San Jose Extra: La Paz Waterfall Gardens (& Zoo)

Our 3 days in San Jose (caused by an immunization snafu) have been awesome. I mentioned La Paz Waterfall Gardens in that post so this is an extension of that to share in more detail the amazing time we had - mostly via a video and some pictures.

The park is about an hour outside of San Jose in the mountains overlooking the city. The roads on the way up were fully paved and good, which was a welcome surprise coming from guanacaste! Although we had some doubt about this little excursion on the way there (the temperature had plummeted to 57 degrees and we were mostly driving through dense fog), the place was really amazing from the moment we pulled into the car park to when we left 3 hours later.

A lot of the experiences we have had, and loved, so far in Costa Rica have been really authentic and raw. For example, horseback riding: you meet your guide at the local “super” (think minimarket), they arrive with a saddled horse, no safety equipment, and you jump on and ride off for a few hours - beautiful, simple, amazing. The edge is there is often some risk or discomfort in the experience. Nothing to shy away from, but there nonetheless. The La Paz Waterfall Gardens has honed its approach over its 19 year history to be very tourist friendly without (thankfully) overdoing it. They have managed to avoid commercialization/gift shop/upselling overload.

It cost US$119 for our family (2 adults, 1 child, the 2 youngest were free) so it was the second most expensive experience we have done since arriving in Costa Rica. The gardens are located in a beautiful rainforest and also house a little ‘zoo’ with animals that have been rescued and for one reason or another cannot be released back into the wild. We saw toucans, butterflies, native frogs, wild cats, monkeys, etc. The staff were amazing and the animal enclosures felt open and natural. After visiting the animals you continue walking along the path through the rainforest to view 5 beautiful waterfalls.

And, the best part, you walk downhill from the start to the finish! At the end of the trail there is a nice coffee shop and then a beautiful old school bus to potter you back up to the reception area at the top of the mountain.

We achieved a new milestone in stamina for our family… we left the hotel at ~8am, arrived ~9:10am at La Paz Waterfall Gardens, spent 2 1/2 hours walking from the top to the bottom, through the animal enclosures, then had a little snack overlooking a canyon before taking the bus back to the top, and leaving at ~12:15pm. We then had lunch about 10 mins away at a little restaurant looking over a nearby valley and mountain. We drove back to the hotel from 1pm-2pm-ish. So a 6 hour round trip that kept the kids (almost entirely) in good form.

As the pictures show, Nora took a spill on the stairs right out of the gate, so I got to carry her for the first 90 minutes. Good workout for me and may have contributed to her stamina late in the game.

Below are some pictures and a short video from our day… a special one together indeed.

And, we are definitely not on the La Paz Waterfall Gardens payroll. We just really liked it and had a fantastic day😉