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Dear Arturo,

Thank you for your last email in which you said that you hoped that we had enjoyed our tours. I am somewhat late in responding, but we have not been home much since we saw you in San Jose.

We thoroughly enjoyed all of our tours which you arranged- The Rainforest Tram Tour, The Highlights Tour, Irazu Volcano and the Litchfield Gardens, and the City Tour. Your country has beautiful scenery and the guides were all excellent, so I don't have any suggestions for improvement. Keep up the good work! We were delighted that we had the opportunity to take four different tours, and would take them all again if we have the opportunity. I think that your Highlights Tour is aptly named, and my recommendation to anyone who has only one day to spend in San Jose is --Take the Highlights Tour.

We also appreciated your friendliness and responsiveness to our requests, Arturo. Your immediate responses to our emails asking for information, the additional information which you provided in helping us decide on which tours to take, and coming to meet us at the hotel on the morning that we arrived made our visit all the more pleasureable. You certainly extended every effort to make our visit successful, and we thank you for that.

I am attaching two pictures from our visit.

Thank you until we meet again.

Sincerely,

Hey Arturo!

Sorry it took me so long to let you know what a wonderful time we had in Costa Rica. Everything you did was perfect from the car, to Costa Verde, and definitely Tabacon! We had an amazing time in Tamarindo with our friends at Witches Rock Surf Camp and we got to surf every day. We will definitely send some pics and comments very soon.

Thanks so much again and I will definitely refer friends to you and we will use you every time we come back.

Arturo,

We had a wonderful trip. Thank you for all your help. I have been very busy at work so I have not had a chance to take my pictures in for development yet. I will send you some pictures and a note of thanks for your website when I get caught up. Thanks again and I will recommend Rain Forest Tours to all my friends.

I do want to say that Gerardo was a huge reason why our trip was so fun and wonderful! He was a terrific driver and guide. Please tell him hello for me.

Sincerely,

Information Technology Manager
Perry Slingsby Systems, Inc.
www.perryslingsbysystems.com

Arturo thank you for everything. It all went so well.

Tortuguero was an unique place/people/animals etc. did see a baby green turtle make his way to the Caribbean Sea. Atilio was outstanding, couldn't of had a better guide. He made the time exciting for us all. Saw a sloth on the drive up and lots of birds during the boat rides like roseate spoonbills etc. Was a highlight. Food was plentiful and delicious. Really enjoyed the people and culture, so warm and enjoyable.

Time at Arenal was exciting, the clouds cleared one afternoon, so I saw the volcano sputtering and lava flowing (steam) down the sides, during the hike to the lava fields.. a howler monkey crossed our path and we saw a baby pitviper on a leaf..soaking in Mineral Springs was so soothing etc. Nights rained so missed the splendor of that. Had howler monkeys outside my back balcony one morning.

Lastly hiked the Montverde with guide Eric Bello was incredible: saw coati, northern raccoon, quail family, male Resplendent Quetzal, so many birds, plants etc ...I stayed on and hiked the whole afternoon with friends.

At Santa Elena area I joined with guide Gary Dillard lots of birds at entrance from Warbler, Collard Redstart, Common Bush Tanager, even Bare-Shank screen Owl sleeping in a tree, it did rain but we hiked through it...and all the hummingbirds: Green Hermit, Violet Sabrewing, Purple Throated Mountain Gem, Green Crown etc

Met people from Israel, South Africa, France, Holland, Ireland, Spain, Canada etc. and few couples on their honeymoon etc.lots of young people attracted to this country.

I took in lots of film, haven't picked it up as yet. Don't have a digital camera, so I hope they came out.

Adjusting to work and rhythm of life here.

If I ever return would like to explore Manuel Antonio and Osa areas for wildlife. Costa Rica will have continue to hold so many memories.

In thanks,

Arturo,

We had a great time in your country!!!!!!!! The kids will talk about it for years (or until we get back). Just seeing monkeys go from tree to tree and a porcupine with a prehensial (sp?) tail 100' up in a tree eating leaves and orchids growing wild. It was all so great. So many things left to do. I did no kayaking or surfing or Scuba Diving (though I did get in little snokeling). Missed my river trip. So we will be back. People were great. And even found out the hospitals are fantastic.

