Day one started with a pretty uneventful flight. We got to the airport early and grabbed some breakfast tacos, went through security, and boarded the plane. As luck would have it, the flight was relatively empty. It was the kind of flight where you can really spread out and relax. My husband and I were the only ones on our row - hurrah! The trip was starting out great. We cruised over Belize, and I got to see the Blue Hole from the plane window. Wow, it's amazing and beautiful even from the air. I watched a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey, and before I know it I can see Costa Rica below us.

We touched down at the SJO airport, and our good luck continued. The lines at immigration were so short that we cruised through in less than 10 minutes and even beat our luggage to the carousel. There was the usual array of musicians playing cheesy American music - the first one we heard was a saxophone player playing "Do That to Me One More Time" - seems like we always hear retro American music at the airport! We grab our bags off the carousel and head to the screening area that's right before the exit. Right away my bag arouses suspicion. Everyone else is allowed to go ahead, but the inspector is curious about my bag and asks if I am carrying any fruit. I say no, but he thinks he spies something and politely asks to inspect my bag. He pulls out the bag of what he thinks are avocados only to find a nubby pair of black high-heeled mules. They kind of do look like avocados now that I think about it! I pass inspection, and he sends me on my way.

We have hired a driver from Selva Verde to pick us up, and he's waiting for us right outside the exit and holding up a sign with our names on it. He's very friendly, grabs the bags, and we jump in the van and are off. There's tons of traffic, and we actually see a man run across the highway. Glad we aren't driving at this point!

We pass the usual array of KFCs, Taco Bells, and McDonald's. It's always a bit of shock to see those in our vacation paradise. Eventually the hectic city gives way to beautiful views, trees covered with beautiful orange flowers, hydrangeas, some small waterfalls, and huge green plants with some of the biggest leaves I've ever seen. We pass Braulio Carillo national park and encounter some really misty, foggy weather as we wind along. After a couple of hours we land at Selva Verde and check in at the front desk. Right away we reserve the early morning birding tour for the next day. We're ready to see some wildlife!

Welcome back! Looking forward to more.

Right away we love Selva Verde. They have a really neat system of elevated wooden walkways that allows you to stay out of the weather but still enjoy the views. I had heard that SV is located off a busy road, so I had requested a room towards the back of the property close to the river where it's more quiet. I'm excited to find that we're in the 40s block of rooms that are as close to the river as you can get. We go to our room, drop off our bags, and get ready to explore the trails and grounds. The room is pretty basic. It has two beds, a small desk, a small couch, and a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower. Everything is beige - bedspread, walls, curtains, and the windows are screened rather than glass to allow airflow since we don't have a.c. Not fancy but definitely comfortable, and we can hear the rush of the river from our room.

We explore a few trails and right away see a green and black poison dart frog, then another, then another. They're everywhere! And strawberry/blue jeans dart frogs as well. We see tons of them, and I get some good photos. We also hear toucans around us and see one in flight. We are definitely going to like this place!

Thanks, Patty, I miss it already!

Do you know agood place to stay in La Fortuna?

As it starts getting dark, we trek back to the front desk to inquire about dinner options. We have two choices - the buffet upstairs or the downstairs open air restaurant by the river that has its own wood-fired pizza oven. I ask about what's on the buffet, and the receptionist says "meat" which seems a little vague, salad, rice, and lentils. This seems like a no brainer to us, and we go with the open air restaurant called La Terrazza. They have a great menu with a lot of choices. When we arrive we're the only ones there. I decide on the lemon tilapia with veggies, while my husband decides to order the sausage pizza. There's a man in full chef gear including the toque ready to make the pizza by hand. I'm surprised to see someone dressed like that in the jungle! We place our order with the waiter, but he advises us against ordering the sausage. We ask why, and he just says knowingly "Not tonight." Hmmm, how about the bacon pizza we ask? "Yes, good choice!" I also order a margarita, and my husband requests an Imperial. We're definitely not roughing it at this point. We watch the chef make the pizza crust, top it, and push it into the big oven. It comes out hot and bubbly and is really delicious. The tilapia is great too. We sit back, eat, and enjoy sitting so close to the river. At that point, the owner sees us and comes over to chat. She thanks us profusely for supporting the lodge and coming to stay there. It's obvious how much she cares about this place and the rainforest, and we love that.

Our waiter brings the check for us to sign and asks if we would like to see something neat. Of course we would! And he takes us to the little pond by the restaurant where we see our first red-eyed tree frogs - wow, they are gorgeous. You're not supposed to use any flash photography, but he holds a flashlight up so I can get a couple of pictures. What a neat little paradise this is.

After that little adventure, we walk back to our room. It's not creepy like some little hikes in CR since the walkways are elevated and lit - no snakes to worry about here. I go into the bathroom to get ready for bed and am amused to see that my Costa Rica hair has returned. I have good hair in the States, but put me in CR, and it's a bit of a disaster. The price a girl pays I guess. We lay down on one of the beds and manage to stay awake until 7:30 p.m. - a new low for us I think! Once we're cozy in bed it starts to rain. The perfect ending to a great day.

Nancy, yes, there are several - check out the Lost Iguana, Nayara, and Silencio Del Campo. If you want fancy, the Springs Resort and Spa.

