Unique things to do in Alajuela Province

Don Juan Tours Arenal is a family business that through its tours teach visitors the whole process behind two very important products worldwide, Coffee and Chocolate. Our experience: Don Juan - Coffee and Chocolate Tour, will take you to know the entire Coffee process, from the seed to the delicious cup of coffee. Once the coffee tour is finished, we will start with the sweetest part of the tour, the delicious chocolate. Like coffee, we will talk about the entire Chocolate process, from the seed to the delicious chocolate bar and we will end up selecting some members of the group to grind the cacao beans and make their own chocolate bar. Once finished you will have the opportunity to taste several types of chocolate such as Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate. One of our main features is the infrastructure we have, since the Arenal Area is well known for having a very changing climate, it goes from being very sunny and humid to heavy rains, even with a electric storms on some occasions, that is why that 100% of our trails are protected and made of cement, which will allow to enjoy the tour on sunny or rainy days. Families with children who need to take their stroller or people with some physical limitation will not have trouble walking with a walker, crutches or wheelchair.

After booking our experiences, you will arrive at our kitchen where you will be very welcome and where you will share a good time with an authentic Costa Rican family. After introducing ourselves and getting to know each other over a refreshing drink, we will take you on a tour of our organic garden, where you will learn about the different crops and aromatic plants, followed by picking some of the ingredients that we will use for the preparation of our dish. When we return to the kitchen we will prepare a refreshing mojito to proceed to prepare a typical dish with fresh ingredients, produced by us and our neighbors. At the end of the preparation of the dish, we will consume everything prepared in a family atmosphere. If you come with more time than agreed there is a good chance to observe some animals such as frogs, birds and sloth that live in our garden.

If you want to get to know San Jose as a local and taste its flavors, nothing could get you closer to authentic San Jose than walking through the streets and the markets with a local as they show you the anecdotes and outs of daily life. On this experience you’ll get up close and personal with Costa Rican life, through local food, history, culture and even the herbal remedies of folk medicine. Enjoy a hands-on lesson on exotic plants, fruits, vegetables, and more in the Borbon Market. From here, we’ll take a stroll through the vibrant Central Market, tasting caldosa (ceviche) and continuing along local roads towards the the Cathedral, National Theater, and the beautiful parks Morazan, will help you get to know the country and its rich history and from this experience, you’ll have another sense , taste to get more in tune with San Jose. For the end visit Mr. Sloth Coffee Shop a store where you will find gourmet coffees and chocolates produced by women, in this special place tasting and learn to prepare coffee, enjoy a tamal , cooked by local families and wrapped in a banana leaf, learn how to make plantain empanadas with cheese, and try our famous Agua de Sapo, make with sugar cañe, lemon and ginger.

At nightfall, join us to discover the delicious world of chocolate where we will learn the whole process from the seed to the delicious Chocolate bar, once the explanation is finished we will select some members of the group to grind the Cocoa to make your own chocolate bar. Once finished you will have the opportunity to taste several types of chocolate such as Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate. Once this sweet adventure is over, we will tour our farm to enter the extraordinary nightlife where we can see some species of frogs and toads such as the Giant Toad, the big chicken eater frog, the small “Jewels of the Forest” like the Hourglass Frog and the most emblematic of Costa Rica, the Red-Eyed Frog. With luck during the tour, we can see some species of insects, mammals such as the sloth, raccoons and sometimes nocturnal birds.

This is not a commercial coffee tour, it is an educational experience to create awareness in the only organic specialty coffee plantation in the Monteverde area, located in the Ecological Sanctuary, a 48 hectares family project focused on conservation, sustainability, agroecology, education and culture. In a guided workshop by an expert where you will learn from the basics of ancestral agriculture, how we create our own organic fertilizers, then you will know the coffee gardens planted in the forest that surrounds the Ecological Sanctuary, the drying area, and the process that involves the specialty coffee (history, plantations, growth, development, varieties and the science of flavor to prepare a good coffee). After leaving the forest, we will enjoy a guided coffee tasting, sharpening the senses to recognize defects, attributes, aromas and flavors in different qualities of coffee. Finally, we will create an interactive demonstration of the science of flavor and all the variables that an alchemist applies in the preparation of a coffee using different infusion methods. This workshop is an experience that will expand your knowledge of the world of coffee and help you become a home barista and an informed consumer. We also invite you to explore more of our property by hiking our trails, and connecting with nature.

