Costa Rica Photography Safari

Pick-up at the airport for those arriving today, or at a San Jose area hotel for those who arrived early. Transfer by comfortable vehicle to Villa Blanca Resort about an hour and a half from San Jose. The 75-acre property, surrounded by Los Angeles Nature Reserve, features walking trails and gardens, and rooming in 35 private casitas. Enjoy this remarkable setting with photographer Wayde Carroll and the JOURNEYS naturalist-guide who will be accompanying you throughout your Costa Rica exploration. After a delicious dinner in the hotel restaurant, Wayde will give the first of his daily presentations. Tonight's will be in Villa Blanca's theater, focusing on composition. Bring your cameras and manuals to enable Wayde to familiarize himself with your equipment and with your goals for the week.

Early risers can enjoy a dawn photography and nature walk before breakfast at the hotel. Later in the morning enjoy an in-depth session with Wayde in the hummingbird garden where you may photograph as many as 7 different species. On photography tours for the super-serious, this situation might call for multiple flashes, but Wayde will demonstarte how to successfully capture hummingbirds in flight with your own camera and flash. In the afternoon, walk the trails in Los Angeles Cloud Forest and capture the forest patterns in the waning light.

Meals: Breakfast

Change locales with a 90 minute to two hour drive through coffee country and mountains to Arenal Observatory Lodge in Arenal National Park. Arenal is Costa Rica's most active volcano. On cloudless nights, lava flows create an awesome display and a fantastic opportunity for slow-shotter photography. The geo-thermal activity in the area has created hot springs with delightful water temperatures for soaking and relaxing. Visit Ecotermales - which has several soaking pools and a waterfall for natural massage - today or tomorrow.

Meals: Breakfast

Today explore the lush, dramatic, wildlife-rich area around Arenal. The highlight will be the "Hanging Bridges" - a two-mile network of trails and suspension bridges winding through the forest and above the jungle canopy. This will be an opportunity to photograph many varieties of tropical birds and butterflies, and the beautiful red flowering ginger. The photography challenge today will be to capture the depth and textures of the green on green forest and the interplay of light and cloud around thhe volcano.

Meals: Breakfast

Drive across the mountains of central Costa Rica to the Sarapiqui River lowlands. Check into a unique, award-winning, family-owned riverside lodge, long a favorite of JOURNEYS for its commitment to the local community and for its creative environmental projects. In the afternoon, enjoy a unique "chocolate tour." Visit a former cacao tree plantation which is part of the Tirimbina Reserve. Observe the chocolate making process and sample the organic bars. In so doing support a women's cooperative and the local efforts to rescue the native cacao, one of the most environmentally friendly crops. Today attempt to photographically capture the rolling hills of the central valley and the cast of colorful frogs hiding in the tall grasses.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today offers many opportunities for adventure and for engaging the challenge of action photography. Visit Haciendo Pozo Azul, a local ranch which offers a choice of activities (extra cost), including zip-lining, horseback riding and white water rafting.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Travel by road and water to Tortuguero National Park for two incredible days of exploration. The park borders the Caribbean and contains a network of canals and waterways which can be taken inland through the jungle. Your lovely accommodation is under the forest canopy, near the water's edge, and you'll wake to the calls of the howler monkeys. Search the trails and waterways for manatees, caimans, monkeys, sloths, river otters, and poison dart frogs. Tortuguero also has some 300 species of birds including the roseate spoonbill, American fin foot, great green macaw, trogon, oropendula, and the frigate bird. Dawn and dusk on the waterways create an ethereal mood for photography. Wayde offers great help in capturing the monkeys cavorting in the treetops.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Quietly cruise the waterways in a small private boat in the early morning and in the late afternoon to maximize wildlife viewing opportunities. Also, today visit Tortuguero town, where the people and village color present wonderful photo opportunities. As the trip draws to a close, Wayde will review participants' photographs and offer mentoring in digital photo editing.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Transfer to Tortuguero's airport for a short return flight to San Jose. Connect to your homebound international flight, or extend in Costa Rica. Photo sharing and critiquing will extend well beyond the trip. Wayde enjoys collecting group photos and continuing his mentorship.

Meals: Breakfast