Rancho Naturalista birdwatching lodge may not be exactly “luxury,” but it’s certainly close. My room on the property was lovely with a comfortable bed, plenty of space, and a nice en suite bathroom. I also woke up to a bat in my room one morning, but this is something that happens when you’re in the middle of a tropical cloudforest.
When I turned on the lights in the morning, the poor bat freaked out and hid behind a painting, so all I had to do was ask the staff to go retrieve it and put it back outside. Another time, I stayed at a Belize rainforest birding lodge and found a tiny scorpion in my shower. The staff also took care of it for me immediately. It’s just part of the experience of being in the wilderness.
The rooms at Rando Naturalista do not contain telephones or televisions. You’re in the jungle here and expected to pay attention to your surroundings. That said, Wi-Fi was available, so I watched a TV show on my cellphone one evening.
The experience in this place is really all about the birds. Of course, you might see other wildlife as well, such as this weasel that scared the daylights out of the bird life, small brown squirrels, and rodents called agoutis that are about the size of large rabbits.
The experience at Rancho Naturalista also involves all-inclusive meals – breakfast, lunch, and dinner served on the premises. And I found the food to be quite good. They’re willing to accommodate special diets as well.
The veranda on the main building has hummingbird feeders, where you can watch several species fly around and fight each other. On the grounds beyond the building, the staff puts out fruit for many species of birds, who visit daily.
Professional birding guides who know exactly where to look for the birds will take you on hikes and excursions to see more species within the nearby forests. We even saw a young resplendent quetzal, which is a much-coveted Central American bird species that’s considered to be one of the most beautiful birds in the world. It can be difficult to find these, so seeing one is quite a coup.
Rancho Naturalista is also well-known for the opportunity to see the snowcap hummingbird, which hangs out at a nearby property. This is a reasonably rare hummingbird species that is also quite coveted by birders.
The property is in Turrialba in the mountains. Through my travels, I have discovered that as much as I love rainforests, I love cloudforests even more. Maybe it’s because hummingbirds also seem to like them, but I also adore the enormous leaves that you’ll find in these mountain forests. They look like something out of the Jurassic Park movies.
If you get bored with birds (how dare you!), there are plenty of other activities available at the lodge like white water rafing, canyoning, ziplining, coffee and sugar mill tours, horseback riding, swimming in a mountain stream, yoga, Zumba, massage, and cooking and painting classes.
You can fly into the international airport at San Jose, Costa Rica and drive on decent roads less than two hours to get to Rancho Naturalista. The lodge helped me arrange for a car and driver to pick me up at my hotel in San Jose.
Here are some more photos of my experience at Rancho Naturalista. I hope to go there again at some point to enjoy the beautiful mountains and birds.
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, New York Travel Writers Association, and International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 43 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
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