Enjoy breakfast and a bird walk at Bougainvillea before checking out. Our main activity today is a customized tour in downtown San Jose with San Jose Urban Tours. Our guide will show us the city market and introduce us to many of the specialty fruits and foods of Costa Rica. He will then take us to a nearby house and guide us in cooking up a Costa Rican feast! We then depart the capital city and drive to Finca Luna Nueva Lodge, a working farm and ecolodge, where we will spend four wonderful nights.

Today we bird the grounds of Finca Luna Nueva and relax in the midst of tropical rainforest, dining on farm-to-table foods that delight the tastebuds. Before breakfast, a local guide will lead us on an early morning bird walk on the property, where over 250 species have been recorded on nearly 200 acres. One highlight is the 35-foot tall canopy tower, which puts you eye-to-eye with some of the beautiful tropical birds. In the afternoon we will gather for an herbal medicine workshop. This activity will involve hands-on work with plants and herbs freshly harvested from the organic farm on-site. In the evening we will drive into the town of La Fortuna for a sophisticated dinner at the popular Don Rufino Restaurante, one of the best in town. 

The Children’s Eternal Rainforest is one of the most beautiful natural treasures of Costa Rica, created in 1987 through the efforts of children from 44 nations. It is the largest private reserve in Costa Rica and anchors a 250,000-acre expanse of cloud forest and lower-elevation forest habitat. At the Poco Sol research station you will hike through a mid-elevation rainforest, giving a possibility of seeing the famous Umbrella Bird, Montezuma Oropendola (pictured here), multiple tanager species, and bubbling mud pits where geotectonic plates collide. The many trails offer a range of hiking challenge, and after your hike you can refresh yourself with a swim in the lake that fills the caldera of this extinct volcano.  

The mountains and rain forests of Costa Rica can be explored in many ways, but one of the best approaches is to hike the hanging bridges. We will go on a guided natural history and birding hike at the Mistico Park Hanging Bridges in the morning. Then we head into town for a cooking class in the home of Lali's friend Giselle. Learn how to cook (and eat) like a Costa Rican! You will be given some time to explore and shop the town square in La Fortuna before heading back to Luna Nueva for dinner and the evening. 

Time to keep exploring Costa Rica! After one final delicious breakfast at Finca Luna Nueva, we continue north. We will stop at Eden Organic Farm for a tour and chocolate-making demonstration, where we learn everything about the process of making artisanal and organic chocolate. We will also have lunch at Eden before heading to Natural Lodge Cano Negro. 

The Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge is an international RAMSAR site, providing wetland habitat and important ecosystem services to the northern zone of Costa Rica. By staying at the lodge, we have easy access for outings into this unique area. We will go on an early morning boat ride--a guided expedition in search of Roseate Spoonbills (above with White Ibis), Black-collared Hawks, kingfishers, and other wildlife. We will spend the middle of the day relaxing and birding around the lodge before heading out again in the afternoon, this time exploring the area on foot. The lodge restaurant will be our dining destination, where we will enjoy locally-sourced and internationally-inspired cuisine that is sure to delight. 

We will go on one more guided forest walk at Cano Negro before departing late morning. Our destination today is Selva Verde Ecolodge which serves as a haven for macaws and howler monkeys and much more wildlife. On our way there, we will stop at a local restaurant for lunch before a mid-afternoon stop for a cultural banana tour. Bananas have a long and ongoing history in Costa Rica with many current impacts on the current culture. Can't have a Flying Banana tour without this experience!! 

We start the day with a visit to the Finca Ecoorganica Sarapiqui for a guided tour of their farm. We will learn about and sample traditional crops like heart of palm, pineapple, passion fruit, coffee and more before they cook lunch for us. After an an afternoon siesta, we will join Oasis Nature Tours for a boat tour on the Sarapiqui River, where we could see kingfishers, monkeys, and other amazing wildlife. We end the big day with a visit to a local restaurant for some more typical Costa Rican cuisine. Yum!

We pack up at Selva Verde and depart after breakfast, taking a short bus ride to meet our guide for a morning of exploring the rainforest at La Selva Biological Station, one of the top birding destinations in Costa Rica. While birds will be our focus, we will also explore the mammals, amphibians, botany, and general ecology of the area.  After the hike, we start the drive up and over the mountains to San Jose. However, we will stop for lunch at Soda y Mirador Cinchona for a classic Costa Rican lunch, with specialties drinks and Olla de Carne among the numerous options. We will enjoy the spectacular view and the amazing birds (like the Northern Emerald Toucanet pictured here) at their birdfeeders while we eat. We then drive into San Jose, where we will stay at the Fairfield by Marriott by the airport. The grand finale to the tour is our dinner at Silvestre, one of Costa Rica's premier restaurants, where a tasting menu awaits. 

The Flying Banana Tour has come to an end, but you should be departing with a full belly, many wonderful memories, and some new friends. Breakfast is included at the hotel at your leisure. Free shuttle transportation to the airport is also available, so you should be able to catch a flight at whatever time works best for your schedule and budget.