Day 1: SAN JOSÉ 

Your first adventure is clearing customs and walking through the maze at the airport where we will meet you. Your group will then decide the intensity of your mountain biking to match your level of enthusiasm.

Day 2: IRAZÚ TO TURRIALBA

Your guide will pick everyone up at the hotel at 8:00 to start heading toward the wilder parts of Costa Rica. It’s your first chance to get really sweaty, and possibly use some excess adrenaline. You’ll bike 30 kilometers from Irazú to Turrialba Volcanoes, passing through villages and streams and into cloud forest (that’s VERY different from rain forest!), starting at 4,500 feet and reaching 8,800 feet above sea level. The route runs from extreme to benign, from steep to flat, from open terrain to remote isolation. We have a whole day, and can make two different forays into the hinterlands, starting with a moderate three-hour run through nestled villages and large farms, and, after everyone agrees that they want more pedal pushing, hit a harder trail for the afternoon. We’re sleeping on the side of the active Turrialba Volcano, with comfortable shelters and an open-air vista that overlooks Turrialba’s city lights from 1,500 feet above. 

Day 3: CANYONING

Canyoning requires trust, sure feet, and some basic skills that we will teach you. Canyoning in Costa Rica is unlike anywhere else you may have tried it. The jungle makes all the difference! We have a series of waterfalls (one of our canyon choices features 18 separate waterfalls), so clear and sparkling that you are tempted to drink it as you descend on foot, with straps, in harnesses and on ropes and carabiners and figure eights, sometimes using your feet, sometimes using your knees, and often using your butt. With sunshine and giant trees and glorious birds and butterflies all around you, it sure beats a climbing gym. Then back to the camp. 

Day 4: CABECAR

While hiking in the frontier country near Cabecar settlements, we often encounter Indigenous people in this area. This is a REAL (no manicured trails) hike that involves slippery and wet terrain, muddy jungle trails, machetes, and humidity. At the same time, this trek offers a true insight into the fascinating world of the tropical rainforest and how people survive and enjoy themselves in these areas. We will hike through virgin rainforest as well as ranches belonging to these Native Americans. The hike lasts about 5 to 6 hours, depending on the pace, and is an estimated 12 kilometers in rugged mountain environment. (Note: Please do not compare this type foot travel with hiking distances on trails or roads. A proper description would be “bushwhacking” rather than simply hiking.). 

Day 5: ZIP LINES IN THE JUNGLE

The canopy tour is the most famous Costa Rica adventure tour. Strap on the harness, clip on the carabiners, and hook yourself onto the cable. Then zip – sometimes as fast as 20 miles an hour -- from one platform to the next, suspended in forest trees. This is a pure adrenaline activity, and an excuse to get outdoors in the forest. 

Day 6: THE PACUARE RIVER

The final challenge is the magnificent Pacuare – 19 miles of Class IV white-water rafting. You’ll be pleased with all the earlier teamwork you’ve developed over the past week, because now you can take on some of the big challenges in this river, knowing exactly how each person will react, how to look out for your team members, how they will look out for you. And of course you will swim here, too, there will be a rescue kayaker right next to you when you fall in (we know the tough spots, and your safety kayaker is standing by with the right equipment to be sure you exit the water, laughing at yourself). Pure adrenaline and you’ll be amazed at what you have experienced. This is one day, if none other, you'll tell your grandchildren about. After the river we’re going directly back to San José, and your last evening in the capital city will be a great time to carouse and share stories, exchange addresses and photos and promises to return next year for another week of adrenaline and sore muscles. 

Day 7: SAN JOSÉ AND DEPARTURE

Your departure is today, alas! Yes, you’ll have bruises and probably road rash and lumps to prove you were here, and really alive for a whole week.

Getting into the natural environment is more than eco tourism, it means eco immersion. See it, hear it, smell it. Wandrian Adventures and our partners in Costa Rica takes you to places to see the bigger picture, to understand the delicate balance of nature, the connections between animals, plants, water, weather, earth, soil, industry, and humans. We’re specialists in reaching the parts of Costa Rica inaccessible to tour buses and large groups. Our guide-intensive expeditions awaken your spirit and challenge your mind and body, giving you more than pretty images to remember.

We introduce you to our friends — farmers and environmentalists and people outside of tourism’s magnetic circle. We see how plants are raised in permaculture farms, or enter indigenous villages to see the natural environment through the eyes of people who live with it every day. We visit coffee mills, cacao plantations, and tropical research centers working on medicinal plants and sustainable agriculture products. We contrast this with areas where the land is being raped by international fruit companies. We do this because it helps you understand the commercial pressures on the land and how enlightened users are working to protect it. In Costa Rica, what we do with you depends entirely on your priorities.