Arturo,

we had a great time in Costa Rica and we were generally very pleased with the quality of the accomodations and services as well as with the overall arrangements.
I would also like to pass along my highest compliments to the team at the lodge in the Osa Peninsula. That is an absolutely beautiful location, great accomodations, wonderful service and we had the best of times.
Also thanks to you for putting the whole thing together for us. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Dear Arturo,

It was a pleasure meeting you as well. Our trip to Costa Rica was fabulous. All of your arrangements were perfect. The hotels and specifically the rooms we had were very clean, comfortable and had the best views. Thank you very much for not booking us in a huge chain hotel with a casino in San Jose. The hotel in San Jose was lovely and much more our style. The tours and activities were well organized and the guides were knowledgeable and friendly. The white water rafting was exhilarating and my husband can’t stop talking about how great it was. He also very much appreciated having Marcos drive us. He was then able to enjoy the scenery and also learned a lot about your country by asking Marcos a least a million questions. We are definitely planning to come back again as we weren’t quite ready to come home. Thank you for making our trip so enjoyable!

Arturo -

Again, thank you for everything. Our trip was amazing and unforgettable, and we really feel that we got to see a lot of the beautiful country. All the people and arrangements were fantastic. We especially enjoyed the hotels at Osa Peninsula and Manuel Antonio, which was a fantastic place to end the journey. We will be sure to send you some photos from the rest of the trip, which was really one highlight after another. We truly appreciate all of your guidance and would certainly recommend Rain Forest Tours to our friends.

Best regards,

Hi Arturo,

Thank you for organizing our trip - we had a fabulous time. Costa Rica is truly beautiful!
I tried to send you some photos, but they came back to me - failure to deliver - maybe it takes up too much space.

Thank you again for a wonderful trip!

Arturo

We had a great time on our recent trip to Costa Rica. A beautiful country with very friendly people.

The organisation was superb and we would have no hesitation in recommending your services to anybody in the UK.

We would not hesitate to use Rain Forest Tours again

Thanks again

Dear Arturo,

Thank you so much for helping plan one of the most exciting trips we have ever taken! We loved Costa Rica and could not have asked for a better honeymoon. We'll be back and we will tell all of our friends about you!

The Happy Couple

Dear Arturo,

I have been meaning to write you and thank you for helping us arrange our trip to Costa Rica earlier this month. As you know we were an extended group of family members that includes children, teens, and adults. Everybody had a wonderful and memorable vacation. We were happily surprised by the bus that promptly awaited us at the airport. It was very comfortable, cool, and clean and our driver, Marcos, exceptional in every way. We were able to do quite a lot in the week we were there.
Arenal Volcano was slightly uncooperative the first night, but the second night provided a spectacular, although brief, light show which left those who were fortunate enough to view it in absolute awe. Our hotel, was modest but clean and comfortable, and the younger members of the group especially enjoyed the water slides, pools, and the crocodile farm. We took a horseback ride to the waterfall, which I wouldn't do again, at least without having a clear understanding beforehand of what it involves. We had three crossings, the third of which was the most challenging going down a steep and very muddy embankment through a small river. I just hung on for dear life and prayed the horse would get me across. My eight year old daughter couldn't muster up the courage to do it herself, so the guide carried her across on his back and pulled the two horses behind him. Although she had ridden horses before, this ride shook her confidence a little bit. Once we got to the waterfall, we enjoyed it immensely. The waterfall is gorgeous and those who didn't mind the cold water pool at the bottom of the falls, enjoyed it as well. The horseback ride back to the stables took us through a much more pleasant route of mostly paved road.

From Arenal, our driver took us to Tamarindo Beach with a stop for a canopy tour, which was very fun and great because even the youngest members of our group were able to enjoy it. Once in Tamarindo, the hotel there was just as nice and relaxing as we remembered it from out past visit there except it seemed better staffed and organized than last year. It was great for the surfers who so anxiously awaited to get to the waves. And for those of us who didn't surf there was plenty to keep us busy--swimming, kayaking, ping pong, games, water aerobics and dancing at night. It is a great family destination. We did venture into town a couple of times to shop and use the Internet facilities.

