Tapir Valley Nature Reserve — Attraction in Bijagua

Tapir Valley was by far my favorite part of my trip to Costa Rica! My family did several days in La Fortuna and drove to Rio Celeste soley for this tour with the hopes of seeing Tapirs, as the only other place with a high chance of seeing them in Costa Rica is Corcovado which was very far away. This tour did not dissapoint!

We did the night tour with Abner that started at 5:30pm and as soon as it got dark we saw so many animals. Every step we took a new snake, insect, or frog was within eye sight. They give you boots, which is important as there are snakes and you don't want to step on one. We saw snakes in trees, tree frogs, lizards, butterflys, toads, and even two Tapirs! Our tour guide was not only knowledgeble about the animals and the area, but it was obvious that he was passionate about the animals since he is in school to be a vet. Of course seeing Tapirs or any animal is not guaranteed, but either way I recommend this tour to anyone who seeks adventure and animals in Costa Rica! It is clear the staff cares about the animals and your safety. Plus, the night tour came with a snack of fruit and empenadas! The hike is pretty easy and our group was alone so we were able to decide when we wanted to go back home. Abner was truly the best tour guide and we enjoyed...

Wow! Our guides (Donald, Anthony and Jonathan) were extremely knowledgeable and hospitable. They even fed the nine of us a light dinner that was delicious. They spoke great English and were able to answer any questions we had.

We booked a night hike (5:30pm) and it was raining, which increased the frog activity. Tapirs are more active at night so I recommend a night hike. We spent about three hours there and even lengthened the visit so that we could find one of the rarest frogs. You are not guaranteed to find a tapir but they are very good at tracking them (some of them have collars) and one of the guides would usually run off to look for them while we were looking at something else. When they found a tapir we would quietly power walk to see it. The first time we did this we still didn’t see it, but then we got a great view the following two times. I personally enjoyed that we had to work hard to search for them.

We saw a few tapirs, a sloth, and many frogs.

Donald actually discovered a new species of frog about a year ago and it only lives in Tapir Valley. It is called the Celeste or Tapir Valley Tree Frog, you can look it up.

This was my favorite part of my entire trip to CR. Please enjoy and support this incredible...

This is a great natural reserve that's protected for the tapir as well as other wild life. My family and I decided to do the night hike to better our chances of spotting them and our guide was wonderful. He was determined to find them for us and while searching for tapir, he also educated us about nature and showing us other wild life too.

After our tour, they also treated us to some yummy fruits and snacks. I did not expect it but I loved the full service. The only thing, I would say this Nature Reserve need is a SIGN. Yes, I sign on the road letting me know if I'm almost nearby and also another sign pointing to let me know I'm there. I literally right by despite my GPS telling me I've arrived. After driving for a while and things just didn't feel right, I made a u-turn to head back. Of course I saw some opening but there was no sign but I went in anyway. Once I got there, I saw a man on the hill telling me to drive around. If I missed or couldn't find this reserved because of poor signage I would have be disappointed esp when the tour was already paid for and I'm limited with time as I was only in Costa Rica for a few days. Because they had not signage, I'm removing...