Sarapiqui Valley can be your very own extreme playground if you’re into adventure sports. This destination is so hardcore that not even an earthquake could get the best of it — though it did change the natural course of the river. If you think you’ve got the same indomitable spirit, then you can test your will as you let out a primal scream while swinging from tree to tree in the jungle. Here is a short list of what you can do in Sarapiqui:

1. Canopy
2. Rappel
3. Mountain biking
4. Horseback riding
5. Rafting and Kayaking

1. If you feel like you can’t see the forest for the trees, what about seeing the forest from the trees? Canopy allows you to get a bird’s eye view of the flora and fauna while smoothly gliding from one treetop to the next. The valley is brimming with haciendas and fincas — remnants of the old United Fruit’s holdings, immortalized in the works of Fabian Dobles and Carlos Luis Fallas — where the wildlife runs, well, wild, for example in Chilamate and Horquetas.

2. Down in the valley even climbing down a wall can be fun, especially if you make your descent in exotic settings with varying degrees of difficulty. Rappelling is actually tougher than it looks and will put your endurance to the test.

3. Canopy gives the from-the-top vantage point, but mountain biking is the best way to see the valley from the ground up. Sarapiqui offers several rides that range from ½ to 2 hours and go up and downhill, through mud and stones and dirt, and on neighborhood streets and more secluded trails.

4. Bikes too modern for you? Feel just like a landowner of yore surveilling his property on a powerful steed thanks to the horseback riding tours available in Chilamate, Horquetas, and other spots in the valley.

5. And finally what we came to see. Sarapiqui Valley without its river would be like Heart of Darkness without the Congo River. Here you can enjoy rafting without having to worry about lewd hillbillies or banjo-playing inbreds. And if rapids are not your cup of tea, there are tours that travel the more easygoing parts of the river and its tributaries on National Park Braulio Carrillo.

All of these activities are supervised by trained professionals and safety is always priority. However, if your entire knowledge of the rainforest comes from Dora the Explorer, then this will be a life changing experience. The monkeys, iguanas, birds and the river await you.

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