Costa Rica Explorer

Arrival to San Jose airport where you will be transferred to Bougainvillea Hotel. 

The hotel has its own botanical garden brimming with  tropical plants, including heliconias, bromeliads, orchids and trees that attract butterflies and birds which brighten the environment with their colours and sounds. It is truly the main attraction of the hotel.

The National Gardening Association recently gave the hotel an award for the best garden in Costa Rica. In the garden you can find small samples of the country's crops, such as coffee, cocoa, bananas, pineapple and papaya.

Also, there are several small ponds where work is ongoing to preserve endangered frog species, such as Forreri’s Leopard frog, the Blue-sided Tree Frog, and the Brilliant Forest Frog.

You will be  located in the Heredia district.  It is a great place to see the contrasts of Costa Rica such as the Colonial architecture and traditional small towns, churches, and parks, all set against gorgeous green and blue mountains. 

In the evening you might want to enjoy dinner at the hotel before staying in a garden view room. 

You might begin your adventure with a drive through the varied landscapes of Costa Rica with your driver/guide who will tell you all about this diverse country as you go.  You'll be able to make stops for photos and snacks before entering  Tortuguero by boat for your stay at Laguna Lodge.  The journey can often be as exciting as arriving at the destination.

This area is vital for the conservation of Green Sea Turtles, Leatherback and Hawksbill turtles which nest on the beaches here from July to October. You may have a chance to see some hatchlings!

With large rivers, lakes and wetlands on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other, Tortuguero is in the northern part of Costa Rica and is a perfect place to learn about the wildlife of the area. Pachira Lodge is a comfortable riverwalk lodge, full of trees and exotic plants that attract a great number of birds and butterflies. 

Your stay here could include a garden hike on the hotel trail, a boat tour and visit to Tortuguero National Park. If you're feeling adventurous you could also embark upon a night hike one evening.

Located in the extreme northeast of Costa Rica, Tortuguero is accessible only by small plane or boat, along the famous Tortuguero Canals.  This system of rivers and man-made channels parallels the coast and cuts through beautiful primary forest. The area was turned into a national park in 1975.  It is one of the areas with the greatest biological diversity of the country.

The name Tortuguero relates to the Spanish word for turtle as this is the most important nesting site in the entire western half of the Caribbean for the green turtle.  Other species of sea turtles like the leatherback and hawksbill also nest on the wide beaches of the park and refuge where most exploring is done by small boat, although some hiking trails are available. 

All meals are included. Overnight in a Standard Room.

The Tortuguero Canals are beautiful. You can easily spend your days on boat excursions looking for wildlife, admiring what you find and stopping to take in the landscape every now and then.

Drift along freshwater canals and lagoons that crisscross the wetlands, finding along the way spectacled caiman, river turtles, spoonbills and herons, all the while keeping an eye open for the endangered West Indian Manatee.

In the foliage look for sloths; jungle branches dip and swish with acrobatic troops of foraging Howler Monkeys, Spider Monkeys and Capuchin Monkeys, and in the canopy, exotic bird calls add to the Jurassic atmosphere.

Poison dart frogs, butterflies, iridescent hummingbirds, and every imaginable shade of green will make for a brilliant day of wildlife spotting!

The canals of Tortuguero are a popular attraction in Costa Rica. With rainforests, wildlife, sea turtles, crocodiles and a labyrinth of natural waterways, the region offers an authentic rainforest experience. Visitors can explore the lush flora and abundant fauna of the Caribbean coastal waterways by boat.

You might want to continue exploring the waterways today in small boats, taking on board more and more details from your naturalist guides and enjoying the colours and shapes of the flora and fauna.

Today you may also visit the village of Tortuguero to meet some of the people who live there.

Within the Tortuguero National Park along Costa Rica’s beautiful Caribbean Coast, the village of Tortuguero is known for its ecotourism and extensive network of canals, and lies amidst tropical lowland rainforests, magnificent rivers, and pristine beaches. You can take the unique opportunity to watch baby green turtles hatch along the shoreline, or discover the park, home to over 300 species of bird, a variety of flora, and diverse fauna. Other popular activities include hiking, canal tours, canopy tours, and kayaking.

You might want to spend your fifth day relaxing with a private boat tour through the canals (subject to water levels). Please note that we cannot guarantee private boat tours until we arrive, though we can tell the lodge that this is your preference each day.