One of the highlights of the trip was the river rafting trip that we took out of San Jose to the Pacuare. I personally didn't go, but those of our group who were able to go, had a fantastic time. They came back thrilled and telling a lot of stories about their adventures. They highly recommend it and I hope to be able to experience it on my next visit to Costa Rica.

Thank you, once again, for your help. I appreciated being able to get in touch with you at any time during our trip, which as you know questions do come up and minor glitches happen here and there, but everything was taken care of easily enough. My husband enjoyed himself so much more this time, not having to be responsible for doing all the driving. He was able to relax for once. I lastly wanted to thank you for hanging in there with me through the whole planning process. I know I wrote you a lot of e-mails, but you always responded promptly and that is one of the reasons I decided to use your travel agency. I will absolutely recommend your services to anyone I meet who may be planning a trip to Costa Rica.

Sincerely,

PS I have attached some of my favorite photos of our trip.

Arturo

What a fantastic, awesome, life changing vacation. We had a great time. I could go forever about what an experience but I am back at work and out of time. You did a great job for us and am grateful
Thanks again

Hello,
Sorry it has taken us a while to write you this note.
We had a great trip and appreciated your arrangements a great deal. Everything went pretty smoothly. We liked the Coffee Plantation tour. San Jose, as you said was not a highlight of the trip. Arenal was great, we took a horse ride on the Volcano - that was very nice. We could have handled a second nite at Arenal - which you had suggested - we just didn't want to do all that driving the first day after our flight. The car rental worked out well, we found our way with a little help from locals getting through San Carlos!

When we got to San Miguel we found the dock, but the person we were meeting to pick up the car was an hour late. We were a bit concerned, because in the US, the boat would most definitely leave without you. So we were totally amazed when the boat from the lodge waited for us! The boat trip was a adventure in itself. No one had mentioned we would get out of the boat to go through customs in Nicaragua, so when we finally understood we had to go pay the customs people, we did! Then they boarded a soldier apparently to accompany us until we were out of Nicaragua. They told us at the lodge that all Americans and Communists have to pay! It's made a great story to share with our friends!

We loved the lodge and boat tours. I think we saw every critter mentioned in the tour books except the jaguar. We were even fortunate enough to see a nesting Green Turtle. I was also impressed with the broad range of knowledge our guide had. He really made the trip meaningful.

All of the accomodations certainly met our expectations, which are rather high! Staff was very helpful, expecially at the hotel in San Jose. When we returned at the end of our trip, I'm sure they put us in the finest room they have.

All in all, the trip was perfect. We are not folks to be trusting of giving our credit card number to people we don't know, but we took the chance and purchased the package from you. We are so happy we did! We know we could not have duplicated that on our own, and every aspect was well planned for us. Thank you! I am giving your name to friends who will be visitng Costa Rica in the spring.

Sincerely,


Eureka, California

Arturo - We cannot stop gushing about our trip to Costa Rica. We loved every minute of it (except for the long van rides!!) and would go back in a heartbeat. The hot springs was a wonderful experience, including the hot springs and the Canopy Tour. If you are not satisfied at Playa Conchal, then you are impossible to please!! It was a fantastic resort and our time went way to quickly. The hotel in San Jose was a treat, although we are glad we didn't spend more time in San Jose. The country of Costa Rica is so beautiful and the people were so friendly and welcoming. The highlight of our trip, however, was the rafting on the Pacuare River. We had never done it before and all enjoyed it immensely. The rafting company made it as safe as possible and we felt confident we could maneuver the river safely.

Thank you for all your help. Jose did a fantastic job driving. The only suggestion I would make about our arrangements is that we weren't aware of the dress code in the restaurants at Playa Conchal. Fortunately, we had the appropriate clothing, but came across several families who didn't and couldn't eat in the nicer restaurants. I would be sure to mention that to other families staying at this resort.

We'll let you know when we plan on visiting again!!

Arturo,

We had an absolutely awesome time on our trip. The recomendations you made were excellent, as were all of the people we met. We especially enjoyed meeting the famous Gerardo. We did have one snag that could have potentially been very bad...

At the airport waiting for the flight back from Tambor back to San Jose, the ticket collector told us that no reservations had been made for the flight back. We showed him our tickets, and he called in. According to Sansa, they didn't have any record of a reservation being made. They did honor our tickets and told us we could board only if there was room. Fortunately, there was room!

