WHERE: Pacuare River, Costa Rica

HOW MUCH: $350 for 3 days, 2 nights, including meals and many activities

MORE: riostropicales.com

Getting There Hope you like getting wet. Fly into San Jose and take a shuttle around the smoking Turrialba Volcano to the put-in for a Class III-IV raft trip down the Pacuare River. The lodge is five miles into the run, just above Dos Montanas Canyon, which the people behind the lodge helped save from getting dammed in 1986 by forcing the country's first-ever environmental impact study.

Best part Much as you'll hate leaving the lodge, the real fun for a river junkie begins as soon as you hop in the raft to depart. Just around the first corner, you blast through Upper Huacas rapids, then drift past stunning 200-foot-high Huacas Falls and through another set of rapids. By the end of the trip, 12 miles later, you'll have seen too many waterfalls to count.

Worst part Those thieving, shrieking howler monkeys. One snatched a granola bar from a table next to me, then he and his friend heckled me about it the following morning, at dawn, with their deafening howls.

Favorite character The lodge's manager, Dina Fuentes, has 15 children, many of whom now guide for Ríos Tropicales. For dinner she makes a mean "jungle chicken" with raisins, coconut, and macadamia nuts, and happy hour features a fruit punch that she spikes with cacique from local sugarcane.

Local lore In 2011, the World Rafting Championships (the first carbon-neutral event of its kind) came to the Class IV-V upper portion of the Pacuare, drawing teams from 32 countries. Costa Rica's male and female teams, a member of which could well be your guide, both finished ninth but are said to have been gold-medal revelers at the awards party.

What's green Since they acquired the property in 1989, the lodge owners have been committed to reforesting the local landscape and have overseen the planting of 60,000 native trees. They also have a foundation that teaches environmental education in local schools. The lodge itself is powered by a hydroelectric turbine and composts everything it can. In 2008, Ríos Tropicales won the National Geographic Geotourism Challenge for its work in sustaining the local environment and culture. 

What's Not green If a visiting group is too large and there's not enough water flow for the hydroelectric turbine, the lodge sometimes (gasp!) resorts to firing up gas-powered generators to wash clothes and sheets.

Planet-saving opportunities Guests are asked to plant four trees each at the put-in to offset the carbon footprint of their flight. They're also encouraged to hike to the top of Pacuare Gorge to plant more trees.