People who love to ride mountain bikes can now do so as a means of transport up to Monteverde – do an adventure on the way to your next destination, as a part of the innovative Desafío Adventure Connection.
We have two riding options, depending on your adventure level: The first and more-intense ride is about 3-hours long or about 25 miles. We’ll start at the Lake Arenal Dam where you drop off your luggage with Captain Marquez, our boat driver. From there we ride past the rural community of El Castillo until we get to the pristine Caño Negro river that runs alongside Rancho Margot.

This hands-on one-day volunteer project puts you in direct contact with local fauna and flora in a very down-to-earth environment.
We start with an easy 30-minute orientation walk through secondary rainforest that surrounds the wild animal rescue shelter to get to know the story behind this grassroots endeavor. Proyecto Asis was established about 12 years ago - Proyecto Asis founder Don Jaime del Castillo and his son Alvaro had a dream to turn the once-abandoned farm back into vibrant rainforest while providing a sanctuary for hundreds of species of birds and other wildlife.

There are few opportunities to get to know the real Costa Rica, but Desafio Adventure Company’s new Culture, Community & Conservation tour puts clients in direct contact with some of the promising projects happening in and around the area.
The visit includes a stop at the AMURECI woman’s arts and crafts workshop co-op to learn about their work to teach the community to “reuse-reduce-recycle” and then clients can help in the process of making recycled-paper products. Other unique, locally-handmade souvenirs are also available for purchase.

This ride takes us on an old road connecting Arenal Dam with the main entrance to Arenal Volcano National Park. From there we go towards the village of El Castillo, biking on a quiet lane surrounded by dense forest and few cattle farms. Along the ride we often see howling monkeys, coatis and many birds like toucans, egrets and king fishers. We’ll stop for a picnic on the shore of Lake Arenal where it’s possible to swim. The volcano in visible during most of the ride and we can often hear its activity while we bike.