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Where you see the camera icon , click to see their photos.

How nice of you to welcome us home! It was quite a shock to get off the plane to our chilly and rainy weather. But the warmth of Costa Rica remains with us.

The river trip with Rios Tropicales was first rate all the way. The staff was warm and professional and capable. We felt comfortable and safe and were very well fed!

Thank you for your attention to us and your professionalism. You are a gem!

It was a pleasure meeting you and I have already passed your name onto a friend who will be coming to Costa Rica in February.

All the best to you and Rain Forest Tours.

Regards,

Ana, solo queria agradecerte toda tu atención y profesionalismo. Este ha sido un viaje inolvidable para nosotros. Hemos disfrutado de manera tranquila al saber que todo estaba planificado y con respaldo. Gracias por hacer de nuestro quinto aniversario una fecha inolvidable.

La gente de Costa Rica es un encanto, muy agradables y hospitalarios. El lugar y vistas, INCREIBLES!!!!

Volveremos, eso es seguro.

Gracias nuevamente,

I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for us.  We had a wonderful time in Costa Rica and especially on the rafting trip.  Those guys were excellent.

Hope to talk to you again next year.

Dear Ana;

You can count on my enthusiasiasm in referring friends to Rainforest Tours.
I don't know how we could have done it without your help. Costa Rica is so wonderful that I'm sure we would have had a great time anyway, but thanks to your service it was completely without stress. The hotels were truly top notch. We also ran into some folks who had rented cars and found getting around incredibly stressful. Thanks to the drivers you arranged to take us from place to place we never had to worry about getting to our destination, plus had contact with drivers who were friendly and knowledgeable.

We will recommend you without hesitation.

I'm not to good with getting photographs on-line. If my wife can teach me how I will send along a few of the best. There are MANY to choose from.

Feel free to use this message as a testamonial to anyone uncertain of your organization.

Hi Ana:

We had a great time in Costa Rica! The rafting trip and the hot springs were great. We enjoyed visiting in Quepos and Manuel Antonio and liked the accommodations there. The hotel in Arenal was not as nice due to the front desk staff...they were just not as nice and helpful as the staff at the Manuel Antonio hotel. We booked a tour of Arenal with the hotel for $45.00pp and all it was a hike through the rain forest and a distant view of the volcano through the rain and clouds...over-priced even on a clear night! Other than that everything Else was fine and we would definitely return to Costa Rica and would recommend your services to others.

I'll send photos to you at a later date.

Thanks again,

Ana....

We had a fabulous time in Costa Rica..... it far exceeded our expectations.   Everyone of 4 our kids said it was the best vacation they have ever taken, and Carolina and I agree. The hotels were just right for our family and Tricolor provided the perfect car. Los Lagos and El Capitan Suizo were very special.   Everyday was a blessing. Too many highlights to mention them all but here were a few: seeing the Volcano erupt,  white water rafting in Arenal, the falls at Rio Fortuna,  the Sky trek and Sky walk in Monteverde, and horseback riding and surfing in Tamarindo.   Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Hi Ana,

We had a wonderful trip, and everything went so smoothly! Your organization of the details was perfect!

I will be sure to send you some photos as soon as we organize them!

I will certainly recommend your company to everyone I meet!

We are already talking about a return trip, so I will be sure to contact you again for that.

Sincerely,

Hello Ana Lam,

Shauna and I would like to thank you for all your help and arrangements. We had a fabulous trip.

After seeing you in San Jose Shauna and I had a wonderful stay in Monteverde and Arenal. We highly recommend this hotel. Our drive from Arenal to San Jose was spectacular. All other places were great! We liked it so much that I am coming back.

Sincerely,

Ana,

Thank you for putting together such a great trip for us. Everything went perfectly. All of the drivers were on time, often early. They were professional and knowledgeable. The tour guides were great. It was amazing how they could spot the little birds and frogs. We would have missed so much if we had tried to find those things ourselves.

The hotels that you selected worked out great for us. The hotel in San Joseis such a treat in downtown San Jose. It is such a calming place.

We enjoyed all of the activities. Bill is still shaking his head that I got him to do a zip line Canopy tour. We knew the kids would like it but we were both surprised at how much we liked it. Sky Trek did a great job in easing you into the longer and higher lines by starting us out on several short, easy lines. The guides knew what they were doing and I felt good about the equipment and safety.

The lodge in Corcovado was a delight. Beautiful grounds. Great personal service. It is amazing what they did out in the middle of nowhere. Carlos, our guide on most of our outings, had an amazing knowledge of the rain forest and the area.

