Horseback Riding in Costa Rica | Farm and Hills Tour | near Puerto Limon – Bananito

Experience a scenic tour, horseback riding in Costa Rica through the hills of Bananito while visiting the local farmers.

The place where many ‘Caballeros’, from all around the country, used to gather and ride from there.

Riding horseback in Costa Rica through the mountain area near Bananito village is a great way to discover rural regions of the Caribbean slope. Our meeting point for this tour will be ‘Rancho Monterey’ in the small town of Banaga, 3 miles west of Bananito—where many ‘Caballeros’ from around the country gathered and rode from there.

Before mounting our horses, we visit ‘Finca Eco Agricola,’ where we get introduced to making organic Cacao. With our taste buds sufficiently pleased, it is time to mount our horses and get going.

Right away, we start climbing a hill too steep for cars; the higher we get, the better the view. As we follow the narrow track, soon, the ocean gets into sight, and we start to overlook the Caribbean Costa Rican coastline, the 2000 acres of banana plantation, mangrove forests, marine estuaries, and other parts of geographical interest.

On the other side of the ridge, we were looking towards the national park ‘La Amistad mountains,’ seemingly endless jungle view. After riding on, for about half an hour, through the older agricultural landscape with cow pasture, Guava trees, Guanabanas, and other tropical fruit trees, until arriving at a platform with a panoramic viewpoint.

Here we enjoy the moment while treating ourselves to some fruit juice. The altitude now allows us to view from Limón city, along the coastline, to Manzanillo, the last village before the Panamanian border and the Sixaola River. If lucky, there is more to discover, like many birds prefer these open pastures to the thick forest on the other side.

We continue by descending from the viewpoint of the rural landscape. Down we go to a small place for lunch. In a very local spot along the Bananito River, we get served a Costa Rican lunch, salad, and another area to get to know by looking around or just chilling.

Once ready, we return on the horses, first along the river, then steep uphill again. Up there to meet another farmer, ‘Colo,’ his name. They are farming all kinds of local fruits and veggies and will show us around the farm. They cultivate Yucca, Plantain Banana, Ticisque, Njampi Chayote, and many more. We’ll see how it is grown and harvested. To top it off, they have some medicinal herbs and extract sugar juice using a ‘trapiche.’

We get on to another platform; this one also looks out to the ocean but now still from a bit higher amidst a jungle setting. At the furthest point of our journey this day, after having a good look around, we head back. Ending where we started, probably tired and sweaty, we can go home, swim, and refresh in the Bananito River; I’m sure the horses will come along!

Duration

Approximately: 6 hours.

What to bring with you

Sunscreen, drinking water, closed shoes or boots, a swimsuit and a towel, and rain cover. It can sometimes be challenging to make a valid weather forecast.

Our Tour guides

Our guides are genuinely local and experienced tour professionals. They harbor a sincere and profound passion for nature and wildlife, deeply respect Costa Rican culture, are thoroughly prepared, and are licensed by the ICT (Costa Rican Tourism Institute). They will love to show you the scenic horseback ride through the hills of Bananito while visiting the local farmers.

Pricing

For pricing, see the shop product page and the “Additional Information” Tab; minimum group size [adults] = two persons.

What is Included

A local Costa Rican lunch and fresh fruits. And, of course, a very experienced and dedicated local tour guide.

A farm owned by Miss Helena Gaitan. She is famous in the province of Limón for being the first private Costa Rican company to ship a good quantity of organic Cacao to Europe.

She will be happy and proud to show us about Cacao and her business from bean to bar. We will see a part of the plantation and her processing plant to ferment and dry.

Of course, we get to taste some of her products and ask questions about how and why.

On deeper land inwards, the farm is located between mountains and owned by ‘Ola.’ This farm is dedicated to the plantation of different traditional organic products from a typical Costa Rican garden.

There will be a tour through the paths of the farm where they will show the different products and talk about the unique characteristics of each one and their ways of being used in the kitchen.

In addition, there will be different plants traditionally used for natural medicine, so the tour will be carried out to teach about the importance of self-sustenance and the use of nature in treatment.

Products to mention: Yuca, Ginger, Ayote, Curcumin, Tiquisque, Malanga, Ñampi, Corn, Beans, among others.

It has a plantation of Sweet Cane, for which a “Trapiche” will be used to extract the sweet cane juice. We can test it; in addition, some snacks will be given on the orchard products that were observed during the tour.

Horseback riding in Costa Rica carries a mighty tradition and is also part of the Caribbean culture. The area of Bananito is visited by many ‘Caballeros’ from all around the country, who used to gather and ride from there.

It is one of the most exquisite ways of transportation to explore the countryside, farm, flora, and fauna, as well as rainforests, beaches, mountains, and even waterfalls.