Marshall Scott- tour review

[REJB]

We had an excellent tour with Enrique Marshall Scott (Marshall Scott) in Puerto Limon on April 15. We had read about him in some internet reviews and booked with him via email 12 days prior to our arrival in Puerto Limon. His email address is eventosinternacionalessb@yahoo.com.mx

 

It was surprisingly easy to make the arrangements. We simply emailed our request to him. He communicated several times with us via email regarding our initial inquiry and some follow up questions we had. Marshall was always prompt in corresponding with us and we really appreciated that.

 

He told us to simply ask for him for him when we disembarked from the ship (MSC Lirica). When we disembarked we found him very quickly (everyone knows Marshall) and he was holding a sign with our name on it.

 

I would like to reiterate (as most of you already know) that booking a tour directly through a local person like Marshall is ALWAYS better than booking one of the tours offered by the cruise ships. Not only is it cheaper, but you see more and have much greater flexibility in the tour itself.

 

Marshall was very nice, spoke English well, and had a very clean, comfortable, a/c touring van that he used for our tour. He said he can use larger or smaller vans depending on the size of the group for the tour. He organized the day based on what we wanted to see which was a good view (elevation view) of the city, a tortuguero canal tour, a tour of the CAHUITA NATIONAL PARK, and then we said he could include anything else he thought we should see.

 

First we went to Cahuita National Park. It was excellent! We did the 45 minute walk along the interior and then we returned via the walk along the beach. Marshall showed us sloths in the trees, found monkeys for us- We had a very interesting and very up close experience with a monkey that was trying to steal the lunch sack from a couple having a picnic on the beach. Marshall taught us about the almond trees, other plants. After leaving the park he taught us how to open the young coconuts (pipas) from which we drank the clear coconut juice/milk. The beach of the park was beautiful and the walk in the forests was amazingly quiet and unspoiled. While we enjoyed many parts of our tour I think that the Cahuita National park was my favorite.

 

After leaving the national park we drove to the Banana Plantation and to the remnants of an old “chocolate” plantation. Both were interesting. As others have mentioned in their posts- it is amazing the work that goes into the banana plantations and yet how cheap the end product is when it gets to the grocery! We also got to try cocoa, fresh from the fruit -- which tastes nothing like chocolate.

 

Next, we drove back toward the port area (Moin) and got on the jungle canal tour. The boat driver (William “Tuca” Guerrero) was very nice and had an amazing eye for finding animals. He pointed out several crocodiles - one very large one that we were able to get the boat very close to for great photos. We saw quite a few different bird species, several types of lizards, some very large green iguanas, red crabs, and of course many flowers and plants. We enjoyed the canal tour a great deal, but we wish we had more time to go further up the canal and deeper into the jungle where there would be even more animal life. Marshall and our boat driving told us that it is possible to go all the way up the canal (3 hours by boat) to the Tortuguero National Park and stay overnight in a small lodge with great tours in the jungle. That is something we would like to do in the future when we come back (and we will) to Costa Rica.

 

Then Marshall drove us to a friend’s home where they keep and rehabilitate injured animals. Here we were able to see toucans and many types of parrots up close (amazingly beautiful). There were several two and some three toed sloths that we could hold (what bizarre creatures!) and lots of monkeys including some 5-6 week old babies that were unbelievably cute. I am not much of an animal person, but the baby monkeys climbed right up on me and I was hooked! My adoration of the baby monkeys ended when one of them urinated on me which was hilarious to my friends but rather unpleasant for me!

 

After that we went to Playa Bonita and did a quick tour around town. By then, we had seen the things we wanted to see and had some extra time. So, Marshall took us to a beautiful open air (covered but with open walls) restaurant located on top of the highest hill in Puerto Limon. It commanded a great view of the city. Marshall drank an orange soda while we enjoyed cold beers as we sat admiring the view. Then we were off to the local market for coffee and back to the boat in time for departure.

 

Marshall was a very kind and knowledgeable person. We enjoyed the tour a great deal and even received a follow up email from him after the tour. I would highly recommend him and his tour.

[btrojanoski]

If you don't mind telling how much did he charge and was it per person of for the van? (We're going next January on the Coral Princess with a stop there)

 

Barry

[REJB]

I think he can charge by the van or by the number of people depending on the situation. I believe he charged us $48 per person, but we tipped him quite a bit extra on top of that because he did such a good job