We had one day open in our visit to Costa Rica and decided we wanted to go on a "low impact" adventure into the Costa Rica countryside.
After chatting with a tour vendor at the Riu Palace pool, he put us in contact with Seven Sense tours.
Using blind faith, we booked a tour. The tour was to include a visit to a volcano, a horseback ride, a walk into a rainforest, a mud bath and lunch. A lot to do in one day, we were skeptical...but we are SO GLAD we did it!
We were met in the lobby, as scheduled, by Rosbin Jimenez. A very charming, friendly host. We expected to be put in a tour van with other tourists, but no...it was just my wife and I. The car was clean and Rosbin proved to be a very safe and capable driver.
After a 1.5 hour ride, including interesting stories and facts provided by Rosbin, we arrived at our destination. It was beautiful.
The tour started with a short horse ride toward the rainforest area. The ride was short, but trust me, at our age, it was just right. Rosbin met us there and provided weatherwear for us to put on for the next part of our tour.
Now, I'm not sure, but I think at this point Rosbin might normally show you the path to take you into the rainforest, enjoy waterfalls, cross rope bridges and return. But in our case, noting our age, he was kind enough to personally guide us through this part of the adventure, sharing observations of wildlife and plants and making sure we were safe and comfortable. Rosbin, if you are reading this, that gesture meant a lot to us.
After that experience, we were taken to a natural geyser outcropping. When we heard we were going to a volcano, many images popped in our head. Would we be on the rim of the crater? Would lava be spewing out?
None of those images were accurate, and that was just fine. It was truly amazing to be at a spot that you could experience geo-thermal heat in a very natural form.
This portion of the adventure included changing into swim suits (changing rooms were available) and entering a naturally heated (by volcanic energy) sauna, then a dip in a volcanic mud bath. Nope... we weren't in Kansas anymore...
After the mud bath came an invigorating shower and some relaxing time in 3 different, (hot, medium, cool) naturally heated spa pools.
After changing back into our dry clothes, we were treated to a wonderful light lunch including lightly battered and fried FRESH tilapia. Now, I'm NOT a fish lover, but I have to admit, this was something very special. I long for it to this day.
We were driven safely back to our resort, again highlighted by points of interest from Rosbin. All-in-all the adventure tour lasted approximately 7 hours, including drive time.
It Was A Day Well Spent!