From steamy Tortoguero, with the howler monkeys waking us up at 5.00am (no need for an alarm!) to cool, mountainous Savegre thronging with hummingbirds, this was a tour of contrasting habitats each with their own variety of wildlife, plants and flowers. In addition to the wildlife elements of the tour, visits to the Aquiares coffee factory and CAITE research centre were incredibly interesting. The optional visit to the Bri Bri community was well worth it; we learned all about how chocolate is made from scratch and had great fun trying each part of the process.

While there were some longer travel days, they were well paced, never felt too onerous and we often saw interesting things en route. The boat trips were fantastic- just getting to Tortoguero and to Drake Bay were experiences in themselves, with opportunity to see lot of wildlife on the way. The snorkelling trip was amazing- we were able to swim above sea turtles, rays and amongst lots of colourful fish. Even if you don’t snorkel, the boat trip was worth doing- we saw a pod of humpback whales quite close to the boat, and a variety of birds.

The accommodation was comfortable and in all the hotel grounds we were able to spot a variety of wildlife- great for photographers who enjoy having a camera/phone in one hand and a ‘sundowner’ in the other!

Linda Grierson Costa Rica's Coastal Secrets

Group of 12, supported by 45 porters and guides.
Awesome week, clear skies everyday, fantastic porters, well organised, not one fault.

Simon Bath Kilimanjaro Climb – Lemosho Route

One of my best ever cycling holidays lead by a brilliant local team (Vini and Arun) headed up by the amazing Safi. It was good to experience the chaos of a city in Mysore with crazy traffic and cows in the road. Fort Kochi, which is a world heritage site, was laid back with lots of interesting things to see on our day off the saddle and lovely boutique shops where there was no hassle from vendors! The night on the converted rice barge was lovely and relaxing and so nice to float past everyday life on the river. Cycling along the coast, it was good to see fishermen hauling in their catch and to paddle in those warm waters.
I particularly loved waving at friendly locals as we cycled by (and them waving back) and the school children so excited to see us and practice their English.
Apart from the climb up to Ooty which is optional, I felt this holiday should be rated a difficulty level of 3 rather than 4. Once you’ve finished the Western Ghats, the cycling is very flat.
Added to all that, we had a truly lovely group of fellow cyclists on the holiday who all helped make this such a pleasurable trip.

Alison Stent Cycle Kerala & Tropical India