Kimkim Trip Reviews

Brittany and the Kim Kim team put together a fantastic 9 day trip for me and my son over the New Year holiday with very short notice and reasonably priced. Our accommodations in La Fortunate, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio were beautiful and luxurious. Twice we opted to hang out in our room just to enjoy the beautiful views.

Brittany had set up multiple excursions and guided tours at each of the three destinations. The activities like the sky walk, kayaking and snorkeling were so much fun. We really loved everyone of them. The guides on our tours through the rainforest of various parks and on the ocean were so professional and the experience was very educational as well as entertaining. We got a ton of great wildlife photos.

Our entire experience with Kim Kim has been the best and we will definitely use their services in the future. We highly recommend them and we are very picky vacationers.

Thank you Brittany and your team.

Sincerely,

Ann

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Costa Verde

Manuel Antonio

So beautiful. Monkeys everywhere. We just enjoyed watching the view , hanging out at the pool and sipping a cocktail. Easy walk to the beach.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Luna Hotel & Spa

La Fortuna

A wonderful hotel. We loved the trail along the river. The food was delicious. Everyone was so nice and friendly. Thank you for a great stay.

Tips for future travelers

Enjoy your stay. Be adventurous and hike up to La Fortunate waterfall.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful accommodations.

Location

Staff

Very kind and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

Beautiful views. Another hotel we enjoyed just hanging out in our room watching the views and animals. The restaurant was delicious.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Rio Celeste Day Trip

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great guid.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sky Tram, Sky Trek & Sky Walk & Meal

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great guide. Great educational experience. The sky walk was a blast.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sea Kayaking & Snorkeling at Manuel Antonio

Costa Rica

We loved it. Awesome to kayak experience as well as snorkeling.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colombia was phenomenal - we had such an authentic, local experience due to the effort and care put into our trip plan by our local guide, Felipe. KimKim made it easy to communicate with updates constantly through WhatsApp while we were in the country, and catered to every need we had that popped up.

Medellin was like a tropical, Spanish-speaking San Francisco - a must see! Cartagena was an enchanting colonial Spanish town. I hope to have those wooden windowsills and white walls on a latin ranch someday :).

Hotel Review

Hotel San Pedro de Majagua

Isla Grande

Charming and comfortable, and surrounded by massive local trees, the hotel is adorned with hammocks and private outdoor living rooms attached to your hotel room. Can sit in the evenings and look out over the coast, with the sea breeze and waves all around you.

Tips for future travelers

Use the bikes to get to town!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

City Tour of Medellín (with Parque Arvi)

Medellín

The cable car trip is amazing. Stunning views, and you interact with friendly locals the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We have never heard of KimKim or used it before, but it worked out very well. Felipe and his associate were very responsive and available at all points, checked in with us to make sure things were running tight and we’re just super helpful. We loved Medellin and our city tour there. The restaurant reservations everywhere worked well and were appropriate for what we wanted. Cartagena was more heavily touristed than we expected but our city guide Manu was great, and the hotel was very nice, conveniently located, much nicer for us than a big hotel would be. We absolutely loved staying at Isla Grande. (The boat ride back was a bit choppy and wet but fun anyway.) We loved our first trip to Colombia and are so pleased with how all of the planning worked out. Thanks again!

Hotel Review

The Click Clack Hotel Medellin

Medellin

Very stylish, playful, great location, terrific service although breakfast could be a bit slow some days.

Activity Review

Dinner Reservation at OCI.Mde

Medellín

They took such good care of us. They didn’t immediately have a table ready but apologized and more than made up for it by sending complimentary dishes. The food was our favorite of the whole trip. Great place

