Visiting Rainforests

[serin]

We are saving madly to go on a wildlife holiday and are thinking of visiting a rainforest.

We wondered if anyone has experience of Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago or similair?

Many Thanks.

Costa Rica = fabulous! Do it!!

I've been to a few rainforests, all are brilliant for different reasons. But with Costa Rica you get so many different sorts in one smallish country. And some wonderful, special wildlife, birds, plants etc.

I live in Costa Rica, the rainforests are amazing and as Peri said above there is lots of other stuff to see like active volcanos, fabulous beaches and much more. I highly recommend it.

Stear clear of Trinidad and Tobago. The political and security situation is dangerous.

Oh, Thankyou very much, that is really helpful.
We are all very much into bird watching so that would be our main reason for going. Costa Rica is looking more and more favourable.

Mummyabroad, if you dont mind me asking, is there anywhere you would particularly recommend to stay?

Ahh, a fellow birder! You will need this rather expensive book but it is worth its weight.

Monteverde is a wonderful cloud forest; I saw most mammals in Tortuguero; had big fun at Arenal- volcano climbing and hot spring bathing. Tbh I can't remember where else I went as it was part of a loooooong trip around S America. But I do remember I loved it very much.

Yes fellow birders, although DH does have some twitcher tendencies. I have a few of the Helm series so I imagine that The Costa Rica one is good!

I am jealous of you both!

This is a major thing for us, we usually camp in Cornwall . We did offer the kids the chance to go to Orlando instead but to their credit they unanimously agreed to go and see some real wildlife.

How much adventure do you want?

I would say your top choices are:

Manuel Antonio - beach town on the edge of a protected forest ("national park") which contains 5 beaches and jungle that you can walk through, absolutely teeming with monkeys and birds so animal spotting is very easy. The protected area is totally unspoiled, there are no restaurants, toilets, shops inside the area, just jungle and beach. The town on the edge of it is quite built up though (by CR standards)

Monte Verde cloud forest. Lots and lots of different ways to spot birds here, there are tree top rope bridge walks, ariel trams, and zip lines. Great if your kids are into adventure type stuff. Some interesting accomodation in the form of tree houses and mountain lodges too. Slightly damp most of the time so not as "tropical" as a beach trip to Manuel Antonio.

Tortuguero is also amazing for animal watching, people mainly go to see the huge turtles nesting there (check the time of year for this) however you might find the journey arduous, its a long drive and then a long river boat ride from the airport, might be too much after such a long journey from the UK.

You can also organise tours pretty easily so that you can spend a couple of days in each of these places (these would normally include a trip to see Arenal Volcano too - fantastic seeing it explode lava at night from the comfort of a hot spring swimming pool with swim up bar!)

My friend runs a very nice very reasonably priced hotel in San Jose if that is where you are planning on flying in to. They have a tour desk too, PM me if you want details.

If you love bird watching than look at the Asa Wright Centre is in Trinidad. You could stay in Tobago and get the Tobago Express flight between the two islands for the day. BA fly to Tobago and into Port of Spain Trinidad. But I'd suggest you tsya in Tobago and do a day visit (escorted tour) to Trinidad.

Tobago is more of a vacation island, Trinidad more of a business hub and for short visits. As Amateurish has said, Trinidad has some no go areas for visitors (bit like Jamaica etc). But you can go and spend the day in Trinidad on a guided day tour from Tobago.

In Tobago visit www.bluewatersinn.com Blue Waters Inn a smal resort at the North of the island in Speyside, great location for nature hikes, bird watching (Little Tobago Nature Reserve, short boat trip away). Blue Waters Inn has all seafacing, beach front rooms, reasonably priced with room and breakfast or self catering studios. Go on on any of the Tobago island rainforsest trips (always go escorted or in a group). If could contact Ted from Ted's Sunshine Tours in Tobago, they can help you book and arrange with your Asa Wright trip www.sunshinetourstobago.com/tour4.html and other excursions - I have known Ted and his team for many years & recommend them. They are very professional.

Also in Tobago there is the The Grafton Bird Sanctuary (free) is well worth a visit, a short walk into the rainforest from the main road, near Stonehaven Bay. Tobago's Black Rock area is the best place to spot leatherbacks turtles from May - June.

Many UK tour operators can arrange and book the UK - long haul flights & hotel, then you just do what you want when you are there.

Wotz, thank you very much for that, We have friends who have visited Asa Wright and rave about it but I think that Costa Rica is winning right now since the DC's saw the images of volcanoes!

MummyAbroad, Thankyou very much, I am just about to PM you for the details of the guesthouse [bgrin]

No problems. Have fun.
Also, check out your jabs before travel to Costa Rica.
Malaria is common in Costa Rica.
FCO travel-advice-by-country

I didn't know that Costa Rica has 16 volcanoes - :0

Oooh Costa Rica is the one that got away for me, but we visited Belize pre-dc's and loved it!

Oh, Dominica is another worth visiting, not touristy at all but meant to be stunning (despite living close by we never got there either!)

Can I add a big thumbs up for Costa Rica. We only had 2 weeks to do as much as possible and just about covered what we wanted. Definite musts are Tortuguero and Monte Verde. Loved it and can't wait for DD to be old enough to go with us to do it all again!

We are staying in a rainforest in Argentina this April. After a visit to one in Saint Lucia and a whole term of studying them at school my two youngest boys are rainforest mad.

I blame the Eden project and Bear Grylls

That Disney ad makes me laugh! We took ours to Disney Paris a few years ago and their faces were like this when we told them where they were going! Standing in queues is just not their idea of a holiday!