Tailor made Costa Rica highlights holiday

Environment

On this tour you will be staying in some fantastic accommodation which is focused on sustainability and protecting the local environment. Mawamba lodge has within its gardens butterfly farms, a frog garden, a bio-digester and river turtles' area. In Monteverde Country Lodge, sewage is recycled, water and electricity is used responsibly and the lodge supports community projects to reduce child exploitation and deforestation. Guests can take part in the reforestation program during their stay.

We have a strict environmental policy to make sure that the environments we visit are not damaged in any way. Our “Leave No Trace” ethic is applied to each one of our trips, and as a responsible tour operator, it is something we are careful and steadfast about promoting. Each one of our guides are trained to uphold, promote and put into practice such responsible behaviour, especially in wilderness areas or whilst traveling to UNESCO heritage sites, which many of our trips undoubtedly do. We attempt to reduce plastic bottle use wherever possible by promoting use of reusable bottles. We understand this is not always possible in countries where tap water is not safe to drink.

We attempt to reduce plastic bottle use wherever possible by promoting use of reusable and filtered water bottles. Our partnership with Water-To-Go provides a discount on filtered water bottles to our clients. We do not provide water from plastic bottles to our clients in country but always ensure there is regular access to drinking water on our tours.

When you take one of our tours, me make a contribution to ‘Carbon Clear’ – an organisation devoted to ‘offsetting’ or ‘neutralising’ harmful greenhouse gas emissions caused by your flights. This is done by funding projects across the world that will reduce greenhouse gases on our behalf through sustainable energy or rain forestation.

Community

On this particular trip, you will be participating in a Chocolate tour to learn the artisanal process of harvesting, drying and grinding the cocoa beans and learn why cocoa was so important to the Mayas, Aztecs and Caribbean pirates. Tours of this nature ensure the preservation of traditional techniques of cultivation and the cultural connections to these techniques. You will then enjoy dinner in a local restaurant owned by the wonderful Miss Junnie, who has lived the village her whole life. Supporting the local food industry in Costa Rica not only maintains the cultural identity of Costa Rica but connects cultures through the most ancient of pastimes, eating!

You will also visit Don Juan Farm and his farm in the Arenal area to learn about sustainable agriculture (Don Juan Farm uses no pesticides and attracts a variety of bird species) and traditional sugar processing. Finca Don Juan invites you into his family home and will take you on a tour of the plantation before sitting you down for a delicious mouth-watering lunch made with some of the products he produces. Excursions like this connect tourists to the local community to cross boundaries and make tourism beneficial to locals, providing income into the local economy.

You will be visiting 3 National Parks and protected Cloud forest to discover the wonderful wildlife of Costa Rica. The country is in the forefront of eco-tourism and protection of the natural environment, with nature having a legal standpoint in court. Visiting this country and its national park’s ensures the continued protection of flora and fauna in Costa Rica, as well as providing income to the local economy through eco-tourism. The park’s ensure wildlife is protected through raised platforms, allowing you to view wildlife in the canopy and not disturb the protected environment below.