Costa Rica: Central Valley
December 27 – January 3, 2008

If you want to have a different holiday experience this year—I have a great idea! How about tropical flowers, fantastic birds, cloud forests, butterflies, monkeys, a volcano, scenic rivers? All of this and much more can be found in the same time zone as Nashville and only 6 hours south….beautiful Costa Rica. The country, slightly smaller than West Virginia, hosts more bird species than does North America and Canada, more butterfly species than all of Africa and no other country on this planet has such rich diversity of flora and fauna per unit area. Thirty-three per cent of the land is protected and it boasts a 97% literacy rate. A very stable democracy, it also has the highest life expectancy of any country in the Americas.

Our week will begin in the mountains of Heredia, only 30 minutes from the San Jose international airport. Then we will move north in the central part of the country, staying 2 nights each in local lodges: La Selva Biological Station (a private biological reserve—one of the most important sites in the world for research on tropical rain forests), Arenal Vista (with direct view of the volcano—for a New Year’s Eve celebration!), and Villaverde, a lodge in the Monteverde area. Our walks in the cloud and rain forests will be about 2-3 hrs. in length and at a very easy pace. Temperatures will be mid-70’s in the Central Valley and cooler in the evenings at higher elevations at Monte Verde.