COSTA RICA Almonds & Corals Lodge About the Lodge Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge

ABOUT ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE FROM ALMONDS AND CORALS - in their own words:

SEARCHING FOR DOLPHINS
Minimum 2 passengers

Includes: Land and boat transportation, tour guide and coffee.
Pick up time: 6:00 am

We suggest a light start having fresh coffee and toasts. This tour is conditioned to good weather and not wavy ocean. Our van will pick you up at 6:00 a.m at your hotel, and you will be taken to the beautiful Manzanillo Town, the last settlement on the coastal Caribbean road. Here you will board a motor boat of one of the local fishermen who will be your tour guide. The adventure starts navigating along a pristine rocky sea shore with impressive cliffs and erosion blow holes covered on top by the evergreen tropical rain forest.

About a half hour later, you will get to Punta Mona, the southern most point of Costa Rica on the Caribbean Sea and from here, the Captain will keep going slowly searching for the dolphins. Although we can not assure you will see them, the trip is worthwhile just for the magnificent scenery.

Most of the time you will see schools of bottle nose dolphins and they can be very playful splashing the water with their finns, jumping and diving or also you can see the Atlantic spotted dolphins and even the rare tucuxi that was recently identified in these waters very close to the Sixaola River, border with Panama. You will be on the water a little over two hours and then you will get back to Manzanillo. Our van will drive you back to your hotel at 10:00 a.m.

CAHUITA AND PUERTO VARGAS NATIONAL PARK
Minimum 2 passengers
The largest town in the South of Limon is Cahuita. A four mile natural trail leads from Cahuita to Puerto Vargas, beyond Cahuita Point.

The walk takes about two hours, but hikers will definitely want to stop frequently for a picnic, for a swim in warm Caribbean waters, to gape at the Howler Monkeys in the tree top high overhead or to focus their binoculars on a Green Ibis of Green and Rufous kingfisher.

The National Park was formed to protect one of the last living reefs in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, sedimentation from expanding banana plantations and deforestation in the Talamanca Mountains and the last earthquake have killed much of the reef close to the shore. Snorkelers can try their luck near Cahuita Point or Puerto Vargas. In these waters scientists have counted 35 species of coral, including elk horn, brain coral and Venus sea fan, and 123 species of tropical fish. Snorkeling equipment is available. Box lunch is included.

KAYAKING AND SNORKELING AT PUNTA UVA OR MANZANILLO
Minimum 2 passengers

We will give you a sit on top Kayak and the basic instructions. You will carry your snorkeling gear with you. Sit on your kayak and let’s paddle to Manzanillo, just 2 kilometers from our beach. The Gandoca Manzanillo wildlife refuge has around 10,000 acres in its marine portion, and it protects more than 5 square kilometers of coral reef along the coast. After 20 minutes paddling you will arrive to the beach in front of Manzanillo, you will leave the kayaks here and from the beach you’ll start swimming over beautiful corals.

Your guide will take you to the best spots. You will swim above the coral, also around the edges where you will see some deeper spots, little holes, cracks and caverns and a lot more. In other words, a magical underwater garden worth to see. Among the things there are sea rods, sea fans, brain coral, boulder coral, fire coral, elk horn coral, turtle grass, etc. Also you will have the chance to see beautiful tropical fish like parrot fish, angel fish, snappers, groupers, grunts, blue tangs, jack fish and others, without leaving behind the spiny lobster, crabs, canchs and other many life forms.

After taking a relaxing rest at the beach, get back on your kayaks and paddle back to Almonds & Corals. Take a fresh water shower, get changed. Transfer back to your hotel at 12:00 n.

GREEN IGUANA PROJECT AT KEKOLDI INDIAN RESERVE
Minimum 2 passengers

Early in the afternoon we will drive you to Kekoldi Indian Reserve to visit the Green Iguana Project. A few years ago the Green Iguana was an endangered species and Indigenous people decided to make them live reproducing them in captivity. The group will see the process of reproduction and growing them.

BIKING TOUR THROUGH A CARIBBEAN VILLAGE
Minimum 2 passengers

We will depart from the parking area of the lodge, heading towards Manzanillo, a typical fishermen Caribbean Village located about 2 miles from Almonds and Corals. Beautiful golden and white sandy beaches will appear along the gravel road, as well as cozy little houses of Caribbean style. Flowers and plants border the road while we find butterflies and birds of different species.

Thanks to the conservation efforts of the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge youcan find a great variety of wildlife along the road, such as birds, toucans, sloths, monkeysand coatis, as there are 380 different speciesof birds onlyat this Refuge. Half way onthe

road the group will stop at a local bar to sample a refreshing cold costarican beer or soda.

We will keep on pedaling and we’ll go through this authentic Caribbean Village. Once we arrive to Manzanillo, we will walk on the beach and will get into the blue waters of the Caribbean sea.

The way back to Almonds and Corals is similar as described before. Once we are back, there will be a delicious tropical fruit platter to quench the thirst while chatting about this marvelous journey.

