Arrive at San Jose Costa Rica's Juan Santamaria International Airport. After passing through Immigration one of our representatives will greet you at the airport. Look for a sign that has your unique identifier along with your name. After you submit your booking request you will receive a full itinerary along with in-country descriptions, including all airport and hotel transfer instructions included in your proposal. He or she will take you to your hotel. Overnight at Hotel Grano de Oro (deluxe room).

A Costa Rica Adventure Vacation guide and driver will be waiting for you in the lobby of your hotel to join you for the approximately 4 1/2-hour drive to Monteverde. On the way, stop at the Waterfalls Canopy Tour, located near Carara National Park in an important ecological transition zone between Costa Rica’s dry northwest and the humid south. Much of the Canopy's 46 hectares of protected area is covered with transitional rainforest growing on steep slopes, and studded with massive trees laden with vines and epiphytes. The Canopy Tour, certified for safety by the American Challenge Course Technologies (ACCT), consists of 13 platforms, seven cables of varying lengths, a three-story tree house, a Tarzan Swing, a suspension bridge and a 90-foot rappel down at the end (optional for the adventure seekers). After the tour, have lunch in a local restaurant and continue to Monteverde.

Monteverde is a peaceful community made up of dairy farmers, naturalists and tourism service providers who have joined together to create a model for sustainable development and protection of the environment that is known throughout the world. Founded in 1954 by a group of Quakers searching for a peaceful place to live, it is the home of Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, the Children's Eternal Rain Forest, and the Santa Elena Reserve.

Night visit to the Monteverde Frog Pond. Learn about species that are unique to the tropics of Costa Rica. Each species is in a terrarium simulating their natural habitat. Species include the large Marine Toad, the colorful Poison Arrow Frog and the Red-eyed Tree Frog. It is best to visit after dark as the frogs are more active and you can hear their calls. Overnight at Monteverde Lodge & Gardens.

After breakfast, join a guided excursion (of up to 10 people) in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Founded in 1972, the Reserve extends down both slopes of the Tilarn Mountains (elevation 2,300 to 5,600 ft.), encompassing six different ecological life zones and protecting more than 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds and 1,500 species of plants. From January to July, depending upon your luck and patience, you may observe in its natural habitat the Resplendent Quetzal (occasionally a dozen or more individuals at once). Other species include the Three-wattled bellbird, the Emerald Toucanet, and White-faced and Howler monkeys. In the afternoon, accompanied by a Spanish-speaking guide, take a horseback ride through coffee and banana plantations, ending with a view of the sunset over the Gulf of Nicoya. Overnight Monteverde Lodge.

After an early breakfast, depart on an approximately 2 -hour transfer in an air-conditioned 4x4 vehicle from Monteverde to the dock at Rio Chiquito, a small town on the shore of Arenal Lake. Board a boat that will take you across the lake (15-30 minutes depending on wind conditions), to Arenal Dam. Total transfer time from Monteverde to Arenal area via Arenal Lake is approximately 3 hours.

Upon arrival, you will visit with your guide the Arenal Hanging Bridges, a project that consists of eight fixed bridges, ranging in length between 8 and 22 meters, and six hanging bridges, built with the latest techniques and designed with an eye for both beauty and safety. The bridges and trails, which cover a distance of 3 kms, were designed to blend with the natural environment, leaving the forest virtually intact. As you walk, you be able to appreciate the great diversity of flowers and wildlife that are typical of the rainforest, along with the imposing views (weather permitting) of Arenal Volcano.

Afterwards, lunch and a soak in the Hidalgo Family Hot Springs, the ideal alternative to the mass tourism hot springs in the Arenal Area. When we first met the Hidalgo Family in 2000, they were reluctant to open up their family farm to visitors. Finally they agreed to try it by appointment only on a trial basis. They found, perhaps to their surprise, that they enjoyed having foreign guests on this basis and have now put in changing rooms and a restaurant. The Costa Rican home-style lunch will be served in the restaurant, modeled after the first house that the Hidalgos built when they settled on the farm in 1940.

Afterwards you will be driven to the La Fortuna Airstrip to board a chartered flight to Tortuguero (45 mins). You will be met at the Tortuguero Airstrip by a representative from the hotel and will be taken by boat across the river to the hotel. Overnight at Tortuga Lodge & Gardens (deluxe room).

After breakfast at the hotel, depart with a local guide for a 3-hour boat tour into the Tortuguero National Park. Originally intended to protect a major nesting beach of the Atlantic green sea turtle, the Park now protects 51,870 acres, one of the last large areas of tropical rain forest in Central America. Eleven habitats are found in the park. Three species of monkeys (Spider, Howler, and White-faced), Three-toed Sloths, and river otters are frequently seen along the natural inland waterways and canals. Caiman, iguanas, river turtles, Basilisk Lizards, and Poison Dart (Dendrobates) Frogs inhabit the area, along with more than 320 species of birds including all six species of kingfishers found in the new world, three species of toucans, eight species of parrots, and other neotropical species such as the Slaty-tailed Trogon, White-collared Manakin, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, and White-fronted Nunbird and many more species which we will have the opportunity to observe during this morning boat ride through the backwater creeks of Tortuguero National Park.

After lunch at the Lodge, a local guide will take you to the village of Tortuguero. Learn about the history of the village and its efforts to get their basic needs met such as running water, medical and dental care, garbage collection and management. Visit the Park headquarters, the general goods store and walk the streets lined with colorful afro-Caribbean homes. Visit the Atlantic Green Sea Turtle museum founded by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC). The late Dr. Archie Carr began to study and tag the thousands of Atlantic green sea turtles that every year from June through October come to Tortuguero Beach to lay their eggs. The study has continued without fail ever since, under the auspices of the CCC. It is the longest running continuous study of its kind in the world, and it has had a profound effect on the community of Tortuguero. Overnight at Tortuga Lodge.

After breakfast, transfer across the river to the Tortuguero Airstrip. Here you will board a chartered flight for the direct flight to San Jose (35 mins). Fly over the Atlantic lowlands and Braulio Carrillo National Park. Upon arrival, a guide will assist you to the correct hangar for your one-hour flight to Puerto Jimenez. A representative from Lapa Rios will drive you to the hotel (1 hour). Overnight at Lapa Rios.

Three full days to explore the area at your leisure or participate in optional activities (at additional cost).

Morning transfer to Puerto Jimenez to board a chartered flight to San Jose. Upon arrival, a guide will take you to your hotel. Overnight at Hotel Grano de Oro (deluxe room).

Transfer to the International Airport, arriving at least two hours before your flight’s scheduled departure time.