That's it, and thanks again for the fantastic recommendations.

Arturo,

Thank you so much for planning our wonderful journey. We finally had monkey sightings at Tamarindo. We were getting worried for a second there. The hotel at Manuel Antonio was an excellent place to start our journey. Very relaxing and very friendly people. And the view from our room was so very beautiful.

Arenal was amazing as well. I know that I've never seen anything like the small eruptions that we saw the night we stayed there. We watched the volcano from the balcony of our hotel room!
That was after a quiet dinner in town where we were introduced to the Costa Rican liquor Cacique. We brought some home with us. Laura digs it.

After a very adventurous drive to Playa Tamarinda, the rest of the trip got better and better. It was nice hanging out with some of the locals at the Sunrise Cafe and I surprised myself by the amount of Spanish I remembered from high school. Laura has always been pretty good with Spanish, too. There was actually a wedding at the hotel on our "one-week anniversary." So we popped open a bottle of champagne and talked while we listened to the wedding band's music coming from near the beach.

All in all, it was an experience I know we will never forget. Laura's idea of someday getting a time share there sounds better and better every day I'm back in Chicago.

thanks again for everything,

P.S.--Please tell your associate at the car rental agency thank you
for everything. He was very helpful and gave us very good directions.

Hello!

Yes, we made it back safe and sound. We had a fantastic time and we will definitely be back. I will send you some pictures electronically after we get them developed and transferred onto disk along with some comments.

It was absolutely perfect and we loved every minute! Thank you for everything. Costa Rica is a new love of ours and we will definitely encourage others to use Rainforest Tours when they go.

Have a great week. It's hard adjusting to being back as I would much rather be down there right now than at work!

Dear Arturo,

Lisa, Zach and I loved the trip! I want to convey some personal observations in the hopes that they will be useful to you.

I think the highlight of the trip was the people - and specifically our driver and guide Gerardo Lara. In so many ways, he made the trip rich and enjoyable. He clearly knows the terrain, but more - he was willing to explain and share himself and your culture. We feel very fortunate that he was our guide. In small practical ways, he smoothed our way and we are very much appreciative. We already miss him!

The hotel in San Jose was wonderful. The rooms were nice as were the people. And the food was great! This is a special hotel.

The tour people - and their guides - at La Fortuna were very nice. The guides Felix (on the lava field tour) and Jose (on the float trip on the Rio Penas Blanchas) were very knowledgeable and communicated very well. One of the highlights of the trip was the rest / snack stop on the float trip at the farm of Don Pedro.

On the first day out of San Jose, Gerardo showed us many of the area's attractions, including the water-wheel driven factory for ox-cart reproductions, and the beautiful town of Sarchi, with the painted bridges. Once we reached La Fortuna, we had a good lunch and then went horseback riding to the waterfalls - using a stables near La Fortuna recommended by Sunset Tours. We were a little disappointed - not because of the unpredictable thunderstorm - but rather because: (1) there was only one guide for a rather large group, (2) that guide spoke no English, and (3) he chose a route that had very steep muddy slopes into a river - when rainy weather was clearly in the forecast. (We returned to the stables by a safer alternative route.) (By the way, Zach's saddle slipped off his horse at one point, with him on it! He was not hurt.) I guess it was hard to predict that our horses would be galloping, but they did often during the ride and we are not that experienced riders. But that really was the only time during the trip that we were disappointed.
Even though we were soaked, we did have fun. Zach swam in the pool at the base of the waterfall - awesome.

The Arenal Volcano was awesome. Gerardo knows the best places to view it. We were lucky that the clouds did not obstruct our views.

The trip to Monteverde was pretty. We bought art work at the Toad, a store run by expatriot Americans near the shore of Lake Arenal. La Fonda Lodge is nice. The room in the new building is large with a nice view. Again, Gerardo knows the town and the people and that helped a lot. (He even helped us communicate to the front desk and get hot water in the room when we needed it!)
We did a lot in Monteverde - including a visit to the butterfly farm, our morning trip to the Monteverde Reserve (with Samuel - an excellent guide) - where we saw the quetzal! - and the original Canopy Tour. The animals and the plants were awesome. We got
very close to a group of howler monkeys on the Canopy Tour. (By the way, the two young guides (By the way, the two young guides on that tour were excellent. I think Rolando is a nephew of Samuel.) We did not mind the rain. We had great fun. We even stopped at the Monteverde Friends School -
a sister school to the one in Baltimore that Zach attends. (We took a night tour of the forest with flashlights - seeing tarantulas, etc. I have to admit to being a little scared, along with Lisa!)

