Hiking in San Gerardo de Rivas

We made 3 individually organised trips with Armin in Costa Rica and Panama. What we like is especially the combination of mountaineering, trekking and enjoying the nature. We know Armin as a responsible, flexibel and patient guide. He met our expectations, not only because of his professional manner, his knowledge of the country and the Spanish language. With his Austrian charme and his wide-ranging interest about the country with all its facets, we had a lot of amusing evenings and interesting discussions. We can recommend Armin for mountain tours as well as for observing the rarely seen green macaw in the rainforest :-).

We spent three incredible days on the trail with Armin trekking to the summit of Cerro Chirrippo. His knowledge of the ecosystems we traversed provided our group great insight into the fauna, birds and animals of Costa Rica. Along the trail, conversation was easy given his many experiences throughout the world. The weather was perfect throughout the trip. The hut was more than adequate and the food was authentic Costa Rican. I would highly recommend any trip with Armin and we look forward to some type of adventure in the future.

We made a self planned trip to Chile and Argentina to climb Volcan San Jose and Aconcagua. While we are fairly experienced climbers and mountaineers at lower elevations we had Armin as our guide for Aconcagua. He was our insurance for our lack of high altitude experience and organizer with the local support agency. It was a very nice experience. Armin for the most part let us run around on our own as we wanted and only reigned us in when he thought it appropriate. When he forced us to make a rest day in camp at about 5500m altitude to improve our acclimation we were not happy because we thought we were strong and wanted to continue. The photos of our faces in camp that rest day and the fact that I barely remember the day as I was falling asleep all the time tells me that he was very right and we needed rest. He did exactly what we wanted from him; protect us from our own enthusiasm and inexperience. Two days later we all reached the summit. It never felt like having a guide that was calling the shots but like traveling, trekking, and climbing with a very experienced friend. Thanks Armin, "pura vida"!

The Tour with Armin to the peaks of Uran and Chirripo was quite unique. A wonderful experience that I will never forget. The view from Uran and Chirripo was fantastic and made you forget all the efforts needed for the ascent. If you like the mountains and hiking, you will love it. Armin is a perfect tour guide. He has a lot of experience and many interesting stories. Armin was always there, when I needed help. The communication and organization was also really good. All in all, I can definitely recommend the tour with Armin.