Since our trip to Mexico and Guatemala in 1996 we always wanted to go to a tropical rainforest some day.
But because we don't like group trips anymore and enjoy renting our own car, it had to be a destination where this was possible.
It didn't take long before we found out that Costa Rica is the most suitable in that case.
Because Tortuguero has to be visited with a guide we booked this excursion on our first three days through the Dutch tour operator Travel Trend.
After Tortuguero we collected the rental car and moved further.
We visited the Arenal, Rincón de la Vieja, Palo Verde, Montezuma, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio.
We thought that Costa Rica's nature is fantastic. But because of the dense vegetation we didn't see much wildlife, which was a bit of a disappointment. But on the other hand we were amazed by the difference in tropical forests. Another thing that we noticed was that there is no nature left outside the protected areas which is a pity.

Our American friends recommended us to go visit Florida. Because you can have a free stopover with Martinair we decided to combine this with Costa Rica.
We visited the Everglades and Orlando but what we expected was true. Florida is not our cup of tea and most likely we will not return here.

Read our travelogue