Itinerary

Day 1 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Depart U.S./Fly to Panama City, Panama/Transfer to Resort

Your flight departs from the U.S. for Panama early this morning. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets. Upon arrival, a VBT representative meets you and helps you transfer to your resort. Take the afternoon to settle into your accommodations and to start your exploration.

At the hotel, a City Information Packet containing maps and recommendations on what to see and do will be waiting for you. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the resort.

Day 2 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration

Participate in any number of optional activities today. You may wish to contact the resort prior to travel for information about activities available during your stay. Visit the locks and learn about the Panama Canal's role in history. Walk the trails in the primary rainforests within nearby Soberania National Park. Kayak the Chagres River, spotting iguanas, caimans, and birds.

Your base for independent exploration is a comfortable resort located on the edge of Gatun Lake in the heart of a lush rainforest. The resort offers Panama's only aerial tram as well as several restaurants, a full service spa, and facilities for arranging local activities.

Additional information and tour reservations are available on the resort's website: www.gamboaresort.com/act_teleferico_english.html

Day 3 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration/Fly from Panama to Costa Rica

This morning transfer to the airport for your flight to Costa Rica. A VBT representative meets you on arrival in Costa Rica and helps you transfer to the Bosque de Paz Ecological Reserve and Lodge. Your fellow tour guests join you this morning.

Day 1 of WALKING TOUR Depart U.S./Fly to San Jose, Costa Rica/Warm-up walk/Welcome reception/VBT No-Air Package Begins

VBT No-Air Package guests: Meet your VBT Trip Leaders and the rest of the group at Bosque de Paz Lodge at noon. Please contact the lodge to advise them of any travel delays or changes; the staff will pass the message on to your VBT Trip Leaders.

VBT Air Package guests: Upon arrival at the San Jose airport in Costa Rica, claim your luggage and clear customs. VBT's local representative will be holding a VBT sign outside the customs area in your arrival terminal, and will help you transfer by minibus (approximately 90 minutes) to Bosque de Paz Ecological Reserve where you begin your trip.

VBT Pre-Trip Extension guests: This morning you will have breakfast and then will be assisted to join Air Package guests for the transfer to Bosque de Paz Ecological Reserve,a lush paradise of vibrant flora and exotic birds nestled in the central volcanic mountain range. Our hosts, Frederico and Vanessa González-Pinto and their son Frederico Jr. are committed to eco-tourism and education as their unspoiled 3,000 acres show.

Our hosts' have three main objectives as stewards of this land: conservation, research, and education. They reinvest a portion of their earnings to purchase more forest for their reserve, and they're not alone. Each year, ecologically-minded Costa Ricans like them acquire forested lands in their area to protect them from development.

After lunch we begin our trip with an orientation and warm-up stroll on the verdant grounds. This evening, mingle with your walking companions at our special reception and dinner.

Day 2 of WALKING TOUR Bosque de Paz Cloud Forest

We pull on our walking shoes this morning to set out further into this magnificent, green wonderland. Bosque de Paz forms a rich biological corridor between Poás Volcano National Park and Juan Castro Blanco National Park. It is endowed with a spectacularly rich ecosystem. These mountains are part of the Continental Divide, a vast range that stretches north all the way to the Canadian Rockies and Alaska.

Bosque de Paz is a bird-lover's paradise dotted with orchid gardens and Eden-like walking trails. Its tropical forests harbor rich and diverse ecosystems unparalleled anywhere. In fact, any one tree could play host to 1,000 different species of living organisms.

We can begin our ambles on level trails, and there are options for longer or more challenging walks. Well-tended trails lead us into a unique and mist-laden cloud forest of orchid-dotted trees and lacy tree ferns. Our destination is a nearby waterfall, and with every step we leave civilization farther behind.

If you train your eyes upward to the canopy overhead, you just might spot howler and spider monkeys, or some of the reserve's 331 bird species. Our trail guide can help us distinguish between the black-banded woodcreeper and scaly-throated leaftosser, among countless others.

After lunch, we meander to a nearby community butterfly garden, abundant with nectar-rich blooms that help these winged beauties thrive. Dinner tonight is at our lodge.

Day 3 of WALKING TOUR Rainforest Mysteries and Arenal Volcano

After breakfast, we shuttle about 30 minutes to Zarcero, an agricultural village known for its pink- and blue-hued San Rafael Cathedral and the curiously groomed topiary that adorns its grounds. The church's groundskeeper clips these bushes and hedgerows into animals and archways, and it's a delight to mingle among his leafy sculptures.

En route to Arenal we stop at Luna Nueva, an organic farm, to chat a while with some passionate farmers about their medicinal plants and herbs, perhaps ginger or turmeric, and other nutritional products they harvest and market around the world. We'll take some time to stroll their gardens, maybe spotting some cacao and prickly fruit on low-hanging branches. They're all part of the delicate balance between nature and man that is nurtured here daily, and we hope to come away with a deeper respect for the ways in which the rainforest – Earth's most vital ecosystem – can enhance our lives.

We continue after lunch to Arenal and settle into our next tropical haven with views of Arenal Volcano, constantly erupting since 1968. By day, a plume of smoke billows from its summit. By night we'll witness its spectacular display of fireworks from our resort's Jacuzzi or from the private terrace of your hillside room.

