Macaw sanctuary???

[laughing husky]

Has anyone been to the scarlet macaw sanctuary in Puntarenas with Princess? How many macaws do you get to see? Can you combine that tour with another tour either later or earlier in the day? Thanks.

[rockymo]

Yes, I am also interested in this. Would 4 of us from ship be able to get to this on our own by getting transportation/tour at the port?

[laughing husky]

Princess has a tour to the scarlet macaw sanctuary on their trans canal....but I can't find any one who has been on it or where it is located......

[neeliec]

Hubby and I took this tour on Oct. 2 from the Island Princess. We loved it. You take a small bus from the pier that takes you to a marina. There you have to fill out some kind of disclaimer form and include your personal info such as height, weight, meds being taken, etc. We were not prepared for that, so did a minimal amount of the form, signed it and handed it in.

 

On a side note, there SHOULD have been some kind of forwarning given prior to signing up that we would be asked for this info! :confused::confused::confused:

 

We then boarded a small open (but with a roof) boat for a trip through the mangroves. We saw lots of birds (herons, pelicans), crocodiles, and white faced monkeys.

 

We then landed at a rather primitive dock where we once again got on our little bus to continue to the sanctuary. Once there we did a short walking tour of the grounds. There are macaws flying free around the area and they are simply stunning!

 

There are some birds in cages - they are ones that are either being nursed back to health or have some reason why they can't fly free. There were a variety of parrots and macaws in these cages.

 

The best part was when we could just sit or stand out in the beautiful grounds and watch and listen to the macaws fly, walk, fuss, squawk, kiss, nuzzle, etc.

 

We were asked to NOT talk to or interact in any way with the birds. The intent is for them to NOT become familiar and/or comfortable with humans. But it was VERY difficult to try to "ignore" them, especially when the practically walk right up to you when you're sitting on a bench. They are very inquisitive and curious.

 

We also saw an iguana and some gorgeous plant life.

 

We were given bottled water and fresh fruit as a snack, then had to head back to the pier in the little bus.

[neeliec]

Didn't mention....

 

I guess you could take another tour depending on where and when. We were on the first tour in the AM - 8 - 12:30. You could take an afternoon tour I suppose.

 

We saw lots of free flying macaws in the santuary....at least 20-30 I would guess. We were there only about 90 minutes or so.

 

The sanctuary is located about 45 minutes from Puntarenas - I think. It seems it took about that long to get back to the ship once we left the sanctuary on the little bus.

 

Here is a bit of info:

 

With the goal of halting the disappearance of these species, the private macaw reserve El Manantial, in Aranjuez, northwest of San José, was established several years ago to receive birds that have been in captivity, assist with their reproduction and then release new generations into the wild.

Rodolfo Orosco, who runs the sanctuary, said its main goal is to release the macaws into the wild as a means of halting the extinction process.

The refuge receives macaws confiscated by authorities, many of whom have suffered serious injuries or were victims of abuse while kept as pets at people's homes. These birds cannot be returned to the wild and instead are kept in special cages with the aim of promoting successful mating.

When the chicks are born, workers at the refuge “train” them for life in the wild, helping them with the basic skills of finding food, flying and recognizing predators.

”While they're here, the macaws are free and normally cover a diameter of some 12 kilometers until they reach the mangrove swamps of the Pacific. They usually come back because there's plenty of food here like the tropical almond tree, the Tonka bean tree, corn, peanuts and vegetables,” Orosco said.

[davidnsteph]

Thank you very much for the detailed description of this tour. Sounds like a fun tour that doesn't take too long. We are thinking of booking it on our full transit of the Panama Canal next April on the Coral.

 

DavidnSteph

[laughing husky]

thanks for all the information. I really appreciate it. Bonnie

[rockymo]

Would 4 of us from ship be able to get to this on our own by getting transportation/tour at the port?

[neeliec]

My sense is that getting there is possible, but I was completely disoriented from this trip as we left the pier and drove a short way to a little marina where we boarded the boat to go through the mangroves. Then we were met by our little bus and driven the rest of the way to the sanctuary. However, when leaving the sanctuary we boarded our bus which took us directly back to the pier.

 

I had no sense of direction from town or the pier. The roads were very very rough, some were dirt, and there were few directional signs that I could see.

 

My feeling is that you could probably hire a taxi or van to take you to the sanctuary, but I'm not sure if they allow non-tour groups in.

 

Not sure how to contact the sanctuary to check on reservations. I would guess the taxi drivers in Puntarenas would know??

 

 

Would 4 of us from ship be able to get to this on our own by getting transportation/tour at the port?

[davidnsteph]

What an impressive tour! We recently returned from a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess. We loved the Scarlet Macaw Sanctuary, which we saw on a tour arranged by Princess. The native red and green macaws were flying all around us, along with some native toucans. There were also macaws and parrots that were not native to Costa Rica, which were kept in cages. We also saw several sloths. It was great to see the large colorful birds perched in trees and flying close to us.

 

We also took a boat cruise through the mangroves. There were many large crocodiles sitting on land and swimming in the river.

 

We would recommend this tour to anyone.

 

DavidnSteph

[medacruise]

Thanks for the update on this excursion. We are taking the Coral Princess Feb 2010 and I have been trying to nail down what I would like to do. My husband and I have differing opinions on what to do, but it looks like this excursion would fit the bill for both of us. After reading your review and others, it appears like this is an over-all well liked excursion. The boats for the Mangrove forest in Costa Rica appear better than those in Columbia. Also the reviews seem to say there is more wildlife to be seen from a boat than from the Air Trams. The tour is quoted as being 5 hours and the ship is in port for 12 hours. Did you do anything else in CR??

[davidnsteph]

Thanks for the update on this excursion. We are taking the Coral Princess Feb 2010 and I have been trying to nail down what I would like to do. My husband and I have differing opinions on what to do, but it looks like this excursion would fit the bill for both of us. After reading your review and others, it appears like this is an over-all well liked excursion. The boats for the Mangrove forest in Costa Rica appear better than those in Columbia. Also the reviews seem to say there is more wildlife to be seen from a boat than from the Air Trams. The tour is quoted as being 5 hours and the ship is in port for 12 hours. Did you do anything else in CR??

 

There was abundant wildlife close to the boat in the mangroves. We had to be ready with our camera to photograph the crocodiles walking on land into the water. They moved pretty fast.:)

 

We didn't do anything else in Costa Rica. We just did a little shopping on the pier in Puerto Caldera.

 

David

[Tikibird]

I'm doing some advance research for a possible Panama Canal cruise in 2011 and saw this on the Princess website. I'm glad to hear people are enjoying it. I really love all kinds of parrots and seek them out wherever I travel to.

[davidnsteph]

I'm doing some advance research for a possible Panama Canal cruise in 2011 and saw this on the Princess website. I'm glad to hear people are enjoying it. I really love all kinds of parrots and seek them out wherever I travel to.

 

Tikibird,

 

We were very pleased with this tour. It took about 4 hours, and was interesting from start to finish. We even stopped to see and hear some howler monkeys up in the trees along the road to the macaw sanctuary.

 

David

[Tikibird]

Does anyone know if this tour is offered only in the morning or the afternoon as well?

 

I want to go to Carara National Park too where there are wild macaws in the rainforest but I think it is best to go there in the morning and go to the sanctuary in the afternoon.

 

Or maybe hire a car and just go there ourselves?