Day 2 arrives, and it's still sprinkling a little bit. We're all set to go early morning birding with Alejandro at 6:00 a.m. As usual, the sun is up by 5:30. We head to the upstairs restaurant to meet and see that there's fresh coffee and little packages of cookies set out for the early risers who get up before breakfast. The coffee is great and perfect for a drizzly morning. By 6:20 the sun has come out, and Alejandro says we can begin our hike. The restaurant sets out fresh fruit for the birds and iguanas which can yield some great photo opportunities. At one of the stands, I see a huge iguana with a little blue jeans frog on his back! Alejandro says we may be able to spot some toucans if we cross the road, so we head out the front gate. The property next door has a rooster that crows and crows and crows. I'm very glad we have a room towards the back of the property - lol! Before we even cross the road, we see several toucans in the trees. Alejandro has a very nice scope that allows us to get a closer view and even take some pictures through it. We also see several aracaris that seem to always travel in a flock. We walk across the road to explore the garden on the other side. This is where the bungalow cabins are. They seem kind of isolated, but they have the benefit of having air conditioning. Despite that, I'm glad that we made the choice to get a river room and just hope that it cools off a little at night. Temps here are in the high 80s during the day. We ask Alejandro about more hikes and he says that after breakfast he'll lead a hike that goes across the river bridge into the reserve. We decide that we'll go for that hike too. It's low season so likely that we'll have Alejandro all to ourselves for that hike as well.

Breakfast is included in our package, and it's pretty good - a hearty buffet that consists of scrambled eggs, rice, beans, toast, delicious fresh pineapple, and some great fresh fruit juices. We see that there's a big tour group called Road Scholars that is staying here. Mostly older folks, but they're really friendly and fun to talk with. They're intrigued by how many trips we've taken to CR and want recommendation on all the good areas to see. We finish up and meet up with Alejandro again for our 8:30 hike in the rainforest reserve.

Great reading up on your trip. Selva Verde is a great place, isn't it? Know what you mean about the poison dart frogs. At first I was thinking 'oh wow!' but after the 50th or so frog I was a little 'meh'. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.

tully, yes, we loved it there. Thanks for the recommendation. You were one of the reasons we chose it. And Rac recommended it, and I think colibri too although she warned me I'd have to live without a waterfall shower! That first little frog was such a thrill, but you're so right after seeing them everywhere they became a little passe - ho, hum another poison dart frog.

8:30a.m. - Time for more hiking! Selva Verde used to allow guests to hike into the reserve on their own, but apparently a group of tourists got lost once and from then on, SV decided to require a guide to go with the guests. There's a big bridge that goes across the river and a locked gate so you can only get to the other side with your guide. After everything we've seen, I'm thinking we're going to have a successful hike with some nice sightings.

As we walk, we see a number of birds along the river, including kingfishers, tiger herons, and Montezuma oropendolas. The area is beautiful and full of colorful gingers and heliconias. Lots of bromeliads. As we walk along the path, we see something slither across it - a huge coral snake! I'm too slow to grab my camera, but it's still a big thrill to see it. It disappears quickly into the brush - I think more afraid of us than we are of it! Alejandro leads us over a small bridge where there's a tiny creek. He turns over a broad green leaf, and on the underside is a tiny glass frog, almost completely transparent, except for a covering of small spots. Next to it are three big circles of jelly-like eggs, and we can see little tadpoles wiggling inside! Al tells us that the frog is a male, and that he's the one that guards the eggs until they hatch. His camouflage is designed to mimic the eggs in the hopes that a predator will devour him instead of them and save the lives of the unhatched tadpoles. Al takes us a little further, and we see a huge tree, one that's at least 400 years old according to him, and he asks us to go inside the tree. We do, and when we look up, it has several long-nosed bats roosting inside. Lots of neat little discoveries so far!

We walk down by the river and are excited to hear the roar of some howler monkeys. The guide asks if we want to go find them, and heck yea, we do! We have to cross some slippery moss-covered rocks, and it's here that I discover my running shoes have no grip whatsoever. I take one step on the rock and my foot starts to sliiiiiide. Al manages to grab me and only one foot ends up in the river! It's all worth it because when I look up, there's a tree full of howler monkeys, including moms with babies on their backs. We stand and watch them for a long time. I never get tired of seeing them. They swing from tree to tree, eat, roar - lots of entertainment for us.

At this point, Al says it's time to head back for lunch, so we hike back over the bridge and back to the upstairs restaurant where the buffet is being served.

Selva Verde only offers the buffet option for lunch. Today's menu is chicken lasagna, sweet and sour pork chops, potatoes, pasta salad, and cooked carrots for dessert. Pretty hearty, carby, and filling, not bad. We don't have a meal plan and aren't sure what to do, but there's no one to ask, so we just help ourselves. As we finish, a server brings out yummy tres leches cake for dessert. Definitely the best part of lunch!

We walk downstairs and encounter the Road Scholars group again. They see my husband's baseball cap and ask if we know any football scores, and we do since we've just arrived. We update them on all their teams, who won and lost, and they're pretty thrilled to get the info. that the Packers won. Selva Verde has wifi access in the dining area, but not in the rooms. We offer up our iPad for anymore score they may need to know. As we're chatting, a flock of aracaris comes to the feeding station that's set up outside the restaurant, and as we're watching them, 4 macaws fly right in front of us following the path of the river. They're very loud and RAWK, RAWK, RAWK as they go. They're very high up, so it's hard to see their coloration, but there's no mistaking that sound! This area is famous for green macaws.

