Costa Rica Special Birthday Holiday

Some of my lovely customers recently went on a big family holiday to Costa Rica in June and were kind enough to send me a blog about the trip. Below is their story about the once in a lifetime Family trip to Costa Rica: We approached Johno with broad ideas of what we wanted for our families ‘big birthdays holiday’ in 2023. He absolutely smashed it with keeping teens & their old folks happy. We played with a couple of ideas, tweaked locations & dates & prices with an ever patient Johno, settling on Costa Rica. Staying in hotels/resorts which is not our usual form of holiday, but with confidence in Johno, we embraced the organised Travel App & schedules for our travels, handed over passport & info needed & Johno sorted flights, tour operators, transfer, accommodation & trips. Easy! We arrived in San Jose, the local operators had been keeping an eye on our delayed flights & were there to pick us up & take us to our first hotel. We were met in person the next morning, by the lovely Evelyn who took care of us from then until we were at the airport on our return – she answered all our questions on culture, language & the hows & whens of Costa Rican life – she was then on WhatsApp to tell us about weather, offering ideas on trips, letting us know when the driver would pick us up, advice on where to eat etc. Just amazing! No pushiness just genuinely there to help. Johno balanced adventure, travel to see different places, & not too long in private/ shared transfers perfectly for us. Our first stop was Arenal volcano, a beautiful resort - Montana de Fuego, with views of the volcano, onsite restaurant, pools & thermal hot spring pools. Spacious individual bungalows, with big comfy beds & deliciously cooling aircon. Temperatures & humidity are wonderful but still a bit of a shock when you come from Scotland. A walking tour up on the lava flow with informative guides, who are happy to show you the wildlife & flora as they go. We saw our first sloth en route! Thrilling white water rafting – a definite must, fun rafting guides who navigate the rapids, hauling those that fall in back into the raft(!), some swimming, lots of splashing, fruit stop on the beach & full beam grins from us all, captured in the photos. As we were here for 3 nights we managed to fit in another walking tour – hanging bridges, above & within the rainforest canopy – spectacular flora & fauna with knowledgeable & enthusiastic guides – well worth doing. Listening & watching the birdlife & monkeys from the balcony with a cup of Costa Rican coffee, was fabulous in the morning & watching fireflies & geckos at night Our next transfer, was shared mini bus to Arenal lake, which we crossed on a foot passenger ferry & collected by another driver on the other side. Up the windy roads up to the cloud forest, so called for being in rain – must have known we had our fair share in Scotland, so rained around us & never on us! El Establo mountain a large resort, big spacious rooms & views over the mountains to the sea, with huge skies & amazing sunsets & lightning storm shows. Fabulous breakfasts with tropical fruits, typical local foods & plenty to do at the resort with a pool & further up the resort, tennis courts & a restaurant. We did the exhilarating looong ziplines from the top of the mountain & again, a fun family day, usually followed by needing to eat & later a wee nap, as the adrenaline deficit kicks in ?? Our last week was spent surfing, snorkelling, drinking cocktails & appreciating shady spots on the beach, in Tamarindo at Wyndham. Temperatures were up to 33C, humidity high & although the sea was warm, still refreshing. The hotel had fabulous view towards the ocean as it was high up on a hill, stunning pool with a pool bar, they have a free shuttle service to their beach club & a downtown drop off for a huge selection of restaurants to choose from. Wonderful shady trees & loungers on the beach, with use of their pool & restaurant. Perfect combo. We did a fantastic catamaran snorkelling trip with dinner, complimentary rainbow & spectacular sunset, as you sip you mocktail, cocktail or beer. Snorkelling was amazing – we saw eagle rays, colourful fish & coral, & from the boat, humpback whales & dolphins. Magical. The people of Costa Rica are really genuine gracious people, friendly, without being overbearing. Proud of their country, free medical & education system, very socially aware & produce all their own electricity! Exporting superb coffee & sugar(cane),pineapples & tropical plants that we buy in the UK. The main language is Spanish, but they are very accommodating with trying as much English as they can. They import a lot, so most consumables & food is expensive. A trip of a lifetime, we all had an incredible time – 2 out of the 4 came back with golden tans! 4 out of 4 put on some pounds! Rested & restored … once we get over the jetlag. Johno thank you! Happy du Toit family, who have celebrated all birthdays well x