Tour description
We’ll meet up in San José, home to many galleries, museums and theatres. Should you wish to relax, it’s also awash with dance-halls, discos and trendy European-style bars!
Monteverde Cloudforest
On day 3 we’ll enter the Monteverde Cloudforest, an outstanding wildlife sanctuary for over 400 bird species including the Resplendent Quetzal, the ancient Mayan holy bird, over 100 species of mammal, 120 species of amphibian and reptile, and 2,500 species of plant including 400 species of orchid. Their whites, lilacs, and yellows contrast marvelously with the emerald green forest! You can visit the Monteverde Butterfly Garden, the Hummingbird Gallery, go horse-riding, mountain-biking, on a ‘treetop adventures’ session or a photographic trip.Nicaragua
We then continue by bus to neighboring Nicaragua. You stay the night in the picturesque city of Granada full of life and colour , especially the many markets and squares. You can take a trip to the colonial city of Masaya and its name sake National Park, where you can visit its active volcano. Then we continue on to Rincón de la Vieja and a whole new ecosystem including morpho butterflies, tapir, three kinds of monkeys, geysers, bubbling mud pots and mineral hot springs. Our hacienda is near beautiful waterfalls. Three rivers run through the property - the Blanco, Colorado and Negro - and can be explored on foot or horseback.Red lava
Day 10 sees us at La Fortuna de Arenal / La Fortuna de San Carlos after a spectacular drive through mountains and quaint villages. The Arenal Volcano National Park has the country’s most active crater. Red lava often streams from an almost-perfect cone which soars a mile above sea level. You might visit Tabacon Hot Springs, which has hot volcanic stream channeled into five pools of varying temperature, or see the spectacular La Fortuna waterfall on the edge of the rain-forest, or visit the Caño Negro Wetlands.Manuel Antonio National Park
Day12 we continue on to the spectacular beach resort of Quepos, from here you are able to explore the magnificent Manuel Antonio National Park. This park is famed for its white sandy beaches, offshore islands, monkeys and sloths .
We’ll stay until Day 14, when we move to Dominical on the Pacific coast, best known for its turquoise-green waters, coffee-coloured beaches and fiery sunsets. It features mountains and coves, beach palms and mangroves. You can go dolphin and whale watching, visit Corcovado National Park to see red-eyed tree frogs, or visit Caño Island.Panama
Then we head to Panama and the coffee producing region of Boquete, sitting at 1060 metres it offers a beautiful base for hiking in the surrounding mountains .Whilst here you can take advantage of the many tours available such as visiting the hot springs, rock climbing, canopy tours as well as enjoying the numerous restaurants. Then we head off by boat over to the archipelago Bocas Toro to stay on the coco palm covered island of Isla Colón .Here you can take advantage of the abundance of wonderful dive and snorkeling locations or laze the day away in a hammock.Coconut trees and spectacular reefs
Day 19 takes us to Cahuita, a tropical Caribbean resort where we’ll chill out. Coconut trees litter a shore lapped by waters that barely conceal spectacular reefs. Bob Marley’s music is compulsory listening, and dreadlocks abound. But, if you want to meet the true natives, we can arrange a tour of the Indian reservation at Bri Bri.Cahuita National Park
Inland the lush Cahuita National Park’s tropical forest shelters raccoons, opossums, porcupines and capuchin monkeys, and its marshes green iguanas, gigantic blue crabs, frigate birds, green ibis and blue heron. If you love nature there’s a reserve at Hitoy-Cerere, an orchid farm, and ‘Aviarios del Caribe’.
If you need exercise, you can horse-ride to a jungle waterfall, raft on the Reventazon or Pacuare, boat on the Tortuguero canals, dive on the reefs, surf, or tree-climb.
Day 21 sees us return to San José, with time to drown our sorrows before departing on the following day.