We chose Mangrove Birding Journeys for our Tarcoles River experience and feel very grateful we did. The incredibly talented birding guide and nature photographer Randall Ortega gave us excellent looks... read more at most of the highlight species in the area. As advanced birders this was appreciated, as he did a great job of identifying the birds, as well as negotiating great looks at each and every one of our lifer species. He is also an expert in Nikon DSLR gear, so was able to tutor us on advanced setting options applicable to the d500 during the trip which was an awesome unexpected bonus. He gave detailed tips on F-stop, ISO and shutter speed settings which made my bird photos much better than they would have otherwise. I was stunned by some of the looks he and his talented boat crew provided during out tour. Full-frame views of everything from a feeding juvenile Yellow-headed Caracara to Whimbrel to crocodiles and even fish were all in abundance. Randall was even able to get me a spare d500 battery when mine ran too low so kudos on going above and beyond to provide a great experience! The boat was spacious, well-maintained and expertly guided in this shallow water riparian habitat so very comforting in that regard. Their headquarters were clean, professional and modern and online payment was easy on an office desktop. Communication was also easy via WhatsApp and email so 10/10 would recommend overall.

  We saw so much wildlife! From the variety of birds (Macaw and dozens of others) to the tiny dart frogs (we saw at least 30 and one had tiny baby’s... read more on its back) not to mention the trees and plants what a fantastic day! My friend booked us a private nature hiking tour and I would absolutely recommend it. Randall is very knowledgeable and great at spotting birds and other wildlife. We were picked up by Randall (he was even a little early) and he provided with high quality binoculars. As a bonus Randall is an experienced photographer and shared his knowledge so we got very cool photos and video on our phones. We would definitely choose this tour again!!

  I loved this experience all around. The people in this enterprise is kind and friendly. Everything is well organized and planned. I am a local and I highly value how... read more their tours run in a ecosystem - friendly and social responsibility framework. They don’t promote feeding the cocodriles nor violently provoking them. The tour covers diverse and well informed bird watching
and manglar facts. They navigate their boats in a skilled and careful way to minimize erosion in the river shores (which would speed the river’s drought) and they are actively working with the community and government to care for the land and the manglar by planting trees and doing beach clean ups. Great tour, great equipment, great people, great values. Thank you all!