Gardens of Costa Rica 687

Enjoy access to the airport Executive lounge before we fly from London to San José, the capital city of Costa Rica. Upon arrival in San José, we will be met by our coach and local guide and transferred to our accommodation, the Bougainvillea Hotel in Santo Domingo de Heredia, a few miles to the north of San José. The hotel is set within 10 acres of lush tropical garden and has a secluded outdoor swimming pool and sauna.

After breakfast, we visit the stunning Else Kientzler Botanical Garden, home to a vast array of tropical plant species from around the globe. We spend some time exploring the gardens, wandering the trails and discovering the collections of succulents and bromeliads.
Also on the agenda today, is a visit the Ark Herb Gardens where there are more than 1,600 species of ornamental plants and fruits. Here we visit the thematic ethnobotanical garden terraces, a culinary garden, tropical food garden and an essential oils garden.

This morning we check out of our hotel and depart for a visit to Lankaster Gardens a research centre that is part of the University of Costa Rica and is dedicated to the exhibition, conservation and study of orchids.
We continue through Costa Rica’s spectacular countryside through the central valley region to our hotel for the evening.

This morning we visit the CATIE Botanical Gardens, here we discover a wide variety of tropical plants from around the world. The garden is home to a century old kapok tree, towering stalks of bamboo, dripping orchids, and hanging bromeliads. There is also the chance to learn about the research institutes contributions with research and education of tropical agriculture.
Later, we visit Hacienda Tayutic a century-old plantation owned by the Ortuno family. Here we learn about the ancient methods of growing and processing sugarcane and the growing, harvesting and roasting of one of the world’s most popular hot beverages – Coffee.

Today after breakfast, we head for Palmitour. A family run business that makes a variety of products from palm hearts. We have a tour here, where we learn about the process of growing and processing the palm hearts.
In the afternoon, we have a tour of a pineapple plantation. Here we learn all there is to know about the growing and processing of pineapples which is a vital part of the Costa Rican economy. In fact, the country is the largest producer and exporter of pineapples in the world.

This morning we depart on a full day excursion to the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, close to the Nicaraguan border. This area of protected marshland is the epitome of ‘biodiversity’ – in the course of our two and a half hour boat trip we will see an astonishing variety of birds, monkeys, iguanas, sloths, alligators and turtles as well as a diverse range of flora. We will travel back to the Arenal Area where we will visit some of the abundant hot springs to be found here, fed by the constant geo-thermal activity of the region.

This morning we leave the hotel and after a boat trip on Lake Arenal, Costa Rica’s largest body of fresh water, which was enlarged to three times its original size when a hydro-electric dam was built here, we head south to Monteverde.
This afternoon we visit an orchid farm. Costa Rica has the richest orchid flora in Central America with more than 1400 identified species.

This morning we have a tour of the Monteverde Cloud Reserve, whose variable climate and large altitudinal gradient supports a complex and extensive eco-system: over 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, tens of thousands of insect species, and over 2,500 varieties of plants, including orchids, bromeliads, ferns, vines and mosses. Animal species include the jaguar, ocelot and Baird’s tapir and birds such as the three-wattled bellbird, bare-necked umbrella bird, and the famously elusive resplendent quetzal – you never know with animals and birds but we might be lucky! Later, we visit a butterfly garden, where we can expect to see myriad different species in a garden that has been specially designed to attract these delicate, colourful creatures.

This morning we depart for Manual Antonio and on arrival the remainder of the afternoon is at leisure.

This morning, we tour the Manuel Antonio National Park, which was established in 1972 to preserve, for future generations, one of the most beautiful and bio-diverse areas in the world. Although it is the country’s smallest national park, the stunning beauty and diversity of wildlife in its 683 hectares is unequalled, with its charming combination of rain forest, beaches and coral reefs. The forest is home for sloths, iguanas, the rare squirrel monkeys and millions of colourful little crabs.
We later visit Villa Vanilla, a family run farm that was founded in 1987 by Henry Karcynski. Here we enjoy a tour of the farm where we can see and interesting variety of spices such as vanilla, true Ceylon cinnamon, cacoa, black pepper and allspice to name a few. We see the harvest warehouse where the spices are dried and packaged as well as enjoy a walk through the farm.
This afternoon is at leisure.

This morning we have another visit to an orchid garden to see these delicate flowers that thrive in the tropical climate of Costa Rica. We later drive to the central valley to visit the private garden of doña Esther’s home in Ciudad Colón, in the suburbs to the West of San José. An avid gardener, she changes her garden yearly and she will join us showcasing these years highlights as well as sharing the story of her gardening journey with us.
We later depart our hotel in San Jose.

We transfer to San José airport for our return overnight flight to London.

We arrive in London.