Costa Rica – 15 days – first proposal
Monteverde, Arenal, Guanacaste’s Gold Coast, Manuel Antonio & The Osa Peninsula Day 1: Arrival Fly into San Jose’s Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO). Explore downtown San Jose and spend the evening relaxing at your hotel. Day 2: Lava Tour & Hot Springs A morning shuttle will deliver you to your ecolodge in La Fortuna, a town located at the base of Arenal Volcano. Costa Rica welcomes you with an exciting lava tour and an evening of relaxation in volcano-fed hot springs. Day 3: Arenal Volcano & Adventure Explore Arenal Volcano National Park on horseback or with your own two feet – you’ll find new-growth rainforest, volcano views and inquisitive wildlife around every corner. If you’re looking to up the adrenaline, take an optional waterfall rappelling or whitewater rafting tour. Day 4: Scenic Boat Ride & Night Tour Take a Jeep-Boat-Jeep transfer to the cloud forest town of Monteverde. En route, you’ll enjoy a peaceful and scenic boat ride on Lake Arenal. Get settled at your mountain lodge and explore the town in the afternoon. After the sun sets, visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve for an informative and exciting night tour. Day 5: Cloud Forest Hike & Canopy Tour Take a morning hike through the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve; keep your eyes peeled for resplendent quetzals, dangling forest epiphytes, and tiny tree frogs. Later, soar like a bird on a thrilling canopy tour – Monteverde has some of the most exciting ziplines in Costa Rica. Day 6: Gold Coast Beaches Transfer in an air-conditioned shuttle to your ocean view hotel on Guanacaste’s Gold Coast. Relax and enjoy Costa Rica’s Pacific – stroll down stunning Playa Conchal, where pink sand meets turquoise ocean, or make plans to visit Playa Grande’s nesting leatherback sea turtles (October-February). Day 7-8: Beachside Relaxing & Optional Tours These days are yours to be as active or relaxed as you choose. Learn to surf, explore the ocean depths while snorkeling or scuba diving, catch your lunch on a deep-sea fishing trip, or just enjoy the warm sun and sand between your toes. Unwind with a spa treatment tailored to your needs. Day 9: Relaxation & A Sunset Sail Depart for your jungle beach lodge in Manuel Antonio, where you’ll be treated to oceanfront rainforest, gentle waves and amazing wildlife watching. Splash around in the warm ocean, take a horseback ride to nearby waterfalls, or spend the afternoon enjoying the sun. Just before dusk, you’ll board a romantic sunset sail for a front-row seat to the night’s main attraction: brilliant colors light up the sky, the breeze is warm, and if you keep your eyes trained on the horizon, you may glimpse whales or dolphins. Day 10-11: Exploration & Adventure Spend these days exploring your surroundings – the Pacific Ocean and beach offer kayaking, sport fishing, mangrove tours, surfing, jet skiing, snorkeling, and hours of lounging with the sand between your toes. On terra firma, try an exhilarating ATV tour, mountain biking or one of Manuel Antonio’s first-class spas. Be sure to plan a hike to Manuel Antonio National Park, where a trained guide will help you spot white-faced monkeys, sloths, coatimundis and other forest dwellers. Day 12: Nature & Wildlife Transfer to Drake Bay on the Osa Peninsula, one of the world’s most biologically diverse places. Take a self-guided hike around your jungle ecolodge – marked trails and helpful hotel staff will point out all the best places to find sloths, monkeys, birds and other wildlife. In the evening, head out on the area’s most popular night hike. From 7:30-10:00 p.m., you and your flashlight will illuminate tree frogs, bats, jumping spiders and other creepy crawlers. Day 13-14: Osa Peninsula The Osa Peninsula offers an array of activities for any visitor, and you will be amazed at the options offered. Drake Bay is known for excellent dolphin and whale watching, sport fishing, and bird and wildlife watching. You can’t miss a hike to Corcovado National Park’s Sirena Station, where Baird’s tapir, ocelots, and other endangered wildlife are frequently spotted. Surfing and sunbathing are Osa Peninsula highlights, as well. Choose your favorites, and enjoy yourself! Day 15: Departure Fly back to San Jose, where you’ll catch your return flight home or spend the night in the city. Location: The Osa Peninsula; 208 miles from San Jose; less than 9° north of the equator in Costa Rica See South Pacific Tourism Region Size: 104,900 acres; 1/3 of the Peninsula de Osa Date of Creation: October 1975 Elevations: from sea level to 2,444 feet Part of: Osa Conservation Area Explore Corcovado National Park on our travel blog About: Corcovado National Park is one of the few places in the world that truly merits the phrase teeming with wildlife. National geographic named it “the most