About the Retreats

---

 Arrival in San Jose

This will be the day you arrive in Costa Rica. After arriving in the capital of San Jose you will check into a comfortable air conditioned room in a near by hotel.

You will be sent all the details of the hotel once you pay your deposit and the room is booked.

Other people on the trip will also be staying in the same hotel so you can meet up for something to eat in the evening before getting a restful night ready for pick up in the morning.

Travel to Perez Zeledon, Intro, Photo Walk

You will be picked up from your hotel early in the morning in a private, air conditioned car and head down to The Cosmic Garden.

The drive is around 3-4 hours so enjoy the beautiful scenery and relax. We will stop along the way for a photography break at the "crocodile bridge"

Once you arrive we will explore the property and hopefully get the first wildlife photos of the trip before returning to have some dinner.

We will then go over some photo techniques and discuss the plan of action for the rest of the week before heading to bed ready for an early start.

Wildlife Photography Safari

As for most of the days we will have an early start, breakfast will be ready at 5:30am and we will aim to leave around 6am. We will then head out with our guide to visit various reliable spots for wildlife. It is likely we will see monkeys, lizards, crocodiles, macaws, toucans and more on this day. 

After our morning photography session we will return home for some lunch. After eating and taking a short break to upload the mornings photos we will go out for a second shorter safari drive in the afternoon.

We will then return for some dinner and our evening editing session.

River Cruise

On this day we will leave at 5:30am and grab some breakfast from the bakery before heading out for our river cruise.

The drive is just over 1 hour up to Quepos, we will then have our river cruise where we will see a variety of incredible wildlife lining the banks. The diversity of species you can see on a river cruise is just breathtaking. 

In my opinion it is one of the best ways to see wildlife in Costa Rica and i'm certain you will love it. 

We will then return back to the house for a slightly later lunch, before our free time.

During the free time you can either photograph the wildlife that visits the house, head down to the beach, city or relax and look through the days photos.

Finally we will have our dinner and editing session.

Manuel Antonio WIldlife reserve

If sloths, monkeys and Iguana's are on your photography bucket list this is the day for you.  

At the Manuel Antonio National park that has an excellent success rate in spotting sloths so hopefully we will get some great shots of these incredible creatures. 

After the photography walk we will have some food at the garden before a short safari drive on the way back to the house. We will then enjoy some free time before having dinner and doing some editing.

Free Day/Optional Excursions & Night Walk

This is your free day where you can take part in some extra activities or tours. A popular choice is to visit the world famous Nauyaca Water Falls however, you can also use this time to go shopping, fishing or just relax on the beach. 

Alternatively you can chill out at the house and photograph whatever animals decide to come and visit that day. It is completely up to you how you spend your free day.

(Extra activities are not included in the retreat price) 

In the evening we will go for a night walk to do macro photography where we will look for frogs, lizards, snakes and insects. To maximise this experience I recommend bringing a flash.

 Wildlife Photography Safari 

We will have another early start with breakfast being served at 5:30am before heading out with our driver and guide in search of more wildlife. This will be the day where we will try and tick off any remaining species you may not have photographed yet.
We will visit an area called Matapalo which is known for being a great place to photograph all four species of monkeys, toucans and much more as well as having some stunning beaches.
We will then come back for lunch before our free time and editing session. 

 Morning Safari & Departure

This is unfortunately the last day of the workshop. This doesn't mean there isn't time to get some last photos in though.​
We will leave the house at 6am for a short safari drive before heading back to the house for breakfast at 9am ready for your pick up at 11am.​
You will then have a comfortable car journey back to the capital or wherever you are being dropped off along the way.