Costa Rica 10 day trip in October I just completed this trip in late October, and despite a bit of rain had an awesome time! The itinerary was packed full of awesome activities, and we got to experience so much of the country within a short amount of time. Our tour guide Manfredo was awesome, a very nice guy who made sure everyone got the best experience Costa Rica has to offer. Pura Vida!
...and I mean us, not the animals! This was a very leisurely wildlife-watching trip, with very slow ambles along suspiciously well-groomed jungle paths; you'll see a LOT of amazing birds and other creatures, you'll eat a lot of great food, and probably not lose a whole lot of weight...
Exceeded high expectations! August is the rainy season, but the early morning starts meant that we fitted a lot in before the impressive downpours that sometimes happened later in the day. The range of wildlife we saw was astonishing; I'd picked this trip because of the visit to the Sloth Sanctuary, which was disappointing compared with the number of sloths that we saw in the wild. Our excellent guide was complemented by eagle eyed boat 'drivers' who also appeared to be keen and knowledgeable about wildlife and were ready and willing to nimbly propel the boats around to see something on the bank they had spotted: monkeys, lizards etc. The accommodation, in places, was not 5 star, but had its own charm and there is not that I would not happily revisit for one reason or another, even the very friendly one in Cahuita with its temperamental showers but very friendly owner.