Costa Rica | Artistic Workshop with Mindy Lighthipe

Upon arrival in San José, meet your guide and transfer to your hotel. Greet Mindy and your fellow travelers over an introduction slideshow of Mindy's art created from her years of travel in Costa Rica. Have dinner at the hotel this evening. Check-in starts at 3 pm.

After breakfast, attend a slideshow lecture by Mindy. Next, depart for the Toucan Rescue Ranch, home to rescued birds and animals such as toucans, a variety of parrots, macaws, owls, two-toed and three-toed sloths, and kinkajous. This is a unique opportunity to see conservation and rehabilitation of rainforest animals up close and personal. After an orientation and tour of the facility, spend the afternoon drawing and photographing animals and birds. There will be a boxed lunch at Toucan Rescue Ranch provided by Sibú Chocolate. In the afternoon, return to Hotel Bougainvillea to go for a walk in the garden before enjoying dinner at the hotel in the evening.

After breakfast, attend a slideshow presentation on orchids before departing for La Catalina Jardín Botánico. During this visit with grower and expert on the native orchids of Costa Rica, Randall Obsney, he will educate you about his native orchid plant collection at its peak blooming time. After a lecture and trail hike, enjoy time to paint orchids. Have lunch at La Catalina, and then depart for Selva Verde Lodge & Rainforest Reserve. The extensive grounds of Selva Verde include a 500-acre rainforest reserve. Upon arrival, check in and settle in.

After breakfast, take a guided walk in the gardens before spending some time painting or drawing Heliconias. Have lunch, and then spend the afternoon drawing and painting. Before dinner, attend an introduction to birdwatching lecture. After dinner, embark on a nocturnal hike in search of frogs.

After an early breakfast, head out to CopeArte, the home of local artist/photographer José Pérez, also known by his pseudonym Cope. He is a self-taught artist and amateur photographer with a great love for nature; a simple and humble person without professional academic training, but with enormous innate talent. Cope will demonstrate his technique of painting birds in acrylic. His property is designed to maximize opportunities for birding and photography. It features ponds that attract aquatic species, as well as blinds from which visitors can photograph birds regardless of the weather conditions. Enjoy lunch on site. Afterward, return to Selva Verde and have time to relax or work on drawing cocoa pods.

This morning, attend a slideshow presentation by Mindy on butterfly anatomy. Then, visit Pierella Garden, the home of Crystal & William. In 1995, these conservationists and ecologists took bare land and created a rainforest oasis to raise butterflies for many butterfly houses around the world. Their sustainable farming practices require a pristine and diverse rainforest ecosystem. Beyond learning about the lifecycle of butterflies and seeing many of their varieties in their stages of development, spend the day drawing and painting from this stunning live collection. Have lunch, and then continue drawing and painting this afternoon at the garden. Return to Selva Verde later for dinner.

Start the morning early with an optional bird walk and photography around the reserve with your guide. The avifauna of Selva Verde is abundant, and feeding stations have been set up around the lodge to facilitate observation and identification of the many species that frequent the area. After breakfast, spend the morning painting or take a walk around the reserve with your guide Pedro. After lunch at Selva Verde, enjoy a short walk to a local cacao plantation. During the visit, learn about the artisanal process where the cacao fruit is transformed into chocolate, starting with harvest, fermentation, and drying, and ending with the grinding of the dried seeds into cocoa powder.

Enjoy another early morning optional bird walk and photography around the reserve with Pedro. After breakfast, take a boat ride along the Sarapiquí River for a chance to photograph the wildlife and wading birds that flock to the riverbank. Return to Selva Verde for lunch, and then head to La Finca, an eco-farm and macaw rescue. Experience the unique chance to take close-up photos and observe endangered macaws that are semi-wild and free to come and go as they please. Tonight, enjoy a farewell to Selva Verde pizza party on the lodge's river patio.

Depart Selva Verde this morning and head back to San José. En route, stop at Sibú Chocolate for a tour and lunch. Sibú is located in the cloud forest overlooking the mountains of Costa Rica's Central Valley. During the visit learn about the history of chocolate and how Sibú has created a sustainable business utilizing a local organic cacao plantation. Enjoy a chocolate "tasting" as part of the experience. In the evening, attend a farewell slideshow lecture and dinner at the hotel.

Transfer to the airport for your flight home. Check-out is at noon, but the hotel will store luggage for later departures.