The trip was amazing, start to finish. We enjoyed every aspect of this trip and felt we had a good mix of city and nature experiences. Santiago, Chile was a welcoming city with beautiful historical landmarks, parks, neighborhoods and museums not to be missed such as Sky Costanera, Cerra San Cristobal, Barrios Bellavista and Lastarria, Museos Chileno de Arte Precolumbino and La Chascona. The views from Sky Costanera and Cerra San Cristobal were eye popping and really gave you a sense of the city largess. The museums were a moving historical and cultural experience. We walked the neighborhoods and used the local subway daily, located safe and convenient from our hotels. The Atacama desert was incredibly beautiful and greatly exceeded our expectations. The guided desert tours with José Miguel Ruiz-Tagle were very well done, the mountains, salt flats, lagunas, geysers, natural flora and fauna made this feel like an other worldly place. Hoteles Altiplanico accommodations were peaceful and the manager Oscar was very helpful. Puerto Natales, the national park tour of Torres del Paine and the full day hike to the base of the Torres were both great outdoor experiences. The hike was not difficult but long at 9.5 hours round trip and definitely requires endurance, strong legs and knees. Mauro, our hiking guide was patient and paced the group well. Hotel Noi Indigo accommodations were perfectly located with incredible mountain views. If we could do it over again, we would have spent more time there. We also visited the beach towns of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, a great place to find a unique artisan gift, dine overlooking the pacific ocean, and experience the beaches. Loved Buenos Aires, Argentina and the trip to Iguazú Falls, both Argentine and Brazil falls and took a fun boat tour to feel the falls up close. Once there, not hard to understand why this is a Unesco World Heritage site. Buenos Aires was beautiful, very large, impossible to see in the short time we were there and we would love to go back again. Really enjoyed walking the city, the many city parks and mature trees lining the roads. We visited Museo Evita, a great tribute to her societal contributions and place in history, as well as MALBA, Ecoparque, Puerto Madero, Palermo Soho and Hollywood, easy walks from our hotel.
The people of Chile, Patagonia and Argentina were warm and welcoming. Emilce, Clementina and all of our ground support/guides (Jose Miguel, Fernando, Vitor, Natalie, Lauren, Mauro and Vitor) were great, particularly during this period of COVID, helping us navigate the testing, locations and timelines. Go and have fun!

This was one of a lifetime trip! Absolutely Amazing! We have a 7 year old and we decided to take the chance and travel from Atlanta, GA in the US to Lapland to be able to find the Real Santa and do everything possible to make my son experience Santa with all the bells and whistles!

Finding the right partner to do is very important. And here is where Kim Kim comes to life once again. We chose NORD DMC with Julia and Thao behind everything, and when I say everything, I really mean it!

I am a very particular traveler because I like to do research first and find the exact places to stay and the activities I want to do, and then, work the itinerary together so that I can get the local insights and the experience and expertise of people like Julia and Thao.

They understood my wishes and gave me different options until we were able to create the perfect experience and spend a wonderful Christmas in a beautiful country.

The hotels they chose, the adventures tailored for our family and all the ideas of what to do and where to eat were on point. Not to mention that they were always available if I needed to ask something. They are both very warm and knowledgeable.

I have a lot of more countries to go, but if I go back to Lapland or any of the Scandinavian countries, I will contact them for sure!
Thank you Thao and Julia for a Magical White Christmas with Santa in Lapland.

January 2022. Our trip to Costa Rica was wonderful. Adriana, our trip planner was amazing. In planning the trip, she modified the itinerary several times to fit our specific needs and was available to answer all our questions immediately before and during the trip. She even offered to check her email after her regular hours to assure our needs were met. I never felt we were alone without help if needed.

The hotel in Arenal, the Kioro , could not have been more perfect. The view of the volcano from the room was phenomenal. One of our most memorable moments was seeing the volcano after the clouds finally cleared. Hotel staff was extremely friendly and helpful. The dinner meal at the poolside restaurant was delicious and included many local specialties. Franklin, the tour guide for the national park hike and the La Fortuna waterfall, (and our trusted driver, Gonzalos) was entertaining, informative and helpful. He went out of his way to try to try to find sloths, making extra stops along the way. And he helped us get an item in town that we needed. The 500 steps down to the waterfall are worth the prize at the end of the journey, even though the climb back up was challenging. Take some water with you for the climb back up. A couple hours to shop in La Fortuna is all you need and a nice place to gather souvenirs (as are some of the stops the drivers make in transport - good deals). Also some good dinner choices in La Fortuna. Note: no ATMs in the hotels, so get your cash in town.