I don't have any suggestions on how to improve the trip. It could not have been better. Thank you so much for helping us with this trip and answering all of our questions. I would highly recommend you and Rain Forest tours to anyone. We have already given your name and number to a woman we met in Monteverde who is attending a language school there.

She has a couple of weeks to travel at the end of her stay. Hopefully, she will contact you and plan a fun side-trip to her stay.

We would like to return to Costa Rica someday. I will certainly contact you when we do.

Thanks again,

Dear Ana,

First of all, apologies for not replying sooner, but you'd be surprised at how much there is to do when you get home after 3 months away.

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in Costa Rica, thank you for all your work. Here are some comments, which I hope you find useful, and a few photographs. Unfortunately, our photos of humming birds weren't as successful as those of the butterflies, but they were one of the highlights of our trip.

First: hotel - the hotel in San Jose was wonderful, and we would recommend it to anyone.  Food and service were superb, the rooms comfortable and the shop had lovely souvenirs. It was so different from an anonymous chain hotel and we'd return like a shot if we got the chance.

The trips and guides were all good, the guide who took us to the Botanic Garden was really enthusiastic about plants, which was great, and  at Arenal Volcano, our guide worked very hard to ensure that everyone had a good chance to see toucans (despite some less than enthusiastic members of the group). The next day our guide for La Fortuna waterfall got us there before the crowds in time for an (almost) private swim in the pool.  We really appreciated that! If we'd chosen the horse riding option I don't think we'd have enjoyed the waterfall itself so much. 

The Arenal hotel was a great place to stay - the room had a private garden where we watched a few birds and the volcano, the food was good and the dining room also had a great view. The food there was better than in the spa, although we enjoyed the hot springs and the variety of pools.  Perhaps when that hotel is more fully developed the pools there will be sufficient.

I must repeat that we found all the guides and transportation excellent.

We hope that you and your family are well.

Best wishes,

Hola Ana,

Solo unas palabras de agradecimiento por toda tu ayuda con los tours de nuestro viaje la semana pasada a Costa Rica.

La pasamos super y el servicio fue excelente, Costa Rica nos encanto y definitivamente vamos a hacer planes para regresar dentro de 1- 2 años.

Todo fue PURA VIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Ana,

I would like to say "thank you" from everyone in our group for the wonderful trip we had in Costa Rica.  All of us thoroughly enjoyed the hotels, the food, and the natural world of Costa Rica.  As biologists, we especially appreciated the guided trips.  This helped us to learn from local experts and to see things we otherwise would have missed.  It seemed to us that our guides were more professional and knowledgeable than the guides we observed with other groups. I assured everyone this was because you arranged for the best guides!

We also all agree that the trip was excellent because of Gerardo. Once again, he was very professional in his work, and extremely knowledgeable and willing to share his knowledge about the customs and culture of Costa Rica as well as serving as a great nature guide on the road.  He made the trip a memorable experience for us.

Everyone is now talking about "when we return to Costa Rica".  They will certainly be using your services and recommending them to their friends and family.

Once again I thank you for all your hard work and the resulting excellent outcome for us.

Yours truly,

Ana,

Our trip to Costa Rica was amazing.  We really appreciated everything you did to make our trip seamless.  All our hotels, transportation and tours worked well, which made it very easy for us to enjoy our time in Costa Rica.  We will definitely return for more adventures in the future.  Thank you again for all your help - it made for a wonderful holiday! Attached are a few pictures from our trip.

Best regards,

Ana:

I just wanted to let you know that our trip to Costa Rica was GREAT. We were very happy with the places that we stayed at. You were right about Shawandha it was wonderful. We also stayed at Poor Mans Paradise. This was a place that you said that you had not dealt with. We had a great time there it was rustic but great. I would recommend it to someone who didn't mind living without electricity (only on from 6pm to 9pm). Thank you for your help with our trip.

Thank You

Hi Ana,

We all had such a fabulous time!!!! We all want to come back there and when we do, we will be going through your company. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

If you need to use me as a referral to talk to anyone about your sevices, please let me know. I would be more than happy to do so.

Again, thank you and take care.

Ana-

It was absolutely flawless!  The trip couldn't have gone more smoothly, not been a better introduction to your beautiful country.  I would like to come back immediately.  Already, I have given the RFT name to several people with glowing recommendations.  When I have caught up a little, I'll send you a more detailed letter about the trip, along with some photos.  Thank you for all of your attention to detail, and I wish the best for you and your family, especially your daughter. 

