NEW! Costa Rican Treasures: Coast to Coast (2012)

We just returned from our second Grand Circle trip to Guatamala and Costa Rica. We were interested in this trip to see the natural beauty of Costa Rica, as well as the native species. You will definitely meet those goals if you take this trip.
For the Guatamalan portion of the trip, our guide Erick was intesting and enjoyable. Guatamala is such a poor country that it is difficult to see such poverty. While we enjoyed this part of our trip, we are active 58 year olds, and there just didn't seem like there was quite enough to keep us busy in Guatamala. Still, we are glad that we went and we have some beautiful pictures and interesting memories.
When we booked the Costa Rica part, we did not take the post extension, so we can't comment on that. By the end of the trip, we were glad that we hadn't. We were not completely aware of how much bus travel there would be on this trip. There were many days that we spent 4 to six hours on the bus.. Our guide, Erick Castro, was superb. He was very interesting and worked so hard to make the trip educational and informative for all (especially the long bus rides). In both Guatamala City, Guatamala and San Jose, Costa Rica, we were warned about being very careful when walking around the city. It was recommended that we did not go out after dark in San Jose. You spend a fair amount of time in the two cities, so this was a little disappointing.
The coffee plantation was so interesting and fun. The food was good in the included lunch. We don't even drink coffee, but it was just so interesting and gives you an all new appreciation about the amount of work that goes into your morning cup.
We really want to make people aware of the location and conditions at the Mawamba Lodge. You travel two hours by bus and then two hours by boat to get to the Tortuguero area. It is quite warm and humid and the accomodations are not air conditioned. Your room will be a good bit like camping. Beds have wooden boards with just mattresses on top. To be fair, the pool is lovely, and there is a beautiful dining room and bar area. I was chatting with our guide though about how remote the location was. I thought if you had a medical emergency they could send a heliocopter in for you, but he didn't think that was possible. If that is truly factual, we urge you to consider that you are 4 hours away from medical help on a portion of this trip.
The home hosted visit was fun and the school visit was enjoyable, as always.
All of the hotels (other than Mawamba Lodge) were adequate to great.
Take the zip lining tour. It is so much fun! Fifteen people from our group of all ages and health situations went and we all did fine. We did not elect to take any of the other tours because they seemed similar to what is already included in the trip.
The last hotel, while lovely, is not as described in the trip literature. It is not near a beach, bars, shopping, etc. It is a beautiful place though, and it was a nice way for us to wind down from a very busy itinerary.
Waking up hearing howler monkeys and tropical birds sure makes for some great memories in Costa Rica!

Traveler: Jan and Chuck from Erie, PA traveled on April 13, 2012

I'll have to be brief. Yes, we enjoyed the trip very much. The immersion into Costa Rican life and world was sudden and near-overwhelming. We saw the natural world, the agricultural world, the city life. We visited a school and loved the children; visited churches and loved the worshippers and the preserved history embodied in the structures.

However, all the good being acknowledged, we still came back home more worn than when we left. We advise others, perhaps as inexperienced in tour travel as were we, to plan to fore go some tour directed experiences in favor of relaxation and happy dawdling, whether in the motel, at a beach, by a pool, shopping, town-walking, snacking, reading, whatever. Our mistake; next time we'll do better.

Traveler: Anthony Dambrosio from Rindge, NH traveled on March 23, 2012

A great trip! Our Tour Director, Shirley Sequeira, made the trip for us--well informed, friendly, always available, and adaptable to changing conditions; helpful pre-trip communication from her including e-mail and phone call re things to bring, conditions we would encounter on the trip, etc.

We took the post trip extension which originally called for a change in tour directors, for this portion of the trip. Didn't make sense to those of us who took it, but circumstances permitted us to retain Shirley, after all, much to our delight.

Food was good and somewhat predictable.

At several locations, we were not within walking distance of nearby towns and the facilities did not have shuttles to take you there. Hotel in San Jose was very nice, but not in an area that permitted much on foot individual exploration of the City.

Although we did spend a fair amount of time traveling between destinations, GCT's itinerary permitted us to visit an impressive number of places.

Traveler: Harold Goebel from Tucson, AZ traveled on February 22, 2012

This is a trip where, for all practical purposes, the Program Director makes it or breaks it. Shirley Sequera was a suporb Program Director, and she "made" the trip.

While the bus rides are long, the various destinations make them more than tolerable. I would definitely urge those taking this trip to add the post-trip extension to Manuel Antonio National Park. It is a turly beautiful place and should not be missed.

