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Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 - San Jose
Your guide for the week will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel in San Jose for the evening. Get to know your guide and travel companions over dinner and review the plans for the week.
Day 2 - Sarapiqui
This morning we will travel to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui in our luxury coach bus. The trip will take us through the Braulio Carrillo National Park with incredible views of tumbling waterfalls, deep canyons and rugged mountains. We can stop here for a short hike that will give our group a chance to experience the rainforest up close for the first time. Our hotel is part of an 850 acre private rainforest reserve with a sprawling native plant garden for late afternoon strolls and hiking trails in this mid-elevation rainforest. Other features of the reserve include a museum of rainforest ecology and indigenous and prehispanic history and the Archeological Park with an extensive Pre-Columbian tomb field nearly 600 years old. You can spend the afternoon exploring these sites or simply relaxing on the beautiful grounds of the reserve.
Day 3 - La Selva
After a leisurely breakfast on the open veranda of our hotel we drive a short distance to the La Selva Biological Station. This internationally renowned research station is one of the world’s most important sites for tropical ecosystem research. Here we can participate in a half-day walk with one of the excellent naturalists. We can also board a motor boat for an leisurely two hour cruise down the lower Rio Sarapiqui. The river is surrounded by a gallery of rainforest wildlife, and we’ll be on the lookout for sloth, monkeys, iguanas, caimans, crocodiles and numerous beautiful wetland birds. Depending on the group interest an optional mild whitewater rafting trip in available on the Upper Sarapiqui. We will return to our hotel for a second night.
Day 4 - La Paz
Gardens Road trip today! Our destination is Fortuna, the village near the Arenal Volcano. On the way we make an exciting stop to visit the famous La Paz Waterfall Gardens where you will see more diversity in nature than imaginable…a variety of climates, including both cloud and rain forests, five magnificent waterfalls with nine viewing platforms, the largest Butterfly Observatory in the world, and a Hummingbird Garden, where our feathered friends will delight and fascinate as they play with each other at amazing speeds. We’ll continue on to the city of La Fortuna to check in our hotel where you will have time to relax in the resort hot tub and pool, overlooking the magnificence of the Arenal Volcano.
Day 5 - Arenal Volcano
The area around Fortuna offers a gourmet of activities from which we will plan our day:
A thrilling zipline tour – View the layers of the rainforest with a 40-minute horseback ride, which brings us to the first platform of a canopy zip line tour. The beauty of the forest below will overwhelm you as you glide through the forest on an eleven cable zip line! Sometimes it is possible to see several species of animals, such as white faced and howler monkeys, a great diversity of birds, as well as an enormous variety of orchids, and canopy plant life. The trees in this canopy system are adults that tower over 150 feet high.
Hike in the Arenal National Park – This hike presents nice views of the volcano and the actual lava flow activity on the west side of the volcano. Estimated to be less than 3,000 years old, Arenal has exhibited nearly continuous minor activity since a major eruption in 1968. Our expert guide will point out indigenous rain forest plants and paths created by past lava flows. We will complete the day with a relaxing soak in the hot springs. There are a variety of ways to experience the springs: sit beneath one of the many waterfalls for a natural massage, or find a remote, quiet pool, or better yet take off on the water slide!
Day 6 - Monteverde
Today’s exciting tour will take us to Santa Elena, village of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. The first part of the trip will be by boat across scenic Lake Arenal. One of the larger lakes in Costa Rica, Lake Arenal is surrounded by mountainous rain forest which enhances the beauty. On the southern shore we are met by 4-wheel drive vehicles for a ride across the mountains to the town of Santa Elena. This trip features indescribably beautiful vistas of the area. After lunch, we will explore the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve where we can take a natural history hike in the most beautiful cloud forest in Costa Rica. If we are very lucky, there may be a chance to see the most exotic bird in Central America, the “Resplendent Quetzal”. We will check into a quaint lodge near town and enjoy dinner in one of the local restaurants.
Day 7 - SkyTrek
After a Tico breakfast, we’ll head for the SkyTrek. This is a system of trails, suspension bridges and zip lines that allows you to observe the forest canopy from above as you look down on the tops of trees. It offers a very different perspective on the cloud forest and a must for nature lovers. In the afternoon, we’ll leave time to stroll through artist’s shops, the cheese factory and other unique stores of Santa Elena. After dinner, we may go into the forest for a guided night hike to see the nocturnal creatures in their natural environment.
Day 8
Today we travel back to San Jose to meet the group’s airline schedules. The drive down the mountain slopes of Monteverde into the lowlands is an indescribably treat! If time permits, we’ll stop in the village of Sarchi for some last minute souvenir shopping.
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Benton, TN