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Unlike ziptrekking, where you are directly connected to the overhead wire, here you have the luxury of being with up to seven other visitors in one of 18 gondolas, which each also carry a bilingual English/Spanish naturalist guide.
Say you are specifically interested in birding. Since the area is a transition forest between dry and humid forests, you have a wide variety completely different bird species. This forest is home to Scarlet Macaws, which our company has committed to help save. In all, over 50 species are abundant and common here. For the birding tour an expert naturalist guide with knowledge of all the birds in our parks, will meet you at the park entrance at 5 am, just before sunrise. You will take advantage of the silence and great visibility at all the different levels of the rainforest.
At 7 o'clock, you can closely observe canopy-dwelling birds from the Aerial Tram, which provides a unique perspective to observe Scarlet Macaws in their majestic flight, or parrots and toucans perching in the open trees. In the forest canopy, you observe mixed flocks of Euphoni, tanagers, warblers, and others, all fluttering in the branches.
The Aerial Tram can stop anywhere along its path so you can take a closer look without straining your neck. Then, after your great morning of bird watching, you will enjoy a delicious meal at our Rain Forest Restaurant.
You may also want to take a 45-minute Piedra Bruja walking trail with a guide, suitable for easy-walking, or the more adventurous may enjoy the two-hour waterfall hiking trail, which requires good physical condition.
Joaquin von der Goltz, a visionary nature lover, opened the first Rain Forest Aerial Tram, on Costa Rica's Atlantic Coast, in 1994 - it was the world's first. The design had to be built in the middle of 1,200 acres of dense jungle without cutting down a single tree.
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Today, there are four Rain Forest Aerial Trams: as well as the two in Costa Rica they are on the Caribbean islands of Dominica and St. Lucia. All serve as wildlife reserves, ecotourism attractions and research parks. Today, interestingly, all the trams are managed by women. Five schools within the buffer zone of Braulio Carrillo National Park have become “guardians” of the forest and the company's High School Environmental Club Network gets students excited about improving their environment.
The Aerial Tram is just outside the beach town of Jacó: we can pick you up from the Manuel Antonio area, which is 43 miles away, or from downtown San Jose, 67 miles away.
Mary Gostelow says:
Gaia Hotel and Reserve, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World, recently opened in Manuel Antonio, where the jungle abruptly meets the Pacific. There are 29 rooms, a three-tiered infinity pool and a full-service spa. Kimberly Barron is General Manager of the hotel, which is co-owned by its designer, Boris Marchegiani, CEO of the Petroleum Electronic Pricing Exchange, PEPEX. Best room is the 1,300 sq ft Suite Deluxe with jacuzzi, balcony and rooftop terrace with pool (and you have teak and Italian slate floors, 500-count linens and views of the rainforest and the Pacific). The hotel is WiFi throughout, and there is a three-level pool cascade.
www.gaiahr.com
Josef Preschel is COO and Controller of Rain Forest Trams Ltd, headquartered in Miami FL. The company runs aerial trams in Costa Rica, Dominica and St Lucia, www.rfat.com
Gaia Hotel & Reserve, Carretera Quepos, Costa Rica
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