Tour of Arenal Volcano and Monteverde Rainforest

Tour of the Arenal Volcano and the Monteverde Rainforest 4 days / 3 nights

Primary cloud forest and rainforest cover Arenal National Park, which abounds with flora and fauna species in multiple life zones, innumerable rivers, waterfalls and thermal hot springs.

In Monteverde Costa Rica rain forest are found more than 100 species of mammals including 5 species of cats, over 400 species of birds including 30 kinds of hummingbirds, tens of thousands of insect species (over 5000 species of moths) and 2,500 species of plants (420 kinds of orchids). The area is acclaimed as one of the most outstanding wildlife refuges in the New World Tropics.

Tour Day 1- COCORA GARDENS; TRANSFER TO ARENAL VOLCANO

 Your journey will begin by traveling northwest along the Interamerican Highway for an hour or so and then turning off to head north through the town of San Ramon. Here you will take a short break and visit the community’s agriculture town market. This market offers a variety of tropical fruits and vegetables, including some that are rarely seen outside the tropics. Depending on the season, visitors may encounter the farmers’ stands with familiar and delicious! local vaieties of bananas, mangoes, and pineapples; as well as lesser-known cassavas, carambolas, mamon chinos, guanabanas, tamarinds, cas, guayabas, annonas, papayas, plantains and others.  We encourage you to try something new here! A popular thirst-quenching drink at the market (and on our beaches) is “agua de pipa” which comes from unripe coconuts. In addition to the produce, you will also find local products and handcrafts at the market. (Note: The market is closed on holidays).

After taking a break at the market, you will continue on with a visit to the Cocora Private hummingbird and butterfly gardens en route to Arenal Volcano. Cocora is located in the cloud forest belt at 3000 feet elevation. Cloud forests are dominated by dense vegetation and tall trees covered by carpets of mosses, lichens, ferns, bromeliads and orchids. A beautiful butterfly garden offers the visitor attractive tropical plants and colorful butterflies. One may see giant Blue Morphos,  Zebra Butterflies, Small Postman, Glasswings, Monarchs, Julias, Owl butterflies, “Halloween” Butterflies, wing-snapping Crackers (yes, the male butterlies make noise!), Brown peacocks, Giant Swallowtails, Sulphurs  and other species. You may also find rare hummingbirds like Green Thorntail, Coppery-headed Emerald and White-bellied Mountain-gem.

Lunch at Doña Rosa´s house. Doña Rosa Quiros and her family have been living in the beautiful Blue Valley area of Alajuela Province for more than 40 years. Their small farm is surrounded by mountains, rivers, and farmlands of bean, cassava, plantain, and sugar cane plantations.  Some farms have fish ponds stocked with tilapia and rainbow bass. Doña Rosa’s two sons Diego and Erian take care of the farm and their Brahma cows. Erian is a self-taught local artist that works with recycled materials. For your lunch, Doña Rosa will cook a traditional Costa Rican meal for you.  This will usually include a “picadillo de papas,” fresh hand-made tortillas, rice and beans, cassava (a root crop from which tapioca can be made), and fresh lemonade, among other tico goodies. A visit to Doña Rosa´s farm will take you back in time to an era when rural Costa Rican families always welcomed weary travelers walking or riding horseback through the countryside into their homes with a ready smile and a great meal! 

After lunch you will continue on to your Arenal area hotel, travelling in the north central lowlands of Costa Rica among plantations of tropical crops and cattle ranches.  (L)

Hotel: Arenal Observatory Lodgeor similar (2 nts)    
Meals Incl: 2B

 

Tour Day 2 -  ARENAL HANGING BRIDGES; TRANSFER TO MONTEVERDE 

Today you will visit the Arenal Hanging Bridges. This is a complex of suspended bridges and trails through a beautiful rain forest. The lush vegetation contains palms, heliconias and tall trees that you will view from ground level to above the tree tops as you meander along the trails and on the bridges. From some of the bridges there are also panoramic views of nearby Arenal Volcano. As you walk through the forest, you may encounter a variety of the forest wildlife, including toucans, motmots, trogons, poison dart frogs, howling monkeys, spider monkeys and white-faced capuchin monkeys.

After your rainforest bridges walk, you will travel up into the mountains on your way to Monteverde. Your journey will bring you through small rural Costa Rican villages passing coffee and dairy farms.

Monteverde is both a community and forest reserve. The world-famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve protects a mountain forest characterized by majestic trees densely covered by thick, wet and heavy “carpets” of epiphytes, including orchids and wild relatives of familiar tropical house plants - philodendrons, ferns and ficus trees. The beautiful Resplendent Quetzal spends about ½ the year here and the forest is home to hundreds of other bird and mammal species.This private reserve has been intensely studied by scientists since its founding in 1972, and is the site of important pioneering research on the effects of climate change in tropical ecosystems.  Several resident biologists are renowned experts on tropical bats, plants and amphibians. The reserve staff strives to educate international as well as local students about ecology and the importance of its conservation, and the reserve serves as an example of how a protected forest can be of great value to the region's residents.

