Kaleidoscope Trail

Please Note: The opinions expressed in these reviews are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Unicorn Trails Ltd. These reviews are "directly from the horses mouth" and unedited. Unicorn Trails may make additional comments for clarification clearly identified in red.

Review received from VG of Purley on 04/03/2008

	Ride Review
Unicorn Trails sales staff Professionalism     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Friendliness     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Speed of response     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Efficiency     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Knowledge     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Other(please specify)     (   ) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Riding tour leader Professionalism     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Horsemanship     (   ) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (X) N/A Pacing of Ride     (   ) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (X) N/A Concern for Safety     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Leadership     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Friendliness/availability     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Knowledge of local Culture     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Knowledge of local Flora/Fauna     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Concern with Environment     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Language skills     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Additional Comments The above relates to our driver, Bryan, from Conexiones. He is a really nice chap. Each ride had a different leader:- Rancho Redondo - genial American chap. Small criollos. Vera's spooked! Tack OK. Valmy - Valentin and Jim - good fun. Dozy horses. Tack OK. Lucasta (Jaco) - excellent! Brilliant horses, excellent tack Diego (beach) - excellent! Brilliant horses, excellent tack. Two "vaqueros" from Monteverde. No English but well-meaning. Horses OK but saddles akin to wood! Eric at Arenal Paraiso - excellent. Brilliant horses, superb saddles. Polly at Rafiki - good girl! Horses fine, tack "iffy". Horses and Tack Condition of Horses     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Condition of Tack     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Performance of Horses     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Additional Comments See above. Stirrup leather at Rafiki broke. Lucasta, Eric, Diego and Polly offered us well trained and responsive horses - a joy to ride. Meals Meal Quantity     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Meal Quality     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Meal Punctuality     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Accommodation Camping Equipment     (   ) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (X) N/A Hotels/Lodges/Inns     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Hygiene standards     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Miscellaneous Transfer arrangements     (X) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Other office staff     (   ) Excellent     (   ) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (X) N/A Other ride staff     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor     (   ) N/A Weather     (   ) Excellent     (X) Good     (   ) Fair     (   ) Poor Was this trip accurately described to you beforehand?     (X) NO     (   ) YES Please give more details to explain your response We thought there would be more fellow riders. It turned out to be us two only which was disappointing - nobody to share the fun with! Was there anything you should have known and were not told?     (   ) NO     (X) YES Please give more details to explain your response Itinerary was slightly different to the one you gave us. We were never taken to Volcano Irazu. We had two nights at Rafiki rather than Casa Grande (although this did not matter because Rafiki is much nicer). The boat ride at El Arenal lake did not happen. We had one day white-water rafting (it was great fun) but no riding. The horseriding happened the next day (Two nights at Rafiki). What could we do to improve this ride? Please avoid using Cabanas Ceci. It is more like a student's and backpacker's stop-over - no facilities and the hot water supply very puzzling! We protested and the driver offered to take us to the village to visit a salsa-bar! How would you rate the difficulty of this ride out of 10 where 1 is very easy and 10 is very advanced? 5 Please explain why you scored it as you did Just right for us. Vera enjoyed the freedom of cantering off on her own (particularly at Lucasta's)and being trusted to do so. Incidentally: The various riding establishments seem mainly to take non-riding tourists for a sedate walk through the countryside which meant that we were through the rides rather sooner than expected. Would you recommend Unicorn Trails to your friends?     (   ) NO     (X) YES Please give more details to explain your response We trust you. May we use you as a reference for other people wishing to go on this ride?     (   ) NO     (X) YES Any other comments Chose Costa Rica because of the biodiversity, microclimates and the political stability. Its cleanliness, fresh and tasty food (not overspiced like Mexican food)and accommodating people impressed us.It is an excellent country - we would recommend it to anyone! Unicorn comments Itinerary issues being investigated.