The Costa Rican people are very friendly which makes the trip even more enjayable.

The options offered were worth the cost with the exception of Arenal Rain Forest Sky Tram. This was definitely not worth the time or money.

Overall a very good trip thanks to a great Program Director.

Traveler: George Williams from Willow Street, PA traveled on February 17, 2012

Andres Fernandez is an excellent guide - very knowledgable in his country's history, plants, animals, geography, and climate. San Jose, Torteguero and Arenal were good. I would suggest the zipline at Arenal. Without Andres's extra efforts, the tour would have been rated only Fair. La Pasoda was not as described for the last 3 days. The hotel was not near the beach, local resturants, or local shops. In fact, an undependable shuttle service was the only available way to get to the beaches or the Marriott Resort area.

Traveler: Sheila Connell from Littleton, CO traveled on March 05, 2012

... Food was not great, most of it was burnt. Tropical Forest Canopy TOUR was repetitive, few animals (we have more in Fla) & too long!

Traveler: Concetta Clock from Port Charlotte, FL traveled on October 17, 2011

A very enjoyable trip. Our tour director gave us much info about the country, including the process of growing coffee, bananas, pineapple. Most memorable was Tortuguero--accommodations not as luxurious as others but clean, comfortable, good food & a different experience. Important to bring a good flashlight as Arenal & Guanacaste are individual casitas on the property. Very safe, very nice. Lovely dining room,good service & excellent foof, moderately priced at Arenal. A worthwhile trip. Bring a couple of washclothes.

Anyone planning to to go to Ireland alone in 2013. I'd like to hear from you, Perhaos we can become acquainted on line.

Traveler: Angeline Burnett from Hudson, MA traveled on February 13, 2012

I've been through home visits before but this is the first one with almost zero English. Did our best to communicate (sign language, smiling) but it is hard to "learn" much with no real dialog ...

Traveler: Deborah Mcwilliam from Columbus, OH traveled on November 14, 2011

we learned so much about Costa Rica from our most excellent guide, Guillermo. We loved the people of Costa Rica. From San Jose to Tortuguero to Arenal to Guanacaste, there were so many interesting discoveries.. All the accomodations were really good and all different. Loved the Mawamba Lodge, the view of Arenal and La Posada.. La Posada was pretty isolated and the only available place for dinner was expensive.. Would highly recommend this trip.. we have a new appreciation and love of Costa Rica, thanks to Guillermo. we were able to experience the culture of Costa Rica.

Traveler: Linda Harrison from Amissville, VA traveled on February 07, 2012

Costa Rica was more than we expected. The people were friendly and warm. The weather was warm, but not humid. We learned so much by traveling to the different plantations and rain forests. Saw all the common animals and many of the beautiful birds. The meals were fantastic, as were our fellow travelers.

Our guide was well-informed about the plants and wildlife. She also answered our many questions about the culture, government, etc. It's always a treat to visit a private home and a school. Though poor, our family was a delight, so happy.

Traveler: JoAnn Pethan from Chilton, WI traveled on January 26, 2012

there were some disappointments in the tour, but for the most part it was interesting and made enjoyable with the help of our program director, oliver acosta and the bus driver.

the highlights were the costa rican people who were, except for one location, very nice, helpful and warm.

the variety of scenery between the east coast rain forests and the west coast was interesting as was the wildlife.

the hotelsresorts we stayed at were pleasant, although getting hot water for a shower could be challenging.

food was more than adequate. fruit was great. water was safe to drink in almost all locals - but listen to your program director for those locations which might be questionable. take bottled water for hikes, boat trips and long bus rides.

our boat ride to see the Arenal volcano at night was not very pleasant and was disappointing, especially so since we had "dinner" on the boat (turned out to be slices of hot dogsome slices of potato and a salad) along with pitiful wine. we were supposed to eat dinner at a local restaurant.

the bus rides from location to location took longer due either to heavy traffic, or a combination along with poor roads (many paved roads became dirtand rocky).

on the other hand it was nice to see that they have a high literacy rate, but unfortunately not enough industry to enhance earning power - average salary was pitiful as were homes that we passed.

all shopkeepers and restaurants and taxi drivers accepted USA dollars, so no need
to exchange your dollars at departing airports where you got ripped off. better exchange rates at local banks and hotels - but again no need to do so.

except for san jose be prepared to deposit toilet paper in containers rather down the toilet. there was concern about clogging of pipes.

there were a couple of locations where folks using walkers, or have trouble walking up or down trails where rootsrocks are encountered should be avoided. I and my wife took expandable canes on these hikes which greatly assisted us and prevented us from slidingfalling. worth while packing these and also take good cameras and binoculars.

