Natural Habitat Adventures Launches New Costa Rica and Nicaragua Nature Adventure

The world’s premier nature travel company, Natural Habitat Adventures (Nat Hab), will host four departures of a new exploratory itinerary, Tropical Discovery: Costa Rica to Nicaragua, beginning in late 2015.

Just 10 guests per departure will explore wild regions of Costa Rica and seldom-visited Nicaragua, a country many visitors believe represents what Costa Rica felt like 50 years ago. The inaugural departure of this new 11-day adventure is set for Nov. 26, 2015. The per-person, double occupancy rate is $4,995; single supplement is $895.

“Costa Rica holds legendary status as a nature tourism destination,” said Ben Bressler, Nat Hab founder and president, “and Nicaragua is equally spectacular though far less known.”

A combined exploration of the two countries’ mosaic of tropical habitats showcases a vivid diversity of wildlife. Colonial Granada, established in 1524, is part of the mix too, adding a historical element as the first European city in mainland America. Bressler explained that this trip was designed in tandem with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to highlight a broad range of wilder, less-visited regions of these two nature-rich countries.

From the highest point on the Pan-American Highway (11,322 feet) through Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains guests access Savegre Mountain Reserve in a cloud forest rife with giant tropical oaks and some 600 bird species, including the rare and resplendent quetzal. A private boat cruise on the Sarapiqui River weaves through some of the best-preserved rain forest in Costa Rica, inhabited by a host of wildlife. And visits to two field research centers – La Selva, an international biological research station, and Tirimbina Rainforest Center, where the focus is on bats – offer guests a chance to interact with scientists studying tropical habitats and wildlife.

Just over Costa Rica’s northern border, vast Lake Nicaragua and the volcanoes that flank it offer multiple opportunities to examine the impact of volcanic activity on the natural environment. The itinerary includes a cruise among lava islets on the lake, an excursion to view nesting parakeets in the crater of the active Masaya Volcano, and a walk through old-growth dry tropical forest growing out of lava rock.

Morgan’s Rock, a 4,000-acre nature preserve on Nicaragua’s southern Pacific coast, provides a remote immersion in the tropical landscape. Nesting sea turtles are sometimes found along the mile-long beach while the forested reserve interior shelters spider, howler and capuchin monkeys, sloth, deer, agouti, reptiles, and indigenous and migratory birds.

While the itinerary’s focus is on nature and conservation, the history and culture of region’s peoples embellish the experience. These include one of the world’s best pre-Columbian rock art sites on Ometepe Island, the colonial textures of Granada, visits to handcrafted hammock and maraca workshops, and a home-cooked meal in the home of a Costa Rican family.

Accommodations are selected for authenticity and eco-sensitivity. In Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains guests stay at Savegre Mountain Lodge in the cloud forest. Another lodge, San Juan de la Isla, enjoys a lakefront location on Nicaragua’s Santo Domingo Beach in view of Isla Ometepe’s towering twin volcanoes. The ecolodge at Morgan’s Rock is part of a family estate engaged in low-impact agriculture and sustainable forestry practices.

Trip rates include all transportation and activities as described in the itinerary, an internal charter flight, accommodations, all meals, non-alcoholic beverages and purified drinking water, services of a Nat Hab Expedition Leader, local guides and lodge staff, airport transfers, most gratuities, all permits, entrance fees and taxes. The international gateway is San Jose, Costa Rica.