A superb comprehensive magical not so mystery tour of fabulous Costa Rica with Johnny Villalobos... Ken Norman , 2017 See more reviews
Itinerary Include flights Expand all Day 1 Start in San Jose Arrive in San Jose. There will be a short briefing en route to your hotel. Accommodation: Park Inn by Radisson Day 2 Travel to Tortuguero National Park Today you will visit Tortuguero National Park. Accessible only by boat or light aircraft, Tortuguero's vast network of waterways, canals and swamps are remarkably tranquil, unspoilt and devoid of noise pollution. Accommodation: Pachira Lodge Meals included: Breakfast Day 3 Early boat trip to explore the wildlife of Tortuguero Tortuguero is probably most famous as a nesting site for the endangered Green turtle, which can be seen arriving onto the beach to lay eggs from late July to October (as part of an optional excursion). Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Giant Leatherback turtles also nest in this region, and during November to January baby turtles start to hatch and make their way towards the ocean. Accommodation: Pachira Lodge Meals included: Breakfast Day 4 Free day in Tortuguero Today you have a free day to relax in the park. Enjoy kayaking or spend some time at the lodge. Accommodation: Pachira Lodge Meals included: Breakfast Day 5 Depart Tortuguero. Drive to Sarapiqui Today you will leave Tortuguero by boat for La Pavona pier. Drive to Sarapiqui and relax at the hotel. Sarapiqui is known throughout Costa Rica for its amazing and rich biodiversity as well as for being an adventure seeker's dream destination. Accommodation: Selva Verde Lodge Meals included: Breakfast Day 6 Travel to Arenal Volcano Arenal Volcano is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica around 90 km northwest of San José, in the province of Alajuela, canton of San Carlos, and district of La Fortuna. The Arenal volcano is a 1,633 meters (5,300 feet) high mountain, which is perfectly conically shaped with a crater of 140 meters. Accommodation: Arenal Springs Resort Meals included: Breakfast Day 7 Kayaking on Lake Arenal Enjoy a morning of kayaking on Lake Arenal offering fantastic views of the volcano. You have the rest of the day free to relax at the hotel or visit the local town of La Fortuna. Accommodation: Arenal Springs Resort Meals included: Breakfast Day 8 Cross the lake to Monteverde Because of its high altitude (1440mts/4662ft. above sea level), Monteverde is in no short supply of rainclouds. It rains consistently here and the humidity is what gives life to the splendid natural surroundings. The moisture often takes the form of mist and gets caught in the upper branches of the huge trees, dripping down on the ground. This condition gives life to a complex and extensive ecosystem, one that is the home to 400 species of birds, 100 species of mammals, and tens of thousands insect species. In terms of flora, you will find 2500 species among these forests, among which 420 are orchids alone. Accommodation: Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge Meals included: Breakfast Day 9 Sky Adventures Park Today have some fun at the Sky Adventures Park, an aerial amusement park in the cloud forest with sky tram & 8 ziplines amid teeming wildlife & plants. Later you will also visit the Butterfly Garden before returning to the lodge. Accommodation: Monterverde Cloud Forest Lodge Meals included: Breakfast Days 10-11 Relax on the Pacific Coast Head for the Puntarenas Province along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica for the next 2 days to enjoy some rest and relaxation or try out a variety of activities. Accommodation: Punta Leona Hotel & Club Meals included: Breakfast Day 12 Return to San Jose Transfer back to San Jose and enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure. San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, sits in the Central Valley region with the Talamanca Mountains to the south and volcanoes to the north. The city is distinguished by its Spanish colonial buildings, like the ornate, neoclassical National Theatre of Costa Rica overlooking downtown’s Plaza de la Cultura, a popular gathering spot. Below the plaza, the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum displays hundreds of gleaming artifacts. Accommodation: Park Inn by Radisson Meals included: Breakfast Day 13 Depart San Jose After breakfast you will transfer to the airport for your international flight back to the UK. Meals included: Breakfast
Costa Rica Holders of British, US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and most EU passports can enter Costa Rica for a stay of 90 days without a visa. Proof of onward travel may be required when entering Costa Rica - we suggest you take a print out of your flight details in case officials ask to see them. All passengers flying via the USA will have to clear immigration during transit. Prior to travel you must apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (USD14) under the Visa Waiver Programme. Please see www.exodus.co.uk/USVisa for more information. If you are not a UK citizen please check with your local U.S. Embassy.