Traveler: Richard Kravitz from Sun City Center, FL traveled on January 30, 2012

I agree with many of the reviews written before regarding this trip. It was a great trip but rather hectic and of course, a lot of time spent travelling. the coach is not the most comfortable, only when the seats are reclined does it get better but in certain seats that interferes with your fellow passengers behind. the contour of the seats does not help the back.
It would have been nice to have some music piped into the bus inbetween the commentaries by our tour director, who was excellent and knowledgeable, but as a lot of people slept during the long journeys, it is not really necessary to explain so much. we old folks may not remember it all anyway!!
Not enough free time to mingle with the locals, as 2 of the hotels were quite isolated from the mainstream.
separate lounges would have been nice at 2 of the hotels, where we could mingle with new found friends.
A report on the weather daily would have been helpful, as would knowing how many miles we travelled overall.
More meals could be included in the cost, as is the case with other travel agencies.
The La Posada is very isolated and no choice of restaurants, and prices were high. to get to the beach we had to take the shuttle, and the restaurant there was nice but everything closed at 5.30pm. It would have b een nice to have a hotel right on the beach for those 3 nights.
Oveerall the trip was very good.

Traveler: Elizabeth Belanus from Rio Rancho, NM traveled on January 26, 2012

Out of the 9 trips I've taken with Grand Circle this was the most disappointing. Many of the tours which
were advertised on the On the optional 5-night pre-trip to Guatemala were not done.
On day 2 of the optional pre trip the brochure says we were to explore some of Antigua's most intriguing museums,
including the Pre-Columbian Art Museum, the Colonial Art Museum , and the Glass Museum. Other highlights
included the Museum of Popular Arts and the Guatemalan Apothecary Museum. We were not taken to any of these
Museums.

The brochure states that on day 4 we will have a visit to the home of local weavers where we will have the opportunity
to examine these hand crafted textiles and witness how they are created using traditional techniques. Again we did
not do this visit. Instead we were told to "go out on the street and find some weavers".

On our visit to the town of La Fortuna we were told repeatedly that we will have lots of time to shop on the next day.
When the next day arrived we were told to take a taxi to town if we wanted to shop.

The biggest rip off was on the optional sunset cruise on Lake Arenal. There was no cruise. We did not witness
any incandescent streams of lave flowing down its side. The boat mostly drifted on the lake. The brochure also
says we would return to town and "enjoy dinner at a local restaurant". The dinner turned out to be hot dogs and
potatoes on the boat cooked on a small BBQ grill. We ate last and by then the coals were only
luke warm so our potatoes were still hard and the hot dogs barely cooked. At a cost of $65 each
we would have been better off just eating at a local restaurant.

The visit to the local primary school was a very satisfying experience.

Although the visit to the home of a local family was very rewarding it did not include a chance
to help prepare a traditional local dish. We just sat down and started eating.

When arriving in Guanacaste the itinerary says we will take a short orientation walk around the
hotel grounds, plus enjoy a welcome drink. We were given a map with no orientation walk
and no welcome drink.

Day 11 of the trip talks about an included tour in Liberia. It stated they we will begin our discoveries in the
oldest church called La Agonia located along the city's central avenue. From there we were supposed to
walk through Liberia's central park to the modern church that faces the town square. After that we would
enjoy some time to explore Liberia on our own. We were also supposed to visit Liberia's central marked
to sample delicious local produce. What we actually received was 30 MINUTED to explore Liberia
on our own. We had to get on the bus and leave. It was a big disappointment.

And finally on the way to San Jose we were scheduled for a woodworking demonstration and discussion with local
artisans. Again, this did not happen.

The lodging was fairly adequate. Most of the problems with the hotels was the continuous switch from really hot
water to very cold water. In one place the water pressure was so low that my shower would not
stay on.

Grand Circle lists this tour as new for 2012. I feel they have a lot of work to do to get this tour right. Hopefully
this review will notify them as to what the problems are.

