www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Ok, first this is not very active its just walking around. But that said, this has somethings I ahve never seen before. They have a Butterfly enclosure that is just to cool freaking butterflies everwhere....all colors and sizes. You can pick them up they fly on you its just neat.

Cats, they display native cats all of them except they Jaguar and they have beautiful cages with lotsa of room but when I was there the cats walked right up to us and if you were stupid enough you could have reached out and touch them.

They have a nice buffet they serve in the middle of the tour site.

They have an old style Costa rican house they had dismantled and moved to the site and outiffited it with all the things a old farmhouse would have including a really cute girl to explain everything and offer you samples of Costa cheese and sugar water and sugar cain made right there on site.

The waterfalls themeslves are very step and this picture opportunities are really awesome. Stairs let you walk down right beside the watefall and in some places you get so close it feels like you are next to a firehouse.

It really in in the rainforest so I suggest you try it....ask Gustavo at Sportmans lodge to take you to La Paz Waterfall park. He stay with you for the day and we had to drop by the airport. He has a DVD in his roomy van and its about 1 hour away.

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!!Eat Sushi!!

There is no need for me (or many other guys) to "try" it since I (we) have already been there, but I might certainly go there again. I chose yes though not because of your suggestion. However, its good that you point this out for any others who might not have heard of the place.

There is one thing in your post that I'm curious about. How much did Gustavo charge to drive you for the day? The park itself costs $44 per person with lunch and just $21 more if you include pickup/return by the park's van. I guessing that, unless you're traveling with others to split Gustavo's cost, it is probably much more cost effective to just sign up for the park's full tour package that includes transportation from SJ.

http://www.waterfallgardens.com/lapaz-waterfallgardenspark.html

I've been there twice in the last 13 months. It is a great day trip.

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I agree. La Paz Water Fall Park is def worth seeing. While you're at it you might as well take the all in one tour which includes: breakfast at a Coffee Plantation, Poas Volcano, La Paz Water Fall Park, buffet lunch (very tasty) in the rain forest and ending with a river boat cruise. I enjoyed this day long road trip and talking to the guide, learning much about C.R.

Total cost for the day was around $100. They pick you up at your hotel early in the morning, return early evening, with plenty of time to look for chicas apon return. Full day with two meals all for 100 bucks can't be beat.

Great way to Get out of the gulch.

Diego, the five in one tour mentioned is great too. The buffet lunch is served at the La Selva Verde Lodge.

However, for you newbies, on that trip you only see La Paz waterfall from the road at the lower level falls and do not get admission to the Waterfall park which is a whole day trip in it's own right.

On ny given week in CR I try to take at least three or four day trips. Lots to see in CR.

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Gipsy, thanks for the info on the park itself. I saw the La Paz waterfall the 5-1 tour on my last trip and I plan to do the full Waterfall Park trek on my next one. Also if you do the 5-1 tour be sure to take some time walking around Selva Verde, they have a mini nature hike on the hotel grounds and you can see a lot of interesting small animals.

I didn't vote but have been there a couple of times As others have said it is a great day trip. I especially enjoyed the waterfalls and the "native" village exhibit.

If you can get reservations stay at The Peace Lodge and enjoy both. The pool and food and the Peace Lodge are really good. It is also a great place if you want to bring your favorita; multiple jacuzzis and huge showers.

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Question...
I took that '5 in 1' tour about seven years ago. It stops at a coffee plantation, then the Poas Volcano, then the river cruise on the Sarapiqee
River, then to the La Paz waterfall on the way back to San Jose.
Am I thinking of the same waterfall? It has a huge drop, and you can walk underneath it. It is near an old wooden bridge, which I understand got rebuilt several years ago. We did not stop at a 'Park', nor did we stop at a butterfly tent/exhibit. Where in relation to the huge waterfall is the Butterfly Garden and the other waterfalls?

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

Yes, thats the same waterfall. You pass the entrance to the park about a mile before the bridge, but the 5-1 tour doesn't enter the park itself.

Thanks Ramair4! That explains it. I thought perhaps we did not visit the Butterfly Garden and Park due to time constraints, and I don't recall seeing the entrance or sign to the Park.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

With rates STARTING at $355/nt (~$415 including tax) it BETTER be a DAMN great place for you to bring your favorita. However, IMHO, taking a working girl to a place THAT expensive is akin to paying CIEN several times over, ie gross overkill.

GringoTim,
Ramair and El V are right, the 5-in-1 tour goes to the same park but does not actually enter the park itself. This highlights the major shortcoming of the 5-in-1 tours. They are a great overview for those who don't have a lot of time to see all the sights properly, but they really just scratch the surface. If you are on a short trip to CR and never expect to come back (a description that does not apply to most mongers), or see multiple day trips as just something that takes you away from your mongering (a description that unfortunately does apply to too many mongers) or you simply want to get a taste of different sights in order to decide which places you want to see more (which is how I used it), then the 5-in-1 tours can be great. For someone like you who has been to CR as many times as you have and who has an interest in things beyond the gulch, you really owe it to yourself to REALLY see La Paz Park. The waterfall you saw was just the one closest to the road. I believe there are something like 7 waterfalls in total inside the Park as well as multiple other exhibits such as butterfly and hummingbird gardens (admittedly much like you can see in many places in CR) as well as snake, frog, insect exhibits. More than enough to make for several hours of entertainment.

The $355/nt is for their nicest room or villa. Their standard rooms start at $205/nt before taxes. That also includes admission to the park which is currently $32 per person per day, and goes up to $35 in 2009. The standard rooms are still really nice and would probably cost close to a $1000 a night back in the States. I still agree with you, Prolijo, that it's gross overkill to take a working girl there.

After my last trip to La Paz (on the tour) I really think that having your own driver and a couple of friends is the best bet. There is so much to see that you will feel rushed if you take the canned tourist tour to La Paz. Also, if took a chica old enough not to make me stick out like a sore thumb, I take her, spend the day and the night and return the next day. That would be sublime.

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Any mp's close by? If not will have to pass. I have enough of every plant and animal species imaginable just a few blocks from home.

Not really, it is out in the boondocks.

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