Its a jungle out there! Tapanti National Forest trailside.The next morning, we were off to CATIE Botanical Gardens. Marco, a CATIE guide and a student there greeted us with a flower and fruit snack. CATIE's mission is to protect and develop the many agricultural resources of Costa Rica including coffee, hearts of palm, and cocoa among other plants of commercial value and utilitarian use Marco gave a presentation explaining many of the important crops in Costa Rica with examples of the fruits on a demonstration table. Did you know that the red color in lipstick comes from the berries of a tree? Bixa orellena and our resident cosmetic sales rep tried it out for us. And did you know Toucans love cacao beans? We saw for ourselves as they flew – almost top heavy with their large bills in the grove of cocoa trees.
But as we toured the gardens, a transformation took place. Slowly but surely, we turned our guide into another La Orquidea Locos! One by one, we started pointing out each and every orchid on the orange trees, the coffee branches, nestled in the star-fruit bush. There was even an orchid seedling on his demonstration table attached to a coffee branch. Soon we knew we had made a convert and I would not be surprised to learn that his future tours include many of the orchids in the agricultural preserve.
Upon the return to Guayabo Lodge- were we done? Of course not! More orchids spotted on the driveway to the Lodge sent us scurrying to take more photos. Clusters of Epidendrum trialatum (as per Lankester) on a tree in a cow field.
Just as she did last time we booked with Adventure Life, Franny really listened to what we wanted for our trip and went the extra mile to help us build the perfect itinerary.
Michelle Resnick
2 months ago
What made our Costa Rica experience great was the wonderful places we stayed and transportation to get to our different areas to visit was excellent! The white water rafting and the snorkeling & dolphin watching were really fun!
Michell Murphy
2 months ago
Adventure Life took care of everything! All we had to do was show up when we were supposed to, which made our first trip to Costa Rica largely stress-free and incredibly fun. Our trip reps, Hannah and Mariethony, were helpful and responsive, getting back to us by email usually within a few hours. Our accommodations were all great, and we got incredibly blessed with some absolutely stellar guides and drivers.
Our Jungle & Beach trip was an excellent balance of adventure and rest. We got to try out a lot of different activities, including snorkeling, hiking, white water rafting and kayaking, while also partaking of some rest around the pool or by the ocean. We enjoyed seeing and exploring the beautiful Caribbean side of the country.
Joy Knowles
3 months ago
The company made our adventure trip hassle-free, and a lot of fun! I will definitely be using them again
Carolena F
3 months ago
For our first trip to Costa Rica, Adventure Life designed a tour that meets the interests, ecological and adventure, of our party; but also takes into account our physical limitations sine we are all septuagenarian. We are looking forward to the trip.