Nature & Wildlife Travel Agents & Reviews

We had a wonderful time in Costa Rica and spent our time in La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio.

We were welcomed at the airport by a driver and tour guide, and transferred to La Paz, where we had a great tour of the gardens, waterfall, and wonderful wildlife (including sloths), then continued our drive to the resort near La Fortuna. The hotel was beautiful, with magnificent rooms, volcano views, and a spectacular, expansive buffet each morning with an omelet station, fresh fruits, and an extended selection of local, delicious foods, including a smoothie station. The hotel staff were friendly and provided great service. On the first night, we ate at a restaurant at the hotel which had a limited menu for our family.

We had a wonderful guide on day two who brought us to the Arenal rainforest, with hanging bridges, an aerial tramway, and a zipline which was beyond a spectacular, adventurous experience that we will not forget. We enjoyed the hotel’s thermal pools and excellent dinner in La Fortuna (varied menu and open to substitutions).

On day three, we had another day of adventure on the Balsa River for whitewater rafting. Our family of six had a spectacular guide who kept us exhilarated and safe! It was a blast and perhaps the best family activity! We enjoyed dinner at a restaurant in La Fortuna (good food, but pricey).

We had another great guide for our hike in the Arenal Volcano National Park on our fourth day and dinner at a local place with a very limited atmosphere, but a spectacular meal brought out on grills to continue the cooking of steak, chicken, shrimp, and fresh fish, with delicious sauces on the side. It was plentiful, wonderfully displayed, and delicious.

Day five was supposed to be a five-hour transfer to Manuel Antonio to include a crocodile encounter and lunch. Due to the Easter holiday week, it took 10 hours, but our driver was kind and patient, and we enjoyed our time together. We learned a good deal of Spanish on the way. We arrived where rainforest and beach meet at the hotel. The hotel was beautiful, but rustic, overlooking the water, and we had dinner. The staff were all great and helpful, getting our luggage handled at 5am and transportation as needed for restaurants.

On day six, we enjoyed the morning at the adult pool. There were monkeys all around us in the canopies and trees. It was exciting to watch and take photos! We had lunch at the hotel and then the guide picked us up on time and took us for a fun adventure on Damas Island: an estuary and mangrove kayaking tour. We enjoyed the dinner provided with the kayak tour, then had a late-night BBQ at the hotel!

Day seven was action-packed, with a transfer and spectacular, passionate tour guide for our outing to Manual Antonio National Park. We had lunch at the hotel and then another very exciting ATV adventure! We had a fabulous dinner at a café with a beautiful atmosphere.

On our last day, we were transferred very early to the airport and said goodbye to an amazing, adventurous family vacation.

We want to thank Zicasso’s travel agents for all their help in planning this vacation. They were patient, attentive, and accommodating of our relentless changes to the plans and restaurants. They were with us all the way from planning to arrival, and always available for any questions or guidance. All the plans were executed seamlessly and on time, with quality recommendations and team support. Thank you for all the great moments and memories!

Zicasso's tour partner helped us plan the perfect trip for our first time in Africa. Each location and the associated hotels and lodges were perfectly situated, with wonderful amenities and staff who could never do enough for us. Although we stayed in five locations throughout South Africa and Zimbabwe, each flight, connection and arrival greeting went off without a single hitch. The staff were always a phone call, text or email away if we had any questions or issues (which we did not)!

What a fantastic trip! It was so well organized and planned, we were able to just relax and enjoy our vacation. It was a one-month journey to Africa, visiting Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. We always felt taken care of.

The safari portion of our trip could not have been more perfect. We were able to see the animals from very near on night drives and bush walks, with very few other jeeps to disturb the environment. The private concessions are an amazing way to truly experience the animals.

We also explored Cape Town on a number of fantastic private tours. We watched the southern right whales off the coast of Hermanus, tasted some delicious wines in the Winelands, explored charming small towns, tried local cuisine, hiked Table Mountain, and so much more.

Our travel team planned the trip to perfection.

This trip to South Africa was a bucket-list trip for us. Everything went amazingly smoothly.

Our guide in Cape Town was an absolute gem! I would highly recommend! Our hotel was very nice, and the employees were friendly and helpful.

I can't say enough about the lodge in the game reserve! Lovely accommodations, delicious food, attentive staff, and amazing game drives! Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable about all the animals, birds, and even insects and plants. I never knew termites were so interesting! We saw something every day. The location was absolutely stunning.

We can't thank our Zicasso travel agent enough for setting all of this up. We couldn't have done it without her!

Our agent was helpful in almost every step of the process. The only thing I would’ve asked for is that she helped coordinate international flights. It seemed odd that she couldn’t help with that. She absolutely blew me away with the recommendations she gave us. Our budget was higher than average as this was our honeymoon trip, but the lodging, activities, dining, and all of the transfers and guides in between were absolutely amazing.

Zicasso’s tour operator arranged an amazing trip to Costa Rica for our anniversary. He listened to our initial ideas, put together a fabulous itinerary, and helped us make a few mid-trip adjustments.

We spent a full day in San José, then three days on the Osa Peninsula, and another four days in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. All the accommodations, activities, drivers, guides – everything was wonderful.

We also felt like we got to know some interesting people and places in different parts of Costa Rica, despite not speaking Spanish. We couldn't have done it without our agent’s help. We absolutely recommend him!

Our high-school spring break in Costa Rica was wonderful! Our travel agent did a wonderful job considering we only started planning one month before and was able to grab the last available rooms at some nice locations. The initial itinerary was great and she was able to make the adjustments we wanted. The final itinerary included all the contingency information we needed, but everything went according to plan.

Everything scheduled and planned exceeded our expectations. The follow-up by the Zicasso travel agent during our trip was an unexpected, nice touch. It seemed each day was better than the previous one.

There were drivers, transfer reps, and guides.

The job of the drivers is self-evident.

The transfer reps met us at airports and docks, handled all logistics, and got us from point A to B. They all proved efficient and helpful, and were universally of good cheer.

Our guides were all excellent – knowledgeable, patient, insightful, and eager to share their knowledge with us. We were fortunate to have a guide for five days in the Andes. We recommend him without hesitation.

Our package included a “three-night, four-day” stay on a luxury riverboat, with strong emphasis on “luxury” in every sense of the word. However, boarding at 5.30pm on day one (we landed in Iquitos at 2.30pm) and departing at 8am on day four meant we really only had two full days on the Amazon, but those days were grand.

We told our agent of our interests. Besides the usual museums and archeological sites (all very interesting), he also arranged "experiences" – cooking (we learned how to mix a pisco sour) and visits with a really cool farmer/entrepreneur and a tile artist (the artist was interesting, the workshop “experience” meh.)

On our last day, we visited CORE Archaeology and the MAP Museum in Cusco with a guide, a transplanted Irishman. It was one of the highlights of a trip with many, many of them.

Every hotel our agent booked us into was excellent.