Arrival in San José; Transfer to Pacuare; guided rafting excursion. Tree-top canopy adventure; 2 hours, easy to moderate

Your active adventure in Costa Rica begins with your pick-up in San José and approximate 2½-hour transfer by van to the Pacuare River (with a stop en route for a Costa Rican style breakfast), for the next step of the journey by river on a class III-IV whitewater rafting ride. Officially declared a “Wild and Scenic River,” the Pacuare is one of Latin America’s finest whitewater rivers, as it winds through the heart of crucial primordial rainforest. Located on Costa Rica’s Caribbean slope, the Pacuare River lies beneath the biologically rich Talamanca mountain range, home to the Cabecar Indians. Once at the river, your professional river guides provide a safety briefing before setting out on the excursion through luxuriant gorges, past rushing waterfalls, serene pools, and rapids, as the conditions alternate between stretches of thrilling rapids and calm waters. After running fun rapids like Pele el Ojo, you reach the river take-out point, from where a short transfer brings you to your welcoming eco-lodge.

After lunch and some time to settle in to your river-view room, you may choose to embark on a two-hour canopy tour, a unique experience of rising to the tree tops on a series of platforms, walkways, and cables, where you gain access to dramatic vistas above the tropical rainforest. With a thorough safety orientation and equipment fitting, you walk about 20 minutes on a trail through your lodge’s private reserve to the canopy tour starting point; here you ascend to the sensitive forest canopy ecosystem, secured safely in a harness. Proceeding from platform to platform you emerge just steps away from the lodge. You can unwind in your room before enjoying a gourmet candlelit dinner.

Cabecar Indian visit; 4-5 hours, moderate to challenging or tree-top canopy tour (see day 1 for description)

Today you have the rare opportunity to visit a small community of Cabecar Indians, the largest indigenous group in Costa Rica, who maintain many of their traditional customs and beliefs. In their ancestral home of the Talamanca Mountains, the Cabecar live in small family units scattered throughout this remote region. You reach the family along the Cabecar’s century-old trails through the rainforest, and your main contact is the clan’s “Zutkia” or shaman, who in this culture acts as priest, magician, and healer. Little accustomed to contact with the outside world, the Cabecar can be shy and prefer not to be photographed. Your local guide provides cultural instruction and acts as interpreter in Spanish with the Zutkia. A portion of you tour payment goes directly to the Cabecar family to be used in sustainable projects.

Alternatively, you may choose to embark on the tree-top canopy tour today, and later fully relax at your lodge, enjoying its amenities and tranquil location before concluding the day with another delicious dinner of fresh local cuisine.

Morning rafting adventure (class III/IV rapids); transfer to San José for departure

This morning, awakening again to a chorus of bird song and an enticing breakfast and coffee, you depart the lodge the same way you arrived—by river. The portion of river you run today is also a thrilling combination of class III and IV rapids, including the Upper and Lower Huacas, Cimarron, and Dos Montanas rapids, slicing through spectacular scenery; you may be tempted at one stop at a waterfall and pool to plunge in via a natural waterslide. Finishing up the excursion with a well-deserved picnic at the water’s edge, you are able to change into dry clothes at a private facility before transferring back to San José for onward travels.