Dear Ana

Thank you so much for all of your help. We had a great time!  Friends of ours are planning to go to CR and I will definitely pass your name along to them.

We LOVED Corcovada! What a peaceful, beautiful place. We were so happy that it was scheduled at the end of our trip so we had a few days to lay around in the hammocks and wait for lunch to be served! It was definitely the highlight of our trip. Being on the beach AND being near the forest was very special....the platform tour was well worth it. (I had no idea we would be winched up a tree!!) I liked how secluded and remote it felt...very relaxing but also the chance to hike and see wildlife. The scarlet macaws were beautiful! We would definitely go back there (in fact we tried to stay an extra day!)

We also loved Manuel Antonio, of course. How couldn't we? The beaches are beautiful. The hotel was fabulous. The view is breathtaking. What I didn't like about it was how touristy it was....very American.  I'm glad we also went to other places because if that was the only place we went, we wouldn't have gotten a feel for the country or the people. or the food. or the language. Its a great place to enjoy the beach and the scenery, though. The kayaking trip was great.

The Hotel Finca Valverdes was great...we liked how it was hidden in the woods. The walls are paper-thin however--we were actually whispering while in our room!  We were glad to be staying in Santa Elena so we could walk to restaurants. The zip line tour was BIG FUN! Neither of us had ever done anything like that before. We also went on a guided night hike in Monteverde, which was really interesting.

The trip really ran smoothly. Everyone was on time, or early. It was nice to not have to worry about transportation. Thanks for coordinating all of it. We both talk about where we want to go next time we visit!  My digital camera is new and I haven't figured out how to email pictures yet....I'll send some when I do!

Thanks again,

Ana,

Thank you for your follow up message.  We had a wonderful time in Costa Rica and found traveling as easy as I remembered from 5 years ago.

Selva Bannanita was a wonderful place. We had a lot of personal attention by "Gusto" and my daughter really connected with him and they were both grabbing lots of frogs and looking for snakes.  In addition, Mr. Stein Sr. was there and talking with him was fascinating.  Needless to say, we felt like very special guests (we were the only guests the first night, to be joined by a couple the next night).  The absence of electricity was very easy to adjust to, and the food was wonderful.

Interbus was on time, everytime.  This was amazing to me, considering the traffic and the remote locations served.

This trip was really for my naturalist, 12 year old daughter, and all in all she had a wonderful time.  Thankfully, her last memory of Costa Rica came from a hug from Gusto and Mr. Stein.

Best Wishes,

Dearest Ana and Arturo,

Thank you so much for the itinerary that you arranged and also for your patience with us during the whole process.  We had a great time in Costa Rica and enjoyed the diversity.  One visit was not enough to take in all the beauty and wonder.  I'm looking forward to our next visit. I have given your information to a number of people already because I trust they will be treated with the same warmth and patience that you showed us.  I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Thanks again for a great vacation.

Sincerely,  

Estimada Ana:

Igualmente fué un placer haberte conocido.  Disfruté muchísimo el viaje.  Costa Rica me pareció maravillosa (Pura Vida) con unas vistas preciosas, una naturaleza espectacular, la vegetación y las cataratas increíbles, la gente muy querida.  Todas las fotos que tomé son tan bellas que es dificil escoger cuál me gusta más, pero trataré de enviarte alguna.   Por favor dale muchos cariños y recuerdos a Gilberto, que siempre lo recordaré pues fué muy amable conmigo.

Espero volver pero ya para ver el otro lado de Costa Rica.
Muchas gracias por todo.

Saludos

Hello Ana, I thought that I would just let you know we had a wonderful time on the tours I booked through your company and would recommend them to my friends. Thank you for all your help! This is my friend & I at LaPaz! She fell in love with Latin America while she was here.
Dios la bendiga,

Dear Ana:

Bonnie and I would place our recent trip to Costa Rica among the best and in no small measure because of your help planning the trip and during the trip.

We recommend very highly the places we stayed at with the exception of our hotel in Puerto Viejo Limon (which was my choice not yours) and even though the room was subpar considering our accomodations everywhere else, the restaurant there was truly one of the best with great French cuisine.

The things we did which included the zip line in Monteverde, horseback riding in Aranal and in Corcovado, the whitewater rafting on the Savagre river, the nocturnal trips and fishing trips in the jungle at Rio Indio, the jungle walks at various locations all made for a very exciting trip with great accomodations more especially at Hotel El Jardin del Eden in Tamarindo, Casa Corcovado in Corcovado,Hotel Si Como No in Manuel Antonio and Rio Indio Lodge.

All in all, a wonderful time.

