About Carpe Chepe

Who we are?

Have you noticed that San José tends to be a mandatory stop (mostly for transport connections) rather than a destination in most tourists itineraries? Visitors rush to our beautiful coasts, mountains and volcanoes without even bothering to find out what kind of charms does this city hide. Travelers, on the other hand, tend to blend in and search to interact with the people that call this place home. THE LOCALS.

We are the locals. We live here, and we have tons of fun. You just need a friendly hand to point you in the right direction.Our tours blend history, fun and recommendations from locals who love traveling and want to help other fellow travelers to make the most out of Chepe. Hope that our tours can help you to explore and discover why is that we love it here!

Carpe Diem, Carpe Chepe!

Our Team

Iva

Iva

Guide

Languages: English, Spanish, some French and Portuguese and she’s been trying to learn Russian for ages with Duolingo. Iva is our expert beer-master by excellence, is one of the veteran guides of the company, and she’s been with us since the beginning so she knows it all. Talks about beer like the best lover she’s had and with details!

Pitti

Pitti

Staff

Languages: Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese Born and raised in San José by a panamenian family.
This side of his heritage surfaces when he´s drunk and salsa music is playing! CouchSurfing is to blame for unveiling his passion for showing travelers around his hometown.
He loves to learn new languages and sharing cultural experiences, you never know when knowing how to ask for a beer in Chech or Mandarin might become handy, right?

Leonel

Leonel

Guide

Languages: English and Spanish. Nature lover, from the great dantas to all the bugs and spiders🕷. Adrenaline Junkie, survivor amateur and rocker 🤘🏼, always looking for adventures to tell with some birras 🍺 (beers in tico). An urban exploration fanatic, always willing to share the secrets of his native city with those willing to explore it.

Ama

Ama

Guide

Languages: Spanish, English, a bit of Italian, a bit of Portuguese, “Pachuco,” (street slang), “labioso” (flatterer) and with enough booze even ancient Aramaic. He’s the top party-man, loves socializing, have it clear he’s known as Miss Costa Rica, he speaks to no end so no awkward silences guaranteed. Has the biggest collection of hats on the country and there’s no geek topic he doesn’t have his hands on.
Knows completely the story of Carpe Chepe (which, duh, he lived). With his booming voice you’ll certainly hear him 100 meters away, in middle of a comparsa (music band).

Deivo

Deivo

Guide

Languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese, interested in French in the near future! He is a History nerd, very keen for facts, dates, characters and stories of our country and beloved capital city San José. Very good with people, David will talk pretty much about everything you want to know from his vast vault of useless facts (as he likes to call them). Very interested in arts, David is an amateur photographer which you can follow at his Instagram page “@deivophotos”. Also a musician and an amateur writer, he constantly provides content for our Carpe Chepe own blog. It is very normal to spot him due to his notorious smile.

Nane

Nane

Staff

Languages: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
She’s enthusiastic about learning anything from arts and music to science and history. Museums, concerts and exhibitions are part of her hobbies. Nane is part of our team almost from the beginning, being in charge of different tasks from guiding to administrative and marketing. She loves to share urban nature with visitors. She hates plastic flowers.
Tribe: Karaoke lovers. Preferred food: Ice Cream. Drink: Gin & Tonic. Catchphrase: “Excellent performance” Worst flaw: Talking too much.

Nacho

Nacho

Guide

Languages: English, Spanish, some German and two Mandarin words. Jose Ignacio Barrantes Sánchez, better known as Nacho, like all the Ignacios in Latin America, lost his first name seconds after being baptized. There are few things that this “mae” does not like to do (mae: Costa Rican word used to say friend, partner or person)… from climbing trees in the middle of the city to taste seasonal fruits with tourists, to savor a jug of craft beer while flying his drone, one of his favorite hobbies. He knows a little of everything, ask him about history, culture, technology and if you want him with a smile on his face: tell him about the music of your countries; with this, you will have won a friend forever!

Amy

Amy

Guide

Languages: She goes for it with English, Spanish and Italian, but she’s super fluent with Sarcastic, “Pachuco” (street slang) and “Soncho” (kinda redneck.)
“La Flaca” is our Duracell batteries bunny guide – she’s never tired, has the most extreme “bombetismo” of the country with which she raises the roof whenever and however!

Danny

Danny

Guide

Languages: Spanish, English and willing to revisit French from old high school days. In the eternal search for himself, fascinated for his own origins and looking forward to expand his horizons, Dan got away from rutinary office jobs and embarked on the extraordinary experience of rediscovering his native city with renewed eyes and a profound sense of belonging. Big fan of plastic arts, live music and local traditions, he always finds joy on sharing a coffee (or a beer) with anyone that feels wondered and inspired by creativity of artists, writers and all kinds of people who simply try making this a better world somehow.

What people says about us