Our trip to Manuel Antonio Park was beautiful through the mountains. Gerardo can spot birds and lizards from far away. We stopped at the crocodile river. Once we reached the hotel and had lunch, we were sad to see Gerardo leave us.

The hotel was very nice, even though our room was not air conditioned. We agree that the view made up for it. Our Building A (the adult building) is closest to the water, with a commanding view of the coast, including the first beach at Manuel Antonio park, etc.
We could even see surfers. We went horseback riding in the hills, using the tour recommended by the hotel. That was fun. It ended up at a small waterfalls where Zach and I went swimming. Breakfast and a noon snack were included on the horsebacking riding trip.

Zach and I planned to go sailing the next morning, using a sailboat recommended by the hotel. We were picked up by a van, brought to the wharf near Quepos and told that the mechanic was working on the boat. Fifteen minutes later, they cancelled the trip because
they could not get the engine to work. I appreciate the fact that we found out that the engine did not work while we were on the dock, not in the middle of the Pacific, but it would have been nice if we had been given the option (not to go) before 10 a.m. We had a nice day at the beach, anyway.

There were a number of boa constrictors at the hotel (one killed a monkey the weekend before we arrived, when he ventured near a boa on the roof of the hotel restaurant). We witnessed the removal of a 7-foot boa from the hotel entrance sign. Putting our fear of snakes aside, we saw a lot of sloths and we were glad to see the white-faced monkeys on the last day we were at there.

I want to thank you for rearranging our Friday schedule as we requested. The tour of the Britt coffee plantation was fun and the orchids at the Lankaster Gardens were beautiful. Even here, Gerardo helped us find the way out of the garden after I got us lost!

We would highly recommended Rainforest Tours and a trip to Costa Rica. I have told Louise Kemper of Commerce Travel this. Many thanks again for making our trip so special for us.

June 24, 2003

Arturo,

I hope you were serious when you asked for feedback, because here comes mine! Your country is absolutely beautiful and it was wonderful to see the pride people take in it. Our guides and our driver were all incredibly nice, knowledgeable and accommodating.

They knew so much about the wildlife, the flowers, the history--everything. Gerardo was one of the best parts of the trip. In his quiet way, he did everything he could to ease our way, from making reservations for meals, getting our hot water fixed quickly, etc. He kept the van impeccably clean. He was always concerned that we were enjoying ourselves, and went out of his way to point out things of interest. While at a rest stop, I pointed out a flower I liked. When I returned to the van, he was looking through a manual to find it and had written the name of the flower on his hand so that he'd remember to tell me. He has a great sense of humor and is an all around wonderful person. We really miss him!

We loved our hotel in San Jose. Perfect size, excellent rooms, great food. We had a great view at Tabacon, but for some reason that we can't quite describe, didn't like it nearly as much. Perhaps it felt a little too touristy. The hotel in Monteverde was beautiful and quiet and the one in Manuel Antonio had a gorgeous view and the most friendly of all the hotel staffs by far.

The activities we chose were great. The only harrowing one was the first horseback ride; the guide knew virtually no English and was responsible for a large group during terrible weather. The horses were way more spirited than we had been told by the Tour manager, so we held on for dear life and hoped for the best! We had a great time, but we feel like we could easily have returned with injuries, especially Zach, whose saddle fell off. You might want to check out an alternative stable. Otherwise, a completely awesome trip. Thanks for your help arranging things--and rearranging our Friday schedule. We appreciate your flexibility.

Say "hi" to Gerardo from the Singers if you get the chance.

Thanks again,

I recently experienced the wonders of the rainforest and white water rafting through your company. I am a friend of John's. I wanted to send you the following quote: "I landed in San Jose, and found myself rafting through the rain forest the next day. I felt like I had completed my trip by the end of my rafting/camping adventure - and I still had 15 more days to go! I felt completely fullfilled after experiencing your adventure. Thank you!"