The communities outside the reserve include Monteverde, Cerro Plano, and Santa Elena.  The small mountain farms of these towns are owned by “campesinos” (country farmers) who grow a small variety of crops.  The most important farm products are organic coffee (which can be purchased in local stores) and milk for the local Monteverde Cheese Factory.  The factory has been producing a variety of high-quality cheeses in Costa Rica since shortly after Quakers from the United States settled the area in 1950´s.  Many visitors and local residents visit the cheese factory to buy cheese or enjoy their delicious milk shakes and ice cream!  Near and around the community centers, a large selection of restaurants, and other visitor attractions are found, such as butterfly gardens, horse rentals, treetop forest canopy tours, an orchid garden, art galleries, and an excellent educational bat exhibit among others.   

Hotel: Hotel Fonda Vela or similar (2 nts)                          
Meals Incl: 2B

Tour Day 3 - MONTEVERDE RESERVEPLUS SUGAR MILL & COFFEE TOUR

In the morning you will visit the Trapiche ('sugar mill') and coffee farm, that first began operation in 1948. The Monteverde Trapiche is run by a local family, and on your tour you will not only learn about the local process of making sugar, but also about the other most important agricultural products of the region. Your tour will be partly 'hands-on,' and your hosts may invite you to participate in the processing of the sugar cane! You will also have a short walk on the farm and see how tilapia fish are raised, and also learn about the production of coffee (and if in season, pick some). Following your walk, you will then take a ride back to the main building in a traditional farm ox cart!  There you will enjoy a refreshment of sugar cane juice or lemonade, eat picadillo de arracache (a typical Costa Rican food) and make candy out of sugar cane (everyone makes their own candy!).

After lunch enjoy a guided visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, entrance fee included. Located in the Tilaran Mountain Range of Puntarenas Province, the Reserve is one of the premier natural history destinations in Costa Rica.  Later in the afternoon the forest may be cool and misty from low cloud cover, so bring a light jacket for your walk. The forest consists of lush, verdant vegetation containing understory palms, majestic canopy trees, arching “ropy” lianas, bizarre “strangler” fig trees and epiphytes-small plants that grow on the trees. Outstanding among the epiphytes are orchids-although most are small and high in the tree canopy, more orchid species are found in Monteverde for its size than any other place yet known (some 500!). As you walk through the forest, you may encounter a variety of wildlife.  Frequently-sighted mammals include white-faced capuchin and howler monkeys, white-nosed coatis, two-toed sloths, kinkajous, and agoutis. Of the 400 bird species found in or nearby the reserve, outstanding species you may see include the legendary crimson and iridescent-green Resplendent Quetzal (which spends about ½ the year in the area during its breeding season from February or March to July), Emerald Toucanets, Black guans, Keel-billed toucans, Blue-crowned Motmots, Orange-bellied Trogons, Three-wattled Bellbirds (approximately April to August), and hummingbirds such as Purple-throated Mountain-gems, Violet Sabrewings, and Magenta-throated Woodstars.  The wonderful songs of many of these birds will accompany you as you travel through the forest.

Tour Day 4 - TRANSFER TO SAN JOSE

Explore the main community of the area, Santa Elena, before going back to San Jose or being transferred to the beach or other destination. You may just want to take advantage of banks and supermarkets or visit the local cheese factory, women’s cooperative (CASEM) or one of the many art and craft galleries to purchase some souvenirs or gifts for the folks back home. Local coffee, wood sculptures, embroidered clothing, and paintings by resident artists are just some of the offerings available.

Vacation Package Benefits

1. Driver/guide modules are focused on Nature and Wildlife viewing, however, we have added aspects such as: home lunches with local families, town markets and sustainable organic farm visits. All this in an effort to follow Sustainable Tourism practices involving the average "tico" that otherwise does not have access to be a part of the industry.
2. Guaranteed daily departures with a minimum of 2 participants, allows more flexibility when putting together itineraries yet clients get the benefits of group pricing. Modules are less expensive & better value compared to if we costed it out individually. We won’t cancel.
3. Small groups  – maximum group size of 8. Personalized attention, flexibility with regard to activities and stops enroute
4. Trips are all lead by bilingual licensed naturalist guides. Guides have all participated in company’s guide training, have binoculars, spotting scopes, bird and wildlife colour plates and guide books. We have the very best guides in the business, passionate about our country, happy to share their knowledge, intimately familiar with the areas we visit and committed to taking care of your every need.
5. No hidden costs. Driver/guide is available at all times during the tour.
6. With driver/guide client is able to experience things that they wouldn’t be able to do so on their own. Like visit a local town market or stop in at Doña Rosa for a typical home cooked meal.
7. No extra transport costs or hazzles of having to get local taxis to get around once you are in Arenal and Monteverde. No worries.
8. There is built in free time in the tour to either enjoy some free time on own or with driver/guide do some extra walks or early birding walks.
9. Sustainable Good Practices are followed in the conduction of the modules. We favor hotels that have received certification from Rainforest Alliance, CR Tourism Institute or otherwise have demonstrated they too follow Good Sustainable Practices. We include activities like La Fortuna Waterfalls and Danaus that have strong local community programs.
10. We offer the highest level of customer service and personal care to every guest. We are committed to exceed your expectations.

Included:
As specified in the above itinerary, lodging, transportation within Costa Rica, , meals [B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner], specified entrance fees to National Parks & private Reserves, guide services, ground operator support within Costa Rica and taxes.

Not Included:
Airfare to Costa Rica , airport departure taxes, meals not specified in the itinerary, alcoholic beverages, personal equipment, extras in hotels (laundry, phone calls, room service), gratuities, or costs associated with changes in your itinerary for reasons beyond our control.