Central America Holidays

We've wanted to visit Costa Rica for years and Travelfab put together a brilliant two-week trip. Arenal Volcano with the hot springs was the perfect start. Tortuguero's canals were teeming with wildlife — monkeys, sloths, caimans, an incredible variety of birds. The Caribbean coast around Puerto Viejo had a completely different vibe — reggae, jerk chicken, and lovely reef snorkelling. Pura vida indeed.

Costa Rica was pure magic. Monteverde cloud forest was eerie and beautiful — we saw a resplendent quetzal on our first morning which our guide said was rare. The hanging bridges walk was thrilling. We finished at Manuel Antonio where the white-faced monkeys came right up to our sun loungers. The biodiversity is staggering. Travelfab arranged everything including an excellent local driver-guide.

We chose Guatemala over the more obvious destinations and it was the right call. It's raw, authentic, and the Mayan culture is still very much alive. We loved learning to weave with local women near Lake Atitlán. The only reason for four stars is that some of the road journeys were quite long, but the scenery made up for it.