Has anyone gone as a single on the Costa Rica Caravan Tour?

Question

Have booked myself on the june 20, 2008 costa rica caravan tour. Just curious to hear input from anyone who may have taken this tour as a single and what they thought, or if I'm lucky anyone who is going on this trip

Answer 1

I just came back from a Caravan tour to Costa Rica 2 days ago.  There is a mixed group.  Some were singles and wound up being friends throughout the entire trip.  Amazingly old mixed with young excellently fantastic.  There was no age barrier that mattered in friendliness at all.  Most tours ther are singles who do wind up pairing together.  

I am an older woman who went with my son.  I can't say too many things good about the trip though.  Our guide spent more time while on the bus talking anf joking with the driver.  And was not very helpful to us at all in a few circumstances.  The hotels could have been greatly improved.  But, for the low price of the trip " You get what you pay for ".  My son who has been all over the world and to a few other 3rd world countries said the hotels we stayed at were the worse he  has ever been in.  You ate the same type of food every single day.  At times the food was swarmed with flies.  The last 5 days of the tour I became very sick.  From food poisioning the to a sinus infection, broncitus and a double ear infection.   The day I got home I went straight to the doctors and had these diagnosis.  If I had come home any later I would have had to be hospitalized here ( US ) and been deaf in both ears.  DO NOT eat any salad  or drink their water or use their ice cubes.  Drink only bottled water.  The buses at air conditioned and kept way too cold.  You are breathing the same air of others every day.  Use antibacterial wipes on everything you touch frequently.  If you want to know any more please e mail me.

Answer 2

hi, i haven't taken this tour, and wish i was going on the tour, but i'm not.  i did spend 3 months in costa rica though, and have been to some of the spots you are visiting, and seeing as you have no responses, i figure i'd answer a bit.

Seems like your first day will probably be Volcan Poas and the coffee plantation, you'll do both of those in one day drive, probably eat a big buffet at the coffee plantation for brunch, definitely check out and purchase a wood carving done by local boys out of coffee wood, very good work.  On the way up to the plantatation, there's a park with an old ruin and vegetation, and when i walked to the back right of that park, i found a honey making area, with a man and his son, i got a great photo of them together, but that was in 2000, most people don't even notice them there.  As you go up to the volcano, you might be able to get some really cool photos of the clouds below you in the fields and farms, also the green color that the little crater lake has at volcan poas photos good.  although a cool day, that doesn't even compare to the rest of what you'll do.

The active volcano Arenal, where the Tabaccon hot springs are, is really a site.  The night i was there was the clearest night so far that year, as it's in a cloudforest it's not always clear.  If it is, it will be one of the most memorable sights ever, Arenal is a pair of volcanoes that continually erupt and spit lava high in the air and it comes crashing down on the side of the volcano and splashes everywhere, not to mention it heats the waters and there's natural hot springs all up and down the place, and good drinks and food at the resort there.  there's also a big waterfall and huge pool to visit not far from the resort, try to check it out if it's not on your itinerary.  also, you'll probably stop in fortuna at a really cool garden where the plants are all sculpted into things.

On the pacific side, Jaco is the big tourist beach city you'll pass through, cool beach restaurants and local artisans necklaces etc.  There's a great beach right next to Playa Jaco, it's called Playa Hermosa de Jaco, it's a black sand beach, and is famous for world class surfing, definitely check it out if possible, cool little area.  then it looks like you'll head south to the most popular national park in cr, manual antonio, which is a rainforest peninsula with two great beaches breaking in on each other, not but a few hundred feet of land seperating them, really amazing place, monkeys and sloths in the trees, there's a few more beaches there, but more remote in the park. there's a short hike in the park leading you to a pretty cool waterfall with a little pool there.  you can rent a surfboard and surf on the litttle waves just outside the park on the public beach.  Make sure to stop by the resort Costa Verde a few kilometers before the park, it has a great bar and restaurant there with a ridiculous view of the peninsula and pacific, and has monkeys in the trees at the bar.  Great drink there: mono en la playa(monkey on the beach), and great food there: banana pancakes for breakfast.

With all the beaches volcanoes turtle cruises etc etc it seems they might have left out a river rafting trip, which is essential to a complete costa rican tour.  By far the biggest adventure is Rio Pacuare, i did it twice, i can't put it into words how great a time floating those rapids and seeing all the natural wonders and indegenous peoples fishing and eating homemade empanadas and sipping cold beers afterward with the guides.  There's plenty of rivers there that will blow you away, hopefully rafting one is already part of your trip!

Pura Vida!