Samara Trails Hike
Highlights
- Learn to use, respect and preserve the forest
- Taste native plants and fruits
- Visit a panoramic view of Playa Samara, Playa Carillo and Chora Island
Facts
- Location : Samara
- Time length : hike lasts 3 hours
- Price : $39 per person
Hike up in the hills overlooking Samara's shoreline on a guided tour exploring how you can use, respect and preserve the forests' resources for all of its dwelling wildlife and your future generations. Stop often along the 2.5-mile journey to share the plants and trees of mango orchards, tropical dry forest, teakwood and spiny cedar farms with the monkeys and birds that flourish within.
read more closeShuttle to the top of the hill just outside Santo Domingo a few minutes from Samara and meet your bilingual local guide waiting for you under mango trees. Walking through the reserve, you'll learn about how the Chorotega Tribe live in harmony with their lands –using Guanacaste seeds for laundry soap, carao's chocolate-tasting sap for a sweet drink, wild cashew tree leaves for fiber, and nance (golden spoon) fruit for energy and alcohol.
About a mile into the trek, you'll visit a mini-waterfall called 'The Cloud' where vitamin-D and magnesium-rich waters flow through the reserve, lengthening the lives of local people to reach almost 114-years.
Continue another half-mile to arrive at an astonishing cliff-top view of Playa Samara, Playa Carrillo and Chora Island. Relax and take in the sights while snacking on fruit and oatmeal cookies. Head back down on a different trail, passing through teakwood and spiny cedar forests reverberating with the songs of long-tailed manakins and monkey tribes howling to acknowledge you.
Reenter the mango orchard, grab a few ripe fruits for the road, and ride back into town.
*Note: The Samara Trails three-hour hike allows for plenty of wildlife observation, but some of the hills are steep and narrow. Make sure to bring plenty of water, wear comfortable hiking shoes and use bug repellant.
About the Werner Sauter Biological Reserve
The Werner Sauter Biological Reserve extends 346-acres across mountains east of Samara, down to the Playa Samara shoreline. The land was once part of a cattle farm; now it's regrown into a flourishing protected forest where Samara vacationers and locals can escape town for a few hours to appreciate its magnificence. Two hiking trails, created by Werner Sauter's grandson Alvaro Teran, wind 2.5 miles inside tropical dry, teakwood and spiny cedar tree forests.
Departure & Return
- Departure point : Tour departs from all major hotels in Samara and Playa Carrillo
- Departure time : Hotel pickup is between 20 and 50 minutes before tour start time depending on hotel location.
- Return details : Tour returns to original departure point between three and four hours after tour start time