Traveler: Lawrence Misicko from Macomb, MI traveled on January 25, 2012

We enjoyed this trip very much, our sixth with Grand Circle. We cannot praise highly enough our Program Director, Eddie Recio. He used the time on the long bus trips to give us insight into the social, economical, and political problems facing his country, a stance we found informative, interesting and in many ways touching. When we were on tours, he did not step aside and let others take over. He was always there - at the school, the tropical flower plantation, the lagoon tours, in the small towns - everywhere!
It was also a pleasure to meet his charming family and be served our Welcome Banquet meal by them.
I am hard of hearing even with the Whispers, so I especially appreciated the clarity, diction, and projection of Eddie's voice and his always knowledgeable commentaries and explanations.
Other highlights: visiting with the children at the San Josecito Elementary School, (our eight year old hostess, Dixi, was an enchanting child) , the lagoon tour and the wildlife in Torteguera National Park, and of course, the thrilling zip line (all my TarzanJane fantasies fulfilled!).
The only criticism I have is a personal one. I am five feet tall and the configuration of the seats on the (Mercedes-Benz) bus were too high-backed (for me) to see over, and the angle of the seats most uncomfortable. I reported this in my review to Grand Circle.

Traveler: Edna Amason from Kerrville, TX traveled on October 17, 2011

We enjoyed this trip and feel we got a very good full view of Costa Rica from east to west. The rooms were great with great views, especially at Arenal where our individual cabana style cabins looked out on the active Arenal volcano and the hot springs were so wonderful. A highlight was seeing baby sea turtlesmaking their way to the sea while on a walk we took by ourselves along the beach in Tortuguero We visited several discovery type locations and found them all to be very informative and worthwhile. Food was good and the bus driver was superb.
Some long days were spent on the bus which is necessary to cover the large area on this trip. However, the bus time was made to seem longer by long (up to 2 hours straight) talks by our otherwise excellent Program director Eddie Recio . The talks often presented only his point of view and were given while ignoring any explanation about passing scenery. This really nearly ruined the trip for us.
We had very little free time and what we had was often pre-empted by the Program Director having us stand and listen to his neverending lectures. We are very seasoned travellers and have never run into this before. We appreciate information and do want to learn but need to have some time to explore and learn on our own from the local people,
In the future we will think twice about escorted tours and go for River boat tours instead which we have found fantastic.

Traveler: Pat Lassak from Sequim, WA traveled on September 12, 2011

We just returned from our 11th GCTOAT trip, this time to Costa Rica, and had a wonderful time! Our program director, Eddie Rescio was outstanding. He could address any question or topic posed by our group and we felt like we were attending a "Costa Rica 101" college course. He provided us with several lovely "surprises" throughout the trip and always managed to fill each day with lots of new discoveries.

The scenery is beautiful, from the rainforests of Tortuguero to the savannahs in the Guanacaste area. September is the rainy season; however, we had good weather with only some showers in the afternoon. Only one optional trip, a lake dinner cruise, had to be cancelled due to the weather.

Eddie had send a very informative e-mail to us prior to our trip, detailing what we needed for the trip and his list proved to be very exact. He mentioned that a smaller duffle bag would be needed for the boat trip to Tortuguera National Park and that helped us in our planning. He also mentioned that we would need various types of wet weather gear. We found that quick drying clothes, such as those from Columbia worked very well in the humid, warm climate. These items also pack well and take up a small amount of space. Flashlights and bug spray are also a necessity.

The zip lining adventure is not to be missed by anyone of any age! It is very safe and provided all of us with the thrill of a lifetime.

The hotels were unique in their location and character. Some are more rustic than others but we expected that due to the nature of this trip. The view of the Arenal Volcano from our room at the Arenal Parasio was breathtaking!

Our visit to the San Jose de Cutris primary school, which is supported by the GCT Foundation, and the home-hosted visit that followed, were definite highlights. Other unique stops were at a pineapple plantation, a coffee plantation, and an ornamental plant farm.

We enjoy having time to explore on our own and found that we could not readily do it on this trip. We had a half day in San Jose to walk around the city but the other opportunities for "free time" were in more remote locations where there was not an opportunity to really venture off on one's own.

This trip is different from other GCT trips in that you are spending time in a very natural
setting. The accommodations are more basic, but adequate, the bus rides tend to be long due to the road conditions in rural Costa Rica, and a great deal of the day is spent outdoors enjoying the beautiful sights and sounds of nature.

We really enjoyed visiting this lovely country that we knew so little about. We now have a new appreciation for it and its people.We felt that this trip is an excellent value with several meals included in the price.

Traveler: Gerald Risden from Lakewood, NJ traveled on September 12, 2011