DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA - ARRIVE SAN JOSE
                          (11 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our tour manager/guide, where we will board our own private coach and transfer to our hotel in San Jose.

DAY    2            COFFEE PLANTATION TOUR & SAN JOSE
Costa Ricans call coffee grano de oro, the grain of gold, and with good reason. The humble bean lifted the nation out of obscurity two centuries ago, bringing wealth to countless farmers and to the country as a whole. This morning we will take a Coffee Plantation Tour where we will learn from experienced personnel the origins of coffee-growing, one of the major exports of Costa Rica. This very amusing and informative tour is a multimedia presentation for all ages, using actors to bring to life the coffee production experience. This afternoon we will take a guided San Jose City Tour. We will view all of the city's most important sights and landmarks including the University of Costa Rica, the Supreme Court, Democracy Square, the Metropolitan Cathedral, elegant residential homes, and many sights that display the finest in Costa Rican architecture. During our tour we will also visit the National Theater. Designed after the Opera House in Paris, it is considered to be Costa Rica's most important architectural landmark. Our afternoon concludes with a visit to the Museo del Oro, featuring an impressive collection of pre-Columbian golden treasures. Time permitting, we will also visit the Museo Nacional, in the former Bella Vista Military Fortress, which today houses pre-Columbian artifacts along with art, historical items, and natural science exhibits.

DAY    3            CARTAGO, LANKESTER GARDENS & THE OROSI VALLEY
Our morning begins with a visit to Cartago, Costa Rica's first city founded in 1563 and a former capital of Costa Rica. We will visit one of Costa Rica's most famous buildings, the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles, which is dedicated to the patron saint of Costa Rica. Within the walls of the Byzantine-style church is a shrine containing the tiny figure of La Negrita (the Black Virgin) where legend has it that La Negrita was revealed on this site to a peasant girl in 1635. Miraculous healing powers have been attributed to La Negrita and, over the years, thousands of pilgrims have come to the shrine seeking cures for their illnesses and difficulties. Next we will visit Lankester Gardens, created in the 1940s by an English naturalist, where no fewer than 800 species of orchids are on display. The University of Costa Rica now administers the gardens, and their primary goal is to preserve the local flora, with an emphasis on orchids and bromeliads. We will walk along Paved Trails that meander from open, sunny gardens into shady forests. In each environment, different species of orchids are in bloom. After time to visit the Information Center, we continue with a tour of the Orosi Valley. Our scenic driving tour will take us into a Shangri-la canyon edged on the south by the dauntingly forested flanks of the Talamanca Mountains. The rivers that drain into the valley have been dammed to form Lago de Cachi, around which the road and our tour will loop. Our tour will be highlighted by Mirador Orosi, offering amazing views over the valley; the village of Orosi, including the charming Iglesia de San Jose de Orosi; the shores of Lago de Cachi, which attracts large numbers of waterfowl; the rough-hewn Casa El Sonador (House of the Dreamer), a wooden and bamboo structure adorned with primitive carvings; the Presa de Cachi (Dam); and Ujurras, renowned for its ruined church, Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Limpia Conception, which dates from 1681. We return to San Jose for the evening.

DAY    4            IRAZU VOLCANO & INBIO PARK
Our morning commences with an ascent to the breathtaking summit of the Irazú Volcano, the highest active volcano in Costa Rica. We will enjoy impressive views of the massive crater and its lake, an almost perfect circle with steeply inclined walls (sometimes the lake is lime-green and other days it is red). The name of this sub-conical volcano is derived from an indigenous word meaning thunder and earthquake mountain. After an exciting tour of the volcano and the National Park, we will visit INBio (Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad), run by the National Biodiversity Institute. The Institute is part-museum, part-educational center, part-nature park. We will begin with an Informational Video, followed by a tour of the two large pavilions that explains Costa Rica's biodiversity and natural wonders. Next we will enjoy a Hike on Trails that re-create the ecosystems of a tropical rainforest, a dry forest, and a premontane forest. There is also a good-size butterfly garden, a plexiglass viewing-window into the small lagoon, and a series of wonderful animal sculptures donated by one of Costa Rica's premiere artists, José Sancho.