Joshua was a great guide on the Frio River in Cano Negro tour and he really knew his facts. We saw beautiful birds, such as the blue heron, the Anhinga (native to CR), Wood-stork, and Amazon Kingfisher. Turtles, and Jesus Christ green lizards – named that because the literally fly across on top of the water. Oh, and huge iguanas! Caimans were sunning on the shores all over. The big treat, though, were the monkeys. Howler monkey families everywhere and we saw an adult w/a melanin mutation, causing him to be orange. There was also a baby with the same mutation which was white. Joshua had the boat docked so we could get a closer look and we got great photos through the telescope.

Zip line tour in Monteverdi was very fun! Another memorable moment. The staff that accompanied us throughout the tour deserve 5 stars. Friendly, helpful, reassuring, professional. A bit of climbing up and down steep stairs and about a total of 2 miles of hilly trails in between the zip lines, so be aware you need to be in shape if you are an older tourist. You can do the hanging bridges without a tour guide, but another 3 miles of up and down hilly trails. So, I’d recommend stopping for lunch in between zip lines and bridges.

Manuel Antonio area was another treat. The Parador Resort was 5 star +. Again, staff very friendly and took care of your every need. Beautiful ocean views and the rainforest was right in front of the property where you could take a 1/2 mile walk. We saw Congo monkeys in the trees, white-faced howlers (cappuccinos) and sloths and macaws right on the hotel property. Breakfasts offered many choices. Eat as much fresh fish as possible if that is to your liking - mahi-mahi, red snapper, sea bass - all fabulous. Take a private birding tour if possible. Our guide, Elias, was very informed and we saw fabulous, beautiful birds up close with the telescope (a must). The tour of the Manuel Antonio National Park can be very busy and you may or may not see some of the animals you are seeking, but the park is very lush and beautiful. The beaches are clean, with beautiful white soft sand and wonderfully warm waters. Very relaxing. We had a day without any tours and enjoyed this day on the beach. Can rent chairs and umbrellas for $10 USD for the day at the public beach. (No credit cards)

Tour guides, Warner (kayaking) and Mario (Manuel Antonio National Park) went way out of their way to help us when we had an unfortunate incident. They were extremely helpful.

A huge shout-out to our drivers during our private transports: Ricardo, from San Jose to Arenal; Wilson, Arenal to Monteverdi - (a treacherous journey across the mountain); Albarro, Monteverdi to Manuel Antonio; and our driver from Manuel Antonio to San Jose made sure our check-in at the hotel was seamless before he departed. Such caring service!

The people everywhere were warm and friendly. Breakfasts included every day and lunches with almost every tour, were very convenient and tasty! I would recommend this company to any traveler going to Costa Rica and will look into using them again for our next trip. Great job!

Hotel Review

Parador Nature Resort & Spa

Manuel Antonio

Great staff, perfect location, fabulous ocean views. Perfect sunsets. Great food. Fish is fresh and delicious. The rainforest in front of the hotel allows amazing opportunities to see wild life right on hotel property! Junior suites offer so much room and comfort. Several pools to choose from, clean and relaxing. 5 star.

Tips for future travelers

Take the private birding tour (at 0600 -worth it), if possible. Phenomenal birds and informative guides. And the guide will get you fabulous close up photos through the telescope. And most of the tour is right on the property!

Authenticity & Character

Tropical setting, birds and sloths on the property. Classy.

Location

Staff

Everyone acknowledges you and goes out of their way to help.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge Boat Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was amazing because we saw so much. The Jesus Christ lizard jumping over the water, the huge iguana, the howler monkeys, including those with mutations. And our guide went out of his way to dock the boat and get us to shore so we could view the monkeys up close. But, it would not have been fun if we missed these sitings 🙁. It’s a 2 hour trip each way, so makes for a long day. Lunch was included, and was very good.

