The Flying Banana Tour is designed for the casual birder who also enjoys learning about a different culture through culinary exploration and customized excursions. Costa Rica is known for its rice and beans (particularly gallo pinto), but there is so much more to its cuisine! We will learn all about Costa Rican mainstays like coffee, bananas, and chocolate. We will also try a variety of tropical fruits as we tour the central market and an organic farm. Taste the historical influence of Spanish, Caribbean, and indigenous cultures and also note the fusion tendencies from more recent international influences. Become a foodie if you aren’t one already!
Costa Rica is also one of the top birding destinations in the world, with many different ecosystems and elevations to explore. Starting at our hotel in San Jose, we will provide opportunities for daily birding walks at the places we are staying as well as at nearby birding hotspots. Expect to see more than one hundred species of tropical birds over the course of the trip, including spectacular ones like the Yellow-throated Toucan, Red-legged Honeycreeper, and Montezuma Oropendola. Take your birding to the next level with us: enthusiasm is required, but birding experience is not!
Tour Highlights
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Trip Details
Trip Details
Price
- $3385/person double occupancy
- $3830/person single occupancy
Departure time
Travel to Costa Rica on July 3, 2026
Meeting point
Hotel Bougainvillea
Availability
July 3-12, 2026
Duration
9 days
Group size
8-10 people
Participation requirements
Ability to handle uneven walking surfaces and high elevations.
Included
Lodging, transportation, tours, entrance fees, food, and guides.
Not included
Flights, alcoholic drinks, trip insurance, and personal expenses like souvenirs, laundry services, etc.
What to bring
A packing list will be provided to all participants.
Number & type of staff for tour
David and Beth Rupp, owners of IndiGo Birding Nature Tours, and Lali Hess, owner of The Juniper Spoon, will lead and coordinate this tour. Various Costa Rican guides with specific expertise will lead the hikes and activities.
Good to Know
While the itinerary is our plan for the tour, many times situations arise where we are not able to do a specific activity. Weather, logistical challenges, and more can impact the tour. Please note that we might not be able to do all that is outlined here, although that is the goal.
This tour is designed to provide an immersive experience through nature, culture, and food discovery. If you like birds and food and have a spirit of curiosity, this is the tour for you! However, if you want a complete tropical birding tour, I recommend that you look at our other tour options. Likewise, if you aren’t interested in birds, this isn’t the tour for you, as we will spend hours most days observing our feathered friends. Please note also that there will be time incorporated in our schedule for rest and relaxation, usually in early afternoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
IF WE CANCEL a tour due to low attendance, severe weather, health risks, or other unforeseen event, participants may either move their payments to another trip of their choice or receive a full refund.
IF YOU CANCEL your place on this tour more than 90 days from departure, a full refund will be available. If canceling within 90 days of departure, no refund will be given UNLESS we are able to fill your spot(s) with another participant. In that situation, $250 will still be withheld for administrative purposes, but the rest of your payments will be refunded. We highly recommend that you purchase trip cancellation (including medical emergency) insurance to cover your investment in case of injury or illness to you or a family member prior to or during a trip.
We will be in mountainous terrain for much of this tour. While we won’t go on many long walks, the incline and decline will be a factor, especially at the higher elevations where oxygen levels are lower. The footing can be uneven and slippery in places. If you have balance issues, we recommend bringing a hiking stick
What You’ll See & Do
Join IndiGo Birding Nature Tours for this unique birding and food tour of Costa Rica, a treasure chest of biodiversity and delicious cuisine. This new itinerary invites participants into the lush mountains of south-central Costa Rica, where some of the most picturesque scenery and pleasant climates can be found in July. Because the Keel-billed Toucan has been nicknamed the Flying Banana (with its long, yellow beak) and because Costa Rica is a major banana producer, we thought the Flying Banana Tour would be a fitting name for a trip focused on both the foods and birds of this Central American country. Over the course of this 9-day tour we will spend our mornings in search of toucans, trogons, and motmots and then visit unique restaurants, markets, and farms that provide a tasty, immersive experience for new and savvy travelers alike.
Don’t miss out on this unique trip, a carefully selected mix of activities that will make for a delightful vacation of birding, tasting, and enjoying the tropics. Pura vida!
Itinerary:
Day 0 (July 3, 2026)
Arrival in San Jose
Welcome to Costa Rica! Schedule your flight to arrive in the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) anytime on the 3rd. A shuttle driver will meet you there to take you across town to Hotel Bougainvillea, where you can settle in and relax after a day of travel. If you arrive early, you can enjoy a walk and some birding in the lovely gardens on-site. This first dinner is not included in the tour cost, but if you arrive in time you can savor a tasty meal at the beautiful hotel restaurant.