biologically intense place on Earth” with good reason. Its proximity to the equator, and the fact that it makes up part of an isthmus that connects North and South America, create ideal circumstances for over 13 types of forest to thrive – along with the dizzying array of wildlife inhabiting them. The sheer amount of wildlife inhabiting the park is astounding. Scarlet macaws and toucans fly lazily overhead, while poison dart frogs hop underfoot – all the while, monkeys nonchalantly bask in trees, tapirs graze in nearby swamps, and crocodiles perch in wait of their next meal. This environmental marvel has a tumultuous history. Great quantities of gold were discovered in Corcovado in the 1930’s, leading to a gold rush that was detrimental to local wildlife. The area was doubly endangered due to the logging industry and its resulting deforestation. Thankfully, then President Daniel Oduber declared the area a protected zone in 1975. While this immensely improved conditions, illegal activities were not truly quashed until the 1980’s – when the government completely banned the practice of gold panning in Corcovado. Citizens began to realize that tourism’s long-term economic gains would be more sustainable than the timber and precious metals industries. The majority of the
Los Roques
Cayo agua, the most interesting island and it really deserve a visit – the paradise is here Los Roques is a paradise, it is an ideal place for a perfect holiday and a big rest for those who want to clean the soul. …but, one need to have all the patience in the world, need to go there with a free spirit and really need to be prepared for all the set backs one can have at a holiday – and need to be sure that all planned is really planned… We have bought a nice package for the “posada” and the airplane tickets, we were planning this trip for more than 2 months, 13 friends, among them my pregnant sister with her baby of 1,5 years… …and how nice it was to arrive to the pousada “La Laguna” with the vouchers from the Explorerpartner.com and hear from the owner of the posada that they have never received this reservation neither payment for the days planned (we had paid 100% the trip in advance). Calling the agency, they have spent the day looking for the reservations – it turned to be that they were cheated – a venezuelan girl, Carolina, who worked some time ago for the La Laguna had mislead the agency and the posada La Laguna and had told them that she was the one who was responsible for doing the reservations – finally she had reserved pousadas on a much lower price level and had kept the money for her – what a nice start in Venezuela. Finally my friends were able to stay, some of them at a better pousada, since they did not enter the reserved one and paid themselves a better one (which was far away from a luxurious spa in tahiti and others at a not so good one, to say so) but my husband, myself, my sister and her family, instead of staying from the 26th of December until the 7th of January, we had to come back to Caracas on the 30th of December… Still pending to check how to receive reimbursement for the the payment made… Well, but to go to Los Roques – Be prepared to; – Daily lack of energy – during this holidays, each second day our “pousada” did not have energy – meaning, no air conditioning, and depending on the posada where you stay, you would have candle night… – Lack of Water – some of the posadas had problem with water – at the majority you will be “monitored” not to have 2 showers a day – you might get an angry manager shouting at your door – NO HOT WATER AT ALL – the island has a policy of no warm water for the showers – indeed the weather is so nice that, unless you decide to shower very late at night, this will not be a problem – Lots of garbage and mosquitos all around the Gran Roques. Unfortunately the island is not well preserved, and very close to one of the most expensive Pousadas, and the only one at the beach, literally door at the sand – Caracol – there is a huge dam with lots of garbage, which smells a lot… – Take with you anything to keep all the mosquitos far away from you, being at the main island or the others, during the day or night. All the set backs apart, here are some of the nice tips and good experience there in Los Roques: 1) Pousadas: You have to go to some expensive ones; Posada La Laguna is a nice one, is not among the high priced ones, is a simple one, very nice one, and its main attraction is the owner, Mavi (Maria Victoria – an Italian – journalist who decided to move to Los Roques 4 years ago and is running herself the pousada wiht the help of her daughter and her son – Italians from Rome) and her daughter, Sveva. This is one of the only posadas with capacity for more than 20 people at once. When we arrived there, with the vouchers and no real reservation, they offered us rooms for us to change and to go to the beach, they accommodated the reservations in order to have place for us that night in case we would not find anything – contacted us somebody so we could go for the daily boat trip – and by the end of the day, after using her rooms, we left to the reserved posadas and she did not charged us anything – Finally my sister stayed there for the remaining days. Mavi and Sveva were basically running the posada alone, only with 1 young lady helping them – They do deserve my respect! Posada Los Corales is a tiny little posada, with all the charm one posada can have! It is managed, owned, by Jesus and his wife. Our friends Carol and Rafa stayed their, and the meals attracted so much them that by the end, the group ate there for 3 nights. They have only 4 rooms, you have just to take care not to choose the room which is located beside the generator, since the noise might keep you awake! The price here during the high season was BsF 840,00 around US$98,00 per person half pension. Posada Galapagos is among the best ones (the price per person per night – high season, half pension, is US$ 150,00, meaning – couple US$ 300,00 – I have never paid so high price for any hotel in Europe, even when I wanted to treat myself…). If you try to save some money, you might have so many headaches that you can jeopardize your holiday. 2) The boat trip to know the islands – Normally the posadas have included 2 or 3 islands – the closest ones. For the rest you have to hire a boat, which will charge you, per person around BsF 160,00 for the cayo
Los Roques – little paradise in Venezuela
From each country that I have lived in, I have received a gift, from Venezuela it happened still during the first month arriving and getting to know the country. Los Roques is an archipelago with around 350 islands, cays, the main island, Gran Roques, is where all “posadas” are located, with some restaurants (not the ones we are used to) and some bakeries where we can find beers, bread and “chucherias” (snacks). The charm of the trip is to hire the boats that will take you to whole day trips to the cays, the most beautiful being also the furthest – the Cayo de Agua – it is wonderful and the only island where you can find potable water. The “posadas” are not even close to being the charming ones, there is not enough water or energy, meaning that even if your hotel is with air conditioning, you might find yourself having each second night without it, since it can be your side of the island day of saving energy! Despite of the difficulties – we have commented that in any other place, this would be a touristic place, paradise with all comfort for the foreigners, instead of a foreigner repellent for its lack of care – you forget everything when you wake up and go to the take your boat, and as the day goes by, you fell in love with this place, the water, the sea, the nature, all is enchanting…. I will post more tips of posadas and places to stay that might be worth! Ah – definitively do not use anything to do with an internet tourism agency called explorepartners – they had “cheated” on us selling certain posadas that were more expensive and sending us to ones that were just not bearable – better to call the posada yourself and be sure that you are indeed talking to the owners!!!
Dream Tulum – Honeymoon??? Paradise at the Riviera Maya!
This hotel Azulik cabañas is just great, it is a dream, we have stayed exactly at this cabaña, which has a bath tube outside and at the terrace overlooking the sea, just a dream. The Hotel has all ecologic systems, there is no light after 22:00 and energy comes from the sun, there is nice massage, and close by you can see many interesting places. Cenotes – these are so so nice nature beauties, look this for example: http://www.cenotedosojos.com/ This is common in the Riviera Maya, but this is special, there are caves which are filled with water and you can enjoy them for many hours!!! Coba – Maya sites, pyramids: http://mayasites.com/coba.html Not so known, this ruins are simply AMAZING and you have to give it a day, it is incredible and you have to be brave and to go up to each pyramid, it is worth the view, and the energy there is amazing!! Sian Ka’an ecologic reserve: http://cesiak.org/ Another day that you have to take, from Tulum, you follow the road, not paved, and with a 4 wheels drive you will arrive there in around 2 hours and the road is wonderful. The reserve is so beautiful, you have to plan to arrive before 9 or 10 am and then rent a boat, so you can dive with the dolphins, turtles and be able to then see all the beauties that this place have. If there is still time, the lighthouse slightly further after the village is a beautiful place to go!! Well, there are still many things, but with this anyone can already enjoy, I have to go, my husband is dead tired and wants to sleep, so, nite nite!!