Again, thanks for all your help.

We had a wonderful time in Costa Rica. Our trip was flawless and we especially appreciate Ana and the great planning she did for us.

Thank you!

Ana, I don't have any pictures to share with you but I can give you our comments. We simply had a great time and enjoyed all the activities and places to stay that you arranged for us!

The only disappointment was that the weather conditions did not allow us to see any of Poas volcano, nor could we even see any of Arenal.

However, we had a great time at Tapacon Hot Springs (so relaxing), and lots of fun rafting on the Arenal River (great guides for this, which was good for us , as it was our first time ). The tours at Monteverde and Manual Antonio were really fun too...quite educational, thanks to the very good guides for these activities.
I am glad we took guided tours as we would have missed a lot on our own.
Plus, in both cases, the guides actually took pictures for us through their telescopes so we got some great picture of monkeys and rare birds.

The long car rides were offset by the great driving music (and good
driving) of Roger and his associate (Martin??). We considered them our link to Costa Rica for a few days and were sorry to say good-bye to them.

Regarding your choices of rooms, we were most impressed with our beautiful room at Monteverde (Hotel Fonda Vela), and our great view off our balcony at Villas el Parque, but all our rooms were fine.

The Occidental Allegro at Papagayo was a great place to just relax after all the driving and activities. If we could have changed one thing it would be to stay there another day and go straight to the airport instead of overnighting in San Jose at the end of our trip.

There are some other folks here at work asking about Costa Rica..... I will give them your name and a good recommendation! Thanks for making this a great holiday for us!

regards,

Dear Ana,  Attached is my favorite picture from our recent trip.  I know it doesn't  portray "modern" Costa Rica but this Tico is so proud of his gorgeous, strong, hard-working oxen and he was (I think) delighted to have his picture taken.  I asked, of course, if I could!

Your planning was superb.  In particular, we enjoyed the choice of accommodations.  I know that El Diria was your "second choice" at Tamarindo, but we liked being right on the beach, we liked the hotel itself, we appreciated the security there, and the restaurant was just fine!  As for Tamarindo itself, I believe that a more "conservative" beach area might be more appropriate for older (or at least, non-surfing) clients!  Le Bergerac and Buena Vista were fantastic!

The rain at Arenal was not under your control (would that it were!) so I suppose we will have to make a return visit there since we really do want to view that spectacle.  Next time, we might ask to go to Penisula Oso or, perhaps, even Tortuguero---

Since we were "on our own" in Tamarindo, we used Lapa Tours for day trips because they were working with El Diria.  They are new to that area but I believe they are owned by a larger tour company.  They provide very good service and their tours are wide-ranging and imaginative---a good variety of activities to choose from.  Would it be of any benefit to Rain Forest Tours to arrange activities for clients on "beach days"?  We did a volcano walk (at least we tried but the park was closed) and a couple of river trips.

The butterfly garden at Monteverde was okay but the girls conducting the tour were quite annoying (at least to the many adultos mayores in the group) in their juvenile approach and spiel.  The butterflies themselves were, or course, magnificent.  I believe there are many such "farms" or gardens in C.R.---others might be better suited---???

I personally felt sort of "wasteful" since we were only 2 persons in a large van for 11 or 12 persons!  Would it be more efficient (energy-wise) to use a smaller vehicle (perhaps a 4WD) to transport very small groups, especially to areas with primitive roads?

I believe I mentioned before that this sort of travel is a new concept for us and we very much enjoyed not having to deal with accommodations, to read road signs, to drive, and to find good places to eat.  Thank you!  Our trip was efficient, well-organized, and everything occurred as promised.  Very reliable------

Of course, such an operation is totally dependent on its employees.  If Arturo had not kept in touch with me on a regular basis for several months before we made our decision to come there, we might not have contracted with Rain Forest tours!  And you, Ana, were able to create a logical and pleasing itinerary from the sketchy ideas I offered---thank you!  We found Gerardo (whom I called "Reynaldo" until the very last day---very embarrassing!) to be much more than just a "driver", although he is very skillful and inspires great confidence in his abiilties.  He is a pleasant, accommodating, and an extremely well-informed travel companion.  We enjoyed his company and learned a great deal from him.  I believe that our very first day with him was my favorite----we stopped for visits in Grecia, Sarchi, and Zarcero on the way to La Fortuna from San Jose.   Additionally, he took us to several terrific restaurants which we would never have found on our own.  PLUS, he arranged for a birthday cake with candles at Fonda Vela for my husband's 72nd birthday .  It was VERY special and quite beyond the ordinary expectations of a mere "driver"!  Please tell him how much he added to our enjoyment.