We decide to head to the pool to check for toucans - that's a popular area for them to hang out, and we see several more black and green dart frogs as we go. They don't seem afraid of people at all, and we have to be careful as we walk not to step on them and crush them.

No toucans by the pool today, so we wander over to reception to ask about a night hike. They say that Alejandro would be happy to take us if we'd like to go. Since it gets dark so early, they tell us to come by around 6:30, and he'll take us across the bridge and into the reserve in the dark. Luckily we've packed a couple of flashlights with us. When we first started coming to CR, I was nervous to night hike, but now I know how fun it can be so I'm excited go see what's out there!

Welcome back, VG. Great report - looking forward for more, and the pictures, of course

We did not see any poison dart frogs when we went to CR (I guess the dry season is not their favorite), and I was sad about that. Next trip will be during a shoulder season.

Great report, thus far. That pizza restaurant (and the memories of wildlife) makes a return visit for us very likely.

Thank you, x! This is by far the most poison dart frogs we've ever seen. We saw a few in Tortuguero, but most places we go we're lucky to even see one.

RAC, you really helped point us in the right direction. Thanks for that!! And yes, the pizza spot beats the buffet by a long ways. And it's cheaper too. The pizzas were about $7-10 each and big enough to share if you got a salad. They had some swankier things like Chicken Marsala, veal, and some seafood, but that pizza is hard to beat. We were thrilled to have those options. They even had octopus which I haven't seen on a CR menu before.

6:30 and it's night hike time. I'm thinking Alejandro may say, "Not you two again!" But of course he doesn't. Once again we're lucky enough to have him all to ourselves. I'm surprised that they don't supply flashlights since they usually do on a night time hike, but I have the trusty headlamp that I packed. They do have flashlights for sale in their gift shop if anyone wants one. And the gift shop is air conditioned! When we found that out, mr. vg teased me that I'd probably spend the entire trip in there! They also have ice cream bars. We never bought any, but I thought that would be a pretty cool thing to have in the jungle.

At 6:30 it's already been dark for about an hour. It's kind of eerie walking along in the dark, but fun eerie, kind of like a haunted house. We can hear loads of frogs, cicadas, and other little critters making noise all around us. It seems like the tiniest frogs are the loudest. As we start crossing the bridge, I have my headlamp in my hand, and I catch a glint of something on the other side. Eyes - big, big eyes! They're just sitting there in the dark peering back at me. I think they're going to retreat, but instead they start coming closer. I ask Alejandro what it is, and he says he can tell it's a mammal. A mammal??? As in puma or as in cute baby monkey? Just mammal at this point.

Alejandro walks in front, and as he does the eyes start coming towards us. Whatever it is is now on the bridge. We're sort of giddy with excitement and nervous with apprehension. I ask A. what we should do if something happens to him, and he tells us he has a cell phone in his pocket! Still can't tell what's ahead of us and then all of a sudden, the animal starts running towards us, and it turns out to be a kinkajou! We've never seen one of these in all of our trips to CR, so we're pretty happy to see it. It's a little freaked out by us though and just hovering on the wire right over our heads. It starts jumping back and fourth, to one side and then the other. Over and over and over. A. tells us to turn off our lights, and we do, hoping it will go on its way since it's clearly stressed out. We turn our lights back on, and it starts pooping! Sorry for that detail, but then we really wanted it to move on! Finally it runs off, and Alejandro says, "I was worried he was going to claw your face off." Really, you were?! We thought it was a cute little thing, but I guess if they're agitated they're unpredictable. We proceed ahead, happy to still have our faces!

Turns out the highlight of the hike was that kinkajou. We have a lot of fun hiking all the trails in the jungle, but mostly what we see are a lot of frogs and some amazing insects. A. tells us to watch out for bullet ants, and I'm glad we don't encounter any of those. We revisit that giant tree that we saw earlier, and it's decidedly more creepy at night. There are a lost of grasshoppers and cicadas around. Some look exactly like leaves. The camouflage is impressive. We come upon one bug that makes Alejandro light up, and he proclaims, "Peanut Head!" Seriously, that's the name of the bug, and it does look like a weird stick with a giant unshelled peanut on the end! A. plucks it off the tree its clinging to, and it's almost like he's pushed a button on a transformer - giant wings with eye spots pop out. Very cool! Seems like several things in CR have random English names. We also have encountered a plant called hot lips and a tree called a sexy palm. Peanut head is par for the course. After posing for photos, A. puts him carefully back on the tree and says we should head back for dinner. We stop by the little pond near the restaurant and see two more of those beautiful red-eyed tree frogs. Those are the best!

Given the choice between the buffet and La Terrazza, we go with our fave pizza joint. This time we order a salad to share, a margarita pizza, and a pasta dish. It's way too much food, but it's all good. We're not able to finish it all, and I wish we had a little frig in our room so we could bring the leftovers back. Hubs gets his usual Imperial, and I decide to try a drink called a Carribeno. It's made of mango juice, lime juice, and Malibu rum, and may be about the best thing I've ever tasted! Definitely thumbs up on the dinner. For a long time we're the only two people in the restaurant; eventually a family comes in to dine as we're finishing up. We have reserved an early morning birding tour at nearby La Selva for the morning. Have to be picked up at 5:20a.m. so we call it a night.

