Costa Rica: San Jose and Beyond, The Perfect Family Vacation with Thomson Family Adventures.
Any family vacation in Costa Rica will not just be delightful and rewarding it will be amazing fun. The country offers awesome wildlife encounter, gorgeous beaches, cool cloud forests, amazing volcanoes, and world famous Tico hospitality.
Costa Rica has been welcoming families for decades. I can say that with certainty because I have found memories of our family taking the Irazu Volcano Tour from our hotel. Now it is true we thought were going to the city center but nevertheless since we boarded the wrong mini coach we were committed to the volcano. It was the beginning of a terrific week making new friends, smelling volcano rocks, seeing sea turtles, sloths, huge iguanas, and tasting scrumptious
papas fritas (potato fries),
jugo de coco (cocoanut juice), and
arroz con frijoles (rice with beans).
Here's the scoop. For North Americans Costa Rica is a sure bet for a family adventure
sans jet lag. Just how cool is it? I am happy to share the observations of Stephen who recently participated in a Thomson Family Adventures tour in Costa Rica with his family.
Costa Rica: Stephen Family Vacation Observations. Over winter break, my mother, my father, and my sister and I went to Costa Rica. It was one of the best vacations I have ever been on. I had an interesting time and learned a lot from our tour guide, Jorge who was always smiling and welcoming, as a guide should be.
On the first day, we flew in to the San Jose airport and stayed at the Hotel Bougainvillea, which had outstanding gardens that we explored in the morning. The first day was short and quick, but the second day was just around the corner. On Sunday, we woke up in Hotel Bougainvillea and had a popular Costa Rican dish called
gallo pinto (rice and black beans) served with fresh tortillas for breakfast. I had never had fresh tortillas before, but they were amazing! After eating we drove east towards the Caribbean coast, over the continental divide. The driving felt like it took forever, and we were all still tired from the previous day’s traveling. We stopped at a small market, and a banana plantation to see how they worked. The small market was pretty interesting because of how it was set up outdoors.
We later boarded a boat with about 30 other people and journeyed out to Tortuguero. Skimming through the water, my sister and I took many photos of the trees and flowers as we passed. After checking in to Anhinga Lodge, we took another boat to the Sea Turtle Conservation Center. There I learned about why sea turtles are important to Costa Rica. We went to the nearby beach, and bought coconut water from a beach side vendor. He was very good at slicing the coconuts, and I was scared to get too close because of the gigantic machete he used. We explored Tortuguero town a little bit, but it was soon time to go back to our hotel and sleep. Shops, playgrounds, children, and dogs filled the streets of Tortuguero town. I really liked Tortuguero town because it reminded me of Burlingame Avenue, quite close to my home.
On day three, it rained very hard a while, but the weather was nice for our 5:30 am boat ride. We rode into the national park with Jorge and Michael, our boat driver. We saw caiman, colorful birds and howler monkeys. We returned to our hotel for a lovely breakfast. We then kayaked for the rest of the morning. I love kayaking. I really liked this part of our trip because it was much different from kayaking in California. In California, the sun is always shining in your eyes and the water is much more open and wide. In Costa Rica, we kayaked in small, narrow waterwa
ys with lovely shade from the trees above protecting us from the sun. In the afternoon, we relaxed for a while and swam in the hotel’s turtle-shaped pool until we went on another boat ride into the park. This time we saw river otter, sloth, bats, eyelash viper, and caiman. My favorite animal we saw this time was the river otter, because I never thought I’d see one in Costa Rica, and the eyelash viper really stood out because of its yellow color in the green plants.
At 7 am the next morning we flew back to San Jose on a small airplane. I ordinarily hate airplanes but this was different. This was the first time I had ever been on such a small aircraft, and I actually thought it was pretty cool. We then drove through San Jose to Irazu Volcano, elevation 11,000+ feet. Irazu Volcano was very nice because of its big craters. We ate lunch on the mountain, and then drove to Costa Rica’s largest archeological site, which was a market center 1,000 years ago. The archeological site was amazing. We saw all sorts of remains from the past. Rocks were everywhere and leaf cutter ants stretched for what seemed to be miles in just one line. The ants were fantastic but they sort of spooked me out in a way. The line of ants was almost the exact length of our trail, and there were so many of them! At the end of the day we checked into Casa Turire outside of Turrialba.