Day 4 of WALKING TOUR Canopy Adventure / Arenal Volcano National Park

We begin today on the western slopes of Arenal Volcano, tracing short trails through secondary forests and cooled lava fields. Though this morning's walk along mostly dirt roads is easy, we may have gradual ascents and descents that require careful footing. You'll find the primeval, otherworldly landscapes fascinating.

Arenal is Costa Rica's youngest volcano, just a few thousand years old. Since its last major eruption 40 years ago, huge columns of ash have risen from its crater, the ground has rumbled underfoot, and spectacular orange lava has flowed from its perfectly conical peak. It serves as a daily reminder that the Earth is very much alive in Costa Rica.

After feeling dwarfed by Arenal's imposing peak, you might feel ready to tower above it all. So we next ascend into the jungle canopy and hook into a thrilling zip-line network for a macaw's-eye view. High in the forest, we'll whiz through lush treetops and glimpse vibrant blooms that can only catch the sun up here.

We get back down to earth at the Ecotermales Hot Springs, a masterpiece of masonry and flowing waters operated by the Hidalgo family. Embraced within the rainforest, this is the smallest and most private of Arenal's thermal baths. Amidst stone walls and terraces, we'll lose ourselves for a spell in a sanctuary of spring-fed waters. Relax in one of its four soothing pools or shower yourself under its waterfall.

Relaxed, we return to the lodge for dinner on your own.

Day 5 of WALKING TOUR Peñas Blancas River Wildlife Safari

Today we embark on a mesmerizing rafting journey along the Peñas Blancas River. Its clear waters are fed by the pristine waters of surrounding cloud forests. And its shores teem with more species of plants and animals than you can imagine.

The river's calm current delivers us into the heart of the Tilaran Mountains and a symphony of birdsong, monkey howls, and babbling shores. As we drift past rainforests, volcanic hot springs, and cascading waterfalls, your raft pilot is also your eyes and ears – on the lookout for river turtles, crocodiles, and iguanas on the shore; monkeys, sloths, and birdlife in the trees. It's a diverse riverside menagerie unlike any you've seen. And though we've replaced our walking shoes with water sandals for the time being, its' an excursion you'll never forget for its remarkable biodiversity.

Back on land, we continue to the Poás Volcano region and San Ramon, a close-knit village surrounded by dramatic mountain ranges. Locally, it's known as the “City of Presidents and Poets” since five of Costa Rica's presidents and several of its famed poets hail from here. Today, this farming town is known for its sugarcane and coffee. We'll linger over lunch here at the unhurried pace of locals. This afternoon, there'll be time to walk along its charming main street or trace the history of the town at the Historical Museum of San Ramon.

We'll gather for dinner at our next breathtaking lodge.

Day 6 of WALKING TOUR Poás Volcano

After breakfast we shuttle to Poás Volcano National Park for our morning walk. We'll navigate the trails around the Poás summit with ease, and marvel at the crater's immensity: 1,000 feet below in a lunar-like bowl, an ice-blue sulfuric lake lets off steam amidst a black-rock bed. This is the second largest active caldera in the world, almost a mile across.

After a very short shuttle down the volcano, we start our hike to and through Bosque del Niño Conservation Area. Three types of forests mark our progress: tropical montane, high montane, and conifer. The latter was introduced to the region from farther north when the reserve was established. We might spot the elusive resplendent quetzal or the tolumuco, a fox-like mammal, darting up trees in search of prey.

Mid-day we arrive at San Isidro for lunch.

After lunch, we return to our resort for a relaxing afternoon and perhaps an elective spa treatment. Tonight, we gather for a festive farewell dinner.

Day 7 of WALKING TOUR Doka Coffee Estate / Ara Project / Depart for U.S.

Today we go right to the source for our morning coffee: the award-winning Doka Coffee Estate. This is the country's largest family-owned plantation, operated by the Vargas-Ruiz family for 70 years. The estate's location on the slopes of Poás Volcano and its perfect altitude and climate make for an ideal coffee-growing environment. We'll tour the farm, pick a few coffee beans, head to the mill to learn about the coffee-brewing tradition of chorrear, and of course taste some fresh-roasted coffees.

After lunch, we pay a visit to the Ara Project. This private wildlife rescue center in Alajuela, founded by American expats Richard and Margot Frisius, dedicates itself to rehabilitating, breeding, and re-introducing endangered scarlet and great green macaws into the wild. We'll meet some of its colorful residents, both human and winged.

VBT Air Package guests and No- Air Package Guests: We will assist you to the San Jose airport, and you'll fly back to the U.S. late this afternoon.

VBT Post-Trip Extension guests: If you have chosen the optional Post-Trip Extension, you will transfer mid-afternoon from San Jose to Playa Esterillos Este and Xandari by the Pacific Resort. VBT provides you with a City Information Packet to help you explore on your own. It includes information and recommendations for your independent stay at the resort.

Day 2 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Pacific Coast

You have the day to relax and enjoy the beauty of this unique place. You'll have numerous options. Or you may choose to just relax and enjoy the serenity of the resort's location. Stroll along the resort's shell-strewn beach amidst palm and almond trees. Experience the natural wonders of Pacific Costa Rica by foot, kayak, or horseback during elective activities offered by the resort. Explore the breathtaking coastal beauty of Manuel Antonio National Park. And step onto your private terrace to watch soul-stirring sunset.

Day 3 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Depart for home

Enjoy the tranquility of the resort and beach this morning. This afternoon, transfer to the airport in San Jose for your flight to the U.S.

Please note: VBT recommends that you check your transfer time in your “Transfer Reminder.” VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense.