efore the start of the FIPP Ibero-American Magazine Media Conference in San José last October, FIPP Fringe gave attendees the opportunity to take an aerial tram ride through 2.6 kilometers of primary rainforest in a gondola. Many of the attendees had never
met before, and this trip before the conference was the perfect opportunity to get to know each other in a relaxed and informal environment. It certainly made doing business in the following two-days much easier! After the canopy tour, some of the more adventurous members of the group took a 700-meter ride on an ‘adrenaline’ – a zip line located at great height across part the rainforest – which certainly got the adrenaline pumping! FIPP Fringe also held an event on the evening
before the conference began, where attendees were taken to a local jazz café to sample the delights of Costa Rican life in the form of good food and dancing. After the busy two-day conference that followed (see last edition of Magazine World for more information), a group of conference-goers packed their bags for a FIPP Fringe post-event tour to Guanacaste – a province of Costa Rica located in the northwestern part of the country, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Two action-packed days followed at the Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin
– where available activities included a canopy tour, horseback riding, tubing, a farm tour, a visit to hot springs and volcanic mud
ABOUT FIPP FRINGE
FIPP Fringe offers both pre and post event tours to accompany many of its conferences, which give attendees the opportunity to explore a city and sample its delights and culture. Detailed accompanying person programmes give you the chance to embrace the destination with fellow delegates, your partner or a friend. The next FIPP Fringe events will take place before and after the 39th FIPP World Magazine Congress in Rome. See page 11 for more information about the Congress or visit www. fi ppcongress.com
FIPP’s events don’t just end at the conference room door. Many of the destinations where FIPP holds events offer an abundance of pre- and post-event activities and tours – either daredevil or something more relaxed. In Costa Rica, the FIPP Fringe thrill-seekers chose the former...
pools and a serpentarium tour. Two-days wasn’t enough time to do everything, but FIPP Fringe certainly tried! Hotel Hacienda is adjacent to Rincon de la Vieja National Park, where there is also the opportunity to visit one of six active Costa Rican volcanoes. After returning from Guanacaste and with two-days left in Costa Rica, a
trip to the Poás Volcano just had to be squeezed in. The volcano is situated in central Costa Rica and is an active stratovolcano which has erupted 39 times since 1828. Poás is definitely worth a visit on a clear day, where you can enjoy spectacular views of both the crater and lagoon. The final part of the trip included a visit to Doka Coffee Estate, located on the fertile slopes of the volcano, where you can take a tour and learn about the process that’s been taking place for three generations on the estate. Afterwards, there was just enough time for a quick stop at La Paz Waterfall Gardens, to see just some of the beautiful wildlife that this country is so lucky to have. Costa Rican tourism is on the up, and with so many attractions, it’s important to make the
most of any visit. The country’s natural destinations, from beaches,
rainforests, and active volcanoes to 25 national parks and countless wildlife refuges and reserves are certainly not to be missed. FIPP Fringe provided the perfect whistle-stop tour of one of Central America’s hidden gems, which is sure to be revisited again and again.