Nicaragua and Costa Rica
Culture, Nature & a little bit of Luxury
January 7-17, 2025
Rain Forests. Beaches. Waterfalls. Bridges. Volcanoes. That's Nicaragua/Costa Rica!
Two amazing countries, filled with friendly people, an abundance of wildlife, and natural beauty. We will fly into Liberia airport in Costa Rica, travel north just over the border to San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua, and then back to Costa Rica to tour the Lake Arenal region. Unlike most KWT trips, we will be staying in a combination of houses and small motels so we can live like the locals as much as possible and not just as tourists.
Sustainable Tourism
As stated on Costa Rica's visitors home page, "Sustainability is not a practice in Costa Rica; it is a way of life!" Costa Rica is one of the most ecologically diverse countries on earth. The government is committed to encouraging sustainable tourism while still protecting the biodiversity of the country. To that end, no more that 7% of natural parks are open to the public. Most of the green areas are protected in their natural state. Costa Rica received the Champions of the Earth award, the United Nation's highest environmental award, for its role in protecting nature and its commitment to combating climate change.
Nicaragua also holds sustainability as an important goal. The government of Nicaragua has made important strides in the development and implementation of climate change and economic and social policies. One of these actions is Nicaragua’s National Climate Change Policy 2022-2026 (Política Nacional de Cambio Climático, or PNCC) which establishes a strategic national framework and guidelines to mitigate the causes of climate change.
Initial Itinerary
Our itinerary allows you to take some time for yourself to either relax by the pool or beach, or go off on a different activity that might not appeal to the whole group. It provides the perfect combination of relaxing vacation, sight-seeing tours and cultural experiences. (KWT reserves the right to make changes to the itinerary if needed.)
Activity level for this trip: Moderate - you must be able to carry your own luggage, climb stairs, get in and out of vans & boats, and walk through the rain forest. (Women with mobility issues would probably have difficulty with this trip and should consult their physicians.)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7th
We fly out on January 7th. All travelers should fly into Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR), aiming to arrive early afternoon. This airport is fairly close to the Nicaraguan border, making this two-nation adventure logistically feasible. We will be met at the airport by our guide for the first half of our trip, Dr. Eric Olson. Eric is a bilingual biologist who has been studying and teaching about tropical forests for over forty years. Now retired from teaching, he has moved to Nicaragua to work on a variety of projects, including
re-growing a tropical rain forest from scratch. I am also lucky enough to call him my friend. Eric will share with us his vast knowledge of the tropics and what both Costa Rica and Nicaragua are doing to fight the climate crisis. Unlike most of our trips where we stay in homes in every place we visit, this trip will start with one night in Liberia in a motel. We will each get our own room and bathroom! Click here to see more photos. We'll relax and settle in before having dinner together. We have booked the entire motel and will have a chance to meet the owners who will provide a lovely breakfast for us the next morning. (Meals: D)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8th
After breakfast, we'll head out to San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua. Along the way, we will stop at the Rincón de la Vieja National Park. We'll take a short hike on the Las Pailas trail to observe secondary volcanic activity such as fumaroles, boiling water lagoons and mud pails. Once over the border and in San Juan Del Sur we will spend two nights at a lovely villa, just a 5 minute walk from the beach, with 6 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. Click here to see more photos. A private chef is coming to the house to prepare dinner for us. (Meals: B, L, D)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10th
After breakfast, we'll check out of our house and start our day with a walk to see El Christo, a popular tourist attraction in San Juan del Sur.
We'll then take the ferry to Ometepe Island, where we will spend the next two nights.
Click here to see photos of where we are staying. (Meals: B,L,D)
SUNDAY, JANUARY 12th
We leave the island and head to the Costa Rican border, for the drive to La Fotuna. It is a long drive, but we will break it up with a stop at Las Pumas Rescue Center and Sanctuary. Las Pumas is dedicated to caring for rescued wild animals, rehabilitating them and releasing them. Once in La Fortuna, we will check into our home for the next 4 nights. We will be staying in a lovely home with 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. Click here for more pictures. We'll relax at the house and a chef will come in to prepare our dinner.
(Meals: B,L,D)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14th
Today is a free day to do whatever you want to do (at your own expense.) You may want a day to just chill by the pool, or head out to do something wild. It's up to you. If we need her, I have lined up Beth to take us around. There is so much to choose from, including visiting a butterfly farm and frog farm, walking up and down 500 steps to get down to the waterfall (yikes!), and, of course, ziplining. We'll discuss this on a zoom call before the trip.
(Meals B)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16TH
We'll drive back to Liberia today and spend one final night at the motel where we started. We'll be sure to stop somewhere along the way to break up the drive.
(Meals: B,L,D)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 17TH
Sadly, our trip comes to an end as we fly home to reality. We've made new friends and shared an experience we will not soon forget.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 9th
SATURDAY, JANUARY 11th
We are in for a delightful day today, cooking and hanging out with locals. Eric's friend Meg has a restaurant on Ometepe and has arranged for us to have a cooking lesson. We will start cooking at 9:30am, enjoying conversation and snacking until we finally sit down to share our creations around 1:30. After our lunch, we'll take a short walk to Charco Verde a 20 hectare ecological reserve, a tropical dry forest which is home to an abundance of wildlife.
(Meals: B,L,D)
MONDAY, JANUARY 13th
Today we'll have a relaxing morning at the house/pool. After lunch at home, our new tour guide, Bethshiva, the first woman to become a certified tour guide in Costa Rica, will pick us up to take us out on the mellow waters of the Peñas Blancas river for a relaxing float downstream by raft and paddle. The riverside is a great way to experience the rich ecosystem. This experience will give us the opportunity to observe monkeys, birds, sloths, caimans, bats, iguanas and various other species. We'll stop for a fruit snack along the way.
(Meals: B,L,D)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15th
We'll start the day with a jolt of caffine and sugar! We will visit a coffee farm and learn about the entire coffee process, from seed to the delicious cup. We will hen, we will join a "hands on" tour of a chocolate factory to learn interesting aspects of cocoa and chocolate, from its origin and history to the production process.
After lunch, we will enjoy the rain forest from a different perspective, the hanging bridges. This 2-mile, 2-hour tour will take us over 16 bridges and give us the opportunity to see thousands of species that inhabit the rain forest, trees, flowers, plants, insects, mammals, reptiles, frogs and more.
(Meals: B,L,D)
