Adam, July 2015

We had a great trip! Thanks for putting together a really good itinerary. There were many highlights for us – the beach in Manuel Antonio, the zip line and hanging bridges at Selvatura in Monteverde, the tour at El Trapiche (also in Monteverde), a hot springs water park at Hotel Los Lagos in La Fortuna, a fun whitewater rafting trip in Sarapiqui, and the canal boat tour in Tortuguero.

There were no hiccups to speak of – the only thing we ran into was that the bridges at Selve Verde and Trimbina were damaged [GFA note: damaged in flooding a few days before, repairs underway] so we couldn’t see the nature preserves there.

We really liked Leo as a guide, and wanted to pass on how grateful we were for his help. He was super nice, had good suggestions, and brought us to places where we were able to avoid crowds. He also had great lunch recommendations at various sodas along the way.

The main surprise for us was how expense meals and activities were. I know you pointed out in your notes how meals could vary widely in price, but it was still a shock how expensive meals were at the hotels and some of the more touristy restaurants – more expense than the San Francisco Bay Area!! On the other hand, the food was consistently really good – we didn’t have a bad meal anywhere.

The only suggestion for you that we were thinking of would be a way to better plan a budget for the activities. We usually did about 2 activities or hikes a day, and for the 4 of us were generally spending about $200 a day for activities – double what we we originally anticipated. And that didn’t include the higher-end activities. We were all set to do a rappelling trip, but when Alice asked what the price would be, Leo said $95…per person! (We skipped that trip 🙂 ).