I have only one insignificant question.  Your had informed us that local airlines (Sansa) has a 25 lb. limit on passenger luggage.  Our luggage weighed 14 and 12 kilos--well over the 25-lb. limit for each of us.  We were not required to pay extra for the additional weight.  Is the limit actually 25 kilos, or was that "tico" weight?

We will contact you the next time we plan to come to Costa Rica and will certainly recommend Rain Forest tours to anyone who is contemplating a trip there.

Best wishes,  Ruth Anderson

Ana

We had a great time. Every airport pickup, every drop-off, every flight, every hotel reservation went off perfectly. The high point of the trip was probably our trip to to Corcovado Jungle Lodge - the whole idea of a boat trip down the river into the ocean, then a surf landing at the lodge was pure fun.

Saw lots of birds and animals. We did not really see Arenal Volcano - I think the reason that they call it a rain forest is that it rains a lot. While there, it varied from medium-hard rain to torrential downpour. But the observatory lodge was great - much nicer than I expected. The time at Tabicon Hot Springs was great fun (th dinner there was not the best food we had, but was ok). The zip-line "tour" was more than I expected, but it definitely had nothing to do with animals - it was an amusement park ride. Great fun and we are glad we did it, but I am glad we took the time to hire a guide to see the Monteverde Park. I would have hated to drive all that way over some truly amazing (in a bad way) roads, just for the zip-line tour.

As I noted above, the roads, particularly the unpaved roads, were quite an adventure :-). The car you got for us did well; no breakdowns or flat tires.

I will send you some pictures as soon as I have reduced the resolution of some of them so they are less than 2 mb. If you need a recommendation for anybody, please don't hestitate to ask.

I do have a couple of recommendations for similar trips that might improve an already excellent tour:

1. Schedule any canopy or zip-line tours in the afternoon and schedule a guide to see Monteverde Park in the morning. As I noted above, the canopy tours have nothing to do with seeing animals, so it can be done anytime during the day. On the other hand, the animals are best seen in the morning. I would suggest to anybody doing this that you reserve a guide for the park, as you see so much more. I would strongly recommend against traveling all the way to Monteverde without planning on a guided tour of the park, as the drive is long and challenging - it would be very disappointing to do just the zip-line tour after all that driving.

2. When scheduling the zip-line tour, include transportation to sky-trek. We had them pick us up (not included in our reservation) rather than drive, and are glad we did, as finding our way around Costa Rica with few road signs was a challenge.

3. You might suggest a couple of places to eat lunch on the long drives. On our way up to Arenal, we stopped at San Ramon and ate some food to keep us going, then saw a number of cute roadside restaurants between San Ramon and Arenal. We were sorry we stopped at San Ramon and ate there.

Those are the only things I can think of to make it better. Thanks so much for arranging a great trip.

Dear Ana,

We don't know how to tahnk you for the amazing job you did on our vacation! I was a little nervous doing everything via the internet and I know we drove yo crazy. You were ever patient and kind. Our trip was truly a vacation of dreams. Everything was perfect from transportation...Interbus was great, to our hotel rooms, to the excursions.

The hotels you picked were always top of the line in the area and we felt like we were treated like royalty. The excursions were GREAT FUN! You took what we wanted to do and turned it into a perfect trip. Being the neurotic person I am, I added up everything individualy and coouldn't believe you could offer us such a great price! Words cannot say how highly I would recommend your service and if anyone has any questions I would encourage them to e-mail me and I would be happy to answer anything I can. We did not take digital photos to e-mail to you for the web site but I can tell you everyone at work thought they looked like postcards.

Hi Ana,

Our beautiful vacation to Costa Rica was so special with your guidance. The introduction you gave us into your friendly country was outstanding. There simply are not enough ways to explain our satisfaction. You (Ana) are truly a gem. We look forward to our next vacation, and will highly recommend you and your company to friends.

Please enjoy the pictures attached. We surely had a great time taking them. We had such a wonderful time meeting Costa Ricans that we are learning spanish for our return trip.

Muchas Gracias,

Thanks for Everything!!

Our Hotel Punta Islita experience was a total "WOW"! While wanting to keep it an insider's secret, I feel compelled to tell everyone about this place -- a small resort situated on the Costa Rican jungle coast. Talk about a remote location; to get there, our driver had to traverse a small river that is passable only at low tide (no bridge!). Our casita featured a private Jacuzzi overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The property and the staff were outstanding.

Phoenix, Arizona

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