Quality of Experience

Food

Authentic Costa Rican meal.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nothing, really. It’s just a long journey to and from the river.

Although 8 days is not nearly enough time to visit Egypt, I had the trip of a lifetime! All the organization, from pick ups, to tours, to getting my test to return to the US was top notch. I also think with the limited time I had, Ibrahim picked great highlights. I would absolutely recommend this experience to EVERYONE - whatever you think about Egypt, it is SO MUCH MORE!

Traveling solo, I was a bit nervous, but both my guides Mohammad Shaarawy and Mohammed Kamal were knowledgable, professional and excellent. Mohammed Shaarawy excels at explaining complex Egyptian history and Mohammed Kamal is enthusiastic and energetic.

I'm so happy I did this tour and can't wait to come back.

We had a great experience touring Costa Rica. Chris and Randall was very organized and planned our trip really well. They were very responsive . I will definitely recommend working with Chris and Randall if you are planning a trip to Costa Rica.

Great trip to Belize and Guatemala. Really enjoyed most of the places we stayed at and visited. The Tikal jungle lodge was not my favorite but it was decent for a one night stay. Really enjoyed Casa Santo Domingo hotel, Ramon’s village, and sweet songs Hotel. Casa del mundo was also gray for the views and up keep of the facility. The room wasn’t the best because we did find a lot of bugs crawling around in the room that is hard to avoid with the cracks in the walls, windows, and doors and the location was next to a public bathroom, shower, and walk way so it was not very peaceful. There was also construction outside of our window where they were building a platform as an extension on the window and we’re working on it during our stay. The food was great and the shuttles to the other villages were amazing. The drivers were great and on time. I loved the cooking option with cuscun but I think the extra translator was not needed. It was hard for us to budget with so many guides to be able to give tips as well that we will prob consider setting the sites without guides to save money. Also to have more time at the sites to explore rather than the guided tour. Nothing wrong with the guides because they were all amazing but it is harder to take in the sites with guides trying to get you through the tour and on to the next site so you only hear so much when they are talking especially when you want to explore more on your own. Overall the trip was amazing.

Thanks to Liz! for an AMAZING trip!
For this once in a life time trip, we entrusted Liz at KimKim.com to plan our trip. This is our second trip with KimKim and I have to say just amazing.! This trip was postponed 3 times due to the pandemic and Liz made it seamless. Planning our trip, she kept up with all the changes and challenges thrown at her even with flights were cancelled intra, she moved to private car transport. During the trip the arrangements seemed flawless to us. Even when mother nature threw a curve ball causing train delays on a late evening, Liz had arranged for car transport to get us to our hotel. Our family loved the 7 day trip to this magical place called Peru, but with Liz's experience and guidance the trip was flawless, enjoyable without worry and perfectly managed. Thank you Liz and KimKim.com! Truly loved it.

Yenyi was helpful and responsive every step of the way during trip planning, rescheduling twice because of Covid cancellations, and when we were finally in Costa Rica. When we had an issue in-country with one of the scheduled tours, Yenyi was on it immediately once contacted, helping to resolve things and get us on our way. My family loved every part of the trip. I highly recommend Yenyi and kimkim.

So glad we used this service! COVID had really taken a lot of the fun out of planning trips since there was so much uncertainty and so many restrictions to keep track of. Rafaja's team made it so easy. We knew very little about Colombia coming in to the trip planning and Rafaja was so patient as we honed in on what we wanted and made recommendations that we never could have come up with on our own. A great example was when we went to the Pacific coast and people kept asking us how we found out about the place since they never see people from the United States there. In addition to all the planning assistance, everything was seamless as we were traveling as well and it was easy to continue communication with Rafaja's team. With all the ideas and resources Rafaja provided we could easily do many more trips to Colombia!