I was worried that the rooms might be hot and uncomfortable at night, but they really cool off nicely, and there are big ceiling fans overhead. The high temps in the 80s yield to the low 70s at night. We fall asleep listening to the sounds of the river.

What a great trip report! VG, you have a wonderful
writing style. Great detail and feel like I'm there
with you. Looking forward to the rest.

I so love reading about your adventures and agree with lover you pull me right in and again VG is the reason I am going to CR this Nov so thank you I am over the top excited to be going and look forward to reading more about your trip please..O)

Thanks, guys! My husband thinks I should work for the CR tourism department - lol.

So day 3 comes bright and early. Our pickup for La Selva is at 5:20a.m., and our tour is set to start at 5:45. We stroll up to the front of the property. There's that darn rooster again! Our driver is prompt, so we get in the van and head off to the La Selva biological station. I've read a lot of trip reports that talk about the abundant wildlife here, so I'm excited to see what's out there.

Before we left for CR, I watched a few YouTube videos about La Selva. One showed a guide with a tour group viewing a toucan and a boa in the same tree, and as they're watching a puma comes walking down the path. I have no expectations of seeing the puma, but think the video bodes well for some good spotting.

Our guide introduces himself as Lenin. And I recognize him as the YouTube guy and tell him that he is famous! He says that he waited his entire life to see that puma, and it was so amazing that it almost made him cry. Just knowing that they live in the area is pretty exciting to us. He asks what we're interested in seeing, and we tell him that we're up for anything but would love to see more toucans. And pretty soon thereafter we start hearing them. We find a tree with several toucans roosting at the top. They seem to like trees with very few leaves. We see both the keel-billed ones that have rainbow Toucan Sam bills and the chestnut-mandibled ones that have gold and brown bills. They sound like giant frogs - croak, croak, croak. The weather is sunny and beautiful, so we're able to get some pictures. Lenin also lets us take pictures through his scope. As we're watching the toucans, two peccaries come out of the brush and run past us. I manage to snap a picture of their legs flying behind them. They smell terrible, but are fun to see!

Lenin finds a lot of beautiful birds including some we've never seen before - a Jacamar, a red-eyed vireo, a white-collared manakin, a rufous mot-mot, and tons of hummingbirds. We see a couple of mot-mots building a nest in the dirt. L. says that they use their long tails to excavate and sweep the dirt out.

We see a bridge you can walk across, and we decide to do that. Below us is a pretty river lined with huge green trees. Lenin mentions that Will Smith was just there filming a movie. I look forward to seeing it! Seems like CR is becoming a hotbed for movie and t.v. filming.

Lenin mentions that he had seen something very cool earlier and asks if we want to see it. Do tourists ever say no to this question? Yes, we want to see it! And he tells us it's a fer de lance, one of the deadliest and most aggressive snakes in the world. When a guide sees one, they mark the trails with tape and a little flag so people will know to look out for them. He leads us off to find the little flag and see if it's still there.

Omg, VG, don't stop now...drool!

Hopefully she's getting all those pictures ready to post - right VG? - pictures, pictures!

It sounds like a great trip! Looking forward to hearing more! And yes - do post some pictures!

So off we go to see the dreaded fer de lance! I've heard of them and know that they can be nasty and aggressive. Lenin says there's a saying in Costa Rica - don't be the third - the first person wakes the snake up, the second person ticks it off, and the third person gets the bite. Then he says, "Well I'm the guide, and VG has the camera, so Mr. VG, you're third!"

We hike along the trails. Curiously they're paved, so the hiking is really easy. And then we spy the little flag and piece of plastic tape across the sidewalk area. I'm disappointed to see that the fer de lance is no longer there.

But then Lenin points, and there it is literally right in front of us, so well camouflaged that we wouldn't have even seen it if he hadn't pointed right at. It's in the brown leaf litter right next to the sidewalk, all coiled up, has a big triangular head, and evil looking vertical eye slits. Super creepy!! I say, "At least it's small." And Lenin says that those are the deadliest because they throw out all of their venom, unlike a full-grown adult who has more control. Lenin asks if we want pictures, and he proceeds to take my camera and get really close to the snake. He takes several pictures. In one picture he's making a really funny "Oh no!" face. We ask how long the venom would take to kill someone, and he says with a juvenile it could be as little as two hours. Then we ask how far away the hospital is. Half an hour - so we're good!

Lenin says that the scary thing is that he saw the snake when we was hiking out, but he knows it was there when he went in, and he just walked right by it. Yowza! He's a brave man.

After all of this, it's still only 7:45 in the morning, and Lenin tells us that our driver is there to pick us up and take us back to the lodge for breakfast. We thank him for a great day and are thrilled to have seen so many amazing things.

Hey I am following this too in my usual quiet way

Hi everyone !

It's in the Sarapiqui area (La Tirimbina at night) that I almost stepped on a very young fer-de-lance.

Very memorable at the start of that hike, the guide got out and assembled his snake-handling hook/stick. It was like--oh crap, what are we doing here?

Fun report, VG. Very exciting, but scary-creepy snake sighting. I hope you weren't wearing those high-heeled mules that caused you airport troubles on the hike!

Hola Percy!!! VG, why don't you join us at the Bosque del
Cabo GTG??? And what about you Percy?? You can buy
us all an Imperial

Sorry guys - I don't have a photo sharing site. I wish there were an easy way to just up loads pics here.

janie, lol - my husband always makes sure I pack some practical shoes!

