Tim, January 2017

Thanks so much for all your help in organizing our recent trip to Costa Rica. As requested, here is some feedback we hope is helpful. In summary, we had a great time and everything seemed very organised and we felt well-informed.

Our guide (Jose):
Overall, Jose was fantastic and we only have great things to say about him. Jose was very personable, relaxed, had a great sense of humour and lots of knowledge on everything Costa Rican. With kids, in-laws and different tastes we were often trying to find activities, dining and times that worked for everybody and throughout all of this Jose was completely patient, very flexible, able to provide helpful suggestions (i.e. for what would work best for our family) and always had lots of ideas (a plan B, plan C, etc). All of the places he took us to eat were very good (tasty food, good value, clean, etc) and he was very good in helping translate our orders to the wait staff.
Being a passionate wildlife/bird photographer, I found Jose was very patient with me & totally happy for me to stop anywhere (safely) for shots & also make lots of great suggestions for better opportunities/locations (e.g.hummingbird cafe at Monteverde WR).
As a driver, Jose was excellent – we felt very safe the entire time, and he was happy to stop whenever we wanted and made regular stops for snacks, banos, etc. He was also very attentive & understanding when our 7 year-old daughter had a bout of car sickness. Even when we had a brief bit of car trouble, Jose approached this with good humor and got us all looked after & comfortable, before quickly getting us back on our way again.
I have to say we all felt a little sad when it was time to say farewell, and if we come back to Costa Rica we will definitely be asking to again have Jose be our guide! He was a huge part in making our trip so enjoyable.

Other feedback:
Lodges:
All the lodges were great, however our kids (5 & 7) really liked lodges with pools. In hindsight, one night (rather than two) in Monteverde (where we had no pool) would have been better. And an extra night at Arenal (3 instead of 2) would have been great. Monteverde definitely seemed way more touristy & busier, but Arenal offered a lot of the same activities as Mverde (e.g. skywalks, nightwalks, etc), so our family would have preferred more time in Arenal. A fridge in our room at Arenal would have been nice, but no big deal.
Hotel Buenavista (Alajuela) were very helpful with our early 5am departure (had the shuttle ready and breakfast boxes packed for us).

Activities:
Sarapiqui wildlife boatride – great! Saw lots of good stuff. You are right though, 1 hour is enough for young kids.
Danaus WR – great!
La Paz Waterfall – pretty much a little zoo; all the family enjoyed it.
Ziplining in Sarapiqui – everyone, including our 65 y.o. in-laws did this and really enjoyed it. Some steep climbs in humid weather was a little tough on grandpa toward the end though.
Arenal Observatory Lodge – lodging, pool, gardens, restaurant, location….all awesome!
Curi-cancha (Monteverde) – this place seemed all about making money, rather than the wildlife…LOTS of people (i.e. bus loads) & trails busy so not many animals seen…would not recommend. Much preferred the official MV Reserve…lots of people but dispersed over a much bigger trail system and so was quieter…even got to see the Quetzal (& Jose knew just where to look for it)!
Skywalk (MV) – very good, even though we didn’t see much wildlife.
Montverde coffee tour (Trapiche) – over 2 hours & interesting, but a little long for our kids.

Note: we had zero rain our whole trip (except 2 hours overnight in Sarapiqui) and it was sunny 95% of the time…I gather this is not normal!

Organisation:
Again, everything seemed to go very well from the airport pick-up, to when we left. You can’t ask for more than that!

If you have any questions, just let me know. I have highly recommended your services to all my friends/family contemplating Costa Rica.