Fodor's Expert Review Rainforest Adventures

Just beyond the northeastern boundary of Braulio Carrillo National Park, about 15 km (9 miles) before the Caribbean-slope town of Guápiles, a 1,200-acre reserve houses a privately owned and operated engineering marvel: a series of gondolas strung together in a modified ski-lift pulley system. Each of the 24 gondolas holds six people plus a bilingual biologist-guide equipped with a walkie-talkie to request brief stops for snapping pictures. The ride covers 2½ km (1½ miles) in 80 minutes. The price includes a biologist-guided walk through the area for ground-level orientation before or after the tram ride. Several add-ons are possible, too, with frog and butterfly exhibits, a medicinal-plant garden, and a zipline canopy tour on-site, as well as a half-day birding tour. There is also on-site lodging. You can arrange a personal pickup in San José for a fee, or there are public buses (on the Guápiles line) every half hour from the Gran Terminal del Caribe in San José. Drivers know the tram as the teleférico. Many San José tour operators offer a day tour that combines the tram with another half-day option; combos with the Britt Coffee Tour, near Heredia, are especially popular. These folks operate a similar facility near the Central Pacific town of Jacó as well as in Panama and the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and St. Maarten.