Breakfast for day 3 consists of cheese omelettes - cold by the time we get there, beans and rice (yum!), toast, and lots of great fresh fruit like pineapple and papaya. I grab some Lizano sauce to put on the beans and rice - always a must in CR. Today is the day we're heading to La Fortuna, and we have an 11:00 pickup time set. We're going to be heading to the Springs Resort and Spa - a big change from SV. The Springs is pretty swanky and usually out of our price range, but I had seen and purchased a Groupon deal that gave us about 50% off their regular rate. The driver picks us up, and about 2 hours later we pull into the resort. It's beautiful with a lot of nice landscaping.

We head to the front desk, and we're assigned a concierge to take us around and show us everything. They tell us to leave our bags because we'll be doing a lot of walking, and they'll be happy to deliver the bags to the room. We start off on an extensive tour - the place is 5 stories and has gorgeous views of the volcano, a 14,000 sq. ft. spa (Is that possible? That's what they told us!), a game room, 5 restaurants, 18 hot springs, a gym, and a beautiful river at the base of the property where you can go kayaking, tubing, and horseback riding. We decide to stop at the Treetops restaurant for a quick lunch. It's a tiny little open air spot with nice views. We share a burger and a salad. My husband gets a batido - those yummy fruity milkshakes that they have in CR, and I get fresh pineapple juice. The food is good - pineapple juice is excellent! The service is great and very friendly.

After lunch, we board the green school bus that takes you down to the river. It would be a really long hike down without the bus. Somehow we get waylayed into a tour of their cat facility which is on the way down. The Springs has a lot of rescued animals that they house. It doesn't really interest us since we'd rather see animals in the wild. The tour is bilingual, so we have to sit and listen to everything in Spanish first and then English - argh. They have ocelots and margays and a puma. They seem very well taken care of, but still it's sort of sad to see them caged. They tell us that they try to rehabilitate them for release but it's difficult because most of them have been pets. After the tour, we go down to the river, and wow, it's gorgeous! Really beautiful with some small rapids and a lot of lush greenery. They have lounge chairs set up along the river where you can sit, and there's a cool little open air restaurant for casual dining and drinks. Small glass lanterns sparkle in the trees. It's a neat spot, and we look forward to having lunch there another day.

We take the bus back up and hike down to our room. The property is huge. We walk past all the springs, people having lunch at the pool, down, down, down, and finally arrive at our room. And talk about fancy - the furniture is pretty posh, there's a big tub, a patio with a glass table, chairs, and some rocking chairs, a DVD player, air conditioning, robes and all that, and an absolutely oh wow view of the volcano. The rooms are designed with windows that perfectly frame that lush green view. There's even an ice bucket full of ice and a Toto toilet - lol. My husband is excited that they have ESPN. I'm excited to have a toilet that will accept toilet paper. I know that at some point we'll have to force ourselves to leave this room, but for tonight we decide to just stay in, relax, and enjoy the view. We order some appetizers from room service like hummus, veggies, and quesadillas and settle out on the patio for our little feast. Tomorrow we have an early morning pickup for the Penas Blancas float and are hoping to see some more wildlife in the wild!

Day 4 arrives bright and early. Today we have a 7:00a.m. pickup with Sunset Tours to do the Penas Blancas river float. We love the Cano Negro tour, but Penas Blancas is much closer and doesn't involve nearly as much travel. We've done the tour once before, and it poured rain on us the entire time we were in the boat. Surprisingly that was on a December trip which is post rainy season. Luckily, we wake up to beautiful sunny weather after a night of rain. Our bed at The Springs is quite possibly the most comfortable one we've ever been in, and hubby says he doesn't ever want to get up, but the allure of wildlife calls to us, and we head up to the lobby for our pickup. There's not a lof of wildlife in the area, but Penas Blancas gives you a good chance of seeing some.

We're picked up by Sunset Tours and taken to their office in La Fortuna. It's located across the street from the church that's at the town's center. There aren't enough people for our tour, so they decide to pair us with Desafio, and we end up going with them instead. This seems to happen a lot in green season with these two companies joining forces. They arrive to pick us up in a nice air conditioned van. There are 4 other people already inside - a newlywed couple and two women who are traveling together. Our guide will be Francisco, and he's really friendly and enthusiastic.

We drive for about 20 minutes and come to the put in spot for the river. Francisco helps us put on life jackets, and then he and another guide start getting the raft ready for us. It's sort of a large rubber raft and just big enough to hold the six of us plus Francisco in the back. He teaches us how to paddle and says that he'll do most of the work, but occasionally he'll need us to step in. You can tell that he loves wildlife and is as excited as we are.

There's a muddy path leading down to the river. We were smart enough to wear water shoes this time after getting our feet soaked on the last trip. The ride is smooth, but there's always standing water in the bottom of the boat. The two girls get in first, then the newlywed couple; we're led to the front of the boat where it's particularly muddy. As I start walking down I step in the mud and immediately start sliding. I utter a little curse word under my breath and everyone starts laughing. I apologize since I barely know these people, take another step, sliiiide and then curse again. The newlywed husband says, "Woman, I've heard much worse than that - I'm from Ireland!" We all get a chuckle out of that. He has a great accent and sounds like the Lucky Charms leprechaun. His wife is from the South which I guessed because she's wearing eyeliner! Finally I make it into the boat, Mr. VG follows after doing some sliding of his own, and we're off with Francisco steering us along. Poor Mr. Ireland has worn running shoes, and they're already soaked.

