Most Inspirational Moment
The highlights for me were the boat safaris from Tortuguero, walking over the bridges through, and on top of, the cloudforest canopy at Monteverde and the night walks at the beautiful Esquinas Lodge set deep in primary tropical rainforest (paradise!).
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our leader was Giovanni Madrigal and the driver was Geraldo - both were lovely guys, equally passionate about Costa Rican wildlife and culture and anxious to show it off in all its glory to us travellers. Gio was knowledgeable and very approachable, answering our many questions with patient good humour, even when he was trying to eat his breakfast! We couldn't have asked for a nicer, more professional trip leader!
Advice for Potential Travellers
As for do's and don'ts. Do take clothes suitable for a hot climate (plus sun screen and head covering) but also a good fleece for when you are at altitude in the cloudforest. Include long trousers and closed shoes i.e. not sandals for night walks or sorties into the forest. An umbrellas is handy for a quick shower. It rains, sometimes unexpectedly, so take light waterproof jacket and trousers. There are lots of walks you can take and some of them are uphill and can be a bit slippery so you might find a Leki stick useful - none of it was too arduous for our group though, including the older members. Don't worry about washing clothes yourelf as most of the lodges have laundry facilities, besides which you'll never get your washing dry with the humidity! Take some mosquito repellent (you do NOT need a net) and use it in the evening in the lowland rainforest areas; I was never bitten anyway. Do take binoculars and a camera - there will be a lot of stops for wildlife viewing and the guide carries a telescope. I took a lot of photos with my compact camera through his telescope and this turned out to be a better strategy than clanking around with tons of unecessary SLR equipment. You'll never have time to set up a camera anyway as much of the wildlife is quick and sometimes a bit distant i.e. monkeys in the trees don't hang around for you to change lenses! Take a head torch as the grounds at some of the lodges are darkish at night and you may often catch sight of interesting things - we saw a nine-banded armadillo one evening at Monteverde. All the lodges are comfortable and quite luxurious with hot water, towels and often shower gel, soap and shampoo - we came back with most of ours unused. The bedding is always sufficient so don't bother with sleeping bags, liners or the like. The currency used everywhere is the US dollar but make sure you have some low denominations for tips &c