About us

We had planned to pop in and see you but coronavirus issues seem to have put an end to such social niceties. We had the joy of returning to an empty larder, an empty fridge and empty shops! Fortunately it didn’t affect our holiday as the first cases in Costa Rica weren’t identified until the day we left. The trip was absolutely brilliant. Organisation in Costa Rica was first rate from pick-up at the airport on day one to drop-off on the last day. Alexis, our guide for the first 18 days, was superb. Very friendly and helpful, he seemed to know everyone in Costa Rica, and was excellent at arranging visits to locations we would never have found if we had travelled independently. He even arranged for one restaurant / viewpoint to open 1/2 an hour early so it fitted with our schedule. He was also very good at getting the best out of the included trips at the different location – such as arranging for the morning boat trip on the canals at Tortuguero to be a private trip (not sure what the other guests thought as we went off in a boat all by ourselves!) As a bonus we had a tortilla making lesson from his wife, which was great fun. We would definitely recommend him to anyone planning a trip to Costa Rica – in the end we saw 276 different species of bird, 3 out of 4 species of monkey, both species of sloth (several times), plus turtles, caiman, crocodiles, lizards, frogs, spiders and lots more. Almost without exception the accommodation we stayed at was excellent. Rooms were very good, as was the food, and staff and local guides were very friendly and helpful. The only exception was the room at Tapirus Lodge – we expected it to be pretty basic but it had an added element of neglect (damp, not serviced during stay). That said, the restaurant (food and staff) and the guides were all good. Can’t pick favourite from the other locations as all very good, from the Margarita’s at sunset over the Pacific (which even a little earth tremor didn’t spoil) to views of the smoking volcano at Arenal, and hot water bottles in the bed at Trogon Lodge (no, it wasn’t that cold!). Any minor hiccups were dealt with extremely well by Alexis and Il Viaggio. Actually, there were only two – the return of one of our suitcases from Sierpe to San Jose as Alexis wasn’t returning there (solved by dropping it off on the way to Turrialba) and a mismatch between our itinerary for Trogon Lodge (DB&B) and the hotel booking (B&B). On querying which was correct, Melisa(?) immediately organised for the D part to be settled by Alexis. Excellent service. The final day in San Jose was also really well organised and we really enjoyed it – managed to fit in the Pre-Colombian Gold Museum, the Jade Museum, the Cathedral and an excellent and very entertaining tour of the National Theatre / Opera House. All sandwiched around lunch in a long-established Soda in the Central Market. We are away for a couple of days stocking up for elderly parents before they are locked up but will complete the survey as soon as we get back. Many thanks for arranging our trip – we had a really great time and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you to others. Hopefully we’ll be able to call in and thank you personally in the not too distant future. Regards, Richard & Sue.