Planning a trip to Costa Rica on my own was confusing and frustrating. There are so many amazing places and I didn't know where to start. I found kimkim online and gave it a shot. I was very pleased with the response I got. Diego was attentive and listened to my requests. It was easy, I told him what I wanted to do and he made it happen. I didn't need to manage anything and I didn't have to at all. He booked transportation, lodging, and excursions for me. All of the planning was flawless. We were picked up at the airport on time and had a pleasant ride to the first resort, the Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin. It was a beautiful resort with delicious food. All of the excursions were done right at the activity center on the property. Johnny took us on a hike in the national park where we saw monkeys and geothermic anomalies. The zip lining was exciting and well organized. The guides made it so enjoyable. They were fun and personable. Horse back riding and tubing was so fun! Canyoning is something I never thought I'd do. So glad Diego booked it.
We were transported to Tamarindo beach in an air conditioned van. The drivers were very cautious and we felt very safe. We stayed at the Dira resort. The pools and beach are beautiful. Diego booked us a catamaran sunset cruise with Marlin Del Rey company. The guide, David, was engaging and the cruise was 5 hours long. It was excellent.
I was impressed with kimkim and Diego. I have recommended their services to others and I will use them again.

Hotel Review

Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín

Liberia

This is jungle resort at the base of the national park that sits on over 3,000 acres. It's a working rach and farm. It also hosts the adventure center on the grounds, which is super convenient. The food is delicious. The only downside is that every restaurant has the same exact menu for lunch and dinner. We did all of the excursions offered and we hiked to all the waterfalls. We loved our trip! The best adventure for us was tubing. The staff is friendly, the rooms are nice and clean, the views are beautiful. I would definitely stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Canyoning at Victoria Waterfall

Rincón de la Vieja

Very unique experience. I would combine this adventure with something else that day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Charlotte did an amazing job working with our group to plan a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. We were able to do all the adventures we planned without missing a beat. She took the guess work out of everything and having a personal driver was the best. Andres was an excellent driver and companion on our trip.

Will definitely be using KimKim in the future for other vacations.

Hotel Review

Studio Hotel

San José

The hotel was nice and about 20 mins from the airport. The breakfast was good and the hotel is very close to many places to eat that are within walking distance.

Tips for future travelers

Clean and quite hotel. I enjoyed the local artwork that was displayed throughout the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

The local artwork.

Location

20 mins from the airport.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

ATV Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

Really enjoyed the trail and the guides.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Definitely made the atv trail fun.

Transport

Due to Covid, this trip was booked last minute due to several iterations. Karin made it possible and was even available during the trip in spite of a personal situation. She is the best to work with.

My 16 year old daughter & I took a trip to Cartagena, Colombia this past summer. I was a little nervous about a trip like this with just us , but the help planning & the tips that I was given from Rafaja made the trip amazing.

Rafaja helped us arrange a walking tour of the city with our amazing guide Will, a trip to Rosario Islands, a mother-daughter photography session in our favorite part of town(Getsemani) and a fishing trip that we couldn't go on due to my food sickness. Our favorite part was the walking tour as Will was knowledgeable & passionate about his city, and he was also friendly & funny. I highly recommend the photographer Rafael that was arranged-he captured some fabulous images.

Because our experience was so good, I'm currently in the process of arranging my second Mother-Daughter trip with KimKim-as much as I'd love to visit Colombia again, we are heading to Nicaragua this time.

Thank you to Daniel and Jacky for helping us plan an amazing trip to mainland Ecuador and to Galapagos. They helped make travel as easy as possible during these uncertain times! They were so accessible and even met us a few times in Quito which was awesome. Dario was our guide for the majority of the time and he was so knowledgeable and fun to be around! We started off with a city tour of Quito, made it to Cotopaxi, Quilotoa Crater, had an adeventure filled couple of days in Banos, checked out the main market two hours outside of Quito and then spent several days exploring some islands of Galapagos! All tours were on time and all covid tests were negative which made for a fantastic trip! Thanks again for a memorable trip!

