Pierella Ecological Garden — Local services in Las Horquetas

Absolutely beautiful location with friendly, attentive staff! This family-owned preserve provides us a wonderful tour of the grounds featuring local flora, insects, butterfly enclosures, birds, and white bats! Cristal and William have done a wonderful job running this preserve! We had a tour with Matheis who guided us through the ~2 hr tour of the grounds through the rainforest. It started with a small meal of fresh juices, Costa Rican pour-over coffee, and pancakes with homemade cocoa sauce, all which were delicious! On the tour, we saw toucans, many butterflies, several frogs (including some sleeping red-eyed tree frogs), hummingbirds and other species of birds, scorpions, caterpillars at different stages of maturity, stick bugs, and a variety of lizards (iguanas, plumed basilisks). The staff are very knowledgeable about the fauna and flora habitats, so we learned a lot!

This is located about 1hr 30min from San Jose and was a scenic, curvy drive over (please take caution driving around tight curves and when passing - we drove by a scene of an accident where cars had gone over the guard rails and over the cliff edge!!)

We had a 10am tour and opted to join for lunch for an additional $10 per person. The lunch was casado, a Costa Rican meal consisting of rice, beans, vegetables sautéed in a light tomato sauce, salad, cassava root, fried plantains, and chicken, followed by the most delicious, ripe mango, pineapple, and banana served with cocoa sauce. Coffee, hibiscus, and pineapple papaya juice were served with the meal along with water. Overall we were done around 1pm after the full tour and lunch.

We booked a reservation (group of 2) the night before after inquiring via google maps. Overall we recommend checking this place out! Bring the bug spray, pack it in your bag in case you need to reapply, pack a light rain jacket or poncho, and if you have a good camera...

An Unforgettable Experience!

From start to finish, this tour was absolutely fantastic! The staff and our guide were incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about the wildlife and nature around us. Their enthusiasm made the experience even more special.

We were lucky enough to see adorable white bats, lazy sloths hanging in the trees, and an incredible variety of birds—at least 20 different species! The vibrant frogs and stunning butterflies were like something out of a dream. Every step of the tour was filled with excitement and breathtaking discoveries.

If you're looking for an unforgettable adventure in nature, I can't recommend this tour enough! It’s a must-do for anyone who loves wildlife, photography, or just wants to experience the beauty of the natural world up close. I would definitely...

A must go! It's a mini rain forest with a butterfly and bird sanctuary that's just two hours from San Jose. The owners are generous with the quality and quantity of food, time, and service. It's easily a three hour excursion for any size group that includes an organic farm to table breakfast or lunch with homemade chocolate, strong coffee, and natural fruit drinks followed by a truly unique tour and experience of seeing butterflies 🦋 transform from crystallis to a full born butterfly. Birds, sloths, and other rain forest type animals in all sorts of fauna and natural forest services. Very...