The river is wide and sort of brownish in color. Much different than the clear water of the Arenal river at our hotel. Francisco says that if we're lucky we may see crocs. Crocs, and us a in a rubber raft? I have that fer de lance feeling all over again.

The first thing we see is a kingfisher - the Green kind, and then we see an Amazon variety. We see several kiskadees, some sand pipers, and a beautiful Passerini's Tanager with a bright red rump. Then we see something really cool - a Jesus Christ lizard. Francisco says they get their name because they can run across the top of the water. It's a brilliant green color and looks like a little dinosaur. Francisco splashes it, and it takes off running across the river while we all try to take photos. As we float down the river, something else catches F.'s eye, and he has us paddle over to the side of the river. Instead of calling it the edge or the side, he calls it "the cliff" - as in let's go over the cliff or now we'll head to the cliff! I get a chuckle out of the semantics. He has us underneath a tree and tells us to look up. None of us sees anything. Look very closely he says. And then we all see them - rows and rows of tiny long-nosed bats clinging to the tree. As we get closer, they all start moving back and forth in unison. They do that to look bigger and ward off predators. They aren't very scary as far as bats go, more tiny and cute and neat to see.

Then we see movement in a tree up ahead. Branches are moving up and down, and immediately we think monkeys!! Turns out it's a family of howlers, and we stop and watch them for a long time - several of them and some with babies on their backs. I never get tired of monkeys, and it's fun to see the Oh Wow! reactions of the people who have never seen them in the wild before. We're all just pretty thrilled and content to sit and watch them for a long time. We try to get pictures, but they move so much that it's nearly impossible, but at least we got to see them.

We see several more water birds, including anhingas with their wings spread wide to dry. We round a bend, and there we see something unexpected - cows! Lots and lots of them, just hanging out at the side of the river. There are a lot of farms in the area, and they must come here to drink. And they're kind of stinky! We round another bend and see something even more unexpected - a giant dredging forklift. F. says it's taking sediment and rock from the river to build roads. Given the state of some of CR's roads, we joke that they don't alter the material much, just dredge and dump. We're having a great time and enjoying all the great sightings.

Then Francisco says, "Ah, here we go" and he points to a big croc on the edge of the water. It's a little freaky to see it, but really amazing at the same time. He has his mouth wide open, and we can clearly see all of his teeth. F. says that they do that to regulate their body temperature. We all want to know if we're okay, and he says they aren't very aggressive in that area because there aren't that many of them to compete and there's plenty of easy food like monkeys, birds, and sloths. We have a debate about if we should get closer. Mr. Ireland is all for it, but the girls aren't as keen on the idea. I snap a picture, and then my camera says "your batteries are dead" - and I feel very lucky that I was able to get a pic of the croc.
We've seen them at the Rio Tarcoles bridge near Manuel Antonio but never from the water as we're floating by. And with that we come to the end of the tour. F. says that we'll be going to a little restaurant for lunch. Sunset's tour description didn't say anything about lunch, so this a little bonus, and we anticipate having some good casados. F. mentions that there will also be beer - Imperial which is our favorite - and a first for us on a tour. It also happens to be my birthday and is shaping up to be a wonderful day. Seeing a croc is a great b-day present!

We take a short drive to the restaurant. It's a small little open air place alongside the river. There are tables covered with big red patio umbrellas, and a big lazy dog lays on the patio. There's also a cute little chihuahua running around, and he wags his tail when I say, "Hola perro." Francisco and a sweet waitress bring big pitchers of cold water to the table and also pitchers of what they call soursop juice, and he opens a cooler full of Imperials. We're in a great group; everyone is friendly and having a lot of fun. They sing Feliz Cumpleanos to me. The waitress brings out the plates of food, and it's the usual CR combination of beef stew, white rice, and black beans. There's also something on the plate we've never seen before - fluorescent hot pink salad of some kind. We try it, and it takes like potato salad, but F. says it's made with beets - who would have guessed? As we finish up, F. comes out of the kitchen and hands me a beautiful little paper flower made from a paper towel. He says that the waitress made it for me, and he also hands me a tiny bottle of pink wine. So sweet and thoughtful. This is why we love the people of Costa Rica so much.

Our Pura Vida day continues back at the hotel where we spend the rest of the day exploring the grounds and all of the hot springs. There's an area up near the hotel where they have a big pool and a swim up bar with a great view of the volcano and numerous other hot springs scattered about. The hottest ones seem to be towards the top and the remainder get cooler as you move down the property. There's even a list of the mineral content of each pool. Towards the bottom is an area they call Los Perdidos or The Lost Ones. We wander down there and have the area all to ourselves. Since it's low season there really aren't a lot of people around. The front desk tells us that they're at about 40% occupancy, hence the Groupon deal I guess. In this section of springs, we discover a water slide. It's kind of hidden and surrounded by huge green plants, flowers, and vegetation. We decide to try it out, and wow, it's fast! My husband who is more of a daredevil than I does it over and over again. The good weather holds out and we order drinks and spend the rest of the day by the pool. Mr. VG asks if I'd like to go to Las Ventanas for dinner - it's the swanky high end restaurant on the property. He thinks it would be a great way to celebrate my b-day, and I agree. Going into town from the Springs is kind of a pain because the road is in pretty rough shape between the main road and the hotel. It's the type of road that the ticos refer to as a "free butt massage" - bumpy!!!