My husband and I had the privilege of spending three weeks in Costa Rica and Alberto and the Kim Kim team made this trip a complete dream come true! I was a bit nervous about all the excursions and accommodations and travel plans as we stayed at 6 different spots and rented a car in a country we don't speak the language on (and Murphy's law is something is bound to happen) but NO! Everything was organized to perfection and by the most friendly people ever! We did not have a single issue and nothing was even 5 minutes behind schedule - this vacation truly operated flawlessly! When I did have questions, Alberto responded in a matter of minutes (seconds even sometimes, I am not kidding!!!) Highly recommend letting Alberto plan your trip to Costa Rica as we had a once in a lifetime experience and stayed at some of the nicest resorts I have ever been at.

Our favorites.....
1. The Caribbean side! You must visit this part of the country - Puerto Viejo & Limon region were spectacular!
2. Monteverde El Establo Resort - truly a magical place and you MUST go horseback riding at Equus Farms : https://www.monteverdetourscr.com/trip/monteverde-equus-horseback-riding-tour/
3. Diria Tamarindo Resort - we will be back here for sure!
4. Tortugero Evergreen Lodge - the windows are screens, not glass and you are living in a jungle sound machine! SOOO many animals here!

Tips for travelers....
1. Drink bottle water only! We both got sick
2. Rent a car - the roads were really easy to drive and the car had GPS
3. Fly in and out of different airports so you can see more of the country... next time we are going to fly into Limon airport and then fly out of Liberia so we can spend more time on the beach as San Jose is not great and you should try to spend as little time there as possible to maximize the fun.
4. You can book much cheaper excursions with the hotels you are staying at. You would save a lot of money doing it this way and they have more options to choose from and you can decide day of what you want to do instead of being locked into a schedule.

Seriously, Alberto was amazing and so communicative from start to finish! GO TO COSTA RICA, you won't regret it!

Pura Vida!

Our trip to Costa Rica was one of the best trips I've ever been on, and it's all thanks to the wonderful people at GWA. This is the first time we've let a tour company plan basically our entire trip and we couldn't have been more pleased with the results!
Our contact was Alberto who was knowledgeable, polite, friendly and very accommodating of all our tweaks and changes. It really felt like the success of our trip was important to both Alberto and the rest of the staff at GWA. Alberto worked with us to plan all sorts of activities/tours as well as picked all but one hotel with our approval.

Once we arrived we were met by Felipe, our main driver for the trip and a clean and private van transport to our San Jose hotel. When we arrived at the hotel Felipe gave us a lovely welcome bag with thoughtful goodies inside. The bag itself is designed by women at a women's shelter for domestic violence which we thought was so cool of them to support. They also included a nicely printed itinerary, a commemorative plaque/certificate of our visit, and two metal water bottles with their logo! Felipe went through our itinerary with us and patiently answered all of our questions.

The next day Felipe picked us up after breakfast and took us to our next location in La Fortuna, an approximately 3 hour drive from our first hotel in San Jose. Felipe shared his knowledge with us along the way and he was very kind and helpful when I revealed that I suffer from motion sickness. He recommended his favorite restaurant in the area Don Rufino which we took his advice on later, it was excellent! The hotel was fairly rustic with little cabins set up on a lovely garden trail. The wi-fi did not extend to our room and there was only soap in the shower but the grounds were very nicely maintained and the staff were so friendly and warm. Alex from reception did not speak English and with our limited Spanish it was difficult to communicate with him but he went out of his way to point out sloths in a nearby tree despite how frustrating it must have been that we did not understand. Eventually we figured it out and were able to spot sloths twice with Alex's help right there outside the reception! I also saw a toucan and many other beautiful birds on the property.
It was very quiet and peaceful and one morning we had breakfast and it was just us and Alex and the cook and a lovely woman who took our breakfast order the night before and I think may also have been the one who cleans the rooms. Jon played their old organ for them and we all enjoyed the music together.

That first night a driver named Otto from Desafio Adventure Company took us to the Paradise Hot Springs which was way less rugged than what we were expecting. We had drinks at the hot springs bar and lounged until dinner. There were lockers and showers on site and the springs themselves are located within a hotel. On the way back we told Otto about our need for shampoo/conditioner and Otto graciously accompanied us to a local supermarket where we were able to procure what we needed.