CACHABRI INDIAN VILLAGE
Minimum 4 passengers
Requested with 10 days in advance

The tour for today is unique. We are not selling this tour except for large and specific groups because of its complexity. 10 days in advance we have to go to Cachabri requesting a permission to take the passengers there. And we have to wait until the headquarters authorize the visit.

Today passengers will have a visit to Amubri, Bribri and Cachabri Indian Village located 3 hours from Almonds & Corals, going into the Talamanca Mountain Range. With the private bus, passengers will get to Sixaola River, here we will transfer them by boat to the other side of the river.

Our van will pick up the people at the hotel at 7:00 a.m. At 9:00 a.m. they will catch the public bus that Indians use to be transferred to Amubri, as we ride along the road, we will see the every day life of the community. We will see cocoa plantations, bananas, thatch roofed huts, chicken, pigs, dogs and the simplicity of life of this people. We arrive to Amubri and then to Cachabri on the bus after 45 minutes driving time and at Cachabri we will be met by an AWA (Indigenous medicine man). He will take us to the “USURE” which is the conical thatch building that they use for ceremonies and he will tell us about their traditions, their beliefs and about some rituals that they perform.

Your guide will translate you the information. Right by the “USURE” there is the OROWE, another construction, this one for social meetings. After this introduction we will walk to their botanical garden at about half hour walking distance from the village, and the AWA himself will explain about the purpose of the garden, about the different plants they use for the different cases and about the preparation of them. On the way back to the village, we will see the big flat stone they use to grind their grains and we will hear the story about bringing this one from the river. We will return to the OROWE for a picnic box lunch.

At 2:00p.m. passengers must catch the public bus back to the Sixaola river and then back to Almonds & Corals. On the way back we will visit the Iguana Project from the Bribri Indians also. Passengers will be arriving back to their hotels around 5:30 p.m.

NATURA PARK
Of the estimated Indigenous people in Costa Rica, 65-75% live in Talamanca, the most rugged area of the country. This were always their domains, but they used to inhabit the lower lands also, although they were pushed to what today is their Indian Reserve. In Talamanca we have the Bribris, The Cabecar and the Guaymies indigenous groups. They all speak different languages and they do not mix to much in between.

Just 30 mts from Almonds & Corals a trail – like a secret passage – will take you into the forest, surrounded by the singing of the crested – mandibled toucan or the mealey parrot and the bay wrens and many other signs of dozens of tropical birds, here the frog’s land await for you. Just in the middle of the forest, we have created special conditions so that you can see the poison frogs which live in this area. Surrounded by beautiful bromeliad and water as complement for their habitat, you will be able to see three different frog species, among them the green frog or Dendrobates auratus and the red frog or Dendrobates pumilio.

While immersed in the forest, suddenly you will find an Indigenous Village… a conic thatch big hut all the way to the floor, “the USURE” where the chief of the clan used to live, now it is used as a ceremonial place.

The head of the family will give us an explanation of the meaning of the different constructions, and he will tell us about their traditions. A little bit further you will find the Resting House. This building does not have walls, just a palm roof and the hammocks hanging from the columns This is an OROWE. Lay down and breathe the humid air of the jungle. After this you will see “El Rancho de piso” that means the floored hut, where the family lives. Here you will be able to see the materials they use for their floors. They will show you beautiful pieces of handcrafts including furniture made of wood with animal forms, unique of this culture and finally, the House of Handcrafts where you can purchase these very original souvenirs.

To end this interesting tour, The Medicinal Botanical Garden. During our human life, Mother Nature has provided us with the necessary elements for dressing, food and medicines to cure our health difficulties. Indigenous people have inherited a lot of experience on medicinal plants and we have a botanical garden that will let you learn some of the plants used as medicine at the Talamanca high lands. The Afrocaribbean people also use these plants. You will find the lemon grass tea which is used as a stimulant. It has essential oil.
Properties: appetite and digestion stimulant.

It will be an unforgettable experience for you, don’t miss this visit.

Pick up time at other hotel: 9:00a.m. and 2:00p.m.
Includes: Visit to the Indigenous Village, tour guide, trail explanation and medicinal plant garden. Snack served at Almonds & Corals’ dining room.

CRAZY MONKEY CANOPY RIDE
Includes: Canopy Tour with fruits and juice.
Pick up time: 8:00a.m. and 2:00p.m.

Come to Almonds & Corals and feel your adrenaline rising up in your body, come and get on “The Crazy Monkey Canopy Ride”. Experience watching the jungle from the top of the trees in our canopy cable system of the platforms and ride amongst the forest till you get your feet on the golden sand beach!! Here is where the jungle meets the ocean.

Our guides will take care of you and they will keep you safe at all the time.

This is a great place for magnificent views from the tree tops while you are on the platforms and also walking in our bridges in some of the tracks. This is an opportunity to see the jungle from another perspective and surely you will have the chance to watch some wildlife from above and your guide can tell you about the different species that might appear, but even more amazing it will be to see the Natura Park with a Bri-Bri Indian Village from above where an aborigine family lives in a very traditional way with the typical thatch buildings. A snack at Almonds and Corals Lodge is included. Enjoy the surroundings of Almonds and Corals Lodge, its forests, its fauna, its beach. Back to your hotel at 1:00 p.m.