Costa Rica: Exploring Jungles and Wildlife with Active Adventures

Arrive in San Jose

Upon arrival at the Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, your guide will be waiting outside the Customs exit doors to meet you and transfer you to the hotel.

Enjoy a lively welcome dinner as you get to know your fellow travelers this evening. Share stories and learn about why each woman on your trip is excited to explore Costa Rica!

Dinner

Overnight: Gran Hotel Costa Rica

San Jose

Rise and shine early today and depart the hotel at 7:00 am for a visit to a local Farmers’ Market, which has much more than fruits and vegetables. There are local artisans with hand-made clothes, artisanal jewels, medicinal herbs, hand-made aromatherapy oils, and plenty of places to eat. The majority of vendors are women, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk with them and find out about their businesses and crafts.

Take a walking tour of the city of San José, visiting the National Theater and either the Gold or the Jade Museum. Enjoy lunch at the National Theater.

Enjoy a cooking demonstration by a master chef this evening.

NOTE: There is a limit on luggage of 25 pounds per person when traveling on local boats while visiting the Tortuguero National Park. Please take only what you will need for the next two days. Bring light clothes, bathing suit, hat, insect repellent, sunblock. It will be hot and humid weather! Your driver will take the rest of your luggage, and you will get it back on the way to Arenal on Day 5.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight: Gran Hotel Costa Rica

San Jose to Tortuguero National Park

Breakfast will be at the hotel before the drive and boat ride today.

Set out very early for Tortuguero National Park, the “Venice” of the rainforest. Drive for 3 hours through Braulio Carrillo National Park, seeing the vegetation change from rainforest to cloud forest and back to rainforest again. Board your boat to Tortuguero for a 90-minute ride on the Parismina River and on some man-made canals.

After lunch, spend the afternoon visiting Tortuguero Village and enjoy a quick but informative visit to the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Tortuguero beach is the most important nesting site of the endangered green turtle in the Western Hemisphere. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest here.

Evening at Your Lodge Relax at your lodge this evening and enjoy dinner as a group.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight: Aninga Lodge

Tortuguero

Explore the park’s verdant landscape from an incredible vantage point following a hike or traverse the park’s winding jungle waterways by boat, looking for monkeys, sloths, crocodiles, and more.

There are many other ways to experience the beauty of Tortuguero, and, after lunch, you will get to choose between hiking up to a look-out point where you can take in sweeping views of the surrounding landscape and wildlife or canoeing through the lagoons and jungle waterways of the park.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight: Aninga Lodge

Tortuguero to Arenal

Leave Tortuguero by boat on your way to Arenal, stopping in Caño Blanco, where your driver will be waiting (with the rest of your luggage) to take you to the Arenal Volcano area. The drive will be just under 3 hours.

Before arriving in Arenal, stop at the Sarapiqui River for an exciting, guided whitewater rafting trip! This Class II – III rafting adventure takes you through more than 20 rapids in about three hours. You will be briefed on safety, and it is mandatory to wear a helmet and life jacket.

Originating from clear mountain streams, the Sarapiqui River runs from the Central Mountain Range just north of San Jose to the San Marcos River, which runs along the shared border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The river is considered a national monument because of the vital service it provided in transporting arms, goods, and soldiers in the 1856 war against the filibusters.

Enjoy dinner with the group this evening.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight: Hotel Arenal Kioro 

Arenal Region

In the morning, swim in the emerald pools beneath La Fortuna Waterfall after you hike to the falls. La Fortuna Waterfall emerges from dense jungle greenery before plummeting some 200 feet into a pool below. Bring your bathing suit!

After lunch with your group, visit the Maleku, an indigenous tribe of Costa Rica, located in the Guatuso Indigenous Reserve. Historically, they were also known as the Guatuso, the name used by Spanish settlers.

Dinner Enjoy dinner with the group this evening.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight: Hotel Arenal Kioro

Arenal to Guanacaste

After breakfast, head to the Guanacaste region in the northwestern province in Costa Rica. Arrive at Rio Perdido, your home for the next 3 nights, and spend some time relaxing and soaking in the surroundings.

Enjoy an afternoon at leisure before joining your group for a delicious dinner.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight: Rio Perdido

Guanacaste

A full morning of adventure awaits! Float down the river in a modified inner tube, through a gorgeous narrow canyon with the rainforest canopy above. Some parts of the river are very calm and slow, others are faster and very exciting! Sometimes you may need to carry your tube for a little while to get over rocks to the other side. Make sure to wear water shoes, sneakers, or Teva sandals. No flip-flops! Life vests and helmets are provided.

Next, enjoy your zip-lining/canyoning tour. While Costa Rica has dozens of “canopy tours” with hundreds of zip-lines, Rio Perdido has truly innovated with their Canyon Adventure. Under the guidance of renowned adventure designers, they have created a sequence that will please and surprise. Inspiring Rio Blanco canyon is the main stage for the awesome cable-based zip-line experience. Good walking shoes are a must! The adventure includes 15 platforms, six of which are rock-based, and nine of which are suspended on the canyon walls, as well as zip lines of varying lengths from 260 to over 800 feet.

Enjoy a leisurely afternoon. If you choose to do so, make the most of your hotel spa. With a range of treatments tailored to suit the preferences of every guest, you’re sure to find the perfect way to unwind.

Share stories of today’s adventures this evening with your group over dinner.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Overnight: Rio Perdido

Guanacaste 

Begin the day at Anita Rainforest Ranch where you will meet the owners, Pablo and Ana, and spend time with Ana as she gives you a private tour of the property. Learn how they grow and harvest their crops, especially cacao, and how it is transformed from dry beans to paste and on to artisan chocolate. Of course, you get to try some too!

In a short cooking class, you’ll enjoy delicious food and fresh produce from the chef’s organic gardens finished off with homemade ginger-spiced lemon and natural fruit juices.

Continue to the small town of Colonia Libertad, and meet Aracely, a neighbor in the village. She will share a wonderful and special dessert treat in her home.

Have a farewell dinner with your new AdventureWomen friends. Reminisce over all the memories you have made and celebrate the end of an amazing journey through this truly spectacular country.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Overnight: Rio Perdido

Depart Costa Rica

Enjoy one last morning in Guanacaste before heading home.

Say goodbye to your new AdventureWomen friends as you transfer to the airport for your flights home. One group transfer will be provided when most guests depart (exact time to be determined). Private transfers at other times are available for purchase.

Depart Liberia Airport (LIR) after 12:00 pm today.

Breakfast

Please note: AdventureWomen will attempt to adhere to the itinerary as much as possible. However, certain conditions (political, climatic, environmental, and cultural) may necessitate changes in the itinerary. AdventureWomen reserves the right to alter any itinerary at any time, if necessary. We will attempt to notify participants of changes as far in advance as possible. Costs incurred by such changes will be the responsibility of the participants.