The next day we went on another tour with Desafio Adventure company with our wonderful guide Carlos and driver Alex. First we visited the Arenal Hanging Bridges which was pretty amazing and so beautiful! With Carlos's help we were able to see so many wonderful things that we would have missed alone, including Red-eyed tree frogs, White-nose Coatis, Howler Monkeys, Anoles, and even a Purple-Crowned Fairy! He was very knowledgeable about the many plants and trees that we encountered as well, and even their uses by indigenous societies. From the hanging forest we went to La Fortuna waterfall and went swimming near the falls in beautiful water with small fish. The walk back up the steps was pretty brutal, everyone told us a different number of steps, was it 600 or 800? Either way with frequent pauses and shaky calves we eventually made it to the top!
We then went to Desafio's base of operations and had a delicious buffet style lunch and coffee and rested for a bit. The final expedition of the day was to Arenal volcano, Carlos unfortunately was not feeling the best so we hiked up by ourselves to allow him a chance to rest. The view from the top was beautiful and it rained a bit which was very refreshing. We even found some colones up there! When we got back to the rest shop Carlos brought out some fresh fruit they got for us, they'd even gone out of their way to get a papaya for me because I wanted to see if it was way better in Costa Rica and it is! David expertly prepared the fruit for us and we ate to our heart's content. We then stopped by a natural hot springs by the road side and then stopped to take photos of a sloth that Carlos had spotted earlier since we hadn't managed to get a good photo the day before. I would recommend all of these tours and Desafio was great, GWA picks great tours!

Our next hotel was in Rincon de Vieja at Rinconcito Lodge. On the drive there Felipe taught us about Arenal Lake and took us to a delicious restaurant called the Macadamia Cafe. We thought we would see Felipe again but sadly this was the last day we saw him. Once we arrived at the hotel we were given a welcome drink of tasty watermelon juice. The bungalows at this hotel are lovely, we had sliding glass doors out to a balcony with two beautiful wooden rocking chairs and a nice view. The trek to our room was a bit much, especially with bags but thankfully we had Felipe to help us on the way up. They have a lovely pool which never had anyone else in it, horses and a trail on site and thankfully a restaurant because we were without transportation. I think having a car would have been useful here, as everything seemed to be at least 30 minutes by car and when we attempted to walk to Las Pailas we quickly realized it would take 3-4 hours! It's a nice location with many birds and butterflies and we would definitely stay again if we had available transportation. We mostly relaxed during this time except for the last day where there was some confusion on our part and we scheduled a hike during our pickup time at the hotel. We were coming back from a 12km trek to La Cangreja Waterfall when we realized our mistake. It's a really lovely waterfall with hot spring water but it took me days to recover from all the sun exposure! When we got back to the lodge, David was there patiently waiting. We felt terrible about the misunderstanding but David was very kind about the whole thing.
After our rough start our drive with David quickly became enjoyable, he had many interesting stories and . We stopped in Liberia I think to get some juice/gingerale for my car sickness which I really appreciated. We chatted all the way to the next hotel, Nambu Bungalows at Samara. This hotel is by far the fanciest that we stayed at, and we somehow got upgraded to a Master suite. This means you are on the top floor with a hot tub and there are no elevators which thankfully wasn't an issue for us. We loved sitting in the hot tub watching the sun set!
We had one delicious but expensive dinner at the hotel, the barkeeper was excellent and you can have drinks and coffee by the picturesque pool. The second day at Nambu we were supposed to go on a kayaking expedition but unfortunately I was still feeling unwell so we had to cancel. We spent the day relaxing at the beach and in the room. The restaurants in the area are not that plentiful but we really enjoyed the food at Hula Jungla which was maybe 2 minutes walk from the hotel. We tried two of the other local restaurants but Hula Jungla is the one we kept returning to.
We also did horseback riding in Samara with Rene from Paraisos de Caballos. The horses were brought right to the hotel and it was just us and Rene! We rode by the beach and on a lovely loop through the forest and up a hill with a gorgeous view of the mountains and shoreline. We saw Howler monkeys again and white-faced monkeys and were able to get quite close to the Howlers! We also saw many beautiful birds and Blue Morphos butterflies before taking photos near the beach of a stunning sunset. Rene was very knowledgeable just like all our guides and we enjoyed talking with him. I would definitely recommend Rene and all our other wonderful tour guides/drivers!

