Signature Costa Rica

Welcome to San Jose, Costa Rica’s bustling capital city. Affectionately known as Chepe (the local nickname for anyone named Jose) by its inhabitants, San Jose is situated in central Costa Rica within the Valle Central at an elevation of 1,150 metres.
Rising gracefully over the city’s north are Poas, Barva and Irazu volcanos and the Cordillera de Talamanca mountain range sits to the south. In the city centre you will find San Jose’s two main squares, Parque Central de San Jose and Plaza de la Cultura.
Today is an arrival day, so you are free to explore at your leisure.

Today you will tour Doka Estate and Parque Nacional Volcan Poas, passing through Alajuela, Costa Rica’s second largest city enroute.
Doka Estate is a local coffee plantation and you will enjoy breakfast before touring the plantation and roast room to learn how coffee is grown and produced.
Passing more coffee plantations, strawberry fields and flower nurseries, you will arrive at Poas Volcano National Park. Home to the Poas Volcano, the national park stretches 65 square kilometres and offers over 3.5 kilometres of hiking trails. You will view the active volcano from the crater rim before continuing to La Paz Waterfall Gardens.
A privately owned ecological park, the gardens are home to five different waterfalls set within lush tropical rainforests. It’s also a wildlife refuge and you can visit exhibits such as a butterfly observatory, a hummingbird garden, serpentarium, trout lake and a frog ranarium.

Today you will travel from San Jose to the small town of La Fortuna, the gateway to Parque Nacional Volcan Arenal.
After checking into your hotel, you will take an afternoon tour of the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges which are located near Lake Arenal dam.
Here two diverse ecosystems of lowland and highland rainforest collide resulting in a diverse range of birdlife and animal species.
Keep your eyes peeled while walking the suspension bridges for toucans and crested guans before wandering the nature trails where you might encounter sloths, tapirs and spider monkeys or possibly even a jaguar.

Immerse yourself in a volunteer experience at Proyecto Asis Wildlife Rescue Centre. The centre cares for wounded and abandoned wild animals and those rescued from the black market.
You will receive an introduction to the park from a naturalist guide before volunteering to help prepare some of the animals’ food and enrichment toys.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to see some of Costa Rica’s wildlife up close, including sloth which are a threatened species due to the destruction that’s occurring to their natural habitat.

You will cross Lake Arenal on a pontoon boat from Lake Arenal Dam to Rio Chiquito before heading to Monteverde.
Known for its unique cloud forest, Monteverde is located at the heart of the Cordillera de Tilaran mountain range.
You will spend the evening in your superior chalet-style accommodation with panoramic views towards the cloud forest which you will visit tomorrow.

Today you will explore the Montverde cloud forest from above.
Boarding the Sky Tram, you will float gently over the forest, keeping watch for monkeys, sloths and birds in the canopy.
You will arrive at an observation platform where, on a clear day, you can see the Arenal Volcan in the east and the Gulf of Nicoya and the Pacific coastline to the west.
To get back down, why not zip line on board the Sky Trek? A system of zip lines spanning from mountain to mountain, the Sky Trek allows you to fly through the treetops at up to 70 kilometres per hour. Alternatively, you can visit some more observation towers with panoramic views of the cloud forest.
The final excursion of your tour is the Sky Walk, a two kilometre walk along forest trails and suspension bridges through the cloud forest.

From Monteverde you will travel to Manuel Antonio, home to one of the most popular national parks in Costa Rica.
The lively resort town is your base for the final days of your tour. Located north of the national park, Manuel Antonio is surrounded by turquoise waters and pristine sandy beaches.
You are free to explore the town and lap up some sunshine after your arrival.

Today you will tour Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, crossing the thin
man-made strip of land that connects the island where the national park is located with the mainland.
The park has three trail options, but your guide will lead you on the path with the easiest grade. As you walk you will learn about the park’s natural history, local flora and fauna.
Keep your eyes peeled for three out of the four tropical primates that live in Costa Rica as they are found here. You also might spot sloths, birds and reptiles as well as orchids and butterflies.

You will be transported back to San Jose to the airport to fly to your next destination.