Costa Rica & Nicaragua Experience - Standard

Itinerary

Day 1 San Jose

Welcome at the airport and transfer to San Jose hotel.If you arrive early enough, you'll have time to head into the city to visit a museum, shop or people-watch in the main plaza. As it is located in the central highlands, San Jose enjoys a moderate climate. The heat and humidity of the coast and lowland areas may affect you, with a general sense of lethargy and/or loss of appetite. This is no cause for alarm, it is simply a reaction to the heat. Be sure to drink plenty of water (cold bottled water is available everywhere) and do not attempt too much in any given day. We prefer fan-cooled rather than air conditioned rooms to avoid having to acclimatize to the heat and humidity every time you go outside. Like most cities, San Jose has its good and bad sides. It is the centre of government, theatre, and art, as well as of air pollution and congestion. It has beautiful parks and museums, and a few beggars on the streets. It is big and often noisy, but even from its crowded downtown streets, you'll often enjoy a view of the surrounding lush mountains. Probably the hardest thing you will do in San Jose, other than get safely across busy streets, is keep the street numbering systems straight. Street and avenue numbers are posted on buildings at the corners of some intersections. Keep looking as you walk, and you will eventually find one. The plaza is a good place to people-watch. A mime, juggler, marimba band, magician, or storyteller may be performing for whatever is collected when the hat is passed. Artisan booths are common, creating a regular arts and crafts fair atmosphere. A source of pride for the Ticos (Costa Ricans) is the National Theatre. Inaugurated in 1897, the building was paid for by coffee growers through a voluntary tax on every bag of coffee exported. The National Museum, housed in the Bellavista Fortress, offers exhibits on pre-Columbian art, colonial art and furniture and religious art within a 19th century building that was converted from a military fortress after the army was abolished. The Museum of Costa Rican Art, located in La Sabana Park used to be the international airport and is in the old terminal building. The Jade Museum is on the 11th floor of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros building. In addition to the marvellous collection of jade objects, there are pre-Columbian ceramic and stone works as well as displays with archaeological and ethnographic information. The Gold Museum is located underneath the Plaza de la Cultura. Its spectacular collection of indigenous gold art belongs to the Central Bank of Costa Rica. The best and least expensive places to buy souvenirs in San Jose are the markets. The two main ones are the Plaza de la Cultura, which is an outdoor open market, and the Central Market, where handicrafts are sold along with boots, fish, flour, herbal remedies, shirts and everything else you can imagine. Always watch your belongings and be ready for crowds. If you plan on spending a few days in San Jose prior to or after your tour, there are a number of activities within the city and area that you can participate in, many of them outdoors.

Day 2 Tortugero

Meet your guide at 06.30 and depart for Tortuguero National Park. On the way, stop for breakfast in a typical restaurant, and visit a banana plantation. Travel by boat through the canals admiring the splendorous Jungle until arriving at your lodge for lunch. In the afternoon visit Tortuguero town and the Turtle Museum. Dinner and overnight at your lodge in Tortuguero.The beaches around Tortuguero, a sleepy Afro-Caribbean town, host the nesting grounds of a variety of sea turtles. Walking paths extend through the village and into the national park. Tortuguero National Park was created in 1975 to protect the four species of sea turtles which nest along the beaches. Our three-hour boat ride along rivers and canals starts just outside the town of Limón and ends in the village of Tortuguero, near the park perimeter. We may see herons, egrets, spoonbills, as well as amphibians and reptiles like the “Jesus Lizard” (it walks on water) and caimans. The tropical rainforest gives way to prime beaches, ideal nesting grounds for green, loggerhead, hawksbill and leatherback turtles. The latter nests from mid-March to May, the rest from July to September. The Caribbean Conservation Center, just outside of town, is an excellent source of information about the turtles and their tropical habitat.

Day 3 Arenal

An early morning tour though the secondary canals, visit the Caño Palma canal where you will have the opportunity to see turtles, crocodiles and some birds like toucans or parrots. Return to the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, you will board the boat for your transfer to Arenal. A box lunch stop will be provided en route.La Fortuna is one of the centres of adventure travel in Costa Rica. Here you can try numerous optional activities: river rafting, mountain bike, caving, horseback riding or take a walk on the active volcano. Don’t forget about the Hot Springs, fed directly by the active volcano. Once you’re seated at the swim-up bar, you won’t want to get out.Set on the northern plains of Costa Rica, Arenal Volcano is on the shores of Lake Arenal, (77 square kilometres, or 48 square miles), created by a hydroelectric project. Winds sweeping off the Caribbean Sea reach speeds of 48 to 72 km/hr (30 to 45 mph), making Arenal one of the best sail boarding locations in the world. The lake actually separates the mountain ranges of Guanacaste and Tilarán. The volcano is set on the lake’s southeast end. It is active and occasional eruptions make it a natural wonder to be respected. Arenal is especially impressive at night, when the glowing molten lava is blasted into the ink-black sky. Even during the day, its reflection on Lake Arenal is truly enchanting. There are several attractions in the area aside from the lake and volcano. It is a birders’ paradise, with over 600 species as permanent residents, and is inhabited by numerous species of frogs. You can also enjoy hiking the area’s nature trails, or if you’re more daring, you can opt to climb a ladder to participate in one of the canopy tours and catch a fresh glimpse of the forest greenery. After a long day of exploring, the local Hot Springs might just be the answer to your tired muscles. Soak in one of the natural thermal baths under the shade of the surrounding canopy.

