Four Days, Three Nights - Monteverde and Arenal Highlights Costa Rica Vacation Holiday

Monteverde and Arenal - Costa Rica

   Spend 4 days exploring the beautiful areas of Monteverde and La Fortuna. See amazing cloud forests, waterfalls, nature reserves, local farms, wildlife, volcanoes, hot springs and waterfalls

   The tour starts with a pick-up from San Jose by private transport. Forget the worries about public buses and safety. Our Costa Rican driver will pick you up from your hotel reception or the airport and bring you to our office in Monteverde. Here you will meet up with the Desafio staff who will give you advice and tips about the area.

Itinerary:

Day 1. 

7.00am Pick-up from your hotel in San Jose by private transport. Enjoy the scenery as you make your ascent to the beautiful green mountains of Monteverde (3 - 4 hours). There will be a stop along the way for a bathroom stop and a snack.

12.50pm Coffee Tour. Picking coffee in Costa Rica has been a family tradition and on the Don Juan Coffee Tour you get to share one of the most interesting activities of the Costa Rican culture. Bilingual guides will explain the whole process of coffee production, from the plant to the cup. You will learn how coffee is grown and harvested and see germination beds, plantations, sun dryers, roasters and various machines involved in the process. Of course, the tour is not complete without tasting a delicious up of Monteverde coffee! The tour takes about 2 hours.

5.10pm Twilight Hike. The Ecological Sanctuary is a wildlife refuge administrated by a Costa Rican family and was started in 1992 with the idea of protecting 30 hectares (75 acres) of forest located in the pacific zone of Monteverde. In the past it was a farm with some coffee and banana plantations. As the farm had primary and secondary forest and a wide biodiversity in plants and animals, it was felt that it was an ideal base for observing wildlife. Nowadays, the activity of the farm is solely Eco-tourism: money from visitors is used for maintaining the Sanctuary and conservation projects, with the aim of preserving and regenerating the forest. night life in the forests. See will mainly see bugs, sleeping birds, tarantulas and maybe a sloth or two. 

The twilight tour starts at 5.30pm. This is an easy 2- hour hike with a bilingual guide that begins just before the sunset and finishes at night giving hikers the opportunity to compare diurnal and nocturnal wildlife. During the early part of the hike you may see a sloth or two and maybe some other small mammal. Once it gets really dark the hidden side of the jungle is revealed- you will hear the creatures that move around at night! Your eyes will adjust to the dark and you should be able to make out different types of insects, sleeping birds and tarantulas. 

Day 2. 

7.00am. Hike the Monteverde Reserve. You'll be picked up at your hotel and taken to the park entrance where your bilingual guide will be waiting. The guides at the Monteverde Reserve are some of the best in Costa Rica and they have a wealth of knowledge about the Monteverde Cloud Forest, it's fauna and flora, the history and the growth of Monteverde. You will go on a 3- hour hike around this wonderful forest. 

12.20 pm. 

12.20 pm. Selvatura. In the afternoon you will have a chance to enjoy the forest from a whole different perspective, high in the canopy of the cloud forest. It is a private park located near the Santa Elena Cloud Forest in Monteverde where you can do the canopy tour, one of the most thrilling and safest adventures in Costa Rica.  The canopy tour is entirely built inside virgin and secondary cloud forest with a total of 15 ziplines and 18 platforms. Plus one amazing (and optional) tarzan swing! Visitors will travel between 2 miles of cables attached by a secure harness and a maximum weight support pulleys plus other security gear to ensure safety. At all times guides will assist you on the tour. Tour takes 2.5 hours. Afterwards you can the walkways which are a series of suspended bridges, high in the canopy of the rain forest connected by hiking trails that wind between the bridges. In total, these trails cover 3.3km. There are eight different bridges which have lengths and heights that vary between 50 to 170m long and 12 and 60m high..  Every bridge is 1.5m wide and has a capacity for 60 people. The hanging bridges are designed for people of every age and reasonable physical condition. The duration of the tour is usually about 1.5 hours. If you do not wish to do both tours you can choose one  or the other.

7.30pm. This evening we will be visiting the Serpentarium. Here you will enjoy a 1-hour guided tour of an amphibian and reptile exhibit that will increase your knowledge and awareness about the fauna of Costa Rica. There are more than 40 species that live in a well-equipped environment approved by the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). 

