Guest Itinerary
Monday, April 21 - Arrival at San Jose
International Airport. Transfer to Poas Lodge.
Our quaint family owned and operated lodge lies between the
Poas and Barva Volcanos. The views from the house include not
only the volcano, but also the western area of the Braulio Carillo
National Park as well as the Caribbean plains. No guided activities
are planned for this day so that you can arrive at your convenience.
(TG)
Tuesday, April 22 - Today enjoy a morning
countryside walk through strawberry fields and nurseries where
ornamental plants are grown for export. A hearty picnic breakfast
including homemade whole wheat bread, as well as homemade strawberry
jam and milk collected every morning from the farm's dairy begins
our day. After breakfast enjoy a guided walk at a local coffee
plantation where the aromas of coffee roasting fill the air.
Next stop...Poas Volcano National Park. The
Poas Volcano is famous for its huge active crater with smoking
fumaroles. We will walk to a beautiful tree fringed crater lake
and and admire birds such as the Blackbilled Nightingale and
Fiery-throated Hummingbird, as well as myriad bromeliads, ferns
and mistletoes. Tonight will be our welcome reception and candlelit
dinner. (BLD)(NG)
Wednesday, April 23 - After breakfast we
will continue our adventure to La Paz Waterfall Gardens.
This beautiful place is designed around five waterfalls
accessed by three kilometers of paved trails and viewing platforms
that we will walk. It also includes a butterfly observatory,
and a hummingbird garden. We will enjoy a fantastic lunch at
the restaurant which offers a view of the Poas Volcano Mountain
Range and the La Paz River Valley.
In the afternoon we will continue on to Arenal
to arrive at the Lost Iguana Resort with luxury rooms with amazing
views of the volcano. That evening we'll host one of the best
evenings of your entire stay in Costa Rica. We'll visit Ecotermales
Fortuna, owned by the Hidalgo family. The family has built
a hot spring swimming pool like you have never seen before.
The water enters the pool on one end and out the other end and
on down the river. Filled with clean hot spring mineral water
you'll receive a natural massage from the small cascade of hot
spring water. (BLD)(NG)
Thursday, April 24 - After breakfast we
will walk the Arenal Hanging Bridges a newer
attraction in La Fortuna de San Carlos. The visit consists of
traversing 15 bridges from 5 to 100 meters long that cross the
rain forest. It will be a chance to appreciate the contrast
of the highly diverse flora and fauna along with the imposing
vista of Arenal Volcano.
This evening dinner is on a luxury houseboat on
Lake Arenal. We will leave from “La Represa” and
begin our journey to the base of Arenal Volcano. Our silent
run along the edge of the Arenal Volcano National Park permits
us to see the afternoon wildlife and the many species of tropical
flora. We will anchor at the base of the volcano to await the
fire show at night. You may take time to kayak, swim or just
relax and enjoy Costa Rica's famous cocktail “lava flow”!
(BLD) (NG)
Friday, April 25 - After breakfast, it
is a short drive to Arenal Lake where we will
board a boat that will take us on a 30-minute ride across the
lake until reaching Rio Chiquito. Here, 4X4 vehicles will be
waiting for us for a mornings drive through gravel roads to
the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
Check in to your lovely room with one wall floor
to ceiling windows that overlooks the tops of the trees of the
thick cloud forest. Enjoy the view - White Faced Monkeys
have been known to be scampering through these trees.
This is a peaceful community made up of farmers,
naturalists and tourism service providers who have joined together
to create a model for sustainable development and protection
of the environment that is becoming known throughout the world.
In the early evening we will walk to the Ecological
Farm, accessible by a short trail across a ravine from
Monteverde Lodge. This small private reserve provides the chance
to see flora, birds and mammals by evening light and darkness
of night. (BLD) (NG)
Saturday, April 26 - After an early breakfast,
depart for a full morning's visit to Monteverde Cloud Forest
Reserve. Originally just 4,000 acres, the Monteverde Reserve
now protects an area of approximately 25,000 acres, comprising
six different life zones. We'll spend the entire morning walking
and hiking.
After lunch back at the lodge we will make our
way to the Monteverde Butterfly Garden. Enjoy
releasing butterflies for their first flight in the gardens.
Very Interesting! (BLD) (NG)
Sunday, April 27 - Today we will head to
Santa Elena Reserve, which provides a less
developed but increasingly popular cloud forest experience.
The reserve was created out of a community's determination to
help preserve the unique cloud forest surrounding them and to
use tourism as a tool to benefit community development in Monteverde.
Entrance fees are used for the protection and
management of the Reserve and to provide higher quality education
for schools of Monteverde. It is an example of what people can
do to preserve and learn from their environment.
The afternoon will be free for you to visit the
local town, art galleries, frog museum, horse back ride, tour
a cheese factory, walk some more or just relax in the hot tub
or beautiful gardens of our lodge. After this fun and interesting
day, say goodbye to Monteverde with a special dinner in Monteverde
Lodge Gardens. (BLD)(NG)
Monday, April 28- After an early morning
breakfast, depart from Monteverde to Carara area and the Pacific
coast. Carara is a region of mountain ranges, marshes, meanders,
forests, swamps, rivers and ravines, of crocodiles and macaws
and of archaeological sites.
The gallery forests that grow along the riverbank
are thick and tall, with few species, mainly the espavel, but
their appearance likens them more to a rainforest type of growth.
The marshes are covered with water hyacinths, a plant that typically
grows in shallow waters rich in nutrients. Over 100 pairs of
scarlet macaws, perhaps the most beautiful birds on the Pacific
side of Costa Rica, live and nest in the forests.
Our accommodations for the next two nights are
inspired by French-colonial architecture and the style of Victorian
homes and it a combination of both a mountain and seaside resort.
We will arrive in time for lunch and then a late afternoon walk
along the beach in search of the Scarlet Macaw. Before dinner
we will make a toast as we watch the sunset over the Pacific.
(BLD)(NG)
Tuesday, April 29 - Morning at Carara National
Reserve. We'll meander one of the trails that also provides
shelter for howler and white-faced capuchin monkeys, white-tailed
deer, red brocket deer and collared peccaries.
For those that wish we will get you back to the
hotel in time to schedule a massage or to relax by the zero
edge pool. This evening we will visit Jaco, a local town with
a surfing "culture". The sounds of the surf will be
the background music at dinner. (BLD) (NG)
Wednesday, April 30 - After breakfast transfer
to the San Jose International Airport with an approximate noon
arrival. (B) (NG)
# # #
Optional Stay
- You will not want to leave! Extend your stay at Xandari
Plantation, private villas on a coffee plantation overlooking
the Central Valley. Beautiful trails leading to waterfalls for
you to leisurely explore on your own as well as world class
spa services. Enjoy dinner at the hotel as the city lights twinkle
below.
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