We will meet with the assigned guide on the Sloth Watching Trail at 8am, or at your hotel if it is close to La Fortuna. (request transportation) First we head to the majestic Catarata de La Fortuna, (520 steps), which is 70 meters high; where weather permitting, we will bathe in its crystal clear waters. (if it rains a lot will not be possible). We will be about an hour and a half in this place; then we will take the minibus to head to the next point and one of the most spectacular, the trek in the tropical forest to the base of the Arenal Volcano, where we will visit the lava flows of the years 1525, 1968 and 2010; In addition while we enjoy this beautiful Ecological Park we will learn about the trees and animals that inhabit this place. (About two hours to the base of the volcano and an hour to the green lagoon.) Once this is done, we will have a traditional picnic style lunch. Finally, we return to the bus to the natural hot springs river (Rio Tabacón), where we will enjoy a majestic place, we will also place a volcanic mud mask. ( There are no dressing rooms so wear a bathing suit on) After a great day of adventure and experience, we return to La Fortuna around 4pm.

Don Juan Tours Arenal is a family business that through its tours teach visitors the whole process behind two very important products worldwide, Coffee and Chocolate. Our experience: Don Juan - Coffee and Chocolate Tour, will take you to know the entire Coffee process, from the seed to the delicious cup of coffee. Once the coffee tour is finished, we will start with the sweetest part of the tour, the delicious chocolate. Like coffee, we will talk about the entire Chocolate process, from the seed to the delicious chocolate bar and we will end up selecting some members of the group to grind the cacao beans and make their own chocolate bar. Once finished you will have the opportunity to taste several types of chocolate such as Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate. One of our main features is the infrastructure we have, since the Arenal Area is well known for having a very changing climate, it goes from being very sunny and humid to heavy rains, even with a electric storms on some occasions, that is why that 100% of our trails are protected and made of cement, which will allow to enjoy the tour on sunny or rainy days. Families with children who need to take their stroller or people with some physical limitation will not have trouble walking with a walker, crutches or wheelchair.

(THE BEST CANOPY ZIP LINE IN THE FOREST WITH THE BEST TUBING RIVER IN THE AREA) What we'll do and include is: 1- Seven cables of different distances, between 590 to 1315 feet. 2- Two short walks on trails in the forest. 3- 165-feet high rappell on a dry natural wall. (optional for the one who wants to) We do it if the weather is appropriate. 4- 15 minute walk to the Arenal River. 5- 1 hour of fun on inflatable tubes along the river channel, with life vest and helmet. 6- Visit to see or buy souvenirs from the Malekus aborigines. 7- With the bracelet that we give you, you can have access to the pools of Montaña de Fuego Resort, located in front of our place. (It is an optional activity). Other things to note: - Is recommended to know swimming. - You can bring personal action camera that can be tied to the helmet. - If you bring your cell phone, we recommend a special pocket to tie to the harness. (if you lose it, it's not our responsibility.) - Do not bring jewelry or items that can be dropped from the platforms or in the river. - We have parking, lockers and dressing rooms. - If you need we can provide transportation from La Fortuna downtown for $5 per person, with advance notice. - We have a photographer in case you want to buy his service, are $30 per person. - This activity is not allowed for pregnant women.

THE BEST CANOPY ZIP LINE IN THE FOREST What we will do and include is: 1- Seven cables of different distances, between 590 to 1315 feet. 2- Two short walks on trails in the forest. 3- 160 feet high rappell on a dry natural wall. (optional for the one who wants to.) It also depends on weather conditions and security. 4- Visit to see or buy souvenirs from the Malekus indigenous. 5- With the bracelet that we give you, you will have the right to enter the Montaña de Fuego Resort pools, located in front of our place. If you do the 3pm tour and want to use the pools, you need to pay for a taxi back to your hotel. Our last ride is at 5:15pm (It is optional) Other things to note: - You can bring personal camera that can be secured to the harness or helmut. - If you bring your cell phone, we recommend a special pocket to tie. (if you lose it, it's not our responsibility.) - Do not bring jewelry or items that can be dropped from the platforms. - We have parking, lockers and dressing rooms. - If you need we can provide transportation from the center of the village of La Fortuna for $5 per person, with advance notice. - We have a photographer in case you want to buy pictures it cost $15 per person. - This activity is not allowed for pregnant women.

Join me in exploring the cloud forest from a different perspective, a night walk is a unique and unforgettable experience. Costa Rica is a small country in Central America that is home to around 5% of the world's biodiversity. Most animals in Costa Rica are nocturnal. If you like mammals such as sloths, armadillos, active birds such as owls, amphibians, reptiles, and many insects, then this is the opportunity to carry out an outdoor activity and learn more about the nocturnal behavior of many species of flora and fauna. It is an easily accessible route of around 2 kilometers, the ‘jewels’ of the cloud forest shine brighter at night. With luck, we will even be able to observe the famous bioluminescent mushrooms. the place where I do the night walk is very close to the center of Monteverde Santa Elena, it takes only 5 minutes by car. Let's wait for you to observe how the cloud forest comes to life at night.

