Secluded Rainforest Costa Rica Adventure

Wow- what a great vacation we had in Costa Rica.  We are very experienced travelers, therefore we usually plan and book our own foreign travel, but we just did not have enough time this year.  Through Zicasso Travel, we worked with these agents with this Costa Rica travel company to help plan our trip- the process was easy and fast to get an active itinerary nailed down. Costa Rica has plenty to see and do so we wanted door to door service to maximize our 8 full vacation days. 

Part 1: The first two days we spent at Arenal Volcano visiting La Paz waterfall garden, going on a Safari Adventure and then rounded out the day on a canopy zip line.  

Part 2: We took a quick flight to Drake Bay/Corcovado National Park.  Getting to the Drake Bay Lodge was an adventure in itself- plane, 4 wheel drive, then boat to the lodge.  All went smoothly. We spent several days touring Corcovado National Park, basically a zoo outdoors, and snorkeling at Cona National Park.  The area was very remote and not filled with many tourists. 

Part 3: We took a boat from Drake Bay by boat to Siepe and were picked up and brought to our Hotel in Manual Antonio.  The hotel had a great view and was centrally located within the Manual Antonio area.  We took a guided a hike into Manual Antonio then at the end of the day spent time at the part on our own- recommended by our agent. On our last day we went on a wonderful Horseback ride to a remote waterfall

This year we decided to give each other a trip to Costa Rica as our Christmas gift. I mentioned to our travel agent that we enjoy photography and want to shoot birds and animals in the natural habitat. We really did not want waterfalls since we were at Victoria Falls a month ago. 

Our agents greeted us at the San Jose Airport and gave us a Christmas gift and travel documents. Our driver was knowledgable and spoke English very well. He drove us to Arenal Volcano area. We were lucky to see the top of the volcano. The hotel had beautiful views, hot volcano heated pools, large suite with a hot tube viewing the volcano, delicious food and good, friendly service. 

The Canoe Adventure was our favorite tour in Costa Rica. Our guides took the time to help us get great shots of the sloth, crocodiles, birds, bats, monkeys and iguanas. After the rafting trip on the Peno Blanco River, we had a snack of tortillas, cheese, plantains and coffee. 

At night we had an Ecoterra guided night adventure which poured down rain so we did not see much. The homemade meal was ok. 

The next morning at 5:20 am we went bird watching adventure which was a wash out. Just rained so we did not see many birds. Very disappointing since we got up so early. 

Our driver picked us up and drove us to Bajos del Toro area to our lodge and spa. Even though he has broken English, he is a funny man who enjoys sharing the Costa Rica life with his clients. The lodge and property were beautiful and staff was very friendly. We enjoyed the outside hot tube, large cabin and snack time. We were disappointed that the chicken and beef were tough, trout was over cooked and not much on the farm to table menu that we liked. 

Our guide took us on a guided hike to the waterfalls which was ok. Later that day I took the private guided Cultural Adventure with another guide which was ok. 

We liked the Lodge and property but we felt it was not worth the cost compared to the other towns we visited in Costs Rica. We would have liked to spend time at the Corcovado national parks taking pictures of wildlife/Macaw birds. 

From their first response to our enquiry, we had confidence that this travel agency had understood what we were looking for, from our trip to Costa Rica. They worked with us to fine-tune our itinerary and hotel choices, and made valuable suggestions when we were unsure of the best options. They responded promptly to all of our emails and phone calls before we left England, and were equally available throughout our time on Costa Rica. When they say that they are contactable 24/7, they really mean it.

On arrival in Costa Rica, we were met by the co-owner and his wife as well as our driver - this was a truly personal touch and showed their commitment to looking after us. They kept in contact throughout our trip - for example, speaking to us during internal transfers between the different places we visited. We felt confident that our travel agency would be there to solve any problems that may arise, and as with any extended trip, we did have a couple of problems. When we both picked up local virus, our travel agency arranged for the hotel to take us to a local clinic for treatment.

They offered an outstanding service when we missed an internal flight, due to heavy traffic, by arranging a private charter flight to ensure that we could reach our next destination. We were extremely happy with the standard of all of the vehicles and drivers that our travel agency used and felt completely safe on the roads. We enjoyed all of our destinations and the accommodation was excellent (with only one exception: our cloud forest lodge in the Bajos del Toro area which was very cold at night, as there was no heating. It really needed some).

In summary, this company are the best agents that we have ever used and we have no reservation in recommending them most highly.

The visit to Costa Rica was beautifully coordinated. All staff were kind and professional. Accommodations went beyond expectations. Our favorite hotel was probably Lookout in Corcovado because the reception staff was so welcoming. Could not be happier with our visit to this wonderful country.