Costa Rica active naturalist private custom nature tour
When you get off the paved roads you see the heart of our country, the farms and small villages.
Balloons are not only fun to fly, they afford the best close-up view of nature in the rain forest.
This adventure in nature was designed for a family of six: 2 parents, 3 kids 7 to 14, and Rose, one very active 72 year old grandmother. She wanted her family to see nature without crowds of people and to experience several different ecological systems. She wanted all the others in her group to get enough adventure to use up their energy. She wanted her grandchildren to meet the real people who lived and worked in each area — cane workers, fishermen, dairy farmers, teachers, shopkeepers. And she wanted everyone to take part in every activity.
Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival, and a lovely country inn
Rodolfo Sanchez, the Serendipity leader for this adventure, will meet your arrival at 6:45 this evening and whisk you away to the west of the metropolitan area into the lush hillsides of the coffee country. At dinner with your Serendipity leader, who is with you the whole adventure, you'll get a chance to figure out what to expect from the days to come.
Day 2: Hiking in the cloud forest with exotic plants, animals, and waterfalls
After breakfast we'll start the drive across the central mountain range, stopping to spend the day and tonight in our friends' private forest preserve. Here we'll hike among spectacular waterfalls and pre-Jurassic plants, some more than 300 years old. Here live several strange looking mammals, and the resplendent Quetzal, the elusive bird whose feathers served as currency for Aztec royalty. The waterfalls are pristine and cold.
Day 3: To the hot springs and the back side of Arenal Volcano to see red hot lava
After a few hours' hike (Rose has to let us know when it is time to carry her...) we'll drive the rest of the way through the mountains to the ever erupting Arenal Volcano. Tabacón is here, the fancy big tour bus resort style hot springs, well manicured pools and beautiful bodies in swimsuits, and catering to hundreds. And we also know a wonderful place where only the local people come, and a few world-wise travelers, and we have to slide down a muddy path, and take our waterproof flashlights for the way back after dark — it is your choice.
After dark (here almost on the equator sunset is 5:30 pretty much year round...) we'll head around the back side to find THE place for viewing. Thank you, 4x4! Even if the visibility is poor, the sounds are enough to fire your imagination — we'll get close enough to hear it, and far enough from the tour buses.
Day 4: Nature at its best - floating down the river, then frog and butterfly farms
Sneak up on kingfishers and parakeets, monkeys and cayman, gathered at the waterhole. This river is as full of nature as the canals of Tortuguero
We'll inflate our Duckies for a quiet float down a river with riverbanks full of nature, watching for birds and monkeys and lizards and crocodiles (well, caiman, really). Silence is so important here.
This is our favorite frog (at our frog and butterfly farm). Completely invisible while curled up sleeping attached to a leaf, the Tree Frog surprises you with its brilliant belly, feet and eyes when it wakes up.
With the little Duckies we can truly creep up on the birds, monkeys and lizards, and a few other interesting animals. There are sloth in the trees. You'll appreciate Rodolfo's expert eye to catch sight of one. There are extremely well camouflaged animals wherever you look - fruit bats, which look a lot like wet leaves, lizards, nesting birds in the mud banks, and snakes, quiet and inactive, coiled on branches to absorb the sun. And birds, lots and lots of birds, hiding below the lowest branches or sitting in the brightest sun possible, wings stretched to dry their feathers. The monkeys scream challenges to everyone.
On the way home we'll stop at a very different type of farm. With red poison dart frogs and green tree frogs and turquoise frogs and angelfish, it is a place you will never forget. Our friend Claudio uses the frogs as natural insect control to protect his exotic ferns and plants.
Next to Claudio's farm is a butterfly project. Local women have developed a market for butterfly collectors around the world. This community project is as grass roots as it gets -- not a "tour" open to the public (indeed, there is no sign anywhere) but genuine sustainable farming.
Day 5: Hiking in primary forest and ascend ABRAHAM for lunch in the tree tops
And this is the photo that inspired Rose to become the producer/director of the family tree climbing...
