A Local Costa Rican Experience

Day 1: Upon arrival in San Jose, Costa Rica, you will transfer to the Hotel Grano de Oro for overnight. Situated on a shady street just off Paseo Colón, San José's main thoroughfare, Hotel Grano de Oro is a true oasis, a sanctuary in the heart of the city. Converted from a Tropical Victorian mansion, the recently renovated 40-room hotel maintains the warmth and comfort of a private home. Guests delight in the tranquil ambience of tropical plants and flowers found throughout the hotel. Italian tile fountains grace intimate atriums, ensuring that one is never far from the soothing melody of falling water. Additionally a rooftop garden terrace offers relaxing Jacuzzis and a blissful, secluded spot for lounging, sunbathing and stargazing. Once a simple café, the restaurant at Grano de Oro has evolved into one or San Jose’s finest dining establishments, frequented by locals and visitors alike.

Day 2: Pacuare River 4 day Eco-Adventure - Make a difference on your vacation! You'll depart San Jose early in the morning, traveling east towards the Caribbean and crossing the amazing Braulio Carrillo National Park. You will arrive at the Operations Center for breakfast. You’ll then depart for our private rafting put-in on the Pacuare River in San Martin. There your professional guides will load your gear into dry bags, prepare all the rafting equipment, give you a complete safety and paddle instruction talk. The first day's Class III rapids welcome you to the Pacuare gorge's charm as you raft deep in the heart of primary rainforest. While your guides prepare a hearty picnic lunch on the riverbank, you'll enjoy a walk through the jungle to an enchanting waterfall and pool to swim. Before you know it, you'll arrive at our unique Rios Tropicales Lodge where you can spend the afternoon relaxing, hiking or soaking in our waterfall and pools. As the sun dips behind the hills and the twilight fades, you will be treated to a delicious freshly prepared dinner with candlelight and wine.

Day 3: Layover day at the eco-lodge: enjoy rainforest canopy tours, hikes, relaxation and more. This day is designed to enjoy the lodge and its natural surroundings. Here you can experience a unique opportunity to experience the wonders of the rainforest canopy on our zip line course at no additional cost. In addition to our canopy tour, you can choose a variety of hikes - a 4 - 5 hour hike high into the Pacuare Reserve; a 2 - 3 hour hike to nearby waterfalls and pools, or short walks near the lodge. There is a sheltered hammock area to relax and take in the stunning beauty of this amazing retreat. An optional tour on this day could be hiking to the nearby Bajo Tigre community, with a chance to learn from local community members about their sustainable subsistence farming and environmental responsibility.

Day 4: Making a Difference on Your Vacation: Rainforest Reforestation and Sustainable Farming. After breakfast, head to the sustainable farming and reforestation center deep inside the private preserve. The expert guides will take you on a 45-minute interpretive nature trail hike, pointing out numerous species of flora and fauna along the way. At the top of the trail, you can choose to ride the rest of the way to the center via a tractor-drawn cart or on horseback, an exciting way to see the beautiful preserve. Upon arrival at the center, you will have the opportunity to work hands-on with the reforestation project, planting a variety of exotic trees and learning about the benefits and challenges associated with the rainforest reforestation project. You can tour the sustainable tilapia farm and even choose to catch your own dinner right there! After the tour, we will return to the Lodge where you can spend the rest of the day enjoying the views of the spectacular Pacuare River, visiting nearby pools and waterfalls, or relaxing in a hammock on our wonderful jungle deck. Lending a hand in reforesting the Earth is a high impact way for you to contribute to helping make this world a cleaner place for generations to come. If every visitor to Costa Rica planted one tree, we’d be able to reforest entire tracts of rainforest continuously. Trees play an enormous role in combating global warming, as they use carbon dioxide and release life-giving oxygen. We invite you to take part in our conservation efforts to preserve Costa Rica so future generations can enjoy our country too.

Day 5: Class IV Rafting on Lower Pacuare - After breakfast, pack up and load the rafts in preparation for paddling down the Pacuare gorge past gushing waterfalls, serene pools and pounding rapids. A snack stop by the riverside lets you explore more waterfalls and natural waterslides. An adrenaline-packed afternoon running rapids like Upper and Lower Huacas, Cimarron, Dos Montanas and many more, is enough to get any adrenaline junkie's heart pumping! There will be transportation waiting at the take-out. Board the bus to the Operations Center for lunch. On the return drive to San Jose you'll enjoy remarkable views of Braulio Carrillo National Park and Irazu Volcano. Late this afternoon, you will arrive at the Hotel Grano de Oro for overnight.

Day 6: This morning, you will be met by a driver/guide and your journey will begin by traveling northwest about an hour and a half to the town of San Ramon. Here you will take a short break and visit the community’s agriculture town market. This market offers a variety of tropical fruits and vegetables, including some that are rarely seen outside the tropics (Note: The market is closed on holidays). Then you will continue with a visit to the Cocora Private Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardens en route to the Arenal Volcano. Cloud forests are dominated by dense vegetation and tall trees covered by carpets of mosses, lichens, ferns, bromeliads and orchids. A beautiful butterfly garden offers the visitor attractive tropical plants, colorful butterflies and rare hummingbirds. The next stop is for lunch at a local Costa Rican’s home. Doña Rosa Quiros and her family have been living in the beautiful Blue Valley area of Alajuela Province for more than 40 years. Their small farm is surrounded by mountains, rivers, and farmlands of bean, cassava, plantain, and sugar cane plantations. Enjoy a traditional Costa Rican meal prepared for you by, Doña Rosa herself! Afterwards continue to the Arenal Observatory Lodge for overnight. From the Observatory, which is situated only 1.6 miles south of the volcano, visitors have an impressive view of this “giant which rumbles” and erupts with spectacular displays of vapor and lava. The Observatory is the only lodge situated within the Arenal Volcano National Park, which encompasses thousands of acres of pristine rainforest and teems with tropical birds and wildlife.

Day 7: In the morning you will visit the La Fortuna Waterfall. Located just 3 miles away from the town of La Fortuna, this beautiful 200 foot-tall waterfall receives its cool clear waters from the pristine forested mountains of Arenal National Park. En route and near the falls, one may see parrots, toucans and hummingbirds. The steep trail to the waterfall goes down through dense, lush rain forest and ends at a large pool at the base of the falls. Later you will have lunch at a local organic farm in the town of La Fortuna. At the farm you will see how farming techniques can be practiced in an environmentally sound way. The farm produces more than 60 crop species, including native and introduced plants. With your guide, you will learn about many of the crops and the challenges and benefits of farming organically in the tropics. After lunch you will have a natural history walk at the Danaus Ecological Center. This small biological reserve east of the town of La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano is a model of conservation. Visitors will see that it is possible to restore a rainforest. This reserve was once open farmland, but has been allowed to revert back to forest which now teems with wildlife. Slow-moving sloths live here, and along the main trail visitors may see a number of the 154 bird species recorded here. This trail passes by a small lake where boat-billed herons and alligator-like caiman reside. Tiny native red poison dart frogs can be seen in a little forest ranario (frog farm) and many different species of butterflies flit about the reserve. A nursery on the property is used to propagate native trees- including species in danger of extinction-for reforestation projects. Overnight Arenal Observatory Lodge.

Day 8: This morning you will visit the Arenal Hanging Bridges. This is a complex of suspended bridges and trails through a beautiful rain forest. The lush vegetation contains palms, heliconias and tall tropical trees that you will view from ground level to above the tree tops as you meander along the trails and on the bridges. From some of the bridges there are also panoramic views of nearby Arenal Volcano. As you walk through the forest, you may encounter a variety of the forest wildlife, including toucans, motmots, trogons, poison dart frogs, howling monkeys, spider monkeys and white-faced capuchin monkeys. After your rainforest bridges walk, you will travel about 3 and ½ - 4 hours up into the mountains to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Monteverde is both a community and forest reserve. The world-famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve protects a mountain forest characterized by majestic trees densely covered by thick, wet and heavy “carpets” of epiphytes, including orchids and wild relatives of familiar tropical house plants - philodendrons, ferns and ficus trees. The beautiful Resplendent Quetzal spends about ½ the year here and the forest is home to hundreds of other bird and mammal species. Arrive at the Hotel Fonda Vela, a hotel dedicated to the idea of eco-tourism in harmony with nature, for overnight. The hotel has nine buildings nestled in the landscaped property, designed with natural lighting, privacy and warmth. All have large windows with views of the forest allowing the outside beauty to be a part of a cozy interior. It also features two restaurants (often with live music), bar, and paintings throughout by one of the area’s original settlers.

Day 9: In the morning you will visit the Trapiche ('sugar mill') and coffee farm, which first began operation in 1948. The Monteverde Trapiche is run by a local family, and on your tour you will not only learn about the local process of making sugar, but also about the other most important agricultural products of the region. Your tour will be partly 'hands-on,' and your hosts may invite you to participate in the processing of the sugar cane! You will also have a short walk on the farm and see how tilapia fish are raised, and also learn about the production of coffee (and if in season, pick some). Following your walk, you will then take a ride back to the main building in a traditional farm ox cart! There you will enjoy a refreshment of sugar cane juice or lemonade, eat picadillo de arracache (a typical Costa Rican food) and make candy out of sugar cane (everyone makes their own candy!). In the afternoon enjoy a guided hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, entrance fee included. Located in the Tilaran Mountain Range of Puntarenas Province, the Reserve is one of the premier natural history destinations in Costa Rica. The forest consists of lush, verdant vegetation containing understory palms, majestic canopy trees, arching “ropy” lianas, bizarre “strangler” fig trees and epiphytes-small plants that grow on the trees. Outstanding among the epiphytes are orchids-although most are small and high in the tree canopy, more orchid species are found in Monteverde for its size than any other place yet known (some 500!). As you walk through the forest, you may encounter a variety of wildlife. Frequently-sighted mammals include white-faced capuchin and howler monkeys, white-nosed coatis, two-toed sloths, kinkajous, and agoutis. Of the 400 bird species found in or nearby the reserve, Monteverde is best known as home to the legendary crimson and iridescent-green Resplendent Quetzal (which spends about ½ the year in the area during its breeding season from February or March to July). Later in the afternoon the forest may be cool and misty from low cloud cover, so make sure to bring a light jacket for your walk. Overnight Hotel Fonda Vela.

