nature park walk

Needed to be cleared of vegetation. Trails are now overgrown foot paths.Needed high boots, ground was very soggy from heavy rains, and we were advised not to even try.

There is so much to see on this walk. You do need a guide as it's private land and there are dangers. We spent around five hours $40 in the jungle starting at Tino's home orchard. I learnt about the plants and tree uses. Saw spiders, lizards, snakes, sloths and birds. Tino is extremely knowledgeable and tells great stories. Cant recommended him highly enough.

We went on a terrific hike here. Definitely take a guide with you. There are amazing little secrets in the jungle.. animals and places that will escape the unfamiliar observer. It was about 8 hours but not an especially challenging hike physically except for the duration. GO!!!!

Our excellent guide with Jamaican roots, Ricky, showed us snakes, wasp nests, poisonous frogs that we would have missed on our own. We also learned alot about what you could use some flowers/fruits for. It was a great 4 hour walk in the national park.

We did a guided hike in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge with Florentino in January 2012. One of the highlights was spotting and photographing two different colored eyelash vipers. We highly recommend this experience, and we were especially impressed with our guide. He is local but worldly, has intimate knowledge of this jungle, and is very engaging with his wit and humor. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and unforgettable day.

We walked with Tino in the jungle and were absolutely mesmerized for 4.5 hours. Tinos English is very good and his knowledge is amazing! We saw howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, tons of different birds and an eye lash viper. I have an artificial knee and tend to be a bit slow and skidish in wet slippery places but Tino was very aware of keeping me safe without even knowing of my knee issue. Tino knew about the animals and where to look and also about the trees and plants of the area and their medicinal use. He charged less than the 1-hour canopy tours locally and gave you more than your money's worth. This is an absolutely must do for your trip. If you have comfy ankle high shoes you might consider bringing them. Tennis shoes get wet and muddy...for the duration of your trip and tend to be slick walking. Tino does have boots available but we wore our snorkeling booties which worked pretty well. Bring your camera and enjoy this incredible trip. I highly, highly recommend this trip! To find Tino just ask anyone in Manzanillo they can find him for you (ask folks around Maxi's).

If you are travelling to Puerto Viejo or Manzanillo, be sure to book a jungle tour of the Manzanillo-Gandoco Nature Reserve with Tino (Florentino). This was the highlight of our trip to Costa Rica! Tino was born and raised in Manzanillo and his passion, knowledge and experience in the local jungle is vast. He patiently showed us every animal, reptile, amphibian and bird that we could have possibly expected to see in that area, including some rare species. We saw caimans, turtles, lots of frogs, eyelash vipers, fer de lance snakes, bullet ants, blue morpho butterflies and more. We finished the walk with a "help yourself" fruit farm. A memorable experience and one not to be missed if you are in the area. NB: Tino even lends boots for the five hour walk.

We took the bus down from Playa Chicita, cheap and easy. Go with a guide, you will see more! But walking everywhere is still the best way to be anywhere.

So much to see both plants and animals. Florentino's knowledge of the area and the plant and wildlife was amazing.

Liked the variety of wildlife and trees, disliked the bugs.

We visited the Nature Park in January of 2007. There is also a zipline at this location. We were very impressed with the level of safety that was emphasized regarding equipment and competency of the people running this place. I was quite nervous about trying the zip line but the staff were very thorough about explaining how to use the equipment and how to competently use the zip line. Wonderful view of the Sierra Madre mountains and of the ocean from the zipline. Top notch staff and the food (salad and pizza- with a mexican twist) was very tasty. Would recommend it to anyone who likes a little adventure in their holiday.

Una de las mejores experiencias de mi vida!!! Un guía es necesario para poder ver todo lo que una persona normal no ve! Informaciones muy interesantes sobre los animales y la vegetación. Y de recompensa una vista sobre el mar en manzanillo. Gracias Florentino!

No diría que es algo imperdible, no se avistan muchas especies y hay mejores playas en otras partes. No hay servicios y todo queda lejos, hay que llevar todo.

Les enfants n’étant pas très partant pour une randonnée, nous avons juste fait une petite incursion dans le parc mais il y avait déjà beaucoup à voir entre la faune, la flore et les criques isolées de tout. A faire avec un guide pour voir davantage de choses et avoir des explications.

Ob der „Nature Park Walk“ wirklich so heißt wie im tripadvisor geführt, ist mir nicht bekannt – Hinweisschilder, um ihn unter diesen Namen zu finden, gibt es in Manzanillo nicht, und zwei Einheimische zuckten auf meine Frage lediglich die Schulter. Jedoch dürfte es sich bei dem sehr schönen Weg, den ich hier beschreibe, um den richtigen handeln. Er führt vom Ost-Ende des Ortes in unmittelbarer Meeresnähe auf bequemen Pfad durch einen naturnahen Urwald (restlos unberührt ist er nicht mehr) zu einem Kap in etwa einem Kilometer Entfernung, von wo aus man einen exzellenten Blick auf mehrere Korallenfelsen im Meer hat. Einer von ihnen ist recht bizarr geformt und folglich besonderes fotogen. Mehrere kleine Sandstrände sind rasch vom küstennahen Weg aus querfeldein zu erreichen, Seitenwege führen tiefer in den üppigeren Naturwald hinein (Achtung! Rückweg im Auge behalten und nicht verlaufen, wenn man alleine ist!) . Wenn man die Augen offen hält findet man auch ohne Führer interessantes Getier: diverse Affenarten (Congo, Brüllaffen), Faultiere hoch oben in den Baumkronen, Einsiedlerkrebse, kleine bunte Frösche, die etwas giftig sind (aber nur, wenn man sie isst...) sowie ziemlich giftige Lanzenottern (Bothrops) und bushmaster (Lachesis) (aber eigentlich nur, wenn man sie gezielt sucht).