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DESTINATIONS COSTA RICA | ESCORTED TOURS


Travelling on an escorted solo tour in Central America, Beverley Watts explores rainforests, volcanoes and beaches – but it’s the wildlife that wows


n the restaurant terrace of the Tilajari Hotel Resort in Muelle de San Carlos, I’m already having a fantastic morning.


It’s 6am and, along with my 13 companions – who were strangers only a few days ago – I’m utterly entranced. Beside our table, the most amazing and colourful birds are feeding on a breakfast of banana and papaya. Yellow-chested great kiskadees, bright blue red-legged honeycreepers and turquoise-faced Amazonian motmots are among dozens of pairs of fluttering wings. One of our group, Dave from Cheshire, is a keen


twitcher and he’s in seventh heaven with so many hummingbirds hovering close by. Our group of 14 solo travellers has all instantly gelled. Aged from 54 to 80 and drawn from all over the UK, there are 10 women and four men, with an average age of 69. I’m one of four singletons enjoying the company and itinerary on this Just You tour designed for solo


travellers. But our party also includes widows and widowers and those with partners who are too busy, too unwell to travel or who prefer a different kind of trip.


WILD IDEAS In the BBC’s recent series of Celebrity Race Across the World, the contestants crossed Costa Rica fruitlessly searching for alligators. This Central American country, sandwiched between Nicaragua and Panama, has a whopping 5% of the world’s biodiversity among its half a million species – just no gators. Instead, there are crocodiles, caimans, turtles, toucans, parrots, tree frogs and sloths. I get to see them all. The Costa Rican government is deeply committed


to conservation and ecotourism. Diego, our local expert tour guide, helps us spot and identify every living creature – “Look, there’s a white-nosed coati!” – while Mateo, our holiday director, cares for our daily needs. We meet them both when we fly into capital²


travelweekly.co.uk 8 JANUARY 2026 39


PICTURE: Shutterstock/Alfredo Maiquez


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