As dinnertime rolls around, we head to the restaurant. There's only one other couple in there when we arrive. The place is very pretty. It has huge floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the volcano - it's green as far as the eye can see. It's pretty fancy as far as Costa Rican places go. As far as we're concerned, just having walls is fancy. I order a salad to start, and it comes with amazing fresh papaya and strawberries on top and a delicious homemade vinaigrette dressing. For the meal, I order the surf and turf. It comes with some truffled mashed potatoes and veggies. They also serve yummy little garlic twists of bread with it - so good. My husband has the chicken stuffed with plantains, and he loves his too. The food is definitely a step up from most hotel food, and the service is wonderful. At the end of the meal, they ask if we want dessert, and they recommend homemade ice cream. They have lots of interesting flavors, so we place our order. The next thing I know, the staff comes out carrying a birthday cake for me - tres leches with a raspberry sauce and a candle on top. They clap and sing, and my husband looks really delighted that he was able to surprise me. The people are all so sweet and gracious. Everywhere we go in the hotel people call us by name and know our room number. It's pretty amazing. Fingers crossed that this Groupon deal rolls around again!

Day 5 - Mr. VG has picked the activity for today, and he wants to go waterfall rappelling. After so many trips to the area, it's getting harder for us to find new activities, but we've seen this one recommended so many times, and Sunset Tours offered us a good discount since it's a new tour for them. Their tour is called La Roca - The Rock. We wake up at 5:45 a.m. to the sounds of loud howlers close by. I go out onto the patio balcony, but can't see them. I can hear toucans close by as well. As nice as The Springs is, they don't offer a free breakfast so we grab a couple of granola bars before we head up to the lobby. Sunset Tours arrives to pick us up, and there are 4 guides in the van. I ask how many people will be on the tour, and they say just the two of us - yay for low season! Edson is our main guide, and we even have our own photographer named Arturo. He has a tablet with some of his photos on it, and they're incredible. They tell us he's "the paparazzi!" We head down the bad road and spot a sloth along the way. It's rolled up in a tight little ball high in a tree. We drive for a while and end up right by the Lost Iguana which is another favorite hotel of ours. We pull up to a little wooden place that has a nice covered area with picnic tables, and bathrooms complete with showers and changing rooms. They do a brief safety course and help us put our gear on. Our canyoneering will consist of 4 rappels plus a zipline, hanging bridge, some jumps, etc. The highest rappel will be 100 feet. As we're getting ready we spot two chestnut-mandibled toucans in a nearby tree. I'd recognize that squeaky nasaly high-pitched song anywhere. Always love to see those.

We get to the first spot, and I'm the first to go. The guide says to just hang over the edge of the platform and let myself down by gradually releasing the rope in my right hand. I do it, and it's really fun and pretty easy! My husband follows, and wow we're loving this! The scenery is so beautiful, and we have the place all to ourselves. Arturo starts snapping photos. Yay, photos with sopping wet hair and no makeup, but we think it's fun to have proof that we actually did this! All of the drops have amusing names - one is called "The Laundry" and as I look over the edge, I see a swirl of a waterfall. I plunge down, and it totally engulfs me, and I twirl around in the water before making my way to the bottom. There's another drop called "Walking the Plank" and also a couple of spots where we just have to jump off the rocks into the river below. My husband does one of the jumps first, and he comes up in pain. He tells me there's a huge rock under the water and that he smashed his foot into it. Costa Ricans are so tough; one of the guides tells him to just swish it around in the water and it will be fine. It's a little unnerving to jump after that since I'm not sure where the rock is, but the guide says just don't jump as far as your husband. I jump and come up okay. Mr. VG's foot hurts, but he toughs it out. He's having too much fun to let it stop him!

Next we do a Tarzan swing. This consists of holding the rope tightly behind you while the guide pushes you - you swing way out, and the guide at the other end pushes you back. It's really cool! We also walk a hanging bridge, and do a zipline. My husband and I both get stuck on the zipline! Since we've done those before, I know to flip myself around and just pull myself hand over hand until I get to the end. We hike and hike through the water. There are beautiful smooth boulders and pretty green moss everywhere. We never see another soul for as long as we're there, and it's amazing to be someplace that seems so undiscovered. We are loving the low season and getting to have these beautiful spots all to ourselves. We end the course by jumping into the beautiful river and play in the water before we begin the long hike back up. The guides have been great, joking and playing around with us while still helping us to feel safe. I would highly recommend canyoneering for anyone coming to this area - it's a great little adventure and the scenery is just incredible.

The hike back up takes a while, maybe about 15 minutes, and its all uphill. We huff and puff a bit on the way up, and E. occasionally stops to show us some neat little plant or cool tree. I think he's taking pity on us and giving us a little break! When we get back to the wooden shelter, the other guides have prepared a great snack of fresh pineapple and bananas and cold water. Our paparazzi has created a photo slide show of all our pictures for us, so we watch that while we snack. Some of our expressions are pretty funny - biting our lips our sticking out our tongues while we focus on getting down the walls and through the waterfalls. Arturo tells us that they would appreciate our doing a review of the tour since it's new, and he adds, "If you have any problems, my name is Juan!" They say we can shower and change if we want to and then we'll head off to the Hanging Bridges for lunch. We're dry by that time so decide to just go as we are.

