At
the bottom was the waterfall and a deep, blue-green
pond. Some of us cooled off with a swim beneath
the falls.”<
December 10-20, 2008 Land Cost: $2,495 U.S. Single Supplement Rate: $425 U.S. Trip Begins: San Jose, Costa Rica Trip Ends: San Jose, Costa Rica Lodging: Hotels/Inns
For years you've probably heard friends rave about Costa Rica: its natural beauty, wildlife, friendly people, the political stability of the area, reasonable prices, erupting volcanoes, beautiful beaches, and the mysterious rainforests. You know what? It's all true! It's hard to imagine that there can be such diversity in landforms and wildlife in such a small country, but you'll soon be back telling your friends about that amazing place called Costa Rica.
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Costa Rica Photo Gallery
Walking the World - Adventure Travel
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Images from Previous Costa Rica Trips
Part of the reason Costa
Rica is so popular with visitors is its commitment to
preserving the nation's natural areas and wildlife. In
fact, proportionately, Costa Rica protects more of its
land in parks and reserves than any other country in the
world.
Until recently, Costa Rica could boast of protecting
11.4 percent of their national territory in their parks
system. A new initiative will extend this total to nearly
19 percent of Costa Rica's mountains, volcanoes, forests,
and beaches.
When you join us in Costa Rica, you'll be
traveling to one of the most diverse areas in the
world. Costa Rica's parks shelter some of the planet's most important
examples of biol
ogical diversity including 5 percent of
all plant and animal species on Earth. Costa Rica's National
Biodiversity Institute has identified an absolutely amazing
number of both plant and animal species.
Those species
presently known include 209 mammals; 850 birds; 220 reptiles;
163
amphibians; 130 freshwater fish; 350,000 insects,
spiders and crabs; 13,021 plants; 1,500 trees; and over
1,400 types of orchids. All in all, Costa Rica offers
one of the most attractive and hospitable destinations
in the world. So, brush up on your Spanish, load your
camera, open your senses, and join us in magical Costa
Rica!
This itinerary may be changed at the discretion of the trip leader. ( B = Breakfast included, L = Lunch included, D = Dinner included )
Day 1 - Arrive San Jose. Transfer to our hotel from the airport. You can arrive anytime today. Overnight in San Jose.
Day 2 - Poas Volcano & La Paz Waterfall. After a hearty breakfast, we’ll meet our local guide at 8:00 am, learn a bit of Spanish, and then head for our first walk at Poas Volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica (one of seven active volcanoes in the country) and the second largest crater in the world. The La Paz Waterfall Garden is our next destination. La Paz is actually the final portion of a spectacular 5-tiered waterfall and the area includes one of the largest butterfly gardens in the Americas, a serpentarium, a hummingbird gallery and, of course, a great setting for our delicious buffet lunch. After lunch, we’ll drive through the San Carlos valley to La Fortuna, home to famous Arenal Volcano. After check in at our lovely hotel, we’ll have some free time to explore Fortuna. BLD
Day 3 - Don Carlos’ Farm, Arenal Volcano, Tabacón Hot Springs.If you’ve never had fresh milk, I mean straight from the cow, today will be a wonderfully new experience for you. We’ll start the morning at Don Carlos’ farm trying our hand at procuring milk for our breakfast by hand milking our own cow and learning the art of making cheese. Once we’ve thoroughly mastered the art of milking, Don Carlos will share his knowledge of some of Costa Rica’s most important agricultural products, like yucca, papaya and plantains, as we explore the rest of his farm. Then it’s off to a local school, Santa Lucía´s, to meet the teacher and students and learn a bit about education in this Central American nation. As a special event just for us, a group of the student’s mothers will cook a traditional Costa Rican lunch for us. There are few better ways to gain a genuine understanding of a people and its culture than by sharing the preparation and cooking of a meal and some local dance steps.
In the afternoon our walk near the base of Arenal Volcano will bring us up close and personal with this active volcano, currently erupting approximately every 2-4 hours. If the weather is clear, we’ll be able to see lava flung skyward! Don’t worry though, we’re always at a safe distance.
And for an unforgettable evening, we’ll enjoy a luxurious soak and dinner at Tabacon Hot Springs, an extravagantly landscaped series of hot pools and waterfalls at the base of Arenal Volcano. Overnight in Fortuna. BLD
Day 4 - Tenorio Nacional Park. Alter a wonderful buffet breakfast of fresh fruit, made to order omelettes, fresh juice and pastries, we’ll head to Tenorio National Park. Our four-hour walk through the park’s lush rainforest will take us to the striking crystal blue waters of the river called Los Tenideros. The light blue color of the river’s waters come from volcanic minerals in the area. Lunch will find us at the base of a cascading waterfall and an inviting hot springs. Certainly a day to savor! BLD
Day 5 - Penas Blancas River . We start our morning with a visit to the Eco-Center Danaus, an ecological and conservation center near Fortuna followed by some free time to catch up on post card writing or to just relax around the pool. In the afternoon, we take a short drive and board our rafts for a gentle float trip on the Penas Blancas River. During our time on the river we’ll be treated to a veritable smorgasbord of wildlife, including howler and white-face monkeys, caimans, grackles, blue herons, egrets, hummingbirds, roseate spoonbills, white ibis, American Anhingas, turtles, the Amazon Kingfisher and the Basilik lizard to name but a few. Along the way, we’ll stop at the typical Costa Rican house of Don Osvaldo for a visit and coffee with a long time resident and his family. The highlight of our time here will be a rodeo “a la tica” with traditional music and a local barbeque. BLD Day 6 - Fortuna, Hanging Bridges, Liberia, & Guanacasta. After checking out of our hotel in Fortuna, we head to the Arenal hanging bridges for a unique experience in the top of the rainforest known as the canopy. Why is a “walk” in the canopy not only exciting but important to understanding the value of rainforests to our entire global ecosystem? It’s estimated that close to 70-90 percent of all life in the rainforest exists in that area above the shaded forest floor where most of us usually walk. Primary tropical rainforests are divided into five distinct layers with the overstory and canopy being the top two levels. The top level, or overstory, refers to those trees which rise 20-100 feet even above the canopy. The canopy itself is a dense layer of closely spaced trees and their branches that seem to stretch for vast distances. It’s interesting to note that although the canopy seems to be a mass of interlocking trees, the branches of the trees in the canopy rarely interlock or even touch but in reality are separated from each other by several feet. The billions of leaves in the canopy level provide much of the photosynthesis for the forest and consequently the canopy supports a higher yield of leaves, fruits, seeds and flowers than all the other forest levels. That’s why the canopy attracts such a wide diversity of wildlife in addition to playing a critical role in the regulation of regional and global climate.
Our 3 mile walk crosses six different bridges of assorted heights that provide a glimpse of the rainforest canopy rarely seen until recently. After lunch we’ll drive around majestic Arenal Lake on our way to Liberia, the Guanacaste region and Rincon De La Vieja National Park. BLD
Day 7 - Rincon De La Vieja National Park.Rincon de la Vieja National Park offers an amazing display of diversity and is home to an active volcano, mud pots, hot springs, and over 200 species of birds, monkeys, and sloths. The area also contains four types of forest: riparian, pre-montane, lower montane wet, and montane wet forest. You’ll love this park! We start our morning with a hike to La Cangreja Waterfall, a roundtrip distance of nine miles. The first half of our walk takes us through the Pacific humid forest and ends at a swimming hole perfect for a dip. After we’ve enjoyed the swimming hole, rested and had lunch, we’ll head back to our hotel.
Before dinner we’ll enjoy some local Marimba music, a traditional instrument of Guanacaste province. BLD
Day 8: Las Pailas Gaulas National Park. Early this morning we’ll continue our exploration of Rincon De La Vieja with a walk on the Las Pailas trail. This two mile walk takes us through an area of great biodiversity and to areas alive with evidence of the activity from the park’s active Volcano. In the afternoon, we’ll head to Tamarindo Beach and the Pacific Coast. If conditions and tides permit, we’ll visit Playa Grande and Baulas National Park to marvel at the nesting sea turtles. We will be on “turtle time,” but the opportunity to watch a Leatherback turtle lay her eggs is something you will never forget. BLD
Day 9 - Tamarindo Beach. Beautiful beaches, warm waters, and fresh fish dinners all make Tamarindo a delightfully charming experience. A free day in Tamarindo – Relax by the beach, shop, or ride horseback – the choice is yours! B
Day 10 - Tamarindo Beach & San Jose. Departing early in the morning, we will either drive to San Jose and stop at the local Coope-Tortillas factory and restaurant or take a short flight back to San Jose. This evening, we’ll enjoy a sumptuous farewell banquet, share our memories of our time here together and have one last chance to savor the essence that is Costa Rica! Overnight in San Jose. BD
Day 11 - San Jose... Transfer to the airport for flights home. Flights can be booked at any time. B
Day 2 - Poas Volcano & La Paz Waterfall. After a hearty breakfast, we’ll meet our local guide at 8:00 am, learn a bit of Spanish, and then head for our first walk at Poas Volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica (one of seven active volcanoes in the country) and the second largest crater in the world. The La Paz Waterfall Garden is our next destination. La Paz is actually the final portion of a spectacular 5-tiered waterfall and the area includes one of the largest butterfly gardens in the Americas, a serpentarium, a hummingbird gallery and, of course, a great setting for our delicious buffet lunch. After lunch, we’ll drive through the San Carlos valley to La Fortuna, home to famous Arenal Volcano. After check in at our lovely hotel, we’ll have some free time to explore Fortuna. BLD 
Day 5 - Penas Blancas River . We start our morning with a visit to the Eco-Center Danaus, an ecological and conservation center near Fortuna followed by some free time to catch up on post card writing or to just relax around the pool. In the afternoon, we take a short drive and board our rafts for a gentle float trip on the Penas Blancas River. During our time on the river we’ll be treated to a veritable smorgasbord of wildlife, including howler and white-face monkeys, caimans, grackles, blue herons, egrets, hummingbirds, roseate spoonbills, white ibis, American Anhingas, turtles, the Amazon Kingfisher and the Basilik lizard to name but a few. Along the way, we’ll stop at the typical Costa Rican house of Don Osvaldo for a visit and coffee with a long time resident and his family. The highlight of our time here will be a rodeo “a la tica” with traditional music and a local barbeque. BLD 