The next day we went white water rafting on the Pacuare River with our guide Pablo. One word describes this event – epic. The water splashed us and tossed us around, but thankfully no one fell out. This was so fun and we all enjoyed it. I learned how to maneuver the raft and quickly got used to the feeling. We stopped to have a snack and play in the water for a few minutes. During that break, I skipped stones in the water and had a great time.
After driving back from the river, we ate lunch overlooking the farms of the Turrialba Valley. In the evening we visited Rancho Naturalista to see all sorts of hummingbirds. We even saw a mouse that would come out every minute to get a bite to eat. Afterwards we came back to our hotel and slept like logs.
On Thursday, we visited the Central Market in Cartago to see local produce. I had never seen so many fruits and vegetables anywhere in my life. We later took a flight to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast. From the airport we walked to Titi Zipline. In the jungle, we rode on lines 1,000 to 1,500 feet, and rappelled down from a platform. This might be the best family thing we’ve ever done together. The wind brushed against our faces during the zipline and each of our hearts all pounded on the very first line. It was really fun and exciting but scary too. Then we went to Hotel Parador high on a cliff above the ocean. We often saw spider monkeys peek out of the trees at Hotel Parador.
The next day we hiked through Manuel Antonio National Park to the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. It was wonderful. The water was warm and we had hermit crab races on the beach. Jorge spotted a sloth at Anaconda Restaurant, later we left to go to our hotel. I had a fever in the evening, but it broke by 10 pm. I hated being sick in Costa Rica. Feeling sick at home is bad enough, but it just felt horrible to have to lie in bed during our adventure.
We packed up in the morning and drove to Jaco for lunch by the beach. We took the Tarcoles River ride to see American crocodiles, and many magnificent birds. We even saw two scarlet macaws. I was worried that a crocodile would leap into the boat and bite my head off, but my fear was turned to excitement once I was taking pictures of all these brilliant creatures. We drove over the mountains and back to San Jose and Hotel Bougainvillea for dinner.
On Sunday morning, we drove to the airport at 5:30 am and flew to Dallas Fort Worth. We ran as fast as we could to our next flight but missed it. We found a new flight departing at 4:30 pm and arrived home by 8:30 to watch the end of the Oscars.
This has been one of my favorite vacations so far and you just read why. It was magical, outstanding, and almost perfect. It would have been perfect if I hadn’t gotten sick, but you know, stuff happens. For anyone who hasn’t been to Costa Rica, I hope you consider going and have as much fun as I had.
About Thomson Family Adventures. Thomson Family Adventures spans the globe offering unique field experiences for families. Their family adventures are designed to be all inclusive meaning from the moment you arrive you will be taken care of. Everything is included from meals to tips, to park fees -- even comprehensive travel insurance.
Bonus points: Raising citizens of the world takes time and energy. Thomson has a unique way to assist in the process. Their unique “Friends Across Borders” (Pen Pal Program) makes it easy for kids to connect with other kids. During the trip young participants have a memorable meeting with his or her pen pal, whether it’s a soccer game in the jungle, a meal with a local family, learning a local craft with an artisan or participating in a community service project.
Thomson Family Adventures Trip Mentors. In addition to a guide, groups of eight or more travel with a mentor whose job is to engage the kids in fun games and activities including the unique Discovery Challenge created to help to break the ice among families. Mentors make your kids’ adventure complete. To get the whole family excited about your next adventure order the free brochure from the homepage link.
Discovery: Additional family adventures in the Western Hemisphere include tropical adventures in Panama and Belize plus the Galapagos Islands, and Peru.
Make it happen. Thomson Family Adventures 14 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02472. Toll-free 1-800-262-6255, (617)923-2004 or
www.familyadventures.com Content and images provided by Thomson Family Adventures and Stephen, a recet tour participant. Comments by Nancy Nelson-Duac, Founder & Editor FTF. Copyright 2011.
