Tachiz Travel Review by J. Smith, USA from: 01/25/2019
Our honeymoon is Costa Rica was amazing. Tachiz travel put us in touch with amazing guides, drivers and chose amazing hotels for us to enjoy their country in style. If you want to remove all minutia and the stress that normally comes with planning and executing an extended trip, book through Tachiz and you won't regret it.
I was impressed with their initial plan for our trip, it involved a ton of choice for tour availability each day. They answered all my questions quickly and helped determine the best tours to make this trip unforgettable. Not to mention they recommend tours that really only take up your morning or afternoon giving you plenty of time to check out local restaurants and towns.
All of their tour guides and drivers were early or on time. Except for one tour guide who was held up by a heard of cows on the road up to our hotel and had called to tell us he would be late. Truly spectacular customer service.
We can't wait to get back and do the Western and Southern portions of the country as we heard numerous recommendations throughout the country. Costa Rica truly is spectacular.
(Most enjoyable parts of your trip?)
Learning all about Costa Rican culture from all the guides and getting their recommendations on local restaurants which were all great.
Kendall from Monteverde was by far our greatest driver, we peppered him with questions the minute we got there as well as on our transfer to Nosara. He was amiable and told us incredible stories and really made the drives fun.
Top tours:
1) White water rafting in La Fortuna
2) Kayaking in Nosara
3) Hanging bridges in La Fortuna
4) Canopy tour in Monteverde
5) Proyecto Asis in La Fortuna area
But honestly all the tours were great and it was tough to pick a top 5.
Tamarindo was less "Costa Rican" than I would have liked, it was a too touristy. Barely any locals visible and the usual Tico food was tough to track down. The local food and culture are half the reason we travel to see and experience the actual culture in a country and not the "Americanized" tourist spots.
Also the Tamarindo Daria was by far our least favourite hotel. Which is actually an easy feat as the other hotels we were at were all spectacular. But the Daria had subpar food, too many people in one place, and hawkers that bothered you whether you were on the beach or on the Daria lawn. On top of all that I believe we had animals living above our room who seemed to wake up and start wrestling at 4 am. It was very odd. And I wouldn't recommend that hotel.
Other than that... trip was perfect. Thank you again Tachiz!
- J. Smith, USA
Tachiz Travel Review by E. Pusey, USA from: 01/22/2019
This is my third trip with a travel company suggested by Zicasso. Previous trips to Italy and New Zealand were also excellent. Each time travel company suggestions have been to local specialists. For my Costa Rica trip with my two daughters I was given two travel companies which each proposed an itinerary after some initial interchange about my preferences. Francisco from Tachiztravel was on top of every communication. He responded immediately by phone or email or whatsapp to any of my questions. I made a number of modifications as I discussed plans with my daughters age 23 and 17. He was also very patient with my own concerns about whether I really wanted to do some of the activities such as ziplining and canyoning that were on my daughters agendas. We had a significant set back in our plans when my 17 year old was unable to travel with us and joined us separately part way through our trip. I was very concerned about her airport pick up and transport to join us four hours away. Francisco made it happen and even gave me references on his driver. All the drivers on the trip were wonderful. However, the driver, who picked up my daughter, Jose, was special. He has a PhD in history. He made the long drive interesting and fun. My older daughter and I were delayed returning from a night hike arranged by Trachiztravel. I returned to find Jose waiting with my daughter in the hotel lobby. I know she would have been perfectly safe waiting on her own but I was very touched that Jose stayed with her.
As I noted above the drivers all spoke English and each gave us background on the areas were were traveling through. Driving to Monteverde was up a gravel mountainous road. Having a driver was really appreciated. The route we took from Monteverde to Arenal volcano region required driving in the countryside to an unmarked turn off to a lake were a boat was waiting. I do not think I would have found the boat without a driver. We ended up as the sole party on the boat with a guide. The activities were well chosen with plenty of choices. I would not have thought to include night hikes but they were strongly recommended and turned out to be unique experiences. The guides are all well trained and know where to look for the animals. Definitely do any hikes with a guide or you will miss the animals. All of the activities are well organized. The hotels were wonderful. Francisco was very responsive to the level of hotels I was interested in. In arenal volcano area we had hotel with less stars that the rest as we were booking rather late. Francisco, kept emphasizing that it was not a luxury hotel. My daughters and I arrived at the hotel and wondered what wasn't luxury. The hotel was my younger daughters favorite (El Silencio del Campo Hotel) and had hot spring pools at the hotel. Only hotel guests can use the pools unlike some of the other area hot springs which allow day passes. This was definitely luxury. I would definitely recommend a trip arranged by Tachiz travel. And I will definitely be relying on Zicasso for travel company options when I explore another new destination.
here were lots of great activities including canyoning which included belaying down waterfalls and hiking through creek beds, ziplining, hanging bridges, night hikes, and multiple waterfalls. Animals we saw included quiztal bird, tribe of howler monkeys include a baby hanging onto its mom, strawberry poison dart frog, deadly snakes, tayra, and sloths. Our most memorable moment was probably feeding a sloth at the waterfall gardens attached to the Peace Lodge. Again, something special arranged by Tachiz travel. We had specifically requested a stay for our last night in Costa Rica at the Peace Lodge. However, Tachiz travel arranged for a private guide for the afternoon so we were able to see all it had to offer in the short afternoon on our schedule. We also saw jaguar and mountain lions being fed and saw butterflies emerge from their chrysalis and hiked along a trail with multiple waterfalls. We returned to our room with a hot tub on the balcony overlooking the forest and another hot tub in our bathroom surrounded by waterfall and plants. We turned on our fireplace and felt very peaceful.
I can't imagine how the trip could have been better. The trip was nicely paced. I could have worked out a bit more before the trip which would have helped with the canyoning. I would recommend bringing a go pro for the zip lines. Specifically request the vendor which has the go pro helmet attachments.
- E. Pusey, USA
Tachiz Travel Review by T. Pristin, USA from: 01/21/2019
My husband and I had a wonderful time in Costa Rica. We were delighted with the accommodations, the scenery, and the friendliness and values of the people.
Tachiz did a great job. They provided good (and knowlegeable) drivers who arrived on time. They booked us outstanding rooms with lovely views. They were easy to deal with by email and very responsive to my queries. When we asked to have the same driver who took us to our second destination for our trip to the airport, they were able to accommodate me.
I would definitely use their services again and will recommend them to friends.
The highlight for my husband was definitely the jungle boat in the Tarcoles River, which was not something I specifically asked for but was included by Tachiz to break up the trip.
I loved our first destination, El Silencio, which is situated in a cloud forest in Alajuela province. But you have to eat in the hotel dining room because the restaurants in town closed at 6 p.m. Only one of the hotel restaurants was open, and its menu was largely the same each evening. Had we known about that, we might have picked another hotel in the same region.
We thought we would be touring a coffee plantation while we were en route from Bajos del Toro.to Quepos. I think there was some miscommunication because we did look at a coffee plant or two, but we never got to see how the process works.
Tachiz arranged for us to go on a group tour to Manuel Antonio National Park on a Sunday morning. The guide was very good, but the park was extremely crowded. I think it would have been better to use a private guide from the hotel and plan the visit for Tuesday (the park is closed on Monday).
But these are minor quibbles.
- T. Pristin, USA
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