COSTA RICA April 12 21, 2018

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1 NATURES TAPESTRY PHOTO ADVENTURE TOURS COSTA RICA April 12 21, 2018 Day 1: April 12 After a two and one half hour flight from the US we will arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica, where we will meet up with our professional photographer and guide. Transfer by bus to the Lodge located in the northeast of Costa Rica. During the approx. three-hour trip, we will stop along the way for lunch and any photo opportunities. 5:00 pm Arrive at, check in, and explore our lodge, followed by our first Costa Rican dinner. This lodge s meals are served family style and the taste of the food is incredible or maybe it just tastes better when you are watching parrots and woodpeckers while dining! 7:30 pm Night walk around the hotel trails to look for tree frogs (optional) The hotel has its own private reserve, so if we still feel like exploring before going to bed we can enter the woods and search of tree frogs and cool insects for macrophotography with flash. Overnight at Lodge. Day 2: April 13 Bird photography in the early morning light. This could be one of the best moments to start achieving some of the greatest pictures of the trip (early morning and late afternoon lighting is generally the best). Flashes may be used to fill up some little shadows but it will be your personal decision. 07:30 am Breakfast at the lodge. Most of the bird photography will take place on the deck of the hotel where the restaurant is, so we can simultaneously work and enjoy a cup of coffee. 9:30 am Honey creeper photo session at the manager s house feeders. By this time we should have taken good photos of the toucans and parrots and the light may be a bit hard, so transferring for few hours to the manager s home can be a good move, since his feeders are under some bushes and we will be getting some different, smaller birds in a shorter distance from our lenses. Noon

2 Family style lunch back at the lodge with some fresh tropical fruit, juice and coffee, followed by some free time to download photos, charge batteries and take a nap. 2:30 pm Toucan photo shooting from the hotel deck. Second session filming the many species of birds that come to the special feeders, now with the afternoon light and if we are lucky, some rain! Often raindrops in the frame can make the photo look more dramatic. 6:00 pm Dinner at the lodge, after dinner we can have a short reunion to discuss themes of rain forest photography such as the use of natural light, flash, ISO, depth of field, and rain photography. Also, we can go through some of the names and natural history of the wildlife photographed during the day. Overnight at Lodge. Day 3: Aptil 14 Pre-breakfast photography from the deck. As soon the first birds start calling (at dawn) we will get our camera gear and leave our room to enjoy the morning light and the activity of the toucans, woodpeckers and parrots as they all come to feed near the restaurant. 7:30 am We will enjoy our breakfast casually and then depart right after to our next lodge. If we happen to find something interesting to photograph while enroute, we will stop and capture the moment! Otherwise we will continue on our journey as your guide shares Costa Rican history and answers questions along the way.

3 Noon Arrive at the hotel, where we will have lunch first and then check in. Once in the room, it is highly recommend you open your camera bags and put most your gear on a bed to get rid of humidity that can cause some condensation when we begin working in the field. 3:00 pm Group will meet up at the restaurant to set up for some bird or landscape photography since we will be facing the impressive volcano and the magnificent lake close by the lodge. Often on sunny days the sunset light on the north Pacific reaches over the lake, creating some interesting colors and reflections. Tripods, cable releases, and polarized filters are recommended for this photo session. 7:00 pm Dinner will be at our hotel, the food is wonderful at the lodge and the desserts divine. After dinner we will have an optional night walk to practice more macrophotography with flash, although some species we will not photograph with flash due to their natural sensitivity. Overnight at Lodge. Day 4: April 15 Bird photography at the Lodge. Since the morning light is so precious we will have early starts every day. On the lodge deck we can practice getting some birds in flight as they approach the feeders. We will be at a good height and will have time to focus properly before they land. Oropendulas, jays, and tanagers will be some of our targets. Coffee will be available. 8:00 am Breakfast. After a great breakfast, we will take a walk through the hotel trails and garden, where we often find coatis, monkeys and sometimes tamanduas (anteaters). This lodge also has a place to film local species of Hummingbirds.