After breakfast we travel by 4x4 and by foot across rivers, through pastures and pineapple fields, and into a primary flatland rain forest. The culmination of this journey is an ancient (more than 400 years old) tree. We named him Abraham, for his ancestral stature in the jungle. We are ascending to the platform 110 feet above the ground to watch the forest, birds flying below you, and howling monkeys in trees next to you. This is a genuine "canopy tour", where you sit in the canopy and watch nature, at your leisure. Scientists estimate 70 to 90% of life in the rain forest is in the canopy.
And it it our favorite place to have lunch.
Day 6: Hot air ballooning then visit the sloth sanctuary
Sunrise is the most serene time of the day, and most stable for the balloon. The rain forest between our launch place and Arenal volcano is filled with toucans, howler monkeys, iguanas, sloth, and brilliant birds and butterflies — and these are only visible in full color from above. We try to descend into the forest to play with the animals, and we also try to ascend to see Arenal above its halo of clouds. But we can't guarantee the direction — the pure joy of flying is enhanced by the freedom of direction of these giant bubbles, and the landings are always a source of curiosity for local people.
We have about 4 hours of driving today. The Caribbean zone is perhaps the most primitive and ignored part of Costa Rica, and is rich in bio diversity and REAL people. We will stop at the animal rescue sanctuary of Luis and Judy Ramirez, with star guests Buttercup and Spiderman.
The rains of the Caribbean coast creates the lush vegetation and plethora of animal species. The Caribbean coast has gently comfortable temperatures.To put it in perspective, it rains much like the coastal areas of Florida or the Bahamas or Jamaica, anywhere that the Caribbean weather system dominates.
Day 7: Walking and talking with Tino on the south Caribbean coast
The whole southern Caribbean area is eclectic, with the largest concentration of bird species in Costa Rica. Not just birds here. Costa Rica indigenous population, the Bri Bri, operate small communal farms as they have since before Columbus arrived. We have opportunity to visit some of these isolated farms.
Our friend Tino has his own permaculture station with hundreds of edible species growing, literally, next to the almost-invisible path through the forest. Tino seems to know every bird and lizard on a first-name basis.
Day 8: Play in the waves and turtle nesting
The beaches range from pure white sand and quiet waves to some of Costa Rica's best surfing. The shoreline retains pristine serenity, without the crowds and clutter of large beach destinations. So enjoy today.
March is the beginning of the nesting season for the gigantic leatherbacks. The nesting beach is entirely protected, and difficult to access (fortunately for the turtles). We'll use the 4x4 to get to Gandoca on a dirt road, then to the protected area where the turtles come ashore.
Turtle watching is a night activity, using red lanterns so we don't disorient the trancelike arrival of the females lumbering onto the shore. The beach area is under the dedicated watchful eye of hundreds of volunteers who come stay here each year to protect this shore.
We have come to gaze in awe at this phenomenal primitive ritual, bringing these turtles back to their own birthplaces, as they have been doing since before mankind arrived on this planet.
Day 9: Swimming with dolphins
We are heading a bit offshore in search of the Taxuci dolphin. The small gray Amazon freshwater dolphin is also frolicking in the coastal waters off Gandoca, here in Costa Rica. We have a boat all to ourselves, to go as far out as you wish, to swim with dolphins, snorkel, or photograph. Or we can paddle out ourselves, in sea kayaks.
Day 10: Snake farm and orchid garden, then picnic at sunset
What starts as fear ends up overcoming fear. New experience, new respect for nature
We'll will leave after breakfast, and stop on the way back to San José. First is Minor Cervantes, who teaches local children about the role of snakes in the ecology. Then to Lankester Gardens, with magnificent tropical plants. If you want we can stop in the city for museums and shopping.
Or we can pass all this mayhem and head back into the coffee country for a picnic and a view of the Pacific at the top of Espiritu Sanctu (not a place where any tour buses go — it's strictly four-wheel-drive) - there's no end of things we can do with Rodolfo enthusiastically showing you his country on this, your last real day here.
Day 11: Your departure
Your return flight from Costa Rica. We'll head for the airport at 7:00 to catch your flight at 9:15 (they really want you there two hours before flight time — but we know another shortcut....). You'll leave behind Rodolfo, guanábana, gallo pinto and the miserable potholes. But you'll take back some great new skills, and memories of Rose doing things she hasn't done since childhood in Joplin, Missouri. And you can come back, any time you get the urge...
The first step to enjoying a Serendipity adventure is to contact us.
