Itinerary & Daily Details
Monday 19th: Welcome to Costa Rica!
- Rogelio Canet will be at the airport, just outside the customs area (which is after the luggage claiming area) waiting for you, the driver will pick you up and take you to KC Hotel, located 20 minutes away from the airport (depending on traffic). Upon arrival at the hotel, check-in and dinner at the hotel. Three nights at this hotel.
Miami to San Jose': AA #1353 arriving at 6:5157 am
Tuesday 20th: Liceo Experimental Bilingüe La Trinidad - Moravia (Day 1)
- Rogelio will take you to the high school by bus, which is located about 30-40 mins away depending on traffic. Breakfast and Dinner at hotel.
- Rogelio Canet will be at the airport, just outside the customs area (which is after the luggage claiming area) waiting for you, the driver will pick you up and take you to KC Hotel, located 20 minutes away from the airport (depending on traffic). Upon arrival at the hotel, check-in and dinner at the hotel. Three nights at this hotel.
Miami to San Jose': AA #1353 arriving at 6:5157 am
Tuesday 20th: Liceo Experimental Bilingüe La Trinidad - Moravia (Day 1)
- Rogelio will take you to the high school by bus, which is located about 30-40 mins away depending on traffic. Breakfast and Dinner at hotel.
Wednesday 21st: Liceo Experimental Bilingüe La Trinidad - Moravia (Day 2)
- Visit to High school based on Group Leader. Breakfast and Dinner at hotel
Thursday 22nd: A Day Between Volcanoes
- Breakfast will start at 7:00 am, leaving the hotel around 7:30 am with all our belongings to Doka Coffee Tour, where we will learn in a very interactive way the history of coffee, we will see the plantation, process and production, the tour will take us thru the mill and the roasting area as well. Doka is one of the most prestigious brands of coffee we have, so at the end of the tour you will have the opportunity of buying coffee to take home, this will take place at a souvenir store inside the property, my recommendation is to get the coffee because on the last day, we will stop at a oxcart factory, where they produce many of the handcrafts and souvenirs we will see along the trip.
- Followed by our first encounter with the Costa Rican Wonders, the next stop of the trip will be the town of La Fortuna. Originally in our itinerary we had the visit to Poas Volcano National but due to a important increase of acid rain and freatic explosions, the park is currently closed, so we will keep our nature walk in a volcano ground, but this time will be Arenal Volcano National Park, located next to the town of La Fortuna. Upon arrival to the town, we will have lunch (place not yet confirmed) and later our hike. The first part of the walk will be thru old sugar cane plantations. The second part of the trail will be over a transition forest and we will end walking over the old lava flows of the volcano. About 1.5 to 2 hours of activity, 90% flat, the lava flows are steep and sharp, so we have to be careful when we do that part.
- As soon as we’re done with our volcano experience, we will continue to the hotel Cascada de Fuego, some down time and then dinner. 2 nights.
Friday 23rd: The Water Day!
- Breakfast will be at 7:00 am and the first activity will be towards the the Arenal Lake, for our nice kayaking experience! We will find double kayaks and a paddle for each kayaker. Total time of tour: 1 hour and 30 mins. We will get wet, so tech devices are not very recommended to take on the kayak. Life jackets will be provided at the activity. There will be a safety boat that always stay with us in case somebody is not feeling good, they can jump on the boat, also, if somebody doesn’t want to kayak. No waves.
- As soon as we are done, our driver will take us to La Fortuna Waterfall where we have to walk MANY steep steps (about 500 to be specific) to the waterfall. Is prohibited to swim in the area where the waterfall drops, but there is a pond close by from the same river where is allowed to swim, walking from the waterfall drop to this pond is les than 100 feet. Just before we start with the walk down stairs to the waterfall, there is a cafeteria and bathrooms, since down at the pond there are no facilities available. It sounds rough but the view and the scenery are incredible, is pure nature! We will walk back to the top, making a stop in the changing rooms so the students can change their wet clothes for dry if group wants to. The waterfall creates a beautiful scenario, and is a gorgeous place to be at.
- Right after we finish with this activity, we get back at the bus and head to the hotel, lunch will be waiting.
Saturday 24th: Arenal Rainforest to Monteverde Cloudforest
- The transfer to Monteverde takes about 3 hours, so we will break that time making a stop at a very good cafe called “Café & Macadamia” right on the side of the Lake.