At the Hanging Bridges, these great ladies prepare lunch for us. We have our choice of casados, and I choose fish, and my husband chooses chicken. Mine is tilapia and so good. It's accompanied by guess what? Rica and black beans! And also some yummy plantains. To drink we have orange soda. As per the rest of the trip, we're the only ones here. The weather is still sunny and clear, and we have some great views of the volcano. After lunch, the guides take us back to the hotel where we pay Arturo $25 for the cd of our pictures. We decide to spend the rest of the day exploring the trails at the base of the property.

Hi, Percy! Good to see you again! What no colors from you?!

crl, I'll talk to Mr. VG about BdC and see what he thinks. Definitely sounds fun! That puma has to show up sometime!

We take the old green school bus down to the river to do some exploring. There are lots of steps to hike up and down on the trails. There's a natural waterfall full of cool mineral formations and the water in it is hot, heated by the volcano. As we hike up one trail, water starts pouring down the steps, and we come upon workers trying to contain it. Turns out that the recent earthquake has opened up an entirely new hot spring and the heated water has nowhere to go. They tell us that the day of the earthquake they went out and the water was shooting straight up into the air. So I guess although Arenal isn't currently producing lava, there's still a lot going on underneath the surface.

We stop at the little open air restaurant for drinks and chat with Danny the friendly bartender. We've noticed a lot of American names on this trip - there are several Jasons, Alans, and Johnnys and Dannys. Jason tells us that his parents got his name from watching an American television program! Danny serves us our drinks, and the bus driver starts honking. Since the bus only runs once an hour, it's our only chance to make it so we grab our drinks and run for it. We run past the stable where there are some beautiful horses - they appear to be in much better shape than some others we've seen in CR. And there's also a new rock wall that's being built. There's a lot to do here without ever leaving the property, but I hope the people that stay here will still get out and explore. There's just so much to see and do in this area.

We decide to eat dinner at the Tres Cascadas open air restaurant. As we're walking there it starts pouring rain, but it doesn't last long. The food is okay - we have a club sandwich and some enchiladas that have a pretty good kick to them. Also have Imperials and more of that awesome fresh pineapple juice. After dinner, we walk back down to our room and thankfully the rain has stopped. We settle in for a Downton Abbey marathon and stay up until 9:30 woo-hoo, that's practically a record! Tomorrow we're going to go tubing on the river and then we'll be heading off to another hotel.

Today is our Club Rio day. Of all the activities available, we've chosen tubing, and yes, we're the only people on the tour again! We have two tour guides - Roberto and Mario. They offer to take a video for us, but we pass on it just wanting to spend the day on the river. One set of soggy pictures is enough! We have our choice of tubes - the blue ones which are sort of cushy and have a built-in chair or the yellow ones which are smaller and much more likely to tip over and give you more of a thrill. As quickly as I say blue, Mr. V says yellow! They give us life jackets and helmets and off we go. This activity turned out to be a favorite of ours. In spots you just drift along, but there are several areas of small rapids where you spin around and speed up. Occasionally we get hung up on a rock or in a small whirlpool, and one of the guides quickly swims over to give us a push so we can be on our way again. Mr. V gets tossed off his tube quite a bit, but my trusty blue tube never fails me. There are big beautiful trees all along the riverside. We reach the end, and the guides say we have time to do the run again if we want to. Back on the bus we go to start the river run one more time. At one point my husband spins off towards a rock and comes face to face with a big tarantula perched on top. The second trip is just as fun as the first, and so much for green season, we have not a cloud in the sky. At the end, the guides approach me with tiny smiles on their faces, and I realize they're going to flip my tube over, and that's exactly what happens! They ask if we want to climb the waterfall, and we swim over to it. As we climb, the hot water spills all around us. It's really a cool phenomenon. We really don't want our river trip to end, but we have to grab a quick lunch and head off to the Lost Iguana.

We stop at that neat little open air restaurant where the lanterns hang in the trees. This is one of our favorite spots on the property. Donald is working and says that they aren't quite open yet but after checking with the cook says that they'd be happy to open up for us. We order some ceviche to start, and they serve it with casava chips. Then we share an order of empanadas and a great big salad. The empanadas are so good, and they come with three dipping sauces - a creamy avocado sauce, a spicier red one, and a creamy chipotle that's my favorite. The salad is really good too, very fresh. Donald is super friendly. I think he's just happy to have some customers given the low occupancy. He tells us that during high season the place is packed. We finish our lunch, go back to the room to pack, and then get picked up by our driver to go to the Lost Iguana.

Hi Volcanogirl of course any color you want.

I am reading and enjoying your trip report.

Seems like you had a great time. !!
Looking forward to more.
Thanks for taking time to post.

Hi, P - awesome colors! Thanks for slogging through my trip report.

Thanks VG, could not read it all tonight, have just done four tours back to back. Must be getting old or something. However I have bookmarked it to finish and take notes from. Will be back soon with ideas and questions for my trip next year.

Alan, anything at all I can do to help with planning I'm happy to do it. In addition to the activities we did this trip, we've also done the Sky Trek ziplines, the waterfall hike, the volcano hike, the Hanging Bridges, rafting with Rios Tropicales, a sunset cruise on the lake, hiring a birding guide, the Cano Negro tour, and the Proyecto Asis animal rescue center. Both Sunset Tours and Desafio lead nice tours if you want to explore their websites. There's also caving at Venado Caves, but we haