Arrive at the San José International Airport. A Southern Explorations guide will meet you outside the Customs area of the terminal and transfer you to the hotel. Overnight at a choice of hotels in San Jose.

After breakfast, your rental car will be waiting at your hotel for the two-hour drive to the scenic region of Turrialba. There is much to do here. Turrialba attracts Costa Rica adventure travelers from the world over for rafting trips down the Pacuare River through huge canyons lined with rainforests. On this phase of the Costa Rica ecological tour, one can also explore Costa Rica's only accessible crater, the Turrialba Volcano, learn about the country's agriculture at the Center for Tropical Agronomy Research and Education or visit Guayabo, Costa Rica's most significant archeological site, dating to 800-1400 AD. It's also an area for scenic hiking and mountain bicycling. Overnight at a hotel in Turrialba.

Day A second day of sightseeing and leisure in Turrialba. Overnight at your Turrialba hotel.

Today's portion of your Costa Rica adventure tour begins with a four-hour drive that will take you to the country's north region along the old scenic highway passing through the towns of Siquirres, Guapiles and Aguas Zarcas and the agricultural region where the country's most important product, bananas, grow. One stop you may want to make near Guapiles is the Braulio Carrillo National Park where you can take a ninety-minute guided tour over a rainforest canopy on the Park's Rainforest Aerial Tram. Overnight near Arenal.

• A day of leisure for some of the following optional activities:
• Caqo Negro Wildlife Refuge is a Costa Rica ecotour paradise for birders interested in waterfowl. Jaguars, pumas and tapirs are also seen in the refuge.
• The Arenal Volcano has been active for more than thirty years. You'll be able to take a guided canopy tour along paved interpretive trails crossing fifteen hanging bridges or even schedule a night tour by sky tram to the top of the mountain to see lava eruptions and night creatures.
• Tabacón Hot Springs is a Spanish-style bathing resort in a lush tropical setting where you may take a relaxing dip in any of its many 102 degree F thermal pools fed by the Tabacón River.

There is also horseback riding in the area. After your Costa Rica ecotour, spend the night at a hotel near the volcano.

A three and a half hour scenic drive through Costa Rica's northern region will take you to the lush tropical beaches of the central Pacific coast. Overnight at a hotel near the park.

A day of leisure to enjoy optional activities, such as a visit to Carara National Park. Surrounded by agricultural land, this reserve is teeming with wildlife including crocodiles, monkeys, sloths and the scarlet macaw in a dwindling habitat where dry tropical forests and wet rainforests meet. This versatile and fertile terrain is the most difficult to protect because of its desirability for agriculture, making it an important stop on your Costa Rica ecological tour.
Or visit Manuel Antonio National Park, an important habitat for the endangered squirrel monkey and known for its white sand beaches surrounded by tropical forests, its marine life and mangrove swamps. Regularly observed wildlife include white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, sloths, armadillos and iguanas. The park is home to 350 bird species. There are also fishing and more hiking in the area. Overnight at the hotel.

In the morning drive to the San José International Airport where you will drop off the rental car before taking your flight home.

Key: (B)reakfast (L)unch (D)inner