After breakfast, we will mount our horses at the RainForest World organic banana farm in the remote village of Peralta. We’ll start to ride down the abandoned rail line of the old jungle “Banana” train and through a 100-year-old tunnel before climbing up into the hills on the lower flanks of the Turrialba Volcano to the shores of rarely visited Laguna Bonilla. Here we can swim in the emerald waters and enjoy a picnic lunch before continuing on around the lake. We finish in Peralta where you will get a chance to pick some fruit from the organic farm for the ride back to Turrialba.

OPTION: If time permits, you can visit the serpentarium to learn about the many species of snakes and frogs that are part of Costa Rica’s fame. Or take a trip out to Guayabo National Monument, the largest pre-Columbian ruins and archeological site in Costa Rica.

Stay at: Hotel Turrialtico. Included meals: B, L, D

After breakfast at your hotel, we drive east up to el Rio Pacuare for a 2-day rafting trip. We launch in the exclusive reserve at the Tres Equis ranch and head 8 miles downriver to our camp. The Rio Pacuare is river running at its finest, featuring exquisite tropical jungle canyons and virgin rainforest. The first day includes more than a dozen Class 3 and 4 rapids plus a beautiful side hike up to the Rio Frio waterfall. We overnight in our own Indian camp, in the heart of the rugged Huacas canyon. We’ll enjoy dinner in our thatched roof pavilion overlooking the river surrounded by the sounds of the jungle. The Silvia Chavez family of Cabecar Indians is our host. Two of Silvia’s sons, Octavio and Urbano, are full time RainForest World river guides and provide excellent assistance in viewing wildlife in their home river.

Stay at: Indian Camp. Included meals: B, L, D, plus happy hour!

Morning coffee and breakfast in camp accompanied by songs of the forest birds. For those willing to take a strenuous hike uphill, we can make the hour long trek up to the Chavez family homestead on the mountaintop with incredible panoramic views of the Turrialba Volcano, river canyons and the Caribbean down below. Back down at the camp you will have time to relax and take a cool dip in the river before lunch. Then we pack up to continue our journey downstream, challenging another dozen class III and IV rapids as we go. The exciting rapids and beautiful scenery continue all the way down to our take-out point in Siquirres. There we can shower and change and have a cold drink before heading to your hotel. You will be staying at the Centro Turistico Pacuare with air-conditioned rooms, cable TV, a nice restaurant and a big pool. It’s a comfortable place to relax between two rugged activities.

Stay at: Centro Turistico Pacuare. Included meals: B, L, D

After breakfast, with our fleet of new Mohawk Intrepid 17 canoes, www.mohawkcanoes.com, we head down the lower Pacuare River on a 2-day, 34-mile canoe adventure that starts with class I-II whitewater mellowing into flat water with a great current that will take us across the Caribbean plain to the Tortuguero Canals. The lower Pacuare offers classic tropical scenery including banana plantations, cattle ranches, jungle and rainforest. We will have lunch and swim on one of the many beautiful sand bars. Then it’s back in the boats to continue for more scenery and paddling fun, putting nearly twenty miles of river behind us today!

Further down river we will stop and camp for the night at your choice of camp spots. We can camp in the remote banana plantation/river port of Freeman in a covered open-air pavilion that has a bathroom and running water (no shower). Or we can opt to do some more primitive camping on one of the many sandbars along the river. Your guides will prepare dinner while you enjoy the warm Caribbean evening.

Stay at: Freeman pavilion OR primitive camping. Included meals: B, L, D

Coffee and breakfast at camp, and then we pack up and continue down the Pacuare. Shortly after we leave camp we may begin to hear waves pounding the Caribbean coast, still miles away, the sound carried on prevailing winds. Eight miles after camp where the mouth of the Pacuare spills into the Caribbean Ocean, we turn north on the Tortuguero Canal and paddle the final eight-mile stretch towards Tortuguero National Park. One feature is Estero Chiquera, which is loaded with aquatic birds and caimans and the haunting calls of howler monkeys. Lunch somewhere along the banks, then it’s back in the canoes until we reach Parismina.

