Overall the trip and KimKim team were fantastic.
Costa Rica
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Jan 17 - Feb 1, 2024
Overall the trip was fantastic. We loved that KimKim chose five different locations throughout Costa Rica that fit our interests and desires for this trip. Each location was always a nice surprise and added adventure. We were never disappointed. We appreciated that Holden, Wilman, and KimKim team were always available to help if needed. Wilman was a great help, particularly during the first few days. We had to add a day to the start of the trip due to having to fly in a day early. That caused a hitch or two for the trip plan for the first couple of days but Wilman was always there to straighten it out with us. Overall, we were very satisfied with KimKim and all persons involved. We’ve praised KimKim to many of our friends.
Hotel Reviews
Fantastic from the casita we had, the pool, the food, the hiking trails. It was genuinely a hideaway for a moment in our lives. We had wonderful love-making here!
This was my (Ellie's) favorite place - the breakfasts were wonderful, the room was high above the sea from which we could see for miles into the ocean, service was wonderful, the room was spacious with a lovely little deck to sit on when we felt like we wanted to be outside. We had wonderful love-making here, too!
Lovely setting outside the city of La Fortuna; we visited the community several times. The breakfasts were overly generous offerings with a beautiful view of a lagoon with dozens of white herons, our couple spa experience was fantastic, the grounds were beautiful. The staff was always ready to help and...we greatly enjoyed the Arenal Zip Line experience. and much more.
This hotel was a different, but enjoyable, experience. The casita was hidden away nicely with a path to breakfast readily available. The views from the restaurant were good, but not spectacular. The food was good, well prepared, and excellently served by the wait staff. Our experience was fewer opportunities to explore the mountains without going a ways out of town, though Monteverde itself was an interesting place to explore.
This was the most unusual location and surroundings of any of the hotels. Trogon Lodge is tucked away 'way down' into the valley, with roads that required some careful attention for driving (7 kilometers off Route 2 on a narrow, curve-filled drive). Nevertheless, the location was well-worth it! Note that it was cold (relatively) since it sits at roughly 7000 feet in altitude. The dining room was very nice with excellent food. and service. A beautiful river, with many waterfalls, runs directly through Trogon grounds with several trails to explore along the river. The casitas are also located such that you will follow one, two or more trails to get to your lodging. In this sense, a person with handicaps would be challenged, but could ask for a casita most closely located to necessities. Trogon Lodge is also fairly isolated, meaning no gas station or other convenience stores are within 20-30 kilometers. We didn't need them, though we had some concern about having only a quarter tank of gas. Not a problem, since the nearest gas was 31 kilometers away and well within reach. Though cold much of the day, we thoroughly enjoyed the natural setting and our stay (2 nights)!!
Activity Reviews
Amazing and fantastic, with a very helpful and entertaining crew!! This is a 12-platform zip line, one of which is a kilometer long in itself.
Excellent night walk!! Our guide was eager to show us all forms of frogs, snakes, birds! But the frosting on the cake was finding a Tapir (with four young ones) 'eating up the forest'. Yes, they feast on small trees and other fodder of the forest. We were able to get excellent video evidence of this experience.
This was an event set up by KimKim (Serendipity Adventures) with us. We had a good guide (Ian). He was able to show us several spectacular bird events. The most exciting was seeing a Quetzal perched in a tree. Through the guides monocular, we took several pictures we will treasure.
This worked well. The first distance down the mountain (Route 606) was ok. The main route (Routes 1 and 324) were ok, too. Keep in mind that the infrastructure of Costa Rica is not as clearly developed as we in the US, spoiled as we are, are used to. Most of our highway routes were two lane, with a few four lanes now and then. In some cases, as when we went to Trogon Lodge, the 7 kilometers to the Lodge were very curvy and narrow. But, hey, it's part of the experience!!!
This was a major highlight of our time in Costa Rica. The National Park is over the top, especially given that we had a guide who was informed, informative and responsive to questions. We learned much about all manner of wildlife. In addition, our guide was a historian of Latin America providing us wonderful detail about the creation and evolution of the National Park. Included in that, of course, was information about colonialism, the United Fruit Company and the history of America Central as opposed to Central America (the latter being the history with which many of us are familiar).
What's to say!! It was a genuine sunset cruise, on a 3-sail, wooden sail boat (according to our guide the only one in Costa Rica?). Food was excellent, staff, too. Opportunities for swimming and snorkeling were provided. Fun time and people!!
That's awesome Marlynn and Elaine, it sounds like your trip was a resounding success! I'm so excited to hear that you saw tapir in Bijagua, that's a real prize! and a quetzal! How lucky you were on this trip.
I'm glad to hear that the hotels worked out well for you :)
This review, and knowing that you had a great time, makes me very happy.