Our last day our driver had car trouble and we were given a generous credit to spend on drinks/foods while we waited pool side. They managed to find a different driver and Roberto soon showed up to take us back to San Jose. This was another 3 hour drive and Roberto was yet another pleasant conversationalist, he even stopped for us at a big mall so we could grab a bite to eat before returning to our hotel, as we were concerned nothing nearby would still be open. We walked all over the food court and Roberto was so patient with us. After we arrived at the hotel at almost 9pm our trip was basically finished. We got massages the next day and ate twice at Moose, which Felipe had recommended on our first day and got Covid tests at the mall located conveniently nearby. The following day we were picked up and taken to the San Jose Airport. We were sad to leave this beautiful country and our friends at GWA. Everything was so wonderful, all the people and places and activities, it really exceeded all of my expectations. I would book again with GWA with full confidence, they are professional, responsive, kind and all around a wonderful company to work with. You can't go wrong booking your trip to Costa Rica through them! Thank you to the entire GWA team for making our trip so memorable and fantastic!

Hotel Review

Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, San Jose Aeropuerto

San José

Convenient hotel location with plenty of amenities. Room was kind of loud (thin walls?) But the location was nice for proximity to stores/restaurants/etc

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall & Arenal Volcano Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

First we visited the Arenal Hanging Bridges which was pretty amazing and so beautiful! With Carlos's help we were able to see so many wonderful things that we would have missed alone, including Red-eyed tree frogs, White-nose Coatis, Howler Monkeys, Anoles, and even a Purple-Crowned Fairy! He was very knowledgeable about the many plants and trees that we encountered as well, and even their uses by indigenous societies. From the hanging forest we went to La Fortuna waterfall and went swimming near the falls in beautiful water with small fish. The walk back up the steps was pretty brutal, everyone told us a different number of steps, was it 600 or 800? Either way with frequent pauses and shaky calves we eventually made it to the top! We then went to Desafio's base of operations and had a delicious buffet style lunch and coffee and rested for a bit. The final expedition of the day was to Arenal volcano, Carlos unfortunately was not feeling the best so we hiked up by ourselves to allow him a chance to rest. The view from the top was beautiful and it rained a bit which was very refreshing. We even found some colones up there! When we got back to the rest shop Carlos brought out some fresh fruit they got for us, they'd even gone out of their way to get a papaya for me because I wanted to see if it was way better in Costa Rica and it is! David expertly prepared the fruit for us and we ate to our heart's content. We then stopped by a natural hot springs by the road side and then stopped to take photos of a sloth that Carlos had spotted earlier since we hadn't managed to get a good photo the day before. I would recommend all of these tours and Desafio was great, GWA picks great tours!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip, planned with Chris's help, was fantastic from start to finish! We asked Chris to help us plan a low key adventure on Crete. From helping us make air arrangements, to private transfers to and from our hotels, everything went smoothly. The hotels (GDM Megaron in Hiraklio and Veneto in Rethymno) were both amazing. The Megaron was close to everything we wanted to do and the view of the seaside was beautiful. The Herakleion Archaeolgical Museum and Knossos were our first big day events and really started our Cretan adventure off wonderfully. Instead of actual guides, we chose self-guided audio tours for both and were very satisfied. We were able to go at our own pace without need of meeting up with people at specific times. Walking through the fortress to just exploring the streets and shops in Rethymno made for perfect days.
Rethymno and Chania were our main locations of adventure. The staff at the Veneto were very helpful and everything felt so safe in these uncertain pandemic times. Restaurants that are musts include Oinoa in Chania; Dounia Taverena in Keramion, which was quite an adventure to find, but well worth the beautiful drive in the countryside on narrow winding roads; and, Hasika in Rethymno for wonderful local fine dining! Looking forward to our next Kimkim guided trip!