Just wanted to share - thanks again!

Arturo,

We had a wonderful trip. I certainly appreciated your suggestion of a car and driver once we started up the road to MonteVerde. Gerardo took excellent care of us. I had 1000 questions and he had 1000+ answers.

He knew the people, the history and where to find Howler monkeys and other wild life that we would have missed on our own. Your choice of accommodations was top-notch. I suspect you were concerned about our choice of the hotel in San Jose, but it was perfect for our needs, since it has a good restaurant right there, and we were too tired to explore the city. Tell him I still think the blond on the corner was one of the best I've seen.

If you had known our age, I'm not sure you would have sent a couple of 60 year olds on the zipline canopy tour or the wild Pacure. At least we raised the average age of our groups. But, despite my fears and whining, I was exceedingly glad to have done both. The guides were fun, and even the river tour seemed safe (once I got back onto the raft after Jim pushed me out). The bruises have almost disappeared, but the memories are forever. My children and their friends were impressed! They have put Costa Rica at the top of their list of places to go. I will definitely have them contact you. Our thanks to you and Gerardo and all the friendly people we met in Costa Rica.

Regards,

Arturo,

The Costa Rica trip you arranged for us was just wonderful. It would be impossible to pick the high point as each day included something that was so spectacular, interesting, or just plain fun. Certainly one of the best things about the trip was our driver for the second part, Gerardo. He was very competent, knowledgeable, and accommodating to our needs and interests and we would appreciated it if you would pass our greetings to him.

One of the things that we most appreciated was the sequence of the areas visited and the accommodations, starting with the most rustic (but still very nice) and progressing to the most comfortable. The upgrade at the Fonda Vela Lodge was greatly appreciated.

We have passed on our enthusiasm for the quality of your product and the way Rain Forest Tours does business to all of our friends and associates that we have talked with.

Attached are a couple of our favorite pictures from the trip. One is Patty and I at the Margarita Sunset at Casa Corcovado Lodge and the other is an early morning view of the Arenal volcano from the balcony of our room at the Arenal Lodge.

Thanks again for a wonderful vacation!!

Hola Arturo-

Sorry this has taken me awhile to get back to you.
Right after my mom and I had an EXCELLENT time, I had a friend come in for 2 weeks.
All in all, my mom and I had a great time. Everything went smoothly, and the hospitality of every place we went to was incredible.

So thank you again for helping us arrange such a wonderful trip.
hope you had a great ski, vegas vacation.
take care.

Hi Arturo..

Thank you so much for arranging what turned out to be the best holiday we've
ever had!

Firstly, let me tell you - you have great taste! We loved the hotels that you chose and I'm so glad we went along with your suggestions - everything was exactly how we would have wanted it. We were amazed at the abundance of beauty in your country and everyone we met was extremely friendly and courteous which made the experience that much nicer. I'm really sorry we didn't get to meet you but Christina was very nice although my Spanish wasn't up to much! We are advertising your agency to all our friends and in fact anyone we come across (we both work in banks and I think I already have a few potential customers for you!) I just wish you had branches in more countries because we would then use you for all our holidays. We have both travelled alot and have never come acrosss such an efficient, professional
agency who instinctively understands what you want. I really have to commend you on on that.

A few highlights:

Arenal - We saw the volcano erupt at night & the Tobacon springs were heavenly - I could have stayed under that hot waterfall all day! Pacuare River rafting - Brilliant fun and great organisation from Rios Tropicales Riding from Monteverde to Arenal - Amazing scenary and GREAT horses.
Drive to Monteverde - VERY bumpy but worth it just for the views - we felt we were on top of the world!
Tamarindo - Loved the Diria and the beach.

If you do decide to branch out into any other countries, please let me know as we would definately use you for our holidays going forward.

Best Regards

Hedyeh

PS. By the way, we had such a great time we even decided to get engaged in Costa Rica, so now I know we'll definately never forget the time we spent there!

Hi Arturo, we did have a great time in Costa Rica and already I have told so many people of the great trip and have passed on your name and Rain Forest tours.
Sam our guide at Monteverde and the Ecological walk was great! I would recommend you use him for your clients, he is great.
Carlos the guide in Corcovado was amazing too! He made all the difference on that trip.
We really enjoyed Casa Corcovado, Fonda Vela, Tabacon and Xandari, they were all very nice.
Arturo, thank you for your help, we hope to send some prospective clients your way!

