Excursion d’observation des oiseaux à Monteverde

Almon spent 4 hours with us pointing out birds that we never would have seen. More importantly, his love of birding was obvious. He would take pictures/videos for us through his spotting scope then take his own pictures. It was amazing to be guided by someone so skilled and so obviously as excited about the birds as we were.

Our birding guide was exceptional. He took us around Monteverde to the little known birding areas. We saw a huge variety of birds, some VERY unique to the area. I would happily do this tour again and highly recommend.

What a wonderful way to spend a morning! Early starts but worth it. Beautiful location. We saw many birds, monkeys, armadillo. Olman was our tour guide. Very friendly, Great knowledge and so enthusiastic 😊 Highly recommend.

Great professionalism from Ficus Trails! Our call was promptly returned. The details and pricing were clear. Our guide, Olman, showed up to our lodging a few minutes early. He had the right gear: a good spotting scope, extra binoculars, laser pointer and a full sized bird reference book. At first, my wife and I thought it odd that we started our tour, not in one of the Reserves, but in the village and neighborhoods of Monteverde. Olman explained that you can often see more varieties of birds just outside the parks. And, boy was he right! We saw motmots, toucans, macaws, euphonias, chacalacas and a whole bunch more. He knew local hiding spots of the birds. His eyes were incredible! A twitch of a leaf, a small flash of color and Olman knew exactly what bird it was. I noticed that several other guided bird groups would often shadow Olman, knowing he would likely spot the birds ahead of anyone. We then entered Curi Cancha Reserve. While we were hiking and waiting for birds to appear, Olman shared his extensive knowledge about the plant life, the bugs, spiders snakes and mammals (agoutis and coatimundi) we encountered. We hit a sweet spot for hummingbirds that lasted a long time. And finally, as out tour was about to end, we were treated with a close up view of the holy grail of birds: the Resplendent Quetzal.

Thought Ficus Trails was tremendous. Our guide, Olman, was a master multitasker engaging each of us at our level of interest. Chatting, listening, hushing, hustling and always looking for and finding birds and setting up scope for us. Quetzal a highlight. Tremendous day and I'm not even a birder. Birder wife loved it too.

+1

Olman was best guide ever! Saw so many different birds, monkeys, other creatures. Other guides seemed to be following him. Super friendly guy! You won’t be disappointed. Definitely recommend

+4

We went out on a misty, rainy morning but still had a really great time with Olman. He’s a super knowledgeable birder who knew both the habits and standard habitats of all local birds as well as the calls and songs for most. On our tour with him I added 19 new birds to my life list and my partner added 26 to his. We were very happy with the experience and had a great time with Olman.

Really enjoyed our morning bird watching tour. Ollman was such a brilliant guide - clearly very passionate about his work and keen to provide the best experience for everyone on the tour. We managed to see a variety of birds in various different locations and Ollman did an excellent job spotting birds which we would never have noticed on our own. Even on leaving the nature reserve, Ollman was still looking out for a toucan for us and managed to spot one at a distance, which was amazing to see!

Our guide Olman's passion for birds was so captivating that we were able to fully enter this world during one excursion. We were incredibly lucky to observe such great diversity, both flora and fauna. Super charming and interested, he showed us lots of unique aspects of Costa Rican nature while educating us a little on various notorious facts! *I do not advise you to take this excursion if your expectations are to see all the birds living in this place; it is not a zoo. This is the beauty of doing this activity and being lucky if you can observe nature little by little in its natural state.

Our guide, Olman, was very knowledgeable about all the birds in the area. He could identify them by their songs making it easier to find them. We had many fantastic views through his scope of beautiful tropical birds! He also send us a comprehensive list of all that we saw. It was a great experience!