Maleku Indigenous Reserve Tour

The Maleku are an indigenous Costa Rican tribe whose population has diminished drastically in past century. As you tour the Reserve and learn about their culture, language and traditions, you will help play a role in keeping this important part of Costa Rica’s history alive. Adept at rainforest living, a hike through the vegetation with your Maleku guide (narrated in the tribe’s native language, maleku jaica, and translated into English) will take you past pre-Columbian burial grounds, show you medicinal plants, and help you understand how the Maleku live in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem. In the community house at the Reserve, the tribe will show you some of the traditional crafts they produce, such as weavings, colorful masks, drums and other carvings, before performing a ritual fire dance ceremony composed of dances, legends and stories native to the tribe.