- As soon as we arrive to Monteverde Inn, our hotel for the next 2 nights, we will do the check in and right after lunch. Around 2:00 pm, we will go on a nature walk at Santa Elena Cloudforest Reserve. In here, we will take a trail called "Youth Challenge", where we will see the pure cloud forest. The first part of the trail is in concrete, then we detour on a cinder block one and later, it turns into a regular trail with gravel, 30% steep, 30% flat and 30% downhill, almost at the end, there is an observation tower, that if the afternoon is clear, from the top we can see the Arenal Volcano.As part of our commitment with nature and promoting conservation, we will contribute with Costa Rica’s environment, by planting a tree and supporting the regeneration of the cloud forest, with native trees we will help to expand the different biological corridors. At night, optional night walk and dinner at the hotel.
*Optional Night walk tour. Most of the animals actually comes out at night and the forest is completely different, is good to say that is not a zoo, usually you see tarantulas, sloth, snakes, birds sleeping and insects. Very good option.
Sunday 25th: Adrenaline is all around!
- Breakfast at the hotel around 7:00 am, departure around 7:30 am heading to Monteverde Extremo, where our zipline and horseback riding activities will take place. In here, they will prepare us for the journey of several cables, from 100 feet to almost 1 mile long, among the longest in Latin America! During the tour, there is walking involved, moderate classification. Tour will begin at 8:00 am. You will see many advertisement of the zipline tour, where they also advertise the "superman cable" and the "tarzan swing", because of EF safety regulations, we won’t do none of those two activities.
- After we do the canopy tour, we arrive at the same place where we began. The canopy guides will take all the gear off from us and after a quick restroom stop, the horses are waiting. About 2 hours of tour thru off road, forest and mountain with great views. There is a weight limit for both activities, which is 220 lbs.
- Horseback Riding tour isn’t in the same facility of Zip Line, so we drive there. For those not doing the horse tour, our driver will take them back to the hotel.
- As soon as we are done with both activities, lunch will be at the hotel and free time in the afternoon, this day lunch will be around 2:00 pm. Later in the afternoon, we will walk to town to do some snack shopping and to visit the area. Dinner at hotel. The school visit will be in the area of La Cruz.
Monday 26th: From the Cloud Forest to the Beach
- After breakfast around 7:15 am, we will leave the jewel of the cloud forest to the Central Pacific area, specifically heading to the town of Jacó, that's going to take about 3 hours. Before we arrive to the Balcon del Mar area, we will stop at the Rain Forest Aerial Tram awaits for our adventure. First with lunch, then the ride on the gondolas and a nature walk are part of this experience. In total we will spend around 3 hours here. The park is located about 35 minutes away from the hotel.
- After the great experience at the Aerial tram, we will continue to the Jungle Crocodile Safari, a boat ride over the Tarcoles river where our goal is to spot crocs and others animals, this is an all-time favorite. About 1 hour and 30 minutes thru the river and estuary ecosystems looking for wildlife, the boat is covered on top but opened on the sides.
- Upon arrival, check-in, orientation walk and later that day, dinner at hotel.
- Each gondola fit 8 people, and after the ride on top of the trees, a nature walk is waiting.
Tuesday 27th: Manuel Antonio National Park: 1 of the top 15 most beautiful beaches in the world!
- We will have breakfast and an early departure, so you can enjoy as much as you can of the beach! It takes about an hour and a half to get to National Park Manuel Antonio. It’s a small park, reason that will give us a lot of chances to spot wildlife such as monkeys, sloths and deers. All this in our way to the beach, specifically taking the “Peresozo Trail”, 1.8 meters from the entrance to the beach. At the end of the main trail, bathrooms and changing rooms are located in some sort of hill, in order to get to the white sand beach, we have to walk a hill with about 30% of steepness. We will stay there as long as the group wants. We will take a box lunch with us that the hotel will provide, but it’s a small meal, that’s why I always offer to go to a restaurant call "El Avión" after the beach, with a great view of the ocean, they sell all kind of food (by this day students are usually tired of the rice and beans) but every have to cover that expense and everyone must have to agree, if somebody doesn’t want to, we will go directly to the hotel. Afternoon at leisure and dinner at the hotel.
- They have very strict policies regarding the type of food we can take in the park, due to the monkeys and raccoons.
Wednesday 28th: Back to San José
- Breakfast will take place around 8:00 am, more laid back morning, departure around 9:30 am to San José, this drive will take us for about 2 hours and that’s where the lunch, souvenir shopping and oxcart factory will take place. First we will stop at the oxcart factory were they will give us a short explanation of how the oxcarts were and are made, after that, shopping time. For me this is the best place for shopping, because there we know that things are 100% Costa Rican. Everywhere we go, some souvenirs come from Nicaragua, China or other places, and that’s not the idea, the idea is to help the local economy by buying items made in here. Is not mandatory to save the shopping for the end, since we will be at many towns with lots of shops, saving some money for the end is recommended because is the EF approved site.
