Day 1 - Arrival in San José

After the airport pick up, our minibus will carry you to San José, for an overnight stay at the Hotel Fleur de Lys, located in the heart of San José's cultural district. This hotel is an elegant Victorian house built at the turn of the century, completely restored and made into a fine hotel with individually designed and decorated rooms. Welcome dinner and overnight at the Hotel Fleur de Lys.

Day 2 - Monteverde Cloud Forest

After our early morning breakfast we'll depart for Monteverde, Costa Rica's premier cloud forest. Home of the exotic and resplendent quetzal, the cloud forest is also the habitat of many rarely seen endangered species, such as the jaguar. The forest stretches from the lush ferns and mosses that cover the ground, up to the darkest canopy formed by the tallest trees. Today's tour will include a visit to one of the local reserves, where you may spot birds including yellow-throated finch, black-thighed grosbeak, spangled-checked tanager, and silvery-throated jay. Mountain deer, pumas, and peccaries are also occasionally seen. Overnight at Hotel Fonda Vela or similar.

Day 3 - Monteverde's Cloud Forest Canopy Tour and Arenal Volcano

After our early morning breakfast, today's adventure will take us to the original site of the Canopy Tour. The Canopy Tour offers the adventurer the opportunity to ascend into the forest canopy and view jungle life from a perspective previously available only to a select few researchers and photographers. On this tour you traverse from tree to tree and platform to platform using pulleys on horizontal traverse cables, sailing through the treetops and over the trails far below. Expert guides will assist you in this exciting journey through the different layers of the virgin rainforest. After lunch our journey will continue to New Arenal. Here we'll encounter Arenal Lake and Costa Rica's quintessential volcano, Arenal. Its perfect cone emerges from Alajuela's gentle green hills and from time to time loud explosions can be heard, accompanied by mushroom clouds of gray, brown and orange smoke. We'll end the day at Tabacon Resort, soaking away tired muscles in the crystal clear thermal waters emanating from nearby Arenal Volcano. We'll spend the night at comfortable cabins near the base of Arenal where you can view the nightly showers of glowing lava and red hot rocks spewing from the mouth of the crater. Overnight at Montaña del Fuego Inn or similar.

Day 4 - Biking toward Sarapiquí

After breakfast, we'll hike through the rainforest near the base of Arenal, stopping to observe the red-hot rocks and steam that periodically spew from the crater. We will then begin a bike trip on a paved road that winds through tropical rainforest to the base of the volcano. After a leisurely picnic lunch, you will have time to swim, relax and enjoy the beauty of nature before our journey continues through the lush lowlands of the northeastern region of Sarapiquí. Virgin tropical rainforest and rich, second-growth habitats are found in this region, which borders Braulio Carrillo National Park and the La Selva Field Station of the Organization for Tropical Studies. Over 500 species of birds, 100 species of mammals, thousands of insects, and 2,000 species of plants, including 800 species of trees (more than Canada and the United States together) have been identified in this biologically rich area. The forests in Sarapiquí provide refuge for such species as the tapir, jaguar, sloth, white-nosed coati and white-faced capuchin and howler monkeys. Overnight stay at Selva Verde or similar.

Day 5 - Kayaking the Sarapiquí River

Today's kayak trip down the free-flowing crystal clear waters of the Sarapiquí River offers the possibility of sighting parrots, jacamars, hummingbirds, motmots and other exotic lowland tropical birds. During the colonial period, the wide Sarapiquí was used as an embarkation point for boats traveling north to the Rio San Juan, which forms part of Costa Rica's border with Nicaragua, and from there to the Atlantic. Our kayaking trip on the Sarapiquí River will take place on highly stable, two-person, inflatable kayaks. Their strict engineering specifications ensure you of the best-quality inflatable kayaks produced for use in fast-flowing waters. For your added safety, you will be provided with an approved life vest and a safety helmet. Prior to beginning the river excursion, you will receive instructions from our experienced guides on how to maneuver your inflatable kayak, so even beginners can enjoy this marvelous adventure. When you've enjoyed the river to your satisfaction, we will transfer to the Suerre Hotel and Resort in Guápiles for our overnight stay.

Day 6 - Tortuguero National Park

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, you will be transferred to the town of Freeman. There, we'll board a boat for a three-hour ride to our jungle adventure. Imagine a natural environment, with fresh air, exotic birds, sloths, monkeys, iguanas, turtles and incredibly colored butterflies, all in one of the most unspoiled jungles existing. You will meander through canals, rivers and lagoons of incomparable beauty during the next two days. Tortuguero National Park is located on Costa Rica's northern Caribbean coast, with the larger Tortuguero region a navigable network of lakes and channels crossing the national park. The region is the most important western Caribbean nesting site for the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). We'll arrive at the lodge mid-afternoon, leaving the afternoon and early evening for you to experience the local culture and habitat at your leisure.

Day 7 - Tortuguero Canals

After a hearty breakfast, we'll take a boat through the smaller canals in Tortuguero in order to explore plant- and wildlife more difficult to find on the main waterways. We'll depart Tortuguero mid-morning, and enjoy the boat ride back to Freeman. You will be picked up from the dock, and then make a short transfer to Guápiles, where you will have a free afternoon to enjoy the hotel's facilities. Overnight at Hotel Suerre or similar.

Day 8 - Rafting the Pacuare River

This morning we will make the short transfer to the small town of Tres Equis, where we'll initiate our two-day Pacuare white-water rafting trip down one of the most exotic and scenic rivers in the world. This journey through unspoiled jungle wilderness offers an adventurous ride filled with stunning natural beauty and exciting rapids. Regarded as some of the finest white water in Latin America, this wild, untamed river may be the ultimate wilderness experience in the tropics. The Pacuare is a swiftly running and rapidly changing river, making it one of the most invigorating rafting trips of Aventuras Naturales. Today's rafting journey will take you down remote rapids, where you will work as a team, skillfully running your small raft past steep canyons where cascading waterfalls plummet hundreds of feet into the river below. A stately jungle rises thousands of feet above the riverbanks, and rare birds and animals hide in the forest cover. Today is filled with excitement as you squeeze through narrow openings between huge boulders and run long stretches of powerful rapids. Action-packed adventure fills each moment of the day as the river weaves and bends, providing a stimulating ride. Your rafting adventure on the first day ends at our private jungle oasis, the Pacuare Lodge nestled in the middle of an enchanting and captivating rainforest. Here, you are completely surrounded by nature at its purest and most primitive. The two-story Pacuare Lodge has comfortable, rustic dining facilities on the first floor and lots of relaxing hammocks in an open-air lounge on the second floor. Modern wooden bungalows with thatched palm roofs have been carefully designed to blend into the forest. Each bungalow hides beneath giant trees that have stood guard over this forest for eons. As twilight descends, Happy Hour begins, followed by a delicious hot dinner served with wine. When you feel like calling it a day, you'll head off to your bungalow, furnished with clean linen and private bathroom.

Day 9 - The Pacuare River - San José

Morning arrives with a deep stillness as you wake to the songs of exotic tropical birds and the rushing rapids of the Pacuare River. After a hearty breakfast, you'll experience the excitement of the bigger and more challenging rapids to come. At a designated point along the way, you will stop to visit pristine waterfalls and natural waterslides. Lunch will be served along the river. River take-out is mid-afternoon, and you'll have a transfer back to San José in time for dinner. Dinner on your own, and overnight at the Fleur de Lys.

Day 10 - Departure from San José

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight back home.