Rara Avis
	Rainforest Lodge & Reserve, Costa Rica
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Your trip begins in the small town of Las Horquetas de Sarapiquí, accessible by bus, car, taxi, or small plane (for details on how to get to and from Las Horquetas click here). There you can leave your car and excess baggage at our office, have breakfast, and buy your last supplies (boots, hats, raingear, flashlights, etc.) before you leave civilization. You will need rubber boots (we lend up to size 43 or 11.5 U.S.) and clothes in which to get wet and muddy. In Horquetas, most visitors board a tractor-pulled cart, for the three-hour, 15-kilometer voyage. Other options include horses or a jeep for the first 12 kilometers, then walking the last three kilometers through a deep jungle trail. Rara Avis has remained pristine because of its inaccessibility: along the way you will see first-hand how rainforests have been cut down wherever they are near roads.

Soon you will arrive at El Plástico, named for an abandoned jungle prison colony where the prisoners slept under plastic tarps.  El Plastico, owned by Selvatica, is one of the bases for  ongoing research and education projects. Several times a year the building is transformed into an exciting center of activity when student groups from around the globe learn about the intricate life history of the rainforest, or when researchers settle in for prolonged stints of field work.

Rara Avis lies three kilometers (two miles) through the rainforest from El Plastico, about one hour by tractor cart at the end of a rough corduroy road or one and one half hours walking on jungle trails. Many people choose to walk through the rainforest while their bags are carried up on the tractor cart.

Here we offer the comfortable, but rustic Waterfall Lodge, five-minute's walk from our spectacular double waterfall. Each room has its own bathroom (with a bathtub and hot water) and a wrap-around balcony overlooking the rainforest and the lowlands. You can watch birds right from your hammock.

Many couples choose the secluded two-room River-Edge Cabin, even deeper in the rainforest, while budget travelers and student groups choose the simpler setup in the two-room Casitas.

Once you reach your destination in Rara Avis, you will be served lunch. After a short period of relaxation our naturalist guides will take you on an introductory tour into the rainforest, and show you the plants and wildlife and explain their complex relations. Later, you may be able to swim in large crystalline pools at the base of the waterfall.