Costa Rica There are no mandatory vaccination requirements. Recommended vaccinations are: Hepatitis A. The risk of malaria is slight but you may wish to consult your GP or travel health clinic for further advice. Dengue fever is a known risk in places visited. It is a tropical viral disease spread by daytime biting mosquitoes. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available for Dengue, and therefore the best form of prevention is to avoid being bitten. We recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites. Zika fever is a mosquito‐borne viral disease and a known risk in places visited on this trip. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available and therefore the best form of prevention is to avoid being bitten. We recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites. The symptoms and impact of the disease is not serious, but a significant risk to foetus development has recently been highlighted. Therefore, if you are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant you should seek additional advice from a health professional.
Tailormade Accommodation Whether the destination is more important than the accommodation, or you would like to overnight in comfort, our Tailormade team can offer a wide variety of accommodation options from camping and village houses, to some of the finest hotels around. We do this so we can offer accommodation to suit every budget. The team will listen to your requirements to insure we find the right accommodation to suit you.
February 2, 2018 Your Words Not Ours: A Tailormade Self Drive Family Trip to Namibia Home to some of the highest sand dunes in the world, the most eminent image of the Namib desert is sloping orange rid
November 28, 2017 Your Words Not Ours: Five Tailormade Testimonials The idea is simple: have your adventure tailored to suit you.
November 24, 2017 10 Reasons to Choose Exodus on Your Tailormade Adventure With over 40 years’ experience and multiple awards under our belt, we are excited to offer
November 15, 2017 10 Unmissable Highlights of Sri Lanka There are very few destinations that can match the sheer diversity of Sri Lanka
Reviewed December 2017 Ken Norman Trip: Tailormade: Costa Rica Wildlife & Beach Adventure WUC171115 Costa Rica A superb comprehensive magical not so mystery tour of fabulous Costa Rica with Johnny Villalobos as our tremendous could not do enough for us guide and super driver Wilmer too.Small party of 13 of which at least over half were infectious bird lovers that could not fail to inspire all of us. Well planned and very well managed throughout. Sensible to have two nights at each location... we could settle and become at ease and accustomed to each location and take the early morning start schedule in our stride.Great overnight stay locations with spacious accommodation and all services. Only a few 'dodgy' but usually ease of use loos. Great beds. Very good meals.Would have liked a bit more of an adventurous volcano trip to satisfy my 'exploration adventure' gene but ideal for my wife !!! whose gene is more dormant.Well planned superbly executed and managed and sorry it had to end.If we had known of Costa Rica's adoration of all things Christmas we would not have stocked up at Aldi before we went. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Most 'wow' moment the eventual Quetzal bird sighting... two males competing for one female in one tree some 60ft from us.Priceless What did you think of your group leader? Johnny Villalobos was unquestionably dedicated far beyond any reasonablecall of duty. Leader of the year material and faultless in every single way.Outstanding and inspiringly informed and informative. Clearly a great lover of birds but demonstrated an infectious love of his country that we easily and justifiably 'caught' too. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? Good walking shoes/boots but no need to go over the top. Good anorak style waterproof.Good bird watching binoculars.Hand sized effective torch.For good bird photos bring a 'good' camera.Alarm waker-up in kit as you'll have some early starts. Is there anything else you would like to add? Just really fabulous in every way... thank you. Finally if possible avoid British Airways... it might be flying the flag but they are a tired line and do the flag no justice at all.. just not up to the long haul task other than bare minimum and pretty basic food.... cramped seating that was reminiscent of Monarch trips from Luton BUT did best Kenya Airways to Nairobi that I have experienced !!!