Just as you said it would be, we had the time of our lives! It was a truly wonderful vacation and everything - the transportation, the hotels, the meals, and the activities were just perfect. There wasn't a single problem and everyone we met - especially your drivers - were extremely nice and helpful. You really did an extraordinary job for us and we are grateful and glad to have met you in person, Again, many thanks! Add me to your list of extremely satisfied customers!

Warmly,

HI
We had such an incrdedible trip! I loved everything about it except the Tabacan thing...too crowded and touristy....maybe we are just too old for it. People were so friendly, food was terrific, guides and tours were just wonderful in every way. We have been telling everyone what a wonderful vacation this was in just every way. I can see why you settled there! We will be coming back sometime...no question about that.
We will send pictures later. We are still recovering from a late arrival home and a full work week upon arrival. My students are so impressed with all of my tales and all want to go to a rainforest somewhere.

Dear Arturo,

I will write you and send you a picture (unfortunately Richard bungled his duties as camera man and lost two rolls of film). We had a fantastic time and I am already recommending you and your company to friends. It really couldn't have been better. I will be in touch in the next few weeks.

Arturo:

Our family had an exciting as well as educational and enjoyable time visiting one part of your Country.
We will try and send some pictures.

We will plan on again returning to visit other areas of your wonderful country. Your arrangements were excellent and we appreciated the wonderful trip you planned for our family.

Sincerely,

Hey Arturo - thanks for your e-mail. I'll let you know when I receive the check. All three places were great, and the accomodations were excellent (a bungalow in Ocotal - most excellent - across from the dive shop even!). I think that my favorite place was Corcovado, however, because of the excellent eco-tourism aspect. The guides were all GREAT and it is a most amazing place. Where else do you awake to howler monkeys at 4 AM? And see scarlet macaws/red lored parrots flying over your head, or witness spider and howler monkeys at the sunset bar, along with toucans? The transfers and Sansa flights were all right on the money, and I believe this is one of the best vacations I have ever had - thank you for your suggestions. I would certainly recommend your service to anyone going to Costa Rica, and will be getting in touch with you for a trip in 2004. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera this trip - I'm really sick of dealing with film in the security areas of the airport. All the pictures are in my own hard drive (!) and hopefully I can "refresh" it with my third trip in 2004. Thanks again Arturo.
J.

PS - I just ordered today "Costa Rica: The Eco-Travellers' Wildlife Guide", and I'm buying a pair of GOOD binoculars - what a difference when I rented a pair of Swarovskis from Eduarto at Corcovado.......

Hi Arturo,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you after we got home, but we had a lot of business-related catching up to do.

Anyway, all four of us had a superb time throughout our way-to-short tour through Costa Rica. The guides were great, the facilities excellent, the locals most gracious and the scenery phenomenal. It is almost impossible to pick a highlight as the stops at La Selva and the Arenal Volcano wereawesome, but I would vote that the two days at Mawumba Lodge ant the
Tortuguero Reserve were the highlights. The combination of several fascinating boat tours of the rivers combined with a very comfortable place to stay and relax were about perfect. We were especially luck to catch a time with no rain and essentially no insects. I have attached a half
dozen of the more than 300 pictures we took enroute for you to use as you see fit.

We were obviously most satisfied with both your service and the service of the people who worked with you. I will happily recommend you to anyone I know that is considering a visit to Costa Rica and would be happy to be a reference to others who find you on the Internet.

thanks again,

Arturo,

We thought we would send a short e-mail about our trip. In a word ... FANTASTIC. Our first few days were in the Arenal area where it was, unfortunately, cloudy and raining. So we didn't really get to see the volcano. He did, however, go to the waterfall in Fortuna, which was beautiful. This was just the start of discovering the beauty that is Costa Rica. Lake Arenal, the mountains around Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. All were very scenic and had enough to do that we never got bored. The Canopy Tour was one of our (mine at least) favourites. Toward the end (Manuel Antonio) we decided at the last minute to go on 'Jorge's Mangrove Tour'. It was awesome. The mangrove forest was beautiful and the monkeys were a treat. They came right to the boat and started buzzing around everywhere.

