Mats, October-November, 2017

We had a great time in Costa Rica. We loved all the places we visited. For the nature experience Monteverde with the cloud forest and the canopy walks was the top experience for me. In La Fortuna we had a great time with ziplining and hot springs. In Sarapiqui we had a beautiful and enjoyable rafting experience (we had the whole river for ourselves). Generally there were very few people on all activities, which was nice. No crowds and no waiting. We did shorter walks (around 2 km) in the rainforest in Monteverde, Arenal, Sarapiqui and Cahuita. The kids were OK with that, although they enjoyed the other activities more. We visited a coffee and sugar cane farm and the Butterfly garden in Monteverde, and a chocolate farm in Cahuita. The weather was actually OK. We hade some rain of course, but also a lot of sun, especially in Alajuela (we arrived early and spent 3 days here), La Fortuna and Cahuita.

The guide (Gil) was great. We liked him a lot, and without him we would not have seen or done half as much a we did. This is a super important part of the package, as I am sure you know.

The hotels were nice. Buenavista and Observatory Lodge were the best. Selva Verde Lodge needs some maintenance, but it was still OK. Playa Negra Guest House was beautiful (although the beds were not so comfortable there) and Marisse and Pierre were very nice and helpful. Pierre drove us around and guided us for free. Great service! The kids enjoyed the pool there a lot (more than the beach actually).

Your notes on how to prepare for the trip we found very useful, especially the pack list. We had use for everything on that list.

We had a rattling experience with a strong earthquake (6.5) on the last night at Buenavista. Luckily the kids were asleep at the time.

We shot over 1200 photos, so we certainly have some to share.