Day 1 (July 4)
Intro to Costa Rican food
We will gather at 6:30 a.m. for an introduction to birding in the hotel gardens led by David. After breakfast at the hotel, we will drive to the local Viquez Saturday market, where Lali will show us many of the fruits and other foods used in Costa Rican cooking. From there, we will cook our own lunch–a true Costa Rican feast–and learn from the best: Angel was head chef at the U.S. Embassy, and now he is a cooking instructor. After lunch we will tour the National Theater before we head back to Bougainvillea for more introductions and another restful night.
Day 2 (July 5)
Botanical Gardens and Rancho Naturalista
We start the day with another bird walk before breakfast at Hotel Bougainvillea. After breakfast, we will check out of the hotel, load up for the drive to Turrialba, the home of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE). There we will have a guided tour of the botanical gardens before continuing on to Rancho Naturalista, one of the most famous birding lodges in the country.
Day 3 (July 6)
Rancho Naturalista
Rancho Naturalista offers world-class birding and a friendly atmosphere where we will enjoy delicious dining experiences from the freshest local ingredients. There have been over 450 bird species recorded in their private forest reserve and the surrounding area, which we will explore with a local expert birding guide. In addition, we will enjoy a private cooking class and a guided night hike. A great year-round climate is an additional appeal at Rancho Naturalista. What a day!
Day 4 (July 7)
Costa Rican Coffee
The birding continues at Rancho Naturalista, but we also have a coffee tour at Cafe Mision Costa Rica scheduled for 10:00 a.m. We will learn all about the art and science of coffee production–cultivation, harvest, fermentation, and roasting–in one of the most fertile places in the country. We finish it off by learning the proper tasting and appreciation techniques. Yum! After lunch and a little break, we hit the trails again for more guided birding in the area.
Day 5 (July 8)
Chocolate!
Time to keep exploring Costa Rica! After breakfast we will depart Rancho Naturalista and head to Nortico Cacao Farm for a tour and chocolate-making demonstration. We will learn everything about the process of making artisanal and organic chocolate. Best part? Tasting their different varieties and getting the chance to make our own! We will also have lunch at Nortico before heading to Hotel Quelitales. We will only spend one night at Quelitales, but we hope to find some awesome species like the Scaled Antpitta, Green-fronted Lancebill, and Sunbittern while there. Plus, they serve fresh mountain trout in the restaurant!
Day 6 (July 9)
Head to the Mountains!
You might think you are in the mountains when we are at Quelitales, but these are just the foothills! After an amazing breakfast surrounded by birds, we will start winding our way up to some of the highest points in Costa Rica… nearly 10,000 feet! Here in the Talamanca Mountain Range grow amazing oaks covered with bromeliads and moss. The drive provides some of the best views in the country. We will end our journey at Savegre, a destination in itself, and enjoy a dinner worth the drive. And be sure to bring a sweater, jacket, and gloves, as it gets a bit cold at night!
Day 7 (July 10)
In search of the Quetzal
The primary reason people from around the world travel to San Gerardo de Dota in the Talamanca Mountains is to see the famously beautiful Resplendent Quetzal. We, too, will be joining the search on this day. However, there are many other unique and gorgeous birds (e.g. Collared Redstart, Volcano Hummingbird, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher) to enjoy along the road, river, and forests of this unique landscape. We will work in time to visit the Batsu Gardens and have lunch at Lauraceae Restaurant–two more things to look forward to!
Day 8 (July 11)
Bird your way to San Jose
If we haven’t been successful in our search for the Resplendent Quetzal, we will try one more time this morning. Otherwise, we will enjoy a birding walk along the river in search of Torrent Tyrannulet and American Dipper. Then we pack up at Savegre and go to one of the more scenic lunch spots we know: Miriam’s Quetzals. The lookout has a beautiful view, but it also offers hummingbird feeders and delicious, traditional food. After lunch, we head back to the bustling Central Valley to the Hotel Cariari, our comfortable lodging for the last night. Here we can enjoy the pool before our wrap-up meeting, where we will look back at the week we’ve had exploring together. Our final dinner is on-site at the Las Tejas restaurant.
Day 9 (July 12)
Departure Day
The Flying Banana Tour has come to an end, but you should be departing with a full belly, many wonderful memories, and some new friends. Breakfast can be purchased at the hotel at your leisure if you have a later flight. Free shuttle transportation to the airport is available, so you should be able to catch a flight at whatever time works best for your schedule and budget.
