Day 1. San Jose
You begin your tour by arriving at Juan SantaMaria Airport and then transferring to San Jose. You can decide to rest at your hotel or do what we did and explore the city. We visited some of San Jose’s finest attractions including the Jade Museum in front of the Spain Park, the National Theatre, the Gold Museum, and some of the unique churches including the Metropolitan Cathedral. We decided to go back to the hotel and rest a bit before dining at a restaurant for dinner that gave us a wonderful view of the Central Valley and the city by night. We can enjoy the rest of what San Jose has to offer after we return from tour and before heading home.
Day 2: Osa Peninsula - Corcovado National Park
After breakfast, we depart for the airport for a 1-hour flight to Drake Bay at the border of Corcovado National Park. Upon arrival to the beach, we settle into our lodge and then stroll to the forest with our local guide. We see plenty of native animals and visit a waterfall before we reach the San Pedrillo Ranger Station. We return by boat and enjoy the sunset with the unspoiled view of the Cano Island. Dinner is served in the garden of our lodge.
Day 3: Corcovado National Park
On our third day, we transfer to the very inside of the park by boat to be able to take a longer jungle hike through Corcovado National Park, which covers 136,347 acres and is considered to be the most biologically diverse rain forest in Central America. Here we may see a range of wildlife, including: spiders, squirrels, and capachin monkeys, cuatimundis, two and three toed sloths, tapirs, peccaries, giant anteaters, ocelots, jagaurundis and many other species. We will pass through primary and secondary forests, a small stretch of mangrove and long stretches of beach. This walk is renowned for the sighting of large flocks of scarlet macaws feeding in almond trees. If we are lucky, we might also see the elusive tapir. We return to our accommodation by boat and spend the night there.
Day 4: Corcovado National Park
This is our leisure day. We depart for the Cano Island, which is a beautiful uninhabited isle, just a 20 minutes boat ride off the coast and forms part of the Corcovado National Park. Here we will go for a walk to the viewpoint on the other end of the island, see the round shaped rocks on the archaeological site. After our return, we can relax on the beach or go snorkeling. Lunch is served on the beach. In the afternoon, we will return to Drake Bay and enjoy our last evening in the area.
Day 5: Corcovado - San Jose - Tortuguero
The morning of the day 5, we fly back to San Jose and depart for our next destination the Tortuguero River. Upon arrival to Pavona by bus, we continue our trip on the river and neighboring canals to reach our lodge on a land strip sandwiched between the canal and the ocean. The only way to reach this place is by boat and on this trip; we can already witness the richness of the biodiversity of the area. First, we pass cultivated land, and then close to the national park, the landscape becomes more and more dominated by rainforest. The canals and forest offers a plethora of birds, like wing drying aninghas, king fishers, egrets, toucans, oropendolas as well as crocodiles, caimans, river turtles, and iguanas.
Day 6: Tortuguero National Park
If you did not see enough the first few days today is sure to fill the gaps. We start our whole day trip with observing wildlife in and around the canals. We are probably going to see spider, white-faced capuchin and howler monkeys, just as two and three toed slots. These animals come to our attention with the help of our experienced guide. During the midday we stopover in the Tortuguero National Park for a short walk, to appreciate the flora. We then visit Tortuguero town to do some shopping and possibly have some extra time to check our emails. After lunch, we continue our trip and see the rest of what we missed up until now.
Day 7: Tortuguero - Puerto Limon - Puerto Viejo
In the early morning, we go for a hike to nearby Mont Tortuguero. With just 119 meters (390 feet) of altitude, it stands out enough to provide us with an excellent view of the canals and the coast. During the ascent, we may see some different types of monkeys again. After returning to the lodge, we again depart on a boat trip to Puerto Limon; from there we drive to Puerto Viejo. The latter is a laid back Caribbean village predominantly inhabited by black people originating from Jamaica. Here you can enjoy a number of beachside restaurants and bars or hit the dance floor in the local discotheques.
Day 8: Puerto Viejo
Today, we can pretty much enjoy our day the way we wish with horseback riding, biking, visiting the nearby Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, walk to viewpoints that are hidden to overlook the coast, or just enjoy the sunshine and the white sandy beaches.
Day 9: Puerto Viejo - San Jose
Relaxing and doing whatever the area has to offer and in the afternoon leaving for San Jose, where we will have our farewell dinner.
Day 10: San Jose
After breakfast, we can go on a shopping and sightseeing walk in Central San Jose or explore the city by ourselves. We can enjoy seeing any of the sights we missed when we first arrived or visit some of them again. We did not get a chance to visit the Central Market, the Crafts market that is close to the National Museum or the many souvenir shops. When it is time to leave we head to the airport.
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Airport to airport service