We had such a great trip with Serendipity Ad...
Costa Rica
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Mar 12 - Mar 22, 2025
We had such a great trip with Serendipity Adventures. We were well taken care of by Elena and Wilman.
The drive from the airport to our first hotel in Monteverde was wonderfully relaxing as Fernando from RideCR took us to the Cloud Forest Lodge.
Cloud Forest Lodge was everything we could have hoped for in Monteverde accommodations. Nestled in the Cloud Forest the grounds were beautiful. The room was large and clean. I loved the bed and especially the pillows!
We had a fantastic Bird Watching hike in the Curi-Cancha Reserve with Andy from Forest Alive. Andy was so knowledgeable and we got so much out of it. Andy stopped at a local bird watching site early in the morning to point out all of the early riser birds. Then we had a great stop at the Monteverde Coffee Center, where we treated to the Costa Rican method of brewing coffee called Vandola. It is an elaborate method and the coffee was superb. After a rest we proceeded to the Curi-Cancha. I like the Curi-Cancha reserve because it is quieter than the Monteverde Cloud Forest and while different many of the sam birds are at both places.
In the afternoon, we had a Coffee & Chocolate Tour at the Don Juan Monteverde center. The tour was great and very informative. Chocolate and Coffee as well as Sugar Cane were demonstrated with the process for each. These are such important commodities for Costa Rica, that I think you can't really go to Costa Rica without such a tour.
The next day had us up bright and early for another bird watching tour in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We got to see the Resplendent Quetzal as well as a lot of other birds on our hike.
After an afternoon nap, we were ready for a night walk in the Children's Cloud Forest. We did not see as much as I would have liked, but you can't predict what may be out after dark.
Sadly, it was time to leave Monteverde and travel to La Fortuna. We had a private transfer over the mountain and down to Arenal Lake for a ride across the lake to La Fortuna. Glad we were not driving! The drivers do such a good job of navigating narrow and difficult roads. Loved the boat ride. Our boat captain found a Howler monkey on the way, very exciting.
We arrived at our lodging the Arenal Hotsprings Resport and Spa. It is an amazing place with beautiful grounds. Our suite was perfect. The beds comfortable and the pillows good (not as good as the Cloud Forest Lodge, but I would not complain about them.) We had a great view of the Arenal Volcano from our room.
The next day again started early with Mariano from Serendipity Adventures. We did an early morning hike at the Arenal Volcano and then a hike at Hanging Bridges before visiting the La Fortuna Waterfall. It was an amazing day. We saw so much and Mariano was just a wonderful guide.
The next day we did a canal tour of the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge with Canoa Aventura. Our guide, Joda (I think that's right, we called him Jo), did a great job showing us what the Rio Frio had to offer as far as wildlife. Would not have missed this tour for anything.
The next day we transferred to Tortuguero with a private driver. It turned out that Mariano was our driver for the day. He was so much fun and we had a very pleasant trip to the "boat dock" for the boat that would take us to Tortuguero.
The river crossing is a little difficult in March as Costa Rica has not had much rain by then and the river is down making the boat captain really earn his pay to successfully navigate the shallow waters. But Ronny handled the trip superbly. Our hotel, Manatus Hotel, provided the boat, the driver, and our guide for the trip Lilly. It was a great introduction to Tortuguero.
I can't say enough wonderful things about Tortuguero. I just love floating down the canals looking for birds, monkeys, lizards, caman, crocodiles and anything else we run across. It is so beautiful and so peaceful. I don't think I would ever get tired of it. We did early morning canal trips and afternoon canal trips looking for beautiful birds and amazing wildlife. Our guides, Ronny, Bony and Lilly were all so great.
Well all good things come to an end and it was time for the trip back to San Jose for the journey home. The Hotel Manatus provided transportation back to San Jose in a comfortable bus. It was a good trip with our guide providing fascinating information about banana production and information about Costa Rica.
We spent the night in the Hilton Garden Inn, at La Sabana. After our amazing trip, this was a good hotel to relax in before our flight the next morning.
We had a private transfer with Fernando again of RideCR. Can't say enough about have private transfers in Costa Rica. You can drive, but I have seen the roads and the other drivers and just do not think it is a good idea.
We totally loved our trip and can't wait to do it again.
Activity Reviews
Our guide Andy, made this a very special trip. He was so fun and easy to be with. He really knows his birds and helped us find and identify many that we would not have seen without him. I do like the Curi-Cancha Reserve. It is so beautiful with lots of opportunities for seeing special birds.
Monteverde Cloud Forest is just awesome. You can do the walk without a guide, but you get so much more out of it, if you have one.
Great little walk around the village. You do not realize how close you are to the Carabean Sea until you walk through the village. A nice fruit milkshake just hit the spot on a hot day.
This was fun and informative tour. Chocolate and coffee are so important to the history and economics of Costa Rica. It was great to learn about the growing and the processes for making coffee and chocolate. Definitely glad I did this tour.
The history of how the Children's Cloud Forest was created is amazing. European children were moved to conduct bake sales and other fund raisers to help preserve what is now known as the Children's Cloud Forest in honor of their efforts.
Love, love, love touring through the Toruguero Canals. You see something different all of the time. Our guides were great: Ronny, Bony and Lilly did an excellent job!
Awesome tour with Mariano! He was just great. So informative. He had a great sense of humor and was just so fun!
I told you I can't say enough good things about Tortuguero and cruising around the canals looking for wildlife.
This was a fantastic tour. You just see so much more from the vantage point of being on the water. Great tour!
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