Cultural Holidays in Central America

I absolutely loved Costa Rica, it is such a special place and it makes you appreciate how wonderful our world can be when we look after it! This trip is quite a busy trip and with long drives at times but it is worth it as you get to see so much of this country and its extraordinary diversity of landscapes. Lots of great scenery, wonderful cloud forests, beaches, countryside and amazing wildlife including sloths, hummingbirds, toucans (and numerous other colourful birds), iguanas, monkeys, tree frogs and the most beautiful butterflies I have ever seen. I loved every place we visited but my favourite has to be Tortuguero nature reserve. The boat trips around its waterways spotting wildlife was definitely one of my highlights.

Ilenia Barausse Discover Costa Rica – with Dominical

This is a great trip if you like your wildlife. Make sure you bring the best camera/lens that you have got as you can get some amazing photographs.

Having said that there are a few things that could be better:
– Tortuguero is famous for its turtles. We didn’t see any even though we went to the beach around dawn both mornings we were there. Subsequently we found out that you can go on a local guide tour overnight, they then liaise with other guides to share where the turtles are (it is a long beach) to give you the best chance of seeing them. You may have to ask about it at the Lodge about booking a guide
– Manuel Antonio. Likewise a local guide would help find more of the wildlife here, as they know the area & have the required spotting scopes
– Savegre. To see the Quetzal (which is the main reason for going there, & is spectacular) again, you need a local guide to take you to the right area. These can be booked via the hotel
Hopefully Exodus will include these local guides/trips going forward as I have shared this feedback with them.

We enjoyed the coffee/chocolate tour at La Fortuna, where you get to make your own chocolate (you need to add a lot of sugar otherwise it’s very bitter !)
We also did a night trip to see more frogs & other night animals while at Manuel Antonio which was good

Dave Boothroyd Discover Costa Rica – with Dominical

This trip was a fantastic way to explore more of Cuba and learn about it’s history and culture from locals! The cycling was great overall, there were some hills that were tougher – especially with the humidity and being directly under the sun, but very rewarding. There were lots of long stretches on the trip where we could all cycle at our own pace and so many locals coming out of their homes and shops to wave while we cycled by. I especially loved the views on day 11 cycling along the coast to Cienfuegos! Lunch at the farm on day 13 was definitely the best meal we had while on the trip, but in general, I was surprised with the food options we had for many of our meals. The itinerary was also jam packed with different activities, I absolutely loved our beach day in Trinidad and the classic car tour of Havana was so much fun!

Kaylee Lin Cycling Cuba