Superb holidays

Costa Rica | Mar 2 - Mar 23, 2024

We love wildlife and Tortuguero is full of animals. Our guide was also great and could spot animals which we would hardly spot by ourselves.

We have enjoyed the hike, unfortunately weather was not really on our side, so we could not see the Volcano peak for our entire stay in La Fortuna. Nevertheless we have enjoyed it a lot.

It was interesting experience, but due to rainy weather we didn't enjoy it as much as we could in case of good weather - but as our guide said - this is a rain forest and rain is good for nature :-) Because of weather, I also think we have not seen so many animals as we could see under different weather conditions. At the end of the tour there is half an hour session about the chocolate production with chocolate tasting. Since we have been visiting chocolate plantation already with really dedicated guided tour including tasting, this half an hour could not compete with proper chocolate tour, which we highly recommend.

It was a transportation from point A to point B with the lunch on the way, but due to very good guides (Lars in bus and Freddy on the boat) we have learned a lot about the country and nature and they have made the trip very interesting. Without them this would be a bit boring.

We like Monteverde a lot - it was not so hot in comparison with other locations, however mist and rain can occur at any time. Night Tour was a little bit overcrowded, but we had a great young guide who was able to keep distance from other groups by selecting different trails and was able to make this tour very pleasant. He could spot animals we would not be able to spot at all and he was also making pictures for us using his telescope - so overall great experience.

We were surprised by heavy crowds in the park - especially at the entrance. It took us at least 30 minutes to get through the gates and if we would not have a guide with us who knew what to do, we would spent there 1 hour easily. One of the reasons is that park rangers are checking backpacks and confiscating prohibited items (food, single used bottles, knifes, plastic, etc.). Park itself is great and despite of the people crowds, we could spot a lot of animals, which was the main purpose of our visit. Our guide was making pictures and videos through his telescope and he was sharing these pictures with the rest of the group. He was also able to spot animals which we wouldn't have chance to see - so I very recommend to have local guide there. There is one official place (in the big cage) where you can buy some meal and drinks, but everything has to be consumed inside of the cage. Unfortunately they are not very organized there and there is long queue to the cashier. Fortunately there are several spots in the park with drinkable water from the tap. There is also nice beach in the park, so it's possible to bring swimming suit and spend some time there.