After that, we will continue our way to San José, arrival at Hotel Best Western Irazu, some down time and then, departure to our Folklore Evening Show, dinner there and last night together as a big group.
Thursday 29th: Transfers Out
- All the international flights must be arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance from the hour of departure, due to this, instead of served breakfast, you will take a boxed one. Also, the same rule of the transfers-in apply for the transfers-out.
San Jose' to Dallas: AA #2436 departing 6:55am
Dallas to Detroit AA #301 arriving 6:21pm
- Visit to High school based on Group Leader. Breakfast and Dinner at hotel
Thursday 22nd: A Day Between Volcanoes
- Breakfast will start at 7:00 am, leaving the hotel around 7:30 am with all our belongings to Doka Coffee Tour, where we will learn in a very interactive way the history of coffee, we will see the plantation, process and production, the tour will take us thru the mill and the roasting area as well. Doka is one of the most prestigious brands of coffee we have, so at the end of the tour you will have the opportunity of buying coffee to take home, this will take place at a souvenir store inside the property, my recommendation is to get the coffee because on the last day, we will stop at a oxcart factory, where they produce many of the handcrafts and souvenirs we will see along the trip.
- Followed by our first encounter with the Costa Rican Wonders, the next stop of the trip will be the town of La Fortuna. Originally in our itinerary we had the visit to Poas Volcano National but due to a important increase of acid rain and freatic explosions, the park is currently closed, so we will keep our nature walk in a volcano ground, but this time will be Arenal Volcano National Park, located next to the town of La Fortuna. Upon arrival to the town, we will have lunch (place not yet confirmed) and later our hike. The first part of the walk will be thru old sugar cane plantations. The second part of the trail will be over a transition forest and we will end walking over the old lava flows of the volcano. About 1.5 to 2 hours of activity, 90% flat, the lava flows are steep and sharp, so we have to be careful when we do that part.
- As soon as we’re done with our volcano experience, we will continue to the hotel Cascada de Fuego, some down time and then dinner. 2 nights.
Friday 23rd: The Water Day!
- Breakfast will be at 7:00 am and the first activity will be towards the the Arenal Lake, for our nice kayaking experience! We will find double kayaks and a paddle for each kayaker. Total time of tour: 1 hour and 30 mins. We will get wet, so tech devices are not very recommended to take on the kayak. Life jackets will be provided at the activity. There will be a safety boat that always stay with us in case somebody is not feeling good, they can jump on the boat, also, if somebody doesn’t want to kayak. No waves.
- As soon as we are done, our driver will take us to La Fortuna Waterfall where we have to walk MANY steep steps (about 500 to be specific) to the waterfall. Is prohibited to swim in the area where the waterfall drops, but there is a pond close by from the same river where is allowed to swim, walking from the waterfall drop to this pond is les than 100 feet. Just before we start with the walk down stairs to the waterfall, there is a cafeteria and bathrooms, since down at the pond there are no facilities available. It sounds rough but the view and the scenery are incredible, is pure nature! We will walk back to the top, making a stop in the changing rooms so the students can change their wet clothes for dry if group wants to. The waterfall creates a beautiful scenario, and is a gorgeous place to be at.
- Right after we finish with this activity, we get back at the bus and head to the hotel, lunch will be waiting.
Saturday 24th: Arenal Rainforest to Monteverde Cloudforest
- The transfer to Monteverde takes about 3 hours, so we will break that time making a stop at a very good cafe called “Café & Macadamia” right on the side of the Lake.
- As soon as we arrive to Monteverde Inn, our hotel for the next 2 nights, we will do the check in and right after lunch. Around 2:00 pm, we will go on a nature walk at Santa Elena Cloudforest Reserve. In here, we will take a trail called "Youth Challenge", where we will see the pure cloud forest. The first part of the trail is in concrete, then we detour on a cinder block one and later, it turns into a regular trail with gravel, 30% steep, 30% flat and 30% downhill, almost at the end, there is an observation tower, that if the afternoon is clear, from the top we can see the Arenal Volcano.As part of our commitment with nature and promoting conservation, we will contribute with Costa Rica’s environment, by planting a tree and supporting the regeneration of the cloud forest, with native trees we will help to expand the different biological corridors. At night, optional night walk and dinner at the hotel.
*Optional Night walk tour. Most of the animals actually comes out at night and the forest is completely different, is good to say that is not a zoo, usually you see tarantulas, sloth, snakes, birds sleeping and insects. Very good option.