Day 3. 

am. Today you will go to La Fortuna, the nearest village to one of the most active volcanoes in the world, Arenal Volcano. You will travel by what is locally known as "taxi-boat-taxi". This is a method of getting from Monteverde to La Fortuna and takes about 3 hours and involves the following: 

- 1.5-hour microbus ride from Monteverde to Arenal Lake
- 30-minute boat ride on beautiful Arenal Lake on the foot of the volcano. 
- 25 minutes microbus transport from Arenal Dam where transport to your hotel in La Fortuna 

3.00pm. Volcano Hike and Baldi Hot Springs. Arenal Volcano Hike
Hike through lush rainforest with an experienced naturalist, bilingual guide who will point out things in the primary and secondary rainforest that lines the base of the Arenal Volcano. You'll then arrive at the observation point-the closest you can get to the base of the volcano-and wait for the sun to set. As it starts to get dark, on clear nights you can see the amazing lava flow of Central America's most-active volcano and if you're lucky, you may be able to hear explosions or big lava rocks tumbling down the side of the volcano. Duration: 1.5-2 hours of an easy hike (although there are some muddy sections and a little uphill) Includes: guide, transportation, entrance to private reserve and volcano viewpoint with beverages. 

After the hike we will take you to Baldi Hot Springs where you can soak any aches away from the past few day's activities. Located near La Fortuna, this is a place where you can really relax and pamper yourself. Baldi's has a series of pools and hot springs fed by Arenal Volcano which are set amid glorious tropical gardens so that you can relax in the water, while enjoying the surroundings. The pools vary in temperature, from the temperature of a swimming pool to the warmest at around 39C (102F). It's a place where, on a clear night, you can sit in a warm pool, sipping the cocktail of your choice, while watching the fireworks as Arenal volcano erupts. 

You might also decide to pamper your body by opting for one of the many body treatments which are available such as massage, reflexology, body polish, volcanic mud wraps and facials (these are not included on the tour). 

Day 4.

Safari Float. This is the ideal rainforest river float for those looking for a peaceful encounter with the plentiful wildlife that abounds along the Peñas Blancas river only 25 minutes from the Arenal Volcano.  Our professional bilingual naturalist guide will assist you as you paddle along a smooth, class-1 river and explain about the various plants and animals of the area. 

With a bit of luck you might spot monkeys, sloths, iguanas, crocodiles and caimans, plus a large variety of species of tropical birds such as the Sunbittern, keel-billed toucan, herons, kingfishers and our favorite the Montezuma Oropendula.

To finish up the float, you'll dock at a local Costa Rican family farm and be treated to a nice, steaming hot cup of famous Costa Rican coffee and experience the charm of Costa Rican hospitality. 

After the tour you have the option of private transport to San Jose or a shuttle bus to one of the main beaches. 

Details:

   Hotels (Monteverde): 2 nights

   In Monteverde we use Nidia Lodge whenever possible. Nidia Lodge is a family run B&B located between Santa Elena and the Monteverde Reserve, in an area called Cerro Plano. It is not far from the Ecological Sanctuary, centrally located with a short walk to various restaurants in the area. 

   The hotel offers very comfortable rooms with private bathroom and plenty of hot water. Breakfast is included in the package; just let them know what time you would like it. There is also a restaurant with a wide menu and a bar.

   Hotels (La Fortuna, Arenal): 1 night

   Located on the edge of the town La Fortuna, Hotel San Bosco is a good-sized hotel with about 34 rooms. Rooms are very comfortable with A/C, private bathrooms with plenty of hot water and cable television There is a swimming pool, 2 jacuzzis and some gym equipment. While lava flow is very rarely seen from La Fortuna, the volcano is plainly visible from the hotel San Bosco on a clear day.

Minimum 2 people (Double occupancy): $480 per person - Group rate of $420 per person with four or more people 

Dates of trip: We can schedule dates by request.

Included on Trip: All accommodation except in San Jose, all transport, all tours in the itinerary and English speaking 
guides. 

Not Included: Flights to Costa Rica, hotels in San Jose*, meals, optional tours or transportation to other tours. 

What to Bring: T-shirts, shorts, long pants for riding, sweater or light jacket, sandals, light hiking boots, rain jacket, sun screen, insect repellant, any personal medication, swimming wear, towel, riding hat if you want one (they are not compulsory in Costa Rica), traveler's insurance (to include white-water rafting and horse riding), full passport (a driving license is not sufficient), traveler's checks and a credit card (VISA, other cards are difficult to use in Monteverde). 

NOTE: Adventure tours such as whitewater rafting, horse riding, kayaking, canyoneering and hiking require physical effort. Clients should be in good condition. For client safety and enjoyment, Desafio Adventure Company reserves the right to offer a substitution, postpone, change or cancel any tour due to unfavorable conditions. Full refund is given if (on rare occasion) a tour is cancelled. Desafio Adventure Company and its affiliates are not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged items

* Note we can arrange hotels and transport in San Jose and other parts of Costa Rica. Please let us know if you need our help.  Info@monteverdetours.com