Nature Tour in Costa Rica
Southern Caribbean & Turrialba
April 24-30, 2010
Registration Deadline: March 8
Costa Rica is the #1 destination worldwide for nature travel. Our nature nature tour is escorted by Dr. Frank Rutowski, a veterinarian specializing in tropical birds. Tour also has a full-time naturalist guide and is limited to 15 passengers to provide the best possible nature experience.
Tour Highlights
- Rainforest walks
- Guayabo National Monument (archaeological site)
- CATIE: World-renowned fruit tree collection and birding tour with mist net
- Tayutic Hacienda - a traditional working farm producing coffee, macadamia nuts, and sugar cane
- Sloth Refuge—only one in the world
- Leatherback Turtle Nesting Tour at Cahuita National Park
- Cahuita National Park and ocean beach
- Selva Bananito Eco-Reserve
- Veragua Rainforest Research & Adventure Park
- La Tiquicia Dinner with Folkdance Show
Daily Itinerary
Day 1: Upon arrival in San Jose you are transferred to Guayabo Lodge, your mountain inn at Turrialba, where you enjoy a welcome cocktail and participate in a tour orientation.
Day 2:
On your guided hike through the rainforest at Guayabo National Monument you will feel like Indiana Jones uncovering the mysteries of this
little-known and seldom-visited archaeological site built by an ancient civilization dating back over 3000 years.
Next, you will tour the beautiful Tayutic Hacienda
where they grow sugarcane, coffee and macadamia nuts. The tour offers a
good inside view of how these products were traditionally processed and
their historical importance for Costa Rica. On the farm you can see a
little church built in the beginning of the 20th Century and beautiful
gardens.
At
CATIE
(Center for Tropical Agriculture Research and Education)you will see
tropical fruits that you probably have never seen before and you will
participate in their mist nets project by collecting data on the
migratory birds that are found in the nets.
Day 3: Today we
transfer to the southern Caribbean where you will stop at
Avarios del Caribbe Sloth Refuge
which is the only sloth refuge in the world. It has the long-term goal of rehabilitating as many sloths as
possible. They take care of 40 sloths, including the
world-famous "Buttercup" who arrived as the first sloth orphan when only
three months old in 1992. You will also take a
canoe trip on to the Estrella River where from your canoe you can observe caimans, monkeys,
sloths, birds and various other wildlife in the tranquil lagoon.
Afterward, you will transfer to
Selva Bananito Eco Resort, considered one of the test best
eco-resorts in the world.
Day 4: We get up early this morning for a birding tour. Afterward you have free time at your eco-lodge to hike or explore. Optional activities include horseback riding, a zipline canopy tour or a relaxing massage. In the late afternoon there will be a guided hike through the rainforest.
Day 5: Today you transfer to the town of Cahuita on the Caribbean Coast. Your naturalist guide will lead a tour at Cahuita National Park, and you will enjoy its beach, considered one of the best in the world. In the late afternoon you will transfer to the remote Gandoca-Manzanillo National Park for Leatherback Nesting Tour. You will return to Puerto Limon to overnight at Hotel Cariblue.
Day 6: On your transfer back to San Jose, you will stop at Veragua Rainforest and Adventure Park, the new world-class nature park near Limon. Your 3.5 hour tour includes frog, butterfly and reptile collections. Enjoy an aerial tram across the jungle canopy, and trails through the rainforest to waterfalls. On your continuing transfer to San Jose, we will stop in Moravia a town known for its Costa Rican crafts. There you can purchase jewelry, wood, ceramics, and leather items, plus hand-carved leather rocking chairs and painted ox carts that can be packed in boxes to take on the plane with you.
In the evening, your farewell dinner will be at La Tiquicia, which is high in the mountains with a gorgeous view of the metropolitan area below. You will see folk dances from the colonial period and from the various regions of of the country. You will overnight at the new Beacon Boutique Hotel.
Day 7:
Transfer to the airport for your departure to the
United States.