Costa Rica Best Jungles & Beaches
GG-121-06
Itinerary Description
Day 1: SAN JOSÉ
Airport ‘Meet & Greet’ and transfer to hotel. Overnight in San Jose at Sleep Inn Hotel.
Day 2: TORTUGUERO
Morning pick up for your drive through Braulio Carillo National Park to the canals lining the Atlantic Coast where you board a boat for the trip to the Tortuguero Canals through 50 km of tropical rain forest. Late afternoon arrival at Tortuguero. Overnight at Mawamba Lodge or similar (B/L/D)
Day 3: TORTUGUERO
Enjoy touring Tortuguero National Park with a local boatman and bilingual tour guide to observe the flora and fauna. There are 2 three-hour boating trips through the canals included in this package. Expect to see beautiful shorebirds, monkeys and sloth. On your own you may wish to hire a boat for additional exploration, or just hike along the beach or visit the village of Tortuguero accompanied by your own guide. (BLD)
Day 4: SAN JOSE
After breakfast we will begin our trip back to San Jose around 9:00 a.m. The boat will arrive at Caño Blanco around 11:00 a.m. Then our bus will be waiting for the drive back to San Jose. Stop en route for lunch. Arrive in San Jose area around 3:00 p.m. And lodge in Sleep Inn Hotel. (B/L)
Day 4: MANUEL ANTONIO BEACH AND NATIONAL PARK
Aflter breakfast we will departure to Manuel Antonio area. Miles of sandy white beaches have made this one of the most popular parks in the national parks system. You will be able to view migrating marine birds. The waters are crystal clear, making these beaches popular for snorkeling. The surf is gentle, great for swimming, body surfing, playing with a boogie board or just relaxing. The jungle of the national park reaches down to the beach so you can stroll through the park on your own or take a guided tour. A local sea kayak company offers day sea kayaking trips. Horses are available to rent. There are several restaurants to choose from. And lodge in California Hotel or similar (B)
Day 5: MANUEL ANTONIO BEACH
Morning tour to Manuel Antonio National Park (except Mondays when park is closed) including round trip transportation from your hotel, local guide and park entrance fee. Balance of the day at leisure to enjoy the beautiful beaches and nature trails. Overnight at California Hotel or similar. (B)
Day 6: MANUEL ANTONIO BEACH
Today you will enjoy a Sea Kayaking trip. Overnight at California Hotel or similar.
Day 7: SAN JOSE
Breakfast. Transfer to San Jose time drive 3:45 hours. Overnight at Sleep Inn Hotel.
Day 8:
Breakfast. Transfer to the International Airport.
Hotel Description
Sleep Inn Hotel
The Sleep Inn Hotel, San Jose Downtown is conveniently located in the heart of the city, only 15 kms from the Santamaria international Airport. It is only a short distance away from tourist attractions like the teatro Nacional, Museo de Jade, Museo de Oro, and parks that are part of our national heritage, among many others.
The hotel features 86 rooms, including 4 mini suites, 9 handicapped rooms, and 12 connecting rooms, all of which are decorated in an elegant, comfortable and contemporary style.
Mawamba Lodge
During your stay, enjoy our pool surrounded by exotic gardens and relax in the ranchos with hammocks. Comfortable rooms with ceiling fans provide tranquil garden views. Stroll through the nature trails or take a leisurely walk on the pristine beach in front of the Lodge.
Guest accommodations consist of 36 comfortable rooms with private bathrooms, hot water, ceiling fans and chairs for a pleasant, relaxing evening. Hotel facilities include two docks on the canals, swimming pool with Jacuzzi, two family-style restaurants with local and international cuisine (one specially designed for groups and incentives), BBQ, bar, souvenir shop, relaxing ranchos with hammocks, natural trails, beach access in walking distance, sand volleyball court, and and conference room where daily lectures on Tortuguero's natural history are presented. These comfortable accommodations in the heart of a tropical rain forest make Tortuguero your vacation spot!
Tours
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Mawamba offers a variety of tours to the canals of the National Park, turtle nesting observation (seasonal July - September), hikes into the lush rain forest of the area, bird watching and night tours conducted and supervised by specially trained guides using the best equipment and implementing all necessary safety precautions. In Tortuguero, you are only minutes away from world-class tarpon and snook fishing. When they say world-class, they are talking about snook averaging 20 lbs and tarpon weighing in at an average of 75 lbs. The seasons for both run from January - May and from July - September. All tours and fishing trips can be arranged by the Lodge.
California Hotel
The hotel is located on a hillside, surrounded by the jungle and overlooking the ocean. It is perfectly situated just minutes from Manuel Antonio National Park, and walking distance from Quepos. A place to refresh your soul, escape from the challenges of your day to day life and find yourself rejuvenated by the magic of the area.
We have two types of rooms to offer our guests: Standard and Deluxe. All rooms are equipped with one queen size bed, telephone, private bathroom with hot water, minibar, cable TV, safety box and air conditioning. The larger Deluxe rooms are on the upper levels, with view terraces and spectacular views of the ocean.
