Efrain´s Nature Tours

Edwards was an awesome guide who is very knowledgeable and passionate about his work and provided rich, detailed information about animal behavior and the jungle ecosystem. He was able to see tiny creatures and hidden animals I would otherwise have missed. I appreciated his help in assisting with park entry, which I can see is challenging to navigate. Also, appreciated the fresh fruit snacks mid-tour.

We had a wonderful tour with Efain's Nature Tours where our guide Nathan took us through Manuel Antonio National Park and pointed out many things we know we would have missed if we had gone by ourselves. He spoke great English and was very informative. Their shuttle picked us up at our hotel and took us directly to their office which is right outside the park entrance. The weather in the morning was perfect. We saw flowers, birds, insects, spiders, lizards, snakes, iguanas, monkeys, and bats. He took us through the road leading into the park pointing out plants and animals and explaining interesting things as we went. At the end of the road, we had a light lunch with passion fruit juice and a big cup of fruit. We then spent some time at the beach before heading back on our own. Thank you Nathan for helping know what to look for and explaining a lot of the many wonders that are in the park.

Our tour guide, Jimmy, and Karla, a young lady who was training to become a tour guide, were both excellent. This was our final tour on our trip, and it was the highlight of the whole trip. Throughout the drive, Jimmy and Karla told us about the history of the area and pointed out things we would have missed otherwise. We stopped at a fruit stand along the way to get some fruit as a snack that they cut up and served when we were at the waterfalls, and this was included in the price of the tour. It was great to try some local fruit we don't have in the U.S., and the fruit was amazing. Both Jimmy and Karla were taking pictures throughout the tour (Jimmy with his smartphone, which had a very nice camera, and Karla with a Digital SLR). They sent us a link to a Google Drive folder where all the pictures could be downloaded after the tour. It was nice because even though we took our own pictures, they had some great photos we didn't capture, plus the nicer camera was also a plus. There are two access points to the Nayuca Waterfalls, run by two different private operators, and the one Jimmy took us to was a closer location with a much shorter hike down to the waterfalls. Throughout the tour, Jimmy pointed out trees and plants, and taught us about the old-growth forest we were walking through. He even showed us a few spots that were tarantula homes (the tarantulas were shy that day, so we didn't see them). He was familiar with the area and knew where to look for local animals and birds. We saw more animals on this trip than on any of our other tours. The place where we ate lunch (also included in the price of the tour) had an outdoor table set up with fruit to attract the local birds and animals, and we saw an incredible number of different kinds of brightly-colored birds. We even saw a Coati (Pizote in Spanish), a relative of the raccoon, that walked up to the table and ate some of the fruit. The table was just 10-15 feet from where we were watching, so the view was amazing. The entire tour far exceeded our expectations, and we were extremely happy with it. It was definitely worth the cost. I highly recommend this tour company to anyone wanting an outstanding experience with friendly, well trained and knowledgeable guides.