A private version offers you the opportunity to stay at a specific spot and take advantage of a moment to take in the little Amazon of Costa Rica without roads, without cars, and without city noise.

Tortuguero National Park is a wilderness area with an extraordinary biological variety. Diverse mammals, birds and fish live in eleven different defined habitats. Strong Caribbean currents have provided a straight 22-mile expanse of beach which is a favoured nesting ground for sea turtles like the Hawksbill and Loggerheads that nest from July through to October. The Leatherback, the largest sea turtle in the world, nests from February to July. Most exploring of the park is best done by boat. Guides with an amazingly trained eye astound visitors finding wildlife in veiled corners, pointing at mischievous monkeys and sharing fascinating facts about nature.

Today you might like to unwind and enjoy a free day, either spent in camp at your leisure or exploring some of your surroundings. 

This morning you might leave and head towards La Fortuna, which is dominated by the Arenal Volcano. You could make a stop in a place where many huge iguanas live in the trees, some of them with amazing orange colors - it's fun spotting their huge shapes high in the branches and craning your neck to catch a glimpse..

In Arenal you can see the Volcano, as well as nature trails and waterfalls. 

You might also find time to immerse yourselves in the soothing waters of the volcanic hot-springs. There's nothing quite as relaxing as these amazing natural mineral waters that invigorate the body and soul!

All meals included.

Departure from the Fortuna area to the Central Valley, perhaps stopping en route to see waterfalls from viewpoints before checking into Chayote Lodge.  Have lunch in an area with fantastic views of the mountains, maybe some volcanos and certainly+ some Tico hospitality.

You might like to spend a few days up here in the clouds to wind down from your wildlife adventures of Tortuguero, and be part of a totally different environment.

Surrounded by coffee fields, green pastures, and rich agricultural lands, the Naranjo area depicts the best of a simple yet enriching Costa Rican tradition.

Chayote is a very comfortable lodge, designed to make you feel at home and where you feel very much part of the surrounding nature - the bathrooms are particularly lovely! The gardens  are buzzing with humming birds and butterflies, quiet woodlands for forest-bathing and relaxing, and you will have views of the surrounding volcanoes when the clouds are high.

The Spanish name of the orange tree is naranjo, and that’s exactly where the name Naranjo came from. The delicious fruit trees were all over the fields around town, thus, the name. These days, oranges are not  the main product of this part of the country. It's all about coffee, but rice, beans, sugar cane, and tobacco also grow nicely here due to the wonderful weather and excellent soil common to this zone.

The pretty pueblo of Naranjo is close to the cities of Alajuela and San Jose,  but it manages to retain that old feel of a small rural town with most of the action centred around the church, shops, and park.

All meals included. Overnight at Chayote Lodge.

You might like to spend time relaxing at your leisure for your penultimate day.

Having relaxed time can be the most lovely thing - there will still be time to explore in the immediate cloud forest next to the lodge, as well as have time to sit back and talk.

This could also be a fantastic day to explore in amongst the shadows and light of the woodlands or in the village, with frequent intervals for drinking a delicious cup of local coffee. The property has some trails in a small forest, that combines the nice environment of the rain-forest along with the light that comes through the trees offering amazing sights. 

For those who would like to explore further afield, you could go on a tour of the nearest national parks to explore the local wildlife and geology further

• Poas Volcano National Park
• Juan Castro Blanco National Park

Later in the afternoon you might want to pay a visit to Don Carlos’ coffee farm to learn about his plantations and the history behind a coffee cup, whilst enjoying a freshly ground coffee .

Both of these places are exclusively linked to Chayote Lodge and provide you with a wonderful and authentic experience of rural Costa Rica.

For your final day, you could enjoy a visit to a local home and learn how the best Costa Rican food is prepared using the traditional way. The experience sarts as Doña Elida shares with you her secrets to make the best Costa Rican breakfast, you will then learn how to make a gallo pinto in a wood stove, then make your own cheese tortilla and cook fried plantains to enjoy the best breakfast ever.

You also have the opportunity to start preparing lunch along with Doña Elida, and learn how to make arracache hash, a Costa Rican vegetable root used to celebrate special occasions.

Enjoy a farewell dinner in the lodge by the open log fire.

Breakfast will be offered at the hotel. Travel the short distance to the International Airport to take your flight back home. 

Safe flight and happy memories!