4 Noon Lunch at the restaurant of the Lodge, followed by a little nap or camera preparations. Make sure your photos are downloaded to your computer and that batteries are charged and ready to go for the afternoon expedition. 2:00 pm Afternoon trip along an old logging road and a visit to a site for butterfly and caiman pictures. The site is a small place and easy to walk around. On its single trail, it has a lagoon and a butterfly garden. Macrophotography can be done here and they also have herons that often can be seen at the lagoon among the caimans. 5:00 pm Return to hotel with a stop in the town of Fortuna. Here we can get personal items from a supermarket or pharmacy if needed or just walk around and take pictures of the local people and surroundings. 7:30 pm Dinner back at our Lodge, with free time after dinner. Please remember to charge your batteries and download the photographs of the day into your computer. It is recommended to have at least one back up of the pictures safe in your room. Overnight the Lodge. Day 5: April 16 Morning photography. Since we are all photographers we will get up early again to take advantage of the warm morning light by meeting at the deck of the lodge where we can have a cup of Costa Rican coffee while photographing birds. 7:00 am Breakfast. One more time the famous rice and beans breakfast will be ready for us, as well fresh fruit, cereal and toast. Suitcases will need to be ready and out of the room for us to pick them up right after breakfast. 8:00 am Depart for our next Lodge in the lowlands rainforest with a stop at a wildlife refuge on the way. We ll spend most of the afternoon here creating photos of macaws flying or

5 perching in the large trees on the property, as well as some other animals such as white face monkeys that visit the farm from time to time. 4:00 pm Departure to the Lodge. Sloths could be found on the way, so cameras must be ready at all times, we recommend that you always have a big lens ready and a small one (if you have two cameras, both ready to go) since we may find toucans, sloths or woodpeckers along the way, as well some beautiful scenic views, interesting colorful towns, and fruit markets. 5:00 pm Arrival at the Lodge and check in..the lodge has a nice swimming pool, wireless Internet, and a plethora of wildlife since it is surrounded by rain forest. As soon we check in you will have some free time to explore the grounds and we will meet again for dinner. 6:30 pm Dinner follow by a macro session with indirect lighting for glass frogs and snakes. By this time we will have some experience with macrophotography, so we will look for some special frogs. We should have an idea of the photo we want in our mind, as to minimize the time spent with each frog since some are rare and we want to minimize our disturbances to them and their habitat. Overnight at Lodge Day 6: April 17 Depart for waterfall area for a full day photographing hummingbirds. We will arrange to have fruit and coffee at the restaurant before we go, but we want to leave early in order to have a full day of shooting hummingbirds. The place we have selected has numerous set ups where it is possible to take different natural shots of the hummingbirds flying and landing. This particular location is beautiful for its surroundings. There is a huge waterfall that can be interesting to film while you are there. Lunch will be served at this location as well, and we will go back to our lodge in the late afternoon. This area is very scenic and is located in a cloud forest reserve. It has trails and if you want, you can hike all the way down to the waterfall; it is an incredible location for landscape photography. 4:00 pm Return to lodge. On the way back we can do a quick selection of the best hummingbirds photos that you took and we can identify them for you. Usually we can expect around nine species of hummingbirds. At all times in the bus, we will have a cooler with water and snacks that will keep us going until dinner time. 7:00 pm

6 Dinner. Night photography is always available if anyone would like to explore some more of the Lodge surroundings. Overnight at Lodge Day 7: April 18 Morning macro workshop with poison frogs at the hotel. We will start before breakfast with a little introduction to macro with these amazing frogs and learn how careful we need to be with them. 7:00 am Breakfast and then macro work for two more hours with the frogs. 9:00 am Depart for the Talamanca mountain range. After the macro session we ll load up the bus and leave for the home of the majestic Resplendent Quetzal. Since we will have some snacks in the van I will recommend a late lunch so we can arrive at a special restaurant. This stop is located just 40 minutes from our destination. The owner not only serves wonderful food, but also still cooks in a firewood stove and has lots of birds coming to feeders right outside the restaurant. After enjoying lunch and a nice cup of coffee we ll head out for our Lodge in time for check in and to explore the garden that has numerous species of hummingbirds. 7:00 pm Dinner. Our new lodge offers a great buffet with many options. After enjoying dinner, we will have a briefing about the plan for the next day. Our main goal will be to photograph the Resplendent Quetzal. A few trips to look for the Quetzal will take place over the time we spend at this Lodge.

