Taraba Tours
Private guided tours at Arenal, Costa Rica
Guestbook
Post a Comment
Oops!
The words you entered did not match the given text. Please try again.
13 Comments
Reply
Anne + Andre
09:09 AM on February 04, 2012
We hired Erick in January 2012 to take us on a tour of the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, the Arenal Hanging Bridges + the Volcano hike. In Cano Negro you take a relaxing boat tour through the beautiful wetlands teeming with birds and other wildlife. Truly stunning. Erick and our excellent boat captain spotted an abundant amount of wildlife and we came away with some amazing photos. Erick has an incredibly broad knowledge of flora and fauna and we were able to learn alot during our walks on the hanging bridges and the volcano hike. Erick has a passion and enthusiasm for his work and is a delightful person to tour with. An ideal guide. Thanks Erick for making our tours unforgettable.
Reply
Meghana
09:58 PM on January 03, 2012
My husband and I did the Rio Celeste hike with Erick. It was one of our most wonderful experiences in Costa Rica. The trip was a great learning experience about the culture, flora and fauna and landscape of Costa Rica. The Rio Celeste hike was one of the best hikes we have ever done, made more exciting and educational by the wildlife we spotted on the way (the highlight being a woodpecker in action, which Erick magically managed to see from the car window). I would definitely recommend Erick if you want to get away from the regular, commercial tours and have a more personal experience with a guide who is more like a friend than a tour operator.
Barry and I took the combined Rio Celeste/ Cano Negro tour with Erick, one day and the Arenal Hanging Bridges tour on a separate day. We had an amazing time, Erick is very accommodating and made each trip special and educational in many ways. He has a vast knowledge of the animals and plants of Costa Rica and his ability to spot animals and birds is uncanny. We saw and learned so much. Even the time spent traveling in the car was a learning experience. We wanted to see and photograph wildlife and Erick provided us with many opportunities to do so. After one tour was over he even suggested a great place to have lunch in La Fortuna and it was fantastic. When we come back to Costa Rica we will definitely hire him again. Thank you Erick, for making our first Costa Rica trip so wonderful!
Reply
Dorothy
03:50 PM on August 08, 2010
As birding has become something of a theme in my circle of friends, I have to admit that spotting small wildlife has become one of the skills I am most jealous of nowadays. Personally I am terrible at it and I am sure most of you are as well. However, going to Costa Rica without attempting to see the beautiful birds is like going to New York and not seeing the Statue of Liberty. If you lack the skill like I do, make sure you hire Erick, he knows where to go to see the special species and will do his utmost to spot them for you. Garantees are never possible in nature, but Erick is your savest bet in Costa Rica to find them. My friends where certainly impressed with the yellow billed cotinga and yellow eared toucanet :-)
Reply
Rosanna
10:56 PM on June 08, 2010
After reading great reviews about Erick on trip advisor I contacted him only a few days in advance about giving my new husband and I a private tour to Rio Celeste. He immediately contacted me back it turned out he was previously booked with another couple for Rio Celeste and Cano Negro wildlife refuge tours, he went ahead and asked them if they would mind us joining and it turned out they didn't. To our amazement he was able to point out exotic birds such as toucans, monkeys,and sloths all while driving, I would have missed all of this otherwise. Rio Celeste was magical he didn't mind that we went swimming he actually took a ton of pictures of us with my camera ones I cherish. Cano Negro was filled with wildlife which he seemed to know all about, he spoke tremendous english and was extremely informative but at the same time fun you didn't feel like you were on a school field trip. I would highly recommend him to anyone wanting to tour the Arenal area.
Reply
Anne
11:51 AM on May 25, 2010
My husband and I decided to go on the El Silencio hike with Eric after reading all the wonderful reviews. He has to be one of the best guides we've had and our hike was fun and very informative because of him. He has an extensive knowledge of the area and the indigenous plants, animals and birds, that comes from a lot of experience. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a great tour experience.
Reply
Stephany Anderson
10:01 AM on April 30, 2010
My husband and two kids went on two hikes with Erick - hanging bridges and the evening hike. Both of them were fantastic. I would highly recommend Erick and the tours. We saw other tour guides that had upwards of 15 people in their tour groups. Something you will never get with Erick.
Reply
Jennifer
10:52 AM on January 08, 2010
Myself & my husband hired Erick for 3 hikes, El Silencio, Rio Celeste & Hanging Bridges & could not be happier with our desision. He is very informed and obviously loves his job, he made our trips so educational and couldn't have been more helpful. We saw so much wildlife, and we got some great photos. A great experience, we would really have missed out if we did these hikes on our own. Thanks Erick!!
Reply
Stephanie
02:05 PM on December 24, 2009
We booked the Rio Celeste Hike. First off, I wanted to mention how hesitant I was in booking an independent guide in a foreign country. However, Erick was very responsive on email and answered all of my questions promptly. Once I summed up the courage to confirm the booking, Erick mentioned that he was unavailable for my date. Suffice it to say, I was bummed that I missed the boat. But the good news was that he offered to arrange another guide to take us on the hike.
The morning of our hike, we met the guide in our hotel lobby. We were flabbergasted when he introduced himself as Erick! Apparently, the original party cancelled last minute. We would eventually see that their loss was indeed our gain.
Down to the details? Basically, Erick arranges EVERYTHING. We had roundtrip transportation from our hotel, a nice meal (Arroz con Pollo only costs $5, with a yummy fruit drink), and was a wealth of knowledge. One of things that I had to get used to was his ability to spot animals in the trees. Me: That looks like a glob of mud. Erick: It's actually an alligator. Due to his keen eye, we saw the aforementioned alligator, some howler monkeys, birds (he excels at bird watching), and a multitude of frogs and iguanas. He was definitely a wealth of knowledge, and I would highly recommend him.
The morning of our hike, we met the guide in our hotel lobby. We were flabbergasted when he introduced himself as Erick! Apparently, the original party cancelled last minute. We would eventually see that their loss was indeed our gain.
Down to the details? Basically, Erick arranges EVERYTHING. We had roundtrip transportation from our hotel, a nice meal (Arroz con Pollo only costs $5, with a yummy fruit drink), and was a wealth of knowledge. One of things that I had to get used to was his ability to spot animals in the trees. Me: That looks like a glob of mud. Erick: It's actually an alligator. Due to his keen eye, we saw the aforementioned alligator, some howler monkeys, birds (he excels at bird watching), and a multitude of frogs and iguanas. He was definitely a wealth of knowledge, and I would highly recommend him.
Reply
Steve Fletcher
02:34 AM on December 21, 2009
My wife and I used Erick's services extensively during the week of US Thanksgiving, 2009. He initially guided us through El Silencio night hike trail, which was fantastic. We happened upon a rainbow boa in the act of constricting a bat. He also took us to Cano Negro for a day tour of the marshes by boat. Later in our trip we had him pick us up in Manuel Antonio and take us to La Selva reserve, where he took us on a variety of day and night hikes. Erick's wildlife spotting abilities were first rate, and he made several killer finds for me to photograph, including a coiled eyelash viper on the exit from Silencio at night that would have been impossible to locate without him (along with many similar finds). He was always professional, knowledgeable, and uncannily able to locate critters of interest in all kinds of terrain. And, by guiding us to various private reserves around Costa Rica, he was able to get us up close and personal with wildlife in a way that's not always possible in the crowded national parks. He always produced results, and we look forward to using his services on our next trip to Costa Rica. Highly recommended as a guide.
Oops!
Oops, you forgot something.