to maybe see your first trip report after you return!
-Alex Meyer