COSTA RICA
SAN JOSE: Toucan Rescue Ranch & SIBU CHOCOLATE
Your Costa Rica adventure begins in the capital city, San Jose. Here, we visit the Toucan Rescue Ranch’s (TRR) whose mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release Costa Rican wildlife. TRR works with a model that focuses on conservation, education, and research to ensure a brighter tomorrow for native wildlife. The facility provides sanctuary for a variety of species while giving premier medical treatment, rehabilitation, and eventual release into its natural environment. You will meet animals like the popular two-fingered sloths, different species of toucans, macaws, owls, wildcats, monkeys, and much more! Keep in mind, that you won’t be able to pet or interact with any of the wildlife since it is illegal and we support the campaign #stopanimalselfies to educate people on ethical wildlife tourism. You will have a guided tour with our friendly and full-of-knowledge tour guides. Your visit will be supporting wildlife with your visit.
We also visit Sibu Chocolate, a small, locally-owned company that has been at the vanguard of Costa Rica’s craft chocolate movement since 2007. The specialize in premium chocolate confections and export-quality chocolate bars, drinking chocolate and chocolate coated nuts and fruit. The Chocolate Tasting Tour is an interactive tasting experience and presentation on the history of chocolate at their artisan chocolate workshop and restaurant, set in a beautiful garden. During the hour-long experience, Sibu’s master chocolatiers share samples of fresh cacao fruit (when available) as well as roasted cacao beans, indigenous hot chocolate, as well as European-style bonbons freshly made on the premises. We’ll trace the flavor evolution of chocolate, from its role as a sacred ceremonial drink for native Costa Ricans to its use as a stimulating elixir for European aristocracy, all the way to innovative recipes today. You will leave with a deeper appreciation for chocolate and an expanded sensibility about this “food of the gods”.
Tortuguero AND ARENAL
Tortuguero is located along Costa Rica’s northeast coast, on the lowest, wettest land in the country. The rainforests of Tortuguero are protected from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow beach strand. During your stay, you’ll explore the calm, forest-lined rivers and man-made channels by small boat. Wildlife is abundant, and it is common to see monkeys, sloths, iguanas, caiman, turtles, and a plethora of colorful tropical birds. Tortuguero ́s beaches are the most important nesting site in the western half of the Caribbean for Green Sea Turtle (July to October).
The Arenal Volcano is one of the most visited places in Costa Rica, and rightly so! The iconic volcano, located in the northwestern part of Costa Rica, towers over the town La Fortuna. It is still considered active, but there hasn’t been an eruption since 2010. If you’re lucky, you might still get to see smoke spewing out of the top! Activities here include a hike on lava from previous eruptions, a walk through the rainforest canopy on suspension bridges, and a relaxing evening in the thermal springs.
RINCON DE LA VIEJA National Park
The name Rincón de la Vieja translates to English as ‘the old woman’s corner.’ According to locals, the indigenous people of the Guatuso tribe named the volcano thus for one of two reasons. Either there was an old witch on top of the mountain who sent columns of smoke into the air when she was angry, or there was a kindly old woman occupying the same nook, and the smoke was from her cooking fire as she prepared meals for weary travelers. Maybe it’s both because the Rincón de la Vieja crater has had at least eight periods of intense volcanic activity, and still bubbles and steams. Boiling hot mud springs, sulfur springs, steam vents, and fumaroles are abundant and the activity isn’t far from the surface anywhere in the region. One of the largest geothermal electricity generation projects in the world is scattered through the valley between Rincón de la Vieja and volcán Miravalles. Driving near Guayabal or La Fortuna de Bagaces you can’t help but notice the stainless steel steam delivery pipes that snake their way from wells driven into the earth to the turbines in the generating stations.
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UPCOMING TRIPS
MAY 2024
COSTA RICA
The itinerary is all-inclusive. This includes airport meet and greet, all in-country transport and transfers, lodging, all meals, all entrance fees and tours, tips for guide and driver, and all taxes.
Not included:
• International flight to Costa Rica.
• Alcoholic beverages / Laundry / Telephone calls / Any service not specified in the program
• Optional tours such as the Turtle Nesting Tour in Tortuguero.
Interested?
Trip With A Purpose 