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DAY
1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA - ARRIVE
SAN JOSE (4 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.
• Your first concert performance will be
today
DAY
3 ZOO AVE & AERIAL TRAM TOUR
This morning we will visit 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 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. This afternoon 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 will return to San Jose for a Tiquicia Dinner and
Show that includes a show of native Costa Rican folklore
dances and a buffet of local cuisine.
• Your second concert performance will
be today
DAY
4 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
5 SAN JOSE - POAS VOLCANO - LA PAZ WATERFALL
GARDENS - ARENAL AREA (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we depart San Jose and begin our
sightseeing with a visit to Poas Volcano National
Park, an active volcano whose main crater is more
than 1 mile wide and is 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 continue
to the Arenal Volcano area, where the volcano has been active
since 1968 and constantly ejects gases, water, fumaroles and
small explosions.
DAY
6 CANO NEGRO WILDLIFE REFUGE & HOT
SPRINGS
This morning we travel to Los Chiles, near the
Nicaraguan border, where we will enjoy a Boat Tour
of the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. We will board
a riverboat (with shading) and make our way along the river
to view wildlife in one of Costa Rica’s most spectacular
wildlife refuges. During our tour we are likely to view long
nosed bats, caiman, turtles, Basiliscus lizards, herons, storks,
Anhinga, as well as howler and white-faced capuchin monkeys.
This afternoon we will return to Arenal where we will visit
the Hot Springs and have the opportunity
to submerge ourselves in the natural medicinal waters. The
springs include several pools with varying water temperatures
in a natural setting. This evening we will travel around Arenal
Volcano to a viewing spot where, if we are lucky, we will
witness Arenal Volcano hiss and spray lava.
• Your third concert performance will be
today
DAY
7 ARENAL AREA - COROBICI RIVER TOUR -
LAS PUMAS CAT ZOO - BUENA VISTA LODGE (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we begin our journey to the coastal
region of Guanacaste. En route, we will admire nature as we
float down the Corobici River on a rubber
raft. We will enjoy spectacular and exotic sights of flora
and fauna, as well as a wide variety of bird and animal life
including iguanas, monkeys and osprey. We will also visit
Las Pumas Cat Zoo where Costa Rica’s
six different cat species (cougars, jaguars, jaguarondis,
margays, ocelots and “tiger” cats) prowl safely
behind chain linked fences. The zoo takes in orphaned, injured,
and confiscated cats. We continue to the Buena Vista
Lodge, our hotel for the next two evenings.
DAY
8 BUENA VISTA LODGE
Today will be a day filled with adventure! We begin the morning
with a Horseback Riding Tour to the Rincón
de la Vieja Hot Springs and fumaroles, where we will
have the opportunity to take a Mud Bath and relax in the sulfur
water pool. Our day continues high above the forest floor,
where (those who choose) will enjoy a Canopy Tour,
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, and have the opportunity to
view howler monkeys and white-faced monkeys, whom often delight
visitors with their antics. Our afternoon concludes as we
ride the Natural Water Slide through the
jungle, before returning to the Buena Vista Lodge for the
evening.
DAY
9 DEPARTURE FROM LIBERIA
Our rewarding tour will come to an end as our tour manager/guide
accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.
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