MargieHar

For LaFortuna what was the best guided tour you did? What company?
For Monteverde - what was the best tour or activity that you did? What company
What would you do again if and when you went back to either area? We are still working on our trip plan for February 6 - 18 2014. Thanks so much for the assistance.

volcanogirl

We use Desafio and Sunset Tours in the La Fortuna area, both excellent with great websites if you want to explore those. The Penas Blancas river float and the Cano Negro tours are nice ways to see wildlife. Cano Negro is all day and Penas Blancas is shorter and more nearby. In Monteverde a guided hike in the Reserve; we just used a guide recommended by our hotel. Most hotels will make a good recommendation for you. A night hike at Hidden Valley is also nice. They provide guides there, and they're excellent.

MargieHar

Can you tell me more about Hidden Valley?

volcanogirl

Sure, it's right there in the Monteverde area. Our tour started about 5:30 and lasted until 7:30. They assigned all of us to groups, and we had a tour guide that hiked around with us. You're in the dark, so they provided us with flashlights. We saw a lot of neat animals. On a lot of night tours, you mostly see insects and frogs, so we were excited to see some things we had never seen before including a porcupine and a fox. The guides carry walkie talkies so they can contact each other if they see something neat and let the other guides know. We booked the tour through our hotel. If I remember correctly, they picked us up at the hotel and dropped us back off afterward. We enjoyed it because Monteverde is kind of sleepy, and it was nice to have an activity at night.

volcanogirl

This might give you some more details.

http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/hidden...ight-tour.html

Pat_Hewitt

I think that "Hidden Valley" is the old Ecological Farm. Whatever they are calling it these days, it is a good tour.

You really want to make sure you spend a morning at the Monteverde Biological Reserve. These guides go through a very stringent training program, and have met some educational requirements before they are even accepted into the program. The result is some of the best guides you will ever encounter. Some of them have even been published in academic publications. With a couple of exceptions, these are the only guides allowed to work in the reserve. To get the most out of your visit, you really want to go with a guide.

You just go to the entrance of the reserve, and pay the $18.00 for admission. To join a small group with a guide, add another $18.00. If you are a small family group or have a special interest, you can hire your own private guide. Figure about $90.00 for three to four hours.

I guess have to mention a dirty little secret here as well. When you go to the front desk to arrange your taxi to the reserve, you might be discouraged from going to the reserve. You may be told that it is the "crowd forest" or that you will not see anything there. They might suggest a great guide that they know, and suggest another private reserve.

Don't buy into this. When you take a taxi to the reserve and hire your own guide, no one makes a commission on your tour. But they WILL get something from the guide they recommend, or it may even be a member of their family. There might be a small commission from the private reserve as well. Front desk staff make the bulk of their income from tour commissions. So you can't blame them for trying.

I am not saying that this is a bad thing. The folks at the front desk are a valuable resource. They have been on the tours and have knowledge to share. They deserve the commission they earn. And you should make some time to check out the other activities, and use local guides. That is how sustainable tourism works.

If you have time, you need to go to other reserves anyway. The main reserve is at the top of the mountain. If you drop down a couple hundred meters you will see a different ecosystem. Take advantage of this biodiversity while you are here.

I guess my bottom line here is that if you go to Monteverde, you need to visit the Monteverde Cloudforest Reserve. It is the reason tourism came to this remote region in the first place, and remains the best reserve in the area.

Whew! Probably more than you needed to know.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer any more advice.

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
Travel Professional