Looking back on the past year...

Gandoca - Manzanillo Beach, south Caribbean

Hi!

It has more than a year since I led the first Costa Rica Caribbean tour, (May 2010), and looking back at the year that is past gives me a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment.

It all started by a chance meeting with Paul Siegel, the owner of Finca Rio Perla, who invited me to come down to Costa Rica and visit his amazing farm – and help him with marketing the farm to potential guests and volunteers. Combined with my long love and fascination for Costa Rica since I visited it first in 1997, as well as the fact that in in that stage in my life I was looking to get into the eco-tourism business, this all made perfect sense – and so the 'Experience' was born.

Since then I have been many times to Costa Rica, each visit strengthening my connection to both the local community as well as the various tourism providers (hotels, activity and adventure outfitters) – all in pursuit providing visitors with the most authentic- and ecologically minded- visit to this paradise of a country.

During the time that has passed I have also send many families, couples and groups of friends to visit Finca Rio Perla, as part of their visit to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. This has been a great experience for me – first dealing with the individual requests for more information about visits, then helping them with the logistics of arriving on the farm, and later receiving their great reviews and accolades about their visit.   

I recently came by the following article in the Tico Times (Costa Rica’s English weekly newspaper) about the amazing beaches of the Caribbean region – listing in detail all the beaches south of Puerto Viejo. And honestly, every time I visit these beaches I am taken aback each time by their sheer beauty, and the calmness that ensues after spending some time on them.

July marked the first time that we sent a group to the Caribbean Experience without me escorting the tour – and we used the services of the super-professional Felipe Chacon from Get To Costa Rica. There were five women from L.A., and they stayed on the farm, and visited Tortuguero and the Arenal volcano as well - they all had a great time! 

The fall marks preparations for the winter tours – the first of which we announced last week (December 10-18, 2011), and expanding the experiences we offer our clients - including trips to other parts of Costa Rica and also Panama.

Ami

Director
The Costa Rica Caribbean Experience

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