This trip begins with the coastal wetlands of Tortuguero. Next are the volcanic highlands, with a day spent exploring hidden waterfalls and hot springs. You then cross west to the Pacific beaches and tropical dry forests of the Nicoya Peninsula.

Most of Costa Rica's iconic wildlife can be seen across the country. Sloths, toucans, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, capuchins, tree frogs, snakes, caiman, coati and morpho butterflies are all fairly common in lowland areas on both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Hummingbirds are common at higher elevations inland. In theory, you could also see a jaguar pretty much anywhere, but you'd have to be owed an awful lot of karma for that to happen.

Sea turtles are particularly prevalent on the beaches of Tortuguero and the Nicoya Peninsula. As such, you stand a good chance of seeing them on this trip. Of course, the big 'prize' is to see either nesting turtles, or the hatchlings emerging and making their first, perilous dash for the sea. Turtles generally like darkness for laying, so they tend to come up in their greatest numbers around the new moon. They also prefer cooler temperatures so that the sand doesn't boil their eggs, and so July to October is usually the most prolific time for 'arribadas', mass arrivals of tens of thousands of sea turtles. The eggs then take two months to hatch, meaning September to December is prime hatchling season. Tortuguero is a great place to experience this phenomenon, particularly as our preferred lodge sits right on the shores of a turtle-nesting beach.

Giant river otters are a fairly common sight in Tortuguero.

Close to your hotel on the Nicoya Peninsula is a reintroduction project for Scarlet macaws, which are only found in a few pockets of the Pacific coast. They also have another stronghold at Carara National Park. You'll certainly see them, and hear their loud squawks and squabbles.

Broadly speaking, Costa Rica has a tropical climate, so it is warm and humid year-round, and every day is likely to feature some rain downpours and some sun. The weather in Costa Rica is often described and defined by the dry season (December - April) and the green season (May - November). Green season is tourist board-speak for wet season.

On the Pacific side of the country, it will typically be sunny, hot and dry from December through April, rainier in the transitional months of May and June, a drier patch in July then wetter in August to a peak in September/October. The driest months have 50mm of rain, the wettest 850mm.

On the Caribbean side, the patterns are very different. Sunshine hours are much more consistent and it's also more consistently wet. The driest month (September) has an average of 150mm of rain where the wettest months (July/December) have 400mm.

As a comparison, London averages around 80mm of rain in the wettest months and 40mm in the driest. The difference is that the rain in Costa Rica is warm. It also tends to rain heavily when it rains - no day long drizzle here. It's either raining, or it's not. The pattern tends to be that rains come later in the day, so dry mornings, wet afternoons.

Overall, we don't sweat the weather too much. It will be what it will be and rarely impacts your travels to a great extent. We advise against travel to the Pacific side in late September through to early November. Otherwise, go prepared and just enjoy whatever comes your way.

Christmas and New Year are peak season for travelers, getting quieter again in January to pick up in February and March, usually through to Easter time. After that point, things are fairly steady.

It should be said that the types of places we visit do not tend to get busy. However, the places we stay are small so it doesn't take much to fill them up.

Having a vehicle allows you to stay in more remote, interesting places, and to explore locally once you are there. Journey times between your overnight stays will generally be around three or four hours so comfortably fit into a morning - days are not 'lost' to navigating.

Roads in Costa Rica are a mixture of good tarmac, old tarmac with potholes and compacted dirt roads. As a rule of thumb, the further you get from the populous Central Valley, the less traffic there is and the bumpier the road. However, both main coastal roads are smooth and sleek.

Don't worry, we do not expect you to drive as you land in Costa Rica, instead we have your car delivered to you at your first hotel. Since these tend to be on the outskirts of the city, your escape into the countryside should be relatively stress-free.

By using Google Maps or Waze on your smart phone, you can easily navigate as you would at home without using any mobile data. We provide simple step-by-step instructions, don't worry.

Absolutely, this would be a peach of a trip for a multi-generational family, or two families to travel together. It also works fine for different shaped families - one child, four children, all are possible.

As a tailormade trip, the level of exertion on this trip is determined by you, your interests and your ages. On this particular trip, the emphasis is more on giving you the time and freedom to go and explore or relax, rather than moving between high-octane activities.

If you want more adrenaline, we can discuss this and potentially include other activities. Bear in mind that we also provide you with a detailed Vacation Guide so you can read our tips and advice for any given part of the country and sort out additional activities as you go. All are suitable for people with no experience and all specialist equipment is provided.

In Costa Rica particularly, we choose our accommodation very carefully since we want you to both be comfortable, and get a sense of the country hosting you. For this trip, you should expect around 3-4* standard, always with lots of local flavor and personality.

Absolutely, yes. Because you are going off the beaten track, you will be seeing life as lived by Ticos throughout this trip. Between guides, hosts and our top tips for where to go and what to eat, you should leave Costa Rica with a proper sense of the people.

There's a general and infectious sense of joie de vivre, Pura Vida, in Costa Rica.

Too many vacations to Costa Rica focus entirely on the wildlife with a bit of beach and activity thrown in. That's totally unfair to the people who live here and give it all color - and who take such pride in their environment. It's not always obvious given the ramshackle appearance of many towns and villages but the environmental education and messaging here is remarkable and people are generally very proud of the lead their country takes in matters ecological.

But really, it's the day to day people watching that too many people miss. Lunch at a roadside 'soda' is an opportunity to see all of society eating side by side, doctors to farm labourers. Eating ceviche whilst watching the fishermen haul in their catch. Tucking into a huge plate of plantains, rice and beans as a pickup truck with a huge speaker strapped in the back goes up and down the street, blaring out the latest special offer at 'MEESTER CHICKEN!!!'

It's a fun, and funny, place.

As proud as we are of this family adventure, we certainly can tweak things to make it perfect for you. For example, we can tailor your trip to last anywhere from 10 days to three weeks and beyond if you have specific timeframes. If your firstborn has a lifelong ambition to witness sea turtles nesting en mass on the wild beaches of the Pacific, or your youngest needs to prove they can survive 48 hours without WiFi, then we can absolutely do our utmost to make that happen.

The next step is to simply send an enquiry using the big green button up there, or give us a call if you prefer to chat things through. We will then send you the full proposal for the trip, including the places you stay and all the bright and beautiful photography you can handle.

Suitably seduced, we then tweak things to fit your exact dates and we are happy to go back and forth to tailor any detail so that it's just right for you. We then start to check availability with our local partners and then present a final itinerary for you to book.

We take a 20% deposit to secure your vacation and confirm all services, with the remainder due eight weeks before your departure.

Your money is 100% protected through our ATOL licence if your trip includes a flight booked through us, or through our ABTOT bond if it does not. Either way, this protection provides a cast-iron financial guarantee and helps you book with complete peace of mind. Because the contract between us exists here in the UK, you get this protection regardless of where you live.