Sarapiqui Rainforest
Full day
Today enjoy a day trip to Hacienda Pozo Azul, an adventure ranch run by a Costa Rican family of horse breeders. Activities included can be chosen from: horseback riding, hiking, white water rafting Class III-IV in Sarapiqui river , and a treetop canopy zip line. Hacienda Pozo Azul also operates a modern and unique dairy where everything is recycled and nothing goes to waste, a butterfly farm and frog pond. Lunch, two activities, transportation and locals guides are included.
Half Day
Morning or afternoon pick-up at your hotel for the OTS La Selva ½ day tour, including round – trip transportation and local guide. The Organization for Tropical Studies (O.T.S.) own a 1560-hectare tropical research station and biological reserve. In this reserve more than 450 species of trees, 400 species of birds, 113 species of mammals, 81 species of reptiles, & 48 species of amphibians have been identified.
3 hours
Visit Tirimbina Rainforest Center for the chocolate tour and discover the wonders behind one of the world’s most tantalizing foods — chocolate! The cacao tree originated in Mesoamerica and has a rich and extraordinary history. The tour includes a guided hike across the Tirimbina hanging bridge to an old cacao plantation, as well as through a forested section where you will observe how the product originally developed there. A guide will reveal the secrets of transforming cacao fruit into chocolate. You’ll see the chocolate-making process first-hand and even have the opportunity to treat your taste buds to real organic rainforest chocolate!
2 hours
Bats represent almost 50% of the mammals in Costa Rica and are important allies of the rainforest by pollinating flowers and transporting seeds. The bat tour consists of a multimedia 30 minute presentation on the natural history of bats, diversity, adaptations, reproduction, threats and more. At the end of the presentation, a trained guide will provide you with a safe opportunity to observe close up some of the bats that were captured during the evening for research projects. Finally, you will visit the site of a demonstration snare net such as is used in bat research, where the method of capturing bats is explained. The careful methods used insure the well-being of the animals.
