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Day 1 Arrive in Costa Rica's capital 'San Jose' May 30,2010 Welcome drink & orientation meeting with the Tour Director. Overnight in the Best Western Hotel |
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Day 2 Costa Rica Landscape of plantations en route to Arenal |
Day 2 Costa Rica Landscape of plantations |
Day 2 Roadside venders |
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Day 2 The Zarcero Catholic church & Park in the Village of Zarcero |
Day 2 This park has some outstanding formations |
Day 2 The dinosaur |
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Day 2 Bird |
Day 2 The odd formation |
Day 2 The Catholic Church |
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Day 2 Tour director with the school kids |
Day 2 Visit a local primary school |
Day 2 The kids performed several dances that are unique to Costa Rica |
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Day 2 The kids sang the Cost Rica's National Anthem |
Day 2 The kids also sang the United States National Anthem |
Day 2 Good Bye! The visit to the school was a real treat as everyone really enjoyed it |
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Day 3 One of Costa Rica's volcanoes. Overnight in Arenal |
Day 3 Arenal Volcano |
Day 3 Climbing Arenal Volcano |
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Day 3 On top of the first summit of Arenal Volcano |
Day 3 This is as far as we can go without getting hot feet |
Day 3 All of the tour members made it to the top |
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Day 3 Time for a break after the long climb |
Day 3 Hero! I made it to the top over lava rocks |
Day 3 Pose time |
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Day 3 View of the 22 mile long lake form the volcano |
Day 3 This lake is used for hydro electric power |
Day 3 The lake is also used for boating, sailing & fishing |
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Day 3 Another volcano |
Day 3 Volcano in action |
Day 3 Real Costa Rican cowboy |
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Day 3 Orientation for the Penas Blancas safari boat cruise in Arenal |
Day 3 Cruising down the river in Arenal |
Day 3 Stopped to observe some monkeys in the trees above. We learned to be sure and not get directly under the monkey tribe |
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Day 3 Leaving the Casa Luna Lodge in Arenal. This stop was an unforgettable experience |
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Day 4 This was our next hotel in Monteverde |
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Day 4 Tour of a local sugarcane/coffee farm |
Day 4 Coffee beans stored for drying |
Day 4 Collected in these containers |
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Day 4 This was the original method to process sugarcane |
Day 4 Oxen are used to haul the sugar cane, coffee beans and people |
Day 4 Process for making sugarcane candy |
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Day 5 Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve tour and the Selvatura Park |
Day 5 Costa Rican Humming Bird |
Day 5 Humming Birds in action |
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Day 5 Selvatura Canopy Tour with the instructor giving orientation directions for the zip line |
Day 5 Photo of the tour group that was brave enough to go on the zip line |
Day 5 Moving to the first platform for "lift off" |
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Day 5 This was great fun |
Day 5 Crew picture |
Day 5 Crew picture |
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Day 5 Tarzan swing was awesome. You jump off a 60 foot platform and hope the swing rope does not break |
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Day 5 After the first fall it is a great ride |
Day 5 The crew slows you down |
Day 5 They use a rubber tube for the final stop |
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Day 5 The tour takes place in the rain forest |
Day 5 It was raining but we managed to stay dry |
Day 5 View of the canopy |
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Day 6 This was a stop on the way to Tamarindo on the Pacific Coast |
Day 6 The Rescue shelter has jungle cats such as jaguars, ocelots, margays, & cougars. Other animals included all three types of monkeys plus other native animals |
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Day 6 Costa Rican frog |
Day 6 The farmers plant a branch from a certain tree and it takes root and becomes a fence tree |
Day 7 The Tamarindo Diria Beach & Golf Resort on the Pacific coast in the town of Tamarindo |
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Day 7 View of the ocean from the hotel room |
Day 7The beach in front of the hotel |
Day 7 The beach in front of the hotel |
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Day 7 The outrigger is a 40 foot canoe equipped with outriggers for stability |
Day 7 The outrigger optional tour in the Pacific ocean |
Day 7 The outrigger optional tour in the Pacific ocean |
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Day 7 The outrigger optional tour in the Pacific ocean |
Day 7 This tour included a 1 1/2 hour snorkel trip in the ocean |
Day 8 After leaving Tamarindo we stopped in Sarchi in route to San Jose |
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Day 8 Sarchi is a famous artisan town known for its colorful oxcarts & souvenirs |
Day 8 The flower garden at Sarchi is outstanding as shown by the photos |
Day 8 Another view of the flower garden |
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Day 8 This bird was injured and unable to fly. It was revived by the folks in Sarchi and remains as a pet |
Day 8 In addition to the bird there is a butterfly exhibit in Sarchi |
Day 8 One of the tropical plants in Sarchi |
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Day 8 Park in one of the towns |
Day 8 Park in one of the towns Overnight in San Jose before departing to Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast |
Day 9 Pachira Lodge at Tortuguero on the Caribbean Coast |
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Day 9 Cabin 27 at Pachira Lodge |
Day 9 Docks at Pachira Lodge |
Day 9 Pool rules at Pachira Lodge |
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Day 9 Waterfall & pool at Pachira Lodge |
Day 9 Monkey in the yard at Pachira Lodge |
Day 9 Orientation talk about turtles on the Caribbean beach |
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Day 10 Insects found in the Costa Rican jungle |
Day 10 Insects found in the Costa Rican jungle |
Day 10 Insects found in the Costa Rican jungle |
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Day 10 Loading for a boat tour of the canals through the jungle |
Day 10 A real crocodile |
Day 10 He plans to wait for our next visit |
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Day 10 Typical tree filled with jungle animals. |
Day 10 This is the jungle, filled with trees, plants and vines |
Day 11 Return to San Jose for overnight before boarding an airplane for home on Day 12 |
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Day 12 Return home on June 10, 2010 after a great tour of Costa Rica Thanks! GATE1 TRAVEL COMPANY |
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Arenal Volcano |