An Extraordinary Trip to Corcovado National Park

It’s not just the Osa Peninsula that’s a haven for wildlife enthusiasts, but virtually the whole of Costa Rica. This wondrous country, located in the heart of Central America, is green and lush in the interior. It has spectacular turtle-nesting beaches on both its Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the highlands offer a magnificent array of bird species, including the aptly named resplendent quetzal.

However, it's Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula that the Festival of Wildlife visits in July 2027. This beautiful park provides refuge to a tremendous variety of flora and fauna including white-lipped peccary, endangered Baird’s tapir, mantled howler monkey and northern tamandua – all here in good numbers – while ocelot, margay, jaguarundi and both jaguar and puma are present, if a little harder to see.

There are birds galore – nearly 400 species – from the large raptors such as crested eagle, harpy eagle and black hawk, to small hummingbirds, toucans and tanagers. The shoreline is patrolled by herons, egrets and wading birds, while pelicans, frigatebirds and boobies soar overhead. The rivers are home to American crocodiles and spectacled caiman.

Those with an interest in herpetology won’t be disappointed here either, as there are no fewer than 40 species of frog including all of the poison-dart frogs and the most iconic frog of them all: the diminutive, red-eyed tree frog. There are also rain frogs, glass frogs and dink frogs, as well as a glorious array of butterflies.

Our Festival of Wildlife is based at the beautifully appointed Corcovado Wilderness Lodge, high on a hillside, nestled on the edge of the rainforest, and overlooking the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean. From here, we hope to see some of the visiting humpbacks that come here to breed, or perhaps the spotted, common, bottlenose or spinner dolphins that are all resident in these waters.

There are plenty of opportunities to get into the park and enjoy wildlife excursions with our expert team, and there are small boat trips to the offshore Caño Island Biological Reserve in search of cetaceans, as well as some incredible snorkelling. At a small additional cost, there's even the opportunity to scuba dive.

We're based at the lodge for a full week and, as usual, we have a superb Festival team of naturalists, wildlife photographers and artists. There are a full complement of talks, presentations and workshops to help you make the very most of every waking minute.

You might also like to consider exploring Costa Rica further on one of our pre- or post-Festival extensions – perhaps visiting the cloud forest of Los Quetzales National Park to look for resplendent quetzals, or maybe heading to the Caribbean Coast to see the extraordinary spectacle of nesting green turtles on the beaches of Tortuguero National Park.

The diversity of life in Corcovado has to be seen to be believed, and the huge riches of the forest here are second only to those in the Amazon Basin. Its towering ceiba and mahogany trees, which dominate the rainforest canopy, create a stark contrast to the adjacent sandy shores of the Pacific.

This is a unique trip with an exceptional team to the largest remaining tract of primary rainforest on the American Pacific Coast, and we would love for you to join us …

Find out more about our Festival of Wildlife to Corcovado National Park or speak to our team today to book your place.