The hotels/inns you booked were all excellent and the rooms had good views. The tours we would recommend are: Tabacon Hot Springs, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Original Canopy Tour, Manuel Antonio Sunset Cruise, Jorge's Mangrove Tour, Manuel Antonio National Park. One of the things we did which would have been very good had it not been raining was the Hanging Bridges in Arenal. Somewhat expensive, but the views would have been worth it. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Costa Rica is truly the gem of Central America. It has abundant beauty and enough adventure for any vacation.

As for Rainforest Tours ... we were very grateful that you prepared all of the booking for us in advance. It allowed us to enjoy our trip with the confidence that our accomodations would be excellent and were all taken care of in advance. We would certainly recommend your company to anyone we know traveling to Costa Rica. As a matter of fact, Helen has been speaking to a coworker planning to travel in 2004. We have attached several of our favourite pictures. Use any of them you wish on your website. ... Helen and David Abrams

Arturo,

The trip was fantastic. Our driver was also excellent. He helped us with our rusty spanish and acted as a mobile concierge for most of the trip.

As it turns out, he was also the driver for our friends who recommended your travel agency to us. Gerardo Lara.

We will definitely pass on our recommendation to our friends and family who would like to visit Costa Rica. We especially appreciated your willingness to help us out with the last minute planning. Also, you were right, we loved Aguila de Osa Lodge. We were very happy with our stay there. What a great substitution! I will send you some pictures later today or tomorrow.

-WZ

Hello Arturo,

Thanks for your email. The trip was outstanding, and I can speak for all of us in telling you that we all had a fantastic time. Gerardo is an asset to your company, and we thoroughly enjoyed his company, his knowledge of Costa Rica, and his passion for showing us his beautiful country. I will refer many of my friends and associates to you when they are planning travel to this amazing destination. Here are a few pictures for your web site...

Kind regards,

Arturo:

I just want to let you know that my niece and I truly, really, very much enjoyed your Highlights tour. It was fantastic.

The bed and breakfast location at the coffee plantation for breakfast was too much for words. We were constantly awed, amazed and excited about everything we saw. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, entertaining, accomodating and so willing to make this best tour ever. I'm so glad I booked this tour. If ever, if visit Costa Rica
again, I'll book other tours with your company. Thanks for working with me. .... Happy Holidays....

Dear Mr. Napoles,

Thank you very much for your wonderful service! We had a great time in Costa Rica, thanks to your help. We loved just about everything during the trip, the scenery, the hotels, the activities, the food, and most of all, the people. It was the most lovely trip we have ever taken, and it made a perfect honeymoon for us. The beautiful memory will remain in our hearts for the rest of our life, and we very much look forward to going back again.

Your arrangement and service were great. We couldn't expect more. The only suggestion we would have is the hotel we stayed in Monteverde, a great place, with beautiful view and very nice rooms. Yet it is too far from the town and too isolated from everything else but the forest reserve. For the people with a rental car, after driving 4-5 hours to Monteverde, it is kind of tiring to drive to the town from the hotel to have dinner. And for the people without a rental car, it is impossible for them to leave the hotel and visit the surrounding area. We met some other guests at the hotel on our hiking tour, and they all had the same concern. The road from the center of the town to Fonda Vela is very, very steep and muddy and bumpy. It is nearly impossible to drive on that road at night, which made it very difficult for us to go out for dinner. Although the hotel itself has a very nice restaurant. Anyway, we thought we would suggest to you that next time you could assign the guests to hotels that are within a walking distance to the little town.

Other than that, everything was great. All of the hotels were wonderful. We were very happy with them. By the way, we were actually very happy with the hotel in Arenal and thought it is even better than the very hot spot Tabacon Resort. The banglows are very exotic, clean, and spacious, with flowers planted along the doors and drive ways. It was great. We went to Tabacon Resort for massage and hot spring and dinner. The service was not very nice, and the dinner was very touristic. I would rather suggest only a few visits to Tabacon Resort hot spring swimming pool.

Yes we will definitely pass your name on to our friends. We have a few friends planning to visit Costa Rica next fall, and we will have them contact you indeed.

Again, thank you very much for your help!

"jing sima"

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