This trip offers challenges and excitement for the young and foolish, including canyoning, horseback, ballooning, rappelling, extraordinary white water rafting, ascents into the canopy, and mountain biking.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Luxury hotel to unwind. After the frantic pace of the wedding you need that airplane time to unwind. Your leader, Manuel Alvarez, will meet your 1 PM arrival at the airport, and head away from San Jose. While Manuel gets your things into your room and arranges for dinner, you two can wander off down the pathway on the side of the cliff to a giant waterfall. Stay here until dark, but don't forget your flashlights. This is a truly elegant place to park yourselves for a day, and the high standard of this hotel does nothing to prepare you for the ruggedness of the rest of the trip, so don't get too used to the netted beds and luxurious Jacuzzi.
Day 2: Ballooning and 4x4 exploration. The whole neighborhood comes to help when the balloon lands. You'll quickly get used to the early mornings here. With a twelve hour day year round (and no late evening activities outside the city), everyone is up by sunrise. Not to be outdone, we begin the day with an early morning balloon flight in the Naranjo region. The softly rounded hills become a luxuriant tapestry as we glide gently above quaint villages, islands of humanity in a sea of coffee fields and sugar cane.
The landing is always pure adventure, sometimes in tree tops, sometimes surrounded by the kids. We can use their help to pack up. It's about 3 hours to our next place to sleep and we have most of the afternoon to do it. So we'll meander from volcano to village, perhaps hiking off road somewhere, or stopping at a coffee farm if there's harvest going on, or at one of the local churches or central market (you need to buy your own machete, anyway)
Day 3: Mountain biking. Hop on the mountain bikes and explore the Turrialba Valley. Turrialba is a mountain bikers dream, with scores of different trails offering a variety of scenery and plenty of challenges. Among the many possibilities are local spots of cultural interest; marketplaces, a sugar mill, macadamizing farm, or farming villages. Our favorite place to stop is to watch Minor milk venomous snakes and learn how to handle snakes in the wild. If you're interested in all-out mountain biking we offer you the six hour serious ascent of Turrialba Volcano, complete with hot mud baths at the top.
Days 4-5: Hiking expedition and high-action whitewater. Time to get sweaty and wet. We'll hike through dense primary forest with porters and machetes and packs on our backs and horses to carry the heavy stuff to a campsite about 6 hours above, following a footpath used by the Indians but also the pathway of large mountain cats, as evidenced by the paw prints. Here we'll camp by the river we'll use tomorrow to descend back to civilization.
In the morning you'll start learning river kayaking, safety techniques and "ducky-dunking", then begin your descent down the river in individual inflatable kayaks. Prior to major rapids your safety kayaker will scout the run to assure a safe descent, and you will be increasing your skill with each rapid. You'll really learn to love your safety kayaker as you float/tumble (in rafting it's called "the Maytag") past him on several occasions, with your Ducky somewhere behind you. And you'll really be impressed with Manuel, who floats nearby, shouting encouragement. The hotel has a nice, warm shower. Manuel also knows a local massage therapist, so if you are too sore to hold your dinner fork, we know who to call.
Days 6-7: Pacuare whitewater rafting and overnight camping. The final adventure - and by now you have the confidence to take this river with gusto - an expeditionary journey on the spectacular Pacuare River (Class III and IV). Our expedition on the river is small: only one raft - for you and Manuel (hey! Bet you didn't know he's a whiz bang raft guide as well!) and a safety kayaker and an oar boat with equipment. Our small size allows us to make some exploratory hikes and play in the river hydraulics, while we eagerly take on the center of the big rapids. It's fun trying the nearly impossible!
This technical river is challenging as we maneuver through awesome rapids, broken by short calm stretches which offer views of the pristine rain forest and cascade after cascade of crystalline waterfalls. The first day you will start by developing skills and teamwork that are absolutely necessary for late today and all day tomorrow. The powerful rapids will thrill you, while the savage beauty of the surroundings will humble you. We'll stop for some very surprising side hikes into virgin forest and areas where the canyoning and rope skills and tree climbing you learned earlier will come in very handy.
By late afternoon we make camp in the jungle, where the animal noises are overwhelming and the smell and taste of the wild is unfiltered by man's inventions. Sleep well, for tomorrow brings yet another day of adventure on the river. The Pacuare is threatened by plans for a massive hydroelectric project, so we'll enjoy it while we can even as we continue to work to prevent the river's destruction.
Days 8-11: Caribbean beaches, sea kayaking, Latin dancing. You've survived this far, you are still married and speaking to each other, and you have accumulated enough bumps, bruises, stretched muscles, thank you, to last a lifetime. We're dumping you on the beach to recover. The Caribbean coast has blossomed into the gentle and intimate place to relax. This once was true of the Pacific coast, but the Pacific coast is now dominated by large American-style resorts. With the arrival of some really high standards for hotels (wonderfully comfortable, clean, and with excellent management) and marvelous food, the Caribbean is our first choice, almost year round, for people with a sense of adventure.
So we're leaving you south of Cahuita in the hands of Sandra or Monica, and you are "on your own" to figure out what adventures you want - we suggest swimming with dolphins (with Katrina) or scuba diving (with Greg) or going into the tropical jungle (with Tino) to get a living lesson on how the jungle provides for its residents, human as well as animal. We'll make sure you have all the right people to contact, and know where the best lobster in the universe is, and get together with some of our interesting friends in the south Caribbean.
And here's where we're spoiling you again. Your (tiny) hotel is awesome. Luxurious big bed under gauze-like white netting, with no wall in front of you, you sleep surrounded by jungle. Your night visitors may be small forest creatures, from frogs to chameleons, and birds will fly into your chambers in the morning to awaken you. This is the image we've always held in our imagination as the place to seduce the one we love the most - our best friend for life.
Day 12: Return to civilization. Your return flight is at 1:30, so we'll pick you up at 7:00 this morning to return to San José. You get to take with you some extraordinary memories, a life-long friend (Manuel likes to come to the U.S. every once in awhile), and some new abilities. And probably some bruises, too. Coming back on your first anniversary, and maybe bringing some friends.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price is $11,465 for 2 people. If there were four people (double honeymoon?) the price would be $16,415. And if your bring both sets of parents, for six people it would be $20,355.
Price Includes:
- Service tips
- Laundry
- Snacks
Price Excludes:
- International air
- Alcoholic beverages
- The Costa Rica exit visa ($26 per person)
- Optional tip for the principal guide
- While you are at the beach you'll be on your own for local food, transportation (usually foot, but also a few taxis) and the action you choose to do (if you have any energy left)
Also see tour packages in:
Central America and Caribbean
Costa Rica
Ballooning
Camping
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