Day 10: This morning explore the main community of the area, Santa Elena. You may just want to take advantage of banks and supermarkets or visit the local cheese factory, women’s cooperative (CASEM) or one of the many art and craft galleries to purchase some souvenirs or gifts for the folks back home. Local coffee, wood sculptures, embroidered clothing, and paintings by resident artists are just some of the offerings available. This afternoon, you will transfer approximately 5 hours to the Manuel Antonio / Quepos area on the Central Pacific coast at Hotel Si Como No for overnight. This award-winning hotel is an exemplary combination of environmentalism, stunning design and barefoot luxury located in a lush tropical rainforest overlooking the ocean. The hotel's 60 rooms are distributed on ten acres of protected tropical forest. Each room has well-appointed bathrooms, fully stocked mini-bars, most with private balconies (offering rainforest or ocean views), direct dial telephones, energy efficient air conditioning and security safes. Two unique pool atmospheres are offered – a family pool with toboggan slide and an adult pool for guests 18 and over, both contoured into the jungle terraces, with swim up pool bars, whirlpool spas and adjacent open air terraced restaurants. Enjoy a casual meal at the Rico Tico Bar & Grill (live entertainment nightly) or upscale dining in a casual setting at the Claro Que Si Restaurant (specializing in seafood and authentic Caribbean dishes). Other features include the Serenity Spa, Regalame Art Gallery, Gift Shop and Internet Cafe, Nature Farm, and Butterfly Garden. A state-of-the-art cinema (offering nightly movies) is a surprise feature of this jungle paradise. Hotel Si Como No is set on a hillside with beautiful views so some stair climbing and mild “hiking” may be a part of your stay.

Day 11: Santa Juana Mountain Tour - Experience the magic of nature and enjoy a unique part of Costa Rican rural heritage on the tour our guests have rated highest, The Santa Juana Mountain Adventure! This guided nature, conservation and cultural expedition takes you along the lush, jungle-shrouded slopes of the Fila Chonta Mountains where the Rodeo, Coto and Paquita rivers are born. See the rushing mountain streams that feed these rivers on their journey to the Pacific Ocean and enjoy a refreshing swim beneath mesmerizing waterfalls. You’ll also see fascinating regional wildlife, including a myriad of birds, insects and reptiles. Try your luck at organic Tilapia fishing, visit an authentic sugar mill powered by two massive oxen, and have the option to take a guided horseback ride. Visit the rustic Santa Juana pueblo, where you’ll learn about coffee and citrus production, participate in the Carbon Offset Tree Planting Adoption Program, and enjoy a typical Campesino style lunch while taking in the panoramic vista of the coastline of Manuel Antonio National Park. Just an hour from Quepos on a scenic country drive, it’s your chance to experience the true meaning of "pura vida." You’ll see why this exceptional tour, which is supported by international conservation organizations for helping preserve and protect Costa Rica’s rural heritage, is so well received by our guests.

Day 12: Free day to take the complimentary shuttle down to the beach or plan day trips. Manuel Antonio National Park contains three of the country’s most beautiful beaches and casual trails that wind through the rainforest where it grows to the water’s edge. Other attractions and tours include hiking with naturalist guides for wildlife observation, adventure canopy tour, sport fishing, sea kayaking, mountain biking, horseback riding, bird watching, Butterfly Farm Tour, exploring the Isla Damas Estuary by kayak or boat, Rainmaker Reserve and suspension bridges, Sunset Sailing and whitewater rafting. Guided excursions at additional cost can be pre-booked or arranged upon arrival. Don’t forget to visit the fun shops and restaurants in the old United Fruit Company town of Quepos. Overnight Hotel Si Como No.

Day 13: This morning, you will transfer by ground approximately 3 hours to the international airport in San Jose for your afternoon departure.

INCLUDES:

• One way San Jose international airport transfer
• 1 night Hotel Grano de Oro, standard room
• Pacuare 4 day Eco-Adventure - includes tranfers, guide, equipment, all meals, guided hikes, tree planting & community visits and 3 nights lodging at the Rios Tropicales Lodge
• 4 night Arenal & Monteverde Guided Package - includes transportation with driver/guide, 2 nights at Arenal Obversatory Lodge (Smithsonian room), 2 nights at Hotel Fonda Vela (standard room), 6 meals and tours of local farmers market, Cocora Gardens, La Fortuna Waterfall, organic farm, Danaus Ecological Center, Arenal Hanging Bridges, Trapiche Sugar Mill & Coffee Farm and the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
• 3 nights Hotel Si Como No, superior room - breakfast daily included
• Santa Juana Mountain Tour - includes transfers, guide and lunch
• One way pricate ground transfer Manuel Antontio to San Jose
• ALL HOTEL TAX INCLUDED

Price valid through October 31, 2012