La Carrera Costa Rica
Take a private charter flight over the Poas and Arenal volcanoes, then a boat excursion to the Mogos Islands searching for dolphins and, with luck, humpback whales – ten nights across Costa Rica.
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La Carrera Costa Rica
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10 nights through Costa Rica
Most classic rallies begin with shipping your car. Equis does the opposite. You fly into Costa Rica and collect one of theirs, kept at Hacienda Equis, the operator’s own property in the hills near Aserri, where the trip starts and finishes. What follows covers around 1,468 kilometres by road, with a further 460 by light aircraft and thirty-odd by boat.
It is guided but not a convoy, and the operator is firm about the difference. A rally leader travels with the group in a service vehicle, usually a Range Rover Classic, and a multilingual guide goes along, but you drive at your own pace and can spread out across the day. The schedule is deliberately unhurried: no night driving, no navigation exercises and no competition licence. Daily distances run between 86 and 275 kilometres, which leaves room to stop.
Two days involve no driving, one early on and one on the Pacific side, and there is an optional extension at the end. Both vehicle options include the Aire & Agua pairing: a charter flight over the Poas and Arenal volcanoes and across the Gulf of Nicoya, and what the operator describes as a dolphin tour on the Golfo Dulce towards the Mogos islands. Accommodation mixes the hacienda with small hotels and lodges, among them Kunken Lodge on the Osa peninsula.
Taking one of their cars brings full insurance, a replacement should yours fail, and the option to swap partway through. Bringing your own classic is possible, though those provisions go with it. Groups are small, usually three or four cars plus the service vehicle, and the assumed unit is two people sharing a car and a room. Fuel is the only cost the operator lists as excluded, and getting yourself to the hacienda is left to you. It suits anyone who wants the character of a classic rally without the freight bill.
Photography and film: the operator
What's included
- A classic rally car for the duration (operator's own fleet
- no shipping required)
- a private charter plane sightseeing flight
- a private charter boat excursion on the Golfo Dulce
- accommodation at top boutique hotels and lodges throughout
- a rally kit (flashlight
- handmade gloves
- and a radio
- kept as a souvenir)
- German
- English
- and Spanish-speaking staff.
Not included
- International flights
- fuel
- most meals not specified.
Ready to drive it?
10 days, from £3,541pp