Day 4 Arenal

Depart to the Arenal hanging bridges through the Canopy Trees after this transfer to La Fortuna Waterfall where you will have time to swim. Return to La Fortuna Town for lunch and an afternoon tour to the Arenal Volcano National Park. Finish this full day at the Hot spring,relax and enjoy with amazing volcano views.

Day 5 Rincon de la Vieja

Transfer to Rincon de la Vieja and enjoy a free afternoon.Rincon de la Vieja translates as "the old woman's corner." According to locals, the indigenous people of the Guatuso tribe named the volcano thus for one of two reasons. Either there was an old witch on top of the mountain who sent columns of smoke into the air when she was angry, or there was a kindly old woman occupying the same nook, and the smoke was from her cooking fire as she prepared meals for weary travelers. Perhaps both are appropriate: the Rincon de la Vieja crater has had at least eight periods of intense volcanic activity, and still bubbles and steams.The park contains hot springs which give rise to very hot mountain streams; sulphuric ponds with small mud-filled depressions which bubble continuously; geysers releasing jets of stream, particularly during the rainy season; and mud cones in all shapes and sizes. Waterfalls dot the park, and there is a small freshwater lake which lies south of the main crater. In addition, Rincon de la Vieja contains what is probably the largest existing growth of the national flower - "guaria morada" (purple orchid) found in the wild in Costa Rica.Horseback riding, mountain biking, bubbling mud pits, geysers of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen are just a few of the unique optional attractions at Rincon de la Vieja. One of the most unique sights in the park is the Blue Lagoon: approximately 30 minutes from the park headquarters, this small lagoon is blue as a result of special minerals in the lagoon's underlying stones. A large waterfall constantly replenishes the lagoon while a small hot spring to its left provides a warm welcome relief. The colour of the lagoon is at its bluest during the dry season, as the volume of rainfall is at its lowest level.

Day 6 Rincon de la Vieja

Pick from a variety of optional actvities such as a canopy tour, a hiking tour to the national park or horseback riding.

Day 7 Granada

This morning you'll head off to Nicaragua! Granada is nearby and you'll have a chance to explore this afternoon. At the border you are met by a local tour guide who will give you a brief description of what will happen the next couple of days.

Day 8 Granada

We will head down to Masaya to observe the volcanic activity of the Santiago crater and visit the natural interpretation museum. After this we will go to the Masaya Market to find lots of souvenirs for reasonable prices. Enjoy lunch in a local restaurant of the area. We will also go to the famous white towns like Catarina known for its famous mirador with spectacular views of the Apoyo lagoon, Granada and Lake Nicaragua. Before going back to Granada pass by San Juan de Oriente where we observe how the locals make the crafts that are sold in Nicaragua.

Day 9 Granada

After breakfast our tour guide will pick you up at the hotel and take you to discover the oldest city in the western hemisphere of the Americas. On this excursion, visit the Casa de los Leones, San Francisco Convent and its Museum, with its vast exposition of pre-Columbian statutes and pottery, the colorful market, the charming cobblestone streets, and numerous architecturally significant churches and monuments. Following our appetizing lunch in a colonial style house, we'll embark on a boat tour of Granada's famous Isletas, an archipelago of inhabited islands formed by an ancient volcanic explosion, just off the shore of Lake Nicaragua.

Day 10 Guanacaste

Head back across the border to Costa Rica's scenic Papagayo Gulf and the gorgeous Guanacaste beaches.Your Costa Rica transfer guide will meet you at the boarder for the transfer.

Day 11-12 Guanacaste

Enjoy the next 2 days at leisure.

Day 13 San Jose

Transfer back to San Jose for the last night.

Day 14 San Jose

Transfer out to International airport.

Trip Details

Accommodation	Comfortable hotel (13 nts)
Departure	Daily
Group Size	No Minimum
Included Highlights	Guided tours of the Tortuguero Canals and park, Canopy tour on the hanging bridges and waterfall hike, guided tour of Arenal Volcano National Park tour, Hot springs, City tour of Granada, Boat tour on Lake Nicaragua
Meals Included	13 B, 6 L, 2 D
StartFinish	ex San José
Transport	Bus or Van
Brochure Intro	Why choose just one? This tour combines the best of these two small countries into one tour!

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