A garden oasis amid the Guanacaste desert, Cañon de la Vieja lodge offers horseback riding, cable and rope adventures as well as a variety of river-based activities including rafting through Class II and Class III rapids.
A garden oasis amid the Guanacaste desert, Cañon de la Vieja lodge offers horseback riding, cable and rope adventures as well as a variety of river-based activities including rafting through Class II and Class III rapids.
Shorts or long pants (recommended for horseback riding), hat and running shoes.
Camera, insect repellent, sunscreen, sunglasses, drinking water, snacks, bathing suit, towel and sport sandals and/or water shoes for river activities.
Full-day tour – pick up between 7 am and 9 am and drop off at about 4:00 pm.
Participation in the zip lines and river activities is limited to persons five years of age or older and those who weigh less than 113 kgs (250 lbs.).
Rincon de la Vieja, whose name “old woman’s corner” comes from an indigenous legend about a reclusive medicine woman, is the largest of Costa Rica’s volcanoes. The Las Pailas Sector of the National Park provides an intriguing and exotic mixture of geothermal features and the unique flora and fauna of the high dry tropical forest.
Rincon de la Vieja encompasses a variety of ecosystems due to differing altitudes, rainfall and the effect of volcanic eruptions. Flora includes a large population of the Costa Rican national flower, the Guaria Morada orchid, as well as the national tree, the Guanacaste, and others such as Strangler Figs, Tropical Cedars, Naked Indian trees and Copeys. Some 300 species of birds have been identified in the park, among them the turkey-like Crested Guan, the Motmot with its tick-tock tail wag and the Emerald Toucanet. The park is also home to deer, coatis, peccaries, skunks, coyotes, pumas, armadillos, tayras, agoutis, pacas, sloths, monkeys, anteaters and rattlesnakes.
Located at the foot of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, the Hacienda Guachipelin is a working horse and cattle ranch and adventure-tour paradise. The main attraction is the zip line which is unique in Costa Rica as it is the only one located inside a river canyon.
Palo Verde National Park is an aquatic wonderland! There are some 280 species of migratory and resident birds in the park, giving Palo Verde the largest concentration of aquatic birds in Central America. Many endangered and threatened species can be seen including the Jabiru stork, the continent’s tallest water bird as well as the pheasant-like Great Curassow, manakins, falcons, ducks and herons.
The park is also home to deer, peccaries, ocelots, coyotes, pumas, tayras, agoutis, pacas, monkeys, boa constrictors, rattlesnakes, coral snakes, crocodiles and huge populations of toads and frogs, including several species of tree frogs.
Palo Verde also sustains an array of exquisite hardwoods such as Ironwood, Cocobolo and Ron Ron as well as extensive mangroves and hundreds of other plant species.