After a welcome cold drink in Parismina, say adios to your canoe guides, and say hola to our own “crocodile hunter” Rick Knowles. This is your home for the next couple of nights. Situated at the southern end of Tortuguero National Park, Parismina is one of Costa Rica’s best-kept secrets. This idyllic barrier island has no cars or street signs, only sandy paths and colorful houses and inhabitants. The village hosts a grassroots sea turtle hatching project, which is proving its importance to the survival of these beautiful marine reptiles. We stay in spacious, modern rooms at the Caribbean Lodge on the riverside.

You can relax on the beach and soak in your new atmosphere. Or we can jump in a boat and motor down a short distance to the RainForest World Parismina Reserve. We’ll take a guided trek through the jungle where we will be surrounded by myriad tree and plant species and may spot many animals including up to three types of monkeys, sloths and birds like green parrots and sea eagles. Emerge from the jungle to our oceanfront coconut grove where you can swim and where we can knock down a couple coconuts and pick some key limes to make our traditional “lime-in-the-coconut” rum drinks. Then we can walk back to Parismina about a mile up the beach with the sun setting on one side and the beautiful Caribbean ocean on the other.

Dinner will be at the beachfront Cariblanco lodge. After dinner we will visit a private Paca (in Costa Rican: “tepezcuintles”) breeding project to have a look at and hand feed these adorable nocturnal creatures.

Stay at: Caribbean Lodge. Included meals: B, L, D

And, for those who don’t like to get any rest on their vacation whatsoever, we have dawn surfcasting for snook with Rick!

Coffee and Breakfast right there at Rick’s and then we’re off on a waterborne wildlife safari in Rick’s boat. We will motor north through the canals to the Jalova entrance of Tortuguero National Park. We’ll stop at the visitor center there where you can learn more about the area, and then we will hike the Toucan Trail through the Jungle. Then it’s back in the boat for an EXCLUSIVE tour up the Rio California. Rick expertly navigates up through the currents in this pristine tropical paradise WHERE NO OTHER TORTUGUERO OUTFITTER GOES! Rio California is the habitat for monkeys, sloths, caimans, crocs, and many birds including exotic tiger herons and anhingas. It is also where the tarpon go to breed, and it is not unusual to see them boiling around next to the banks. All in all, a very special tour. Lunch is at the Tres Canal Restaurant under an immense palenque. And then it’s back to Parismina where you have free time to relax and enjoy the beach. Surf kayaking is available.

After dinner at Rick’s, if you have the energy and the turtles are nesting, you can take an OPTIONAL private trip to the southern beach of Tortuguero National Park with a trained and certified National Park Turtle Guide to view marine turtles digging nests and laying eggs. Incredible! This private tour is far better than the often-overcrowded public tours at the northern park entrance. (The Turtle Tour is OPTIONAL in season, only $30 per person extra, 2-person minimum. SEASON: Leatherback turtles in small numbers - February to July, peak mid-April to mid-May. Green turtles in large numbers – July to mid-October, peak late July to late August. Hawksbill turtles sporadically – March to October. You do not need to make a decision for this OPTION until the day of the tour.)

Stay at: Caribbean Lodge. Included meals: B, L, D

After breakfast we pack up and combine the Pacuare Canal Crocodile Tour with our return trip to the marina at Cano Blanco. Rick just might get out of the boat and catch a crocodile for you if you ask real nice.

From Cano Blanco we take a scenic drive back to San Jose, passing through the spectacular Braulio Carrillo National Park along the way. In San Jose we’ll get you settled in at Hotel Don Carlos, a beautifully remodeled mansion with 33 individually unique, comfortable rooms. It is centrally located only five blocks from the Avenida Central pedestrian mall. The hotel will provide a welcome cocktail, free Internet, and a Jacuzzi. Their gift shop is one of the city’s best. The evening is yours. If you wish, enjoy the nightlife of Costa Rica’s capital city with your choice of many discos and casinos or relax in one of the trendy restaurants. Or walk the pedestrian mall and stop for coffee and ice cream. You may want to take a taxi to El Pueblo, which is a quaint and entertaining collection of restaurants, shops and bars in an old Spanish-style complex.

Stay at: Hotel Don Carlos. Included meals: B, L, D