Selvatura Park and Canopy Tour

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6 kilometers east of Santa Elena
Puntarenas Province
Monteverde, Costa Rica
011-506-2645-5929

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Selvatura Park and Canopy Tour Description

You can hear the squealing before you're even out of the car in Selvatura, which is a private park that offers many of the fun activities Monteverde is famous for all in one place. Yes, it's a little "theme park" for Costa Rica, but there's nowhere else that offers a petting zoo for snakes and lizards, a butterfly garden, a zipline, and hanging bridges all in one place. Frankly, the insect museum depressed us, although it's a world famous collection. (Seeing all those gorgeous butterflies pinned inside glass is sad.) But the hummingbird garden makes up for it. Where else can you be buzzed by 14 different species of hummingbirds?

Kid Tips

Toddlers & Pre-K: Selvatura is the perfect cloud forest introduction for younger kids, who will love all the "up close and personal" interactive exhibits.

School-Age Kids: Selvatura is best for the under-14s; older kids might find the "prepackaged" theme park atmosphere a little tame.

Pre-Teens & Teens: The crowds at Selvatura can be overwhelming and slow down the ziplines. For kids older than 14, you'd do better to choose a different zip line, then combine that with a hiking tour of the preserves.

Planning Notes

Choose the full-day package if you go. What's odd about Selvatura is the way their packages are structured. A quarter-day package is the ziplines and canopy tour, a half-day package includes the tree top walkways (my favorite part) and you have to buy a full-day package to add the additional features, which include the hummingbird garden, the herpetarium (snakes and lizards) and the butterfly farm — which for my kids were the best parts.

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