DAY    5            WHITE WATER RAFTING TOUR
This morning we travel to the Rios Tropicales base before transferring to the drop-in spot where we will begin our White-Water Rafting Tour. We will embark on a journey down the Pacuare or Reventazon River with an expert guide and mandatory safety equipment. We will enjoy a rafting experience that will include Class II to IV rapids (dependent on the river) as well as a glimpse into Costa Rican history and wildlife. Our rafting tour will include a stop for lunch. We return to San Jose for the evening.

DAY    6            AERIAL TRAM TOUR & ZOO AVE
This morning we will enjoy an Aerial Tram Tour through one of Costa Rica's most unique eco-tourism and research facilities. The tram takes us on a 90-minute, one-mile-long excursion through the rain forest canopy and reveals details of everyday life in the treetops where 75 percent of all rain forest species dwell. We will come eye-to-eye with monkeys some 200 feet above the forest floor and will view an abundance of plants and animals hidden at the tops of the tall rain forest trees. We continue to Zoo Ave where we will view dozens of scarlet macaws, reclusive owls, majestic raptors, several different species of toucans, and a host of brilliantly colored birds from Costa Rica and from around the world. We will enjoy a stroll along the paths where we will get a close look at many birds, large iguana, deer, monkeys, and a 12-ft. long crocodile. Zoo Ave houses only injured, donated, or confiscated animals. We return to San Jose for the evening.

DAY    7            PACIFIC ISLAND CRUISE
We will make an early morning start as we travel to Puntarenas, where we will take a Pacific Boat Trip to Tortuga Island. After our one and half hour scenic cruise, we will enjoy several hours on the uninhabited island, where we can swim, lie on the beach, play volleyball, or try a canopy tour (by own expense). This afternoon we cruise back to the mainland and return to San Jose for the evening.

DAY    8            POAS VOLCANO & LA PAZ WATERFALL GARDENS
Our day begins with a visit to Poas Volcano National Park, an active volcano whose main crater is more than 1 mile wide and constantly active with fumaroles and hot geysers. Poás is surrounded by dense cloud forests, and we will hike some of the nice gentle trails. This afternoon we will visit La Paz Waterfall Gardens where we will hike a series of trails through primary and secondary forest alongside the La Paz River, with lookouts over a series of powerful waterfalls, including the namesake La Paz Fall. We will also explore an orchid garden, a hummingbird garden, and a huge Butterfly Garden which some claim is the largest in the world. We return to San Jose for the evening.

DAY    9            TURU BARI TROPICAL PARK
Today we will take an excursion to Turu BaRi Tropical Park, which features a series of gardens, trails, and exhibits set in a deep valley. We will reach the park (choose one) via a gondola-style ski lift, by cable and zip-line canopy tour, or on horseback. Once in the valley we will wander around the botanical gardens, orchid gardens, and butterfly gardens. We return to San Jose for some free time to shop or explore at our leisure.

DAY    10          LOS ANGELES CLOUD FOREST
Today we travel to the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve, one of Costa Rica's other cloud-forest reserves. We will enjoy a guided walk through the cloud forest, followed by an exciting Canopy Tour where we will go soaring from platform to platform through the canopy of the rain forest. We will enjoy a sense of freedom and adventure like none other in the world. We return to San Jose late this afternoon.

DAY    11          GRECIA, SARCHI & SAN JOSE
Our morning begins with a visit to the Grecia World of Snakes. This serpentarium contains more than 150 snakes, representing more than 50 species. It is located in the picturesque little town of Grecia, renown for its unusual metal church, painted a deep red with white gingerbread trim. Next we make our way to nearby Sarchí, Costa Rica's main artisan town, where we will view the colorfully painted miniature oxcarts made here. Oxcarts such as these were once used to haul coffee beans to market and they remain a well-known symbol of Costa Rica. In addition to miniature oxcarts, many carved wooden souvenirs are made here with rare hardwoods from the nation's forests. This evening we will enjoy a Tiquicia Dinner and Show that includes a show of native Costa Rican folklore dances and a buffet of local cuisine.

DAY    12          DEPARTURE FROM SAN JOSE
Our rewarding tour will come to an end as our tour manager/guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.