7 Overnight at lodge. Day 8, April 19 Coffee and hot tea will be ready for us outside the restaurant, where we will meet before we take off in search of the Quetzal. During the previous night s briefing, we would have covered themes such as what to bring and how to interact while photographing the Quetzal everything we will need to know in order to be ready for spectacular Quetzal shots! 9:00 am We will return to our lodge for a complete breakfast. Afterwards, we will have down time to download photos, to recharge the batteries, and just to relax.. Noon Lunch. After lunch our guide will take a cup of coffee and his computer and sit by the lounge area so if someone has questions regarding camera gear, species photographed, or about Costa Rica in general this is a good time to come meet with him and ask your questions! 2:30 pm Second Quetzal search to ensure we all get good photos of this beautiful bird. Since the Quetzal is rare and this is the only place we will see it we want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to get great photos. Also, the afternoon light is different and it will come from a different angle, giving us a chance for dramatic photos of this species. 4:30 pm Return to the lodge. If anyone in the group would like to join the happy hour crowd at the bar of the Lodge, we will be back on time for it. The bar area has wireless connection so it can be a good time to load up some of your Costa Rican images to various media so friends and family can enjoy them as well. 7:00 pm Dinner and free time. We will go out in the morning again so make sure to get some rest to be ready for an early wake up and long day traveling. Overnight at Lodge Day 9: April 20 Last morning photography session. We will go out for more Quetzal photos (It s guaranteed you will never get tired of taking photos of this bird) and then we will return for breakfast. 9:00 am

8 Breakfast at the lodge. Open morning photography we have the option to do hummingbirds, macro around the garden, or explore the lodge area for some landscape or other photography. 12:30 pm Lunch at the lodge. 1:30 pm Load the bus and depart for San Jose. On our journey to San Jose, we will stop at a location for different species of hummingbird photos called the Firery Throated, with brilliant luminous colors when the sun s rays hit the breast area of the bird. 6:00 pm Check in at hotel in San Jose, farewell dinner. Day 10: April 21 7:00 am Breakfast and then departure for San Jose International Airport. 10:30 am Arrival at the airport for departure back to the USA IMPORTANT FACTS TO KEEP IN MIND FOR THIS EXPEDITION As we will photograph most of the time outside, raincoats and insect repellent are recommended, as well as proper protection for cameras. A laptop computer or some device that will keep a safe back up of your photos is highly recommended. Our local tour guide in Costa Rica will make sure everything mentioned in this package will be executed, although some things may occur during the trip that could be unpredictable or cause us to change the program. We all need to be understanding and flexible in case of changes or cancelation of some activities due to a major, unpredictable cause. We will do macro set ups and take walks in the Rain Forest during the day and at night, and sometimes it may be rainy or muddy. If one s camera gear becomes wet or lost it is not Natures Tapestry JLM, LLC or the local tour operators responsibility to repair or replace it. Every participant will be asked to sign Disclaimer and Risk forms once a commitment has been made to join this tour.. Here is a brief list of some of the wildlife we may run into with our photography: Howler Monkeys White Faced Monkeys Three Toed Sloths Scarlet Macaws Toucans

9 Hummingbirds Quetzals Poison Frogs Red Eye Tree Frogs Glass Frogs Snakes Volcanoes Peccaries Basilisk Lizards Iguanas Caimans Hummingbirds Crocodiles. Please feel free to contact me for any additional information or questions regarding the tour: Contact: Gary Malloch Natures Tapestry JLM, LLC 9306 Equus Circle Boynton Beach, Florida, (561) NATURES TAPESTRY JLM, LLC, DBA: NATURES TAPESTRY PHOTO ADVENTURES is registered with the State of Florida as a Seller of Travel. Registration No. ST39587

10 We are looking forward to your visit with us in Costa Rica!