This experience takes place inside a private estate through conservation areas, surrounded by primary and secondary forest areas, giving visitors the opportunity to enjoy excellent panoramic views of the Arenal Volcano and Rainforest. This tour is recommended for adults and children over 10 years old. With our healthy and well-trained horses we will start this amazing experience, in the barn we will give a talk of how to ride and then we will go 2 1/2 hours riding through the trails in the rainforest enjoying beautiful views. We will also have the possibility here to see animals such as: monkeys, sloths, coaties, birds such as toucans, turkeys, falcons, etc. In some parts of the trail we can gallop and trot with the horses. Recommended maximum weight is 100 kilograms. In case the weather is bad we can take another quieter trail option that is to the Arenal River, both incredible places for wildlife. If you require transportation to the stable from La Fortuna, the cost is $5 per person and we collect 20 minutes before the tour.

Let us be your guide to Costa Rica travel in La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. Our protected rain forests in a private location have created the perfect habitat for a variety of frogs, birds and sloths which are just some of our highlights. Our nature park it one of the best spots for birdwatching in La fortuna, the most personalized night hike of Arenal Volcano area and the perfect location to see sloth in Costa Rica. Cook with one of the greatest chefs in history: our mother, Elieth Oviedo. She and her sister-in-law will teach you how to prepare our traditional corn tortilla without using machines. You'll only need your hands and the freshest, lovingly prepared local ingredients. You'll become part of our family madness for 2,5 hours, immersing yourself in our forest and cooking with our mother. It's a simple stroll suitable for all kinds of people, from the oldest to the youngest. Ask about our different schedules : Night walk 5:30 pm - $40 Birdwatching in La fortuna 5:30 am - $65 Sloth Tour 8:00 am and 1:00 pm

After booking our experiences, you will arrive at our kitchen where you will be very welcome and where you will share a good time with an authentic Costa Rican family. After introducing ourselves and getting to know each other over a refreshing drink, we will take you on a tour of our organic garden, where you will learn about the different crops and aromatic plants, followed by picking some of the ingredients that we will use for the preparation of our dish. When we return to the kitchen we will prepare a refreshing mojito to proceed to prepare a typical dish with fresh ingredients, produced by us and our neighbors. At the end of the preparation of the dish, we will consume everything prepared in a family atmosphere. If you come with more time than agreed there is a good chance to observe some animals such as frogs, birds and sloth that live in our garden.

If you want to get to know San Jose as a local and taste its flavors, nothing could get you closer to authentic San Jose than walking through the streets and the markets with a local as they show you the anecdotes and outs of daily life. On this experience you’ll get up close and personal with Costa Rican life, through local food, history, culture and even the herbal remedies of folk medicine. Enjoy a hands-on lesson on exotic plants, fruits, vegetables, and more in the Borbon Market. From here, we’ll take a stroll through the vibrant Central Market, tasting caldosa (ceviche) and continuing along local roads towards the the Cathedral, National Theater, and the beautiful parks Morazan, will help you get to know the country and its rich history and from this experience, you’ll have another sense , taste to get more in tune with San Jose. For the end visit Mr. Sloth Coffee Shop a store where you will find gourmet coffees and chocolates produced by women, in this special place tasting and learn to prepare coffee, enjoy a tamal , cooked by local families and wrapped in a banana leaf, learn how to make plantain empanadas with cheese, and try our famous Agua de Sapo, make with sugar cañe, lemon and ginger.

Bienvenidos, welcome to Paz Handmade Art La Fortuna! Get ready for a doggie welcome from the rescue crew, Coco, Mamá & Pipa! Join Edy & Bridie on this authentic, local experience where guests enjoy a tour of their medicinal plant garden and create art at their private homestead. Upon arrival, step into El Jardín, the garden of life. This is a tour of the senses, smell floral aromas of various tropical flowers, taste the medicine within the plants, hand harvest seasonal crops all while sipping on a fruit smoothie or herbal tea. With over 100+ medicinal plants their garden will have you playing & creating for hours. Next, create with Edy as he teaches you about wood carving and jewelry making. Connect with your inner artist as he guides you on a journey of creation. It may be a wood carving or a wire wrapped ring, let your inner artist decide. Guests have the opportunity to create their own art & purchase pieces from Edy's collection. This is a small homestead where guests can relax, ask questions, & enjoy hands on experiences. Its a place to embody an artists lifestyle in the lush Costa Rican mountains. *Art store open daily 9:00am-5:00pm, drop-ins welcome, purchase local art & Costa Rican Keepsakes *Transportation not included, accessible by taxi, Uber or own vehicle. *Family/Group inquiries, pls send message *Rain or shine, pls bring sun protection/rain gear

