Indigenous Culture & Rainforest

When you arrive at the airport you will be picked up by the hotel’s shuttle service. After you have checked in you can enjoy one of the hotel’s restaurants, pool area, spa, or why not have a tropical drink in one of the bars? If you arrive early you can go to San Jose center to discover the country’s capital or visit the more luxurious areas of Escazu or Santa Ana for a meal or shopping.

We start this day early in the morning and there is time for a delicious buffet breakfast before the lodge’s transportation picks us up. The transportation will be in a modern tourist bus and we will be passing some beautiful nature and banana plantations. The last part of the transportation will be on boat for about 45 minutes on the river delta until we arrive at the hotel. After the check-in we will do our first tour which is a visit to Tortuguero town where we get to interact with the locals and visit the Caribbean Sea.

This day starts early as well as we join our guide to go on a river boat tour where we can see a large number of animals such as crocodiles, monkeys, iguanas, many different species of birds, and if we are lucky, sloths too. After our exciting river boat tour, we get to relax for a while and enjoy our lunch. After lunch we will once again join up with our guide and go for a rainforest hike to see more nature and animals.

As this day begins we enjoy our breakfast before we check-out and start our next part of our journey towards Barbilla and its magical rainforest. This transportation itself will show us much beautiful scenery and if we are lucky we get to see more wild animals before we enter the town of Siquirres where our lodge will pick us up. On the way up along the mountain range, you stop at a local family´s house. With help of our trilingual guide that accompanies and translates for you, you will get a more personal exchange and insight into life in the rainforest-cloud mountains. A light lunch with tortillas and other goodies will be made together over a fire. Later in the afternoon and once on the family farm where you will sleep during your stay, dinner is served on the veranda.

Hike to the Tapir River in Barbilla National Park. Today you will have a wonderful hike through farmland, abandoned land until you reach primary rainforest and the border to the national park. This is a full day hike and you will have your lunch with you and enjoy it down by the beautiful Tapir River. This is a somewhat physically demanding hike but with a normal condition and a little fighting spirit it is possible, and it is definitely worth the effort as nature here is so beautiful. With a little luck you can see lots of birds and smaller animals too, depending on how quiet you are on your hike through the forest.

Getting to know the farm and having afternoon coffee with an indigenous family. From the veranda you can experience the sunrise over the rainforest where breakfast is served. In the morning you get a beautiful and educational tour of the farm and the business with the butterfly and pupae exportation. After lunch you visit a Cabécar family in their home, which is possible thanks to our guide and hostess in Barbilla who has worked among the community for many years.

Visit the National Park headquarters and discover the village of Las Brisas. Today you will get a tour of the national park's headquarters where the road construction has a fantastic view of Jaguar Mountain. The park rangers who work here give an insight into Barbilla's significance. For example, they collaborate with the organization Panthera, which works to save the area's jaguars and other large cats. Today you will also get to visit the village school, the hospital, the rural farm, and other places in the small village of Las Brisas de Pacuarito. One of the day's meals is eaten at the home of one of the villagers. If you would rather go on another hike in the rainforest today that is possible.

Breakfast at the farm before departure. Rest and walking in the garden before our early departure is optional. After our breakfast one of our guides will take us to Siquirres once again and from there we will have about an hour and a half until we arrive in San Jose. We will leave you at the airport and say goodbye for this time and hope to see you soon again!