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Tortuguero National Park
During your visit to Tortuguero with Laguna Lodge, you will explore the National Park’s system of waterways which is fabulous! A natural plumbing system of canals and navigable lagoons that crisscross the park from southeast to northwest, bringing a constant fresh supply of water to the park lowlands, providing the perfect habitat for 57 species of amphibians, 111 species of reptiles and 60 species of mammals.
Plants include aquatic lilies, monkey ladder, passion fruit tree, liriums. Besides, more than 300 species of birds live in Tortuguero for all part of the year. Birdwatchers commonly see keel billed toucans, trogons, Montezuma oropendolas and a variety of parrots. Birds common along the canals include green and great blue herons, egrets, kingfishers, anhingas, jacanas, sun grebes and several species of hawks and kites.
Other animals commonly seen are fishing bats, three-toed sloths, iguanas, basilisk lizards, poison dart frogs, howler, white-faced and spider monkeys. The tracks of river otters, collared peccaries and Baird´s tapirs are often seen on the banks of rivers and canals. Caiman are commonly observed in the waterways, which also are home to gar-fish, manatees, crocodiles, crustaceans. Jaguars, ocelots and kinkajous inhabit the park, but are not too often seen.
Turtles
Tortuguero beach is the most important nesting site of the endangered green turtle in the Western Hemishpere. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest here. The green turtle population is believed to have come perilously close to extinction in the 1960s when nearly every female turtle arriving to nest in Tortuguero was taken for the export market for turtle soup.
The Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC) was established in 1959 specifically to study and protect Caribbean green turtles. Working closely with the Costa Rican government, CCC helped establish Tortuguero National Park in 1970, a move that offered protection to the turtles and strictly limited the number of turtles that could be taken.
With the park established, development along the coast would never stretch much beyond the existing village, and the presence of CCC researchers and park guards would discourage poaching. The park now includes over 19,000 hectares (46,900 acres) and protects 22 miles of nesting beach from the mouth of the Tortuguero River south to Parisimina. Tortuguero National Park and the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge to the north, comprise the largest remaining adjoining tract of lowland wet tropical forest on Costa Rica's Atlantic Coast.
Since the 1950s, CCC scientists and participant volunteers have conducted extensive nest monitoring programs every year in Tortuguero and shared the findings with Costa Rican park managers. In 1995, CCC began monitoring the Tortuguero beach during the spring months (March - May) for nesting leatherback sea turtles. CCC research confirms the global importance of Tortuguero to both green sea turtles and more recently for leatherback sea turtles. In addition, a few rare hawksbill sea turtles also nest in the refuge each year.
Manuel Antonio National Park:
Tiny it may be, but this 682-hectare national park epitomizes everything tourists flock to Costa Rica to see: stunning beaches, a magnificent setting with islands offshore (bird sanctuaries for marine species), lush rainforest laced with a network of welcoming trails, wildlife galore, and all within walking distance of your hotel. You are guaranteed close-up encounters with monkeys, sloths, coatimundis, and scarlet macaws. What a gem!
Despite its diminutive size, Manuel Antonio is one of the country's most popular parks, with as many as 150,000 visitors annually in peak years. A few years ago the deluge of visitors threatened to spoil the very things they had come to see. If you wish to do your bit to help preserve Manuel Antonio, consider visiting in the "green" or wet season. Litter and pollution are additional problems.
Nonetheless, the park is too small to sustain a healthy and viable population of certain animals. If the monkeys do not have access to areas outside the park, the population will decline because they cannot breed. Corridors that allow animals access to areas outside the park have been taken up by hotels, so that the park has, in recent years, become an island. As a result, the titi (squirrel monkey) population is declining. Fortunately, in 2000, a decree was issued to triple the park's size to just under 1800 hectares
The park has four lovely beaches, each with its own personality: Espadilla Sur, Manuel Antonio, Escondido, and Playita. The prettiest is Playa Manuel Antonio, a small scimitar of coral-white sand with a small coral reef. It's separated from Playa Espadilla Sur by a tombolo--a natural land bridge formed over eons through the accumulation of sand--tipped by Punta Catedral, an erstwhile island now linked to the mainland. The hike to the top of Punta Catedral (100 meters) along a steep and sometimes muddy trail takes about an hour from Playa Espadilla Sur (also known as the Second Beach). Espadilla Sur and Manuel Antonio offer tidal pools brimming with minnows and crayfish, plus good snorkeling, especially during dry season, when the water is generally clear.
At the far right on Playa Manuel Antonio, you can see ancient turtle traps dug out of the rocks by pre-Columbian Quepoas. Female sea turtles would swim over the rocks to the beach on the high tide. The tidal variation at this point is as much as three meters; the turtles would be caught in the carved-out traps on the return journey as the tide level dropped. The people also used female-turtle decoys made of balsa to attract male turtles over the rocks. Olive ridley and green turtles still occasionally come ashore at Playa Manuel Antonio. |