Sunday 25th: Adrenaline is all around!
- Breakfast at the hotel around 7:00 am, departure around 7:30 am heading to Monteverde Extremo, where our zipline and horseback riding activities will take place. In here, they will prepare us for the journey of several cables, from 100 feet to almost 1 mile long, among the longest in Latin America! During the tour, there is walking involved, moderate classification. Tour will begin at 8:00 am. You will see many advertisement of the zipline tour, where they also advertise the "superman cable" and the "tarzan swing", because of EF safety regulations, we won’t do none of those two activities.
- After we do the canopy tour, we arrive at the same place where we began. The canopy guides will take all the gear off from us and after a quick restroom stop, the horses are waiting. About 2 hours of tour thru off road, forest and mountain with great views. There is a weight limit for both activities, which is 220 lbs.
- Horseback Riding tour isn’t in the same facility of Zip Line, so we drive there. For those not doing the horse tour, our driver will take them back to the hotel.
- As soon as we are done with both activities, lunch will be at the hotel and free time in the afternoon, this day lunch will be around 2:00 pm. Later in the afternoon, we will walk to town to do some snack shopping and to visit the area. Dinner at hotel. The school visit will be in the area of La Cruz.
Monday 26th: From the Cloud Forest to the Beach
- After breakfast around 7:15 am, we will leave the jewel of the cloud forest to the Central Pacific area, specifically heading to the town of Jacó, that's going to take about 3 hours. Before we arrive to the Balcon del Mar area, we will stop at the Rain Forest Aerial Tram awaits for our adventure. First with lunch, then the ride on the gondolas and a nature walk are part of this experience. In total we will spend around 3 hours here. The park is located about 35 minutes away from the hotel.
- After the great experience at the Aerial tram, we will continue to the Jungle Crocodile Safari, a boat ride over the Tarcoles river where our goal is to spot crocs and others animals, this is an all-time favorite. About 1 hour and 30 minutes thru the river and estuary ecosystems looking for wildlife, the boat is covered on top but opened on the sides.
- Upon arrival, check-in, orientation walk and later that day, dinner at hotel.
- Each gondola fit 8 people, and after the ride on top of the trees, a nature walk is waiting.
Tuesday 27th: Manuel Antonio National Park: 1 of the top 15 most beautiful beaches in the world!
- We will have breakfast and an early departure, so you can enjoy as much as you can of the beach! It takes about an hour and a half to get to National Park Manuel Antonio. It’s a small park, reason that will give us a lot of chances to spot wildlife such as monkeys, sloths and deers. All this in our way to the beach, specifically taking the “Peresozo Trail”, 1.8 meters from the entrance to the beach. At the end of the main trail, bathrooms and changing rooms are located in some sort of hill, in order to get to the white sand beach, we have to walk a hill with about 30% of steepness. We will stay there as long as the group wants. We will take a box lunch with us that the hotel will provide, but it’s a small meal, that’s why I always offer to go to a restaurant call "El Avión" after the beach, with a great view of the ocean, they sell all kind of food (by this day students are usually tired of the rice and beans) but every have to cover that expense and everyone must have to agree, if somebody doesn’t want to, we will go directly to the hotel. Afternoon at leisure and dinner at the hotel.
- They have very strict policies regarding the type of food we can take in the park, due to the monkeys and raccoons.
Wednesday 28th: Back to San José
- Breakfast will take place around 8:00 am, more laid back morning, departure around 9:30 am to San José, this drive will take us for about 2 hours and that’s where the lunch, souvenir shopping and oxcart factory will take place. First we will stop at the oxcart factory were they will give us a short explanation of how the oxcarts were and are made, after that, shopping time. For me this is the best place for shopping, because there we know that things are 100% Costa Rican. Everywhere we go, some souvenirs come from Nicaragua, China or other places, and that’s not the idea, the idea is to help the local economy by buying items made in here. Is not mandatory to save the shopping for the end, since we will be at many towns with lots of shops, saving some money for the end is recommended because is the EF approved site.
After that, we will continue our way to San José, arrival at Hotel Best Western Irazu, some down time and then, departure to our Folklore Evening Show, dinner there and last night together as a big group.
Thursday 29th: Transfers Out
- All the international flights must be arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance from the hour of departure, due to this, instead of served breakfast, you will take a boxed one. Also, the same rule of the transfers-in apply for the transfers-out.
San Jose' to Dallas: AA #2436 departing 6:55am
Dallas to Detroit AA #301 arriving 6:21pm