((TOP 3 LA FORTUNA WALKS ALL IN ONE DAY)) THIS INCLUDES: 1- We visit the Mystic Hanging Bridges nature trail with 14 bridges and a 2-mile trail. 2- Then we visit La Fortuna Waterfall with its magical 210-foot drop. There is a 520 step path down and you can go swimming at the bottom. Then we go up. 3- After going up and changing clothes, we will enjoy lunch at the restaurant. 4- After lunch time we go to the Arenal Volcano to do the Arenal 1968 Trail for approximately 2 hours of walking to the old lava flows. 5- Professional naturalist guide is included. 6- Transportation to all the places we visit. 7- Bottles of cold water are included in the walks. 8- The pick-up is included if your Airbnb is near the city of La Fortuna. (Ask me about that.) You must be in good physical condition to walk in the forest and go down and up steps. Be prepared for the rain since we will be in the rain forest.

At nightfall, join us to discover the delicious world of chocolate where we will learn the whole process from the seed to the delicious Chocolate bar, once the explanation is finished we will select some members of the group to grind the Cocoa to make your own chocolate bar. Once finished you will have the opportunity to taste several types of chocolate such as Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate. Once this sweet adventure is over, we will tour our farm to enter the extraordinary nightlife where we can see some species of frogs and toads such as the Giant Toad, the big chicken eater frog, the small “Jewels of the Forest” like the Hourglass Frog and the most emblematic of Costa Rica, the Red-Eyed Frog. With luck during the tour, we can see some species of insects, mammals such as the sloth, raccoons and sometimes nocturnal birds.

*** FREE roundtrip transportation provided from Curubande downtown to the Waterfall *** Let us know if you need transportation and we can quote you the service with a local driver from town. Our day starts by meeting at our office located 20 min away from Liberia downtown through the small villages of Colorado and Curubande. We count with two parking lots at our location in Curubande where you can leave your car safe while we do the hike. From Curubande we will take a 4WD for 1 km that will take us to the entrance of the waterfall trail and here is where the hike begins. The waterfall is well hidden away on the outskirts of Rincon de la Vieja Volcano . The trail is 1.3 Miles (2 Kilometers) singletrack so together it is 4 km. There are some climbing to do in elevation and some caves to go across. Later to reach the waterfall we have to swim 25 meters through a beautiful turquoise river canyon. This is a local experience that takes place where the Blanco and the Colorado rivers cross through, forming canyons and beautiful scenery which is why the water in their pools have that special turquoise tint.

Now a days, the sweet smiling face of the Costa Rican Sloth is rapidly becoming the iconic symbol of our country's amazing rainforest wildlife. So we want to share with you what La Fortuna is all about. Arenal area is well known for its diverse wildlife, and as well as the 2 different Sloth species: two-toed sloth and three-toed sloth. Another most wanted species seek for their colors, unique features and history are the multicolored toucan and the blue jeans dart frog. On the search for these three beautiful animals, our knowledgeable Guide will drive you around La Fortuna's beautiful spotting areas for a complete wildlife adventure. All animals that we will find are in their natural habitat. We highly respect Nature. Other things to note This an experience that everybody can do: couples, families with children, adults, everyone. We always work with small groups so everyone gets great atention.

Discover the Tropical Cloud Forest from a completely different, fun and spectacular perspective in the Selvatura Park Cloud Forest Reserve. Create wonderful memories on this 3 km guided walk along an easy-to-walk trail where we will find 8 incredible suspension bridges from where you can observe the treetops and the wildlife that hides there. On this guided walk, you will not only learn the interesting natural history of an ecosystem that remains hidden to most of us, but you will also enjoy impressive panoramic views of the beautiful and unique Tropical Cloud Forest. Please consider the following information: - ENTRANCE FEE The entrance fee to Selvatura Park is not included in the price of the guided walk. Payment can be made directly upon arrival at Selvatura Park, in cash or by credit card. The entrance fee to the hanging bridges: * Adults: $55.37 USD per person. * Students (12-18 Y/O): $49.72 per person * Children (5-11 Y/O): $38.42 per person * Children (0-4 Y/O): Free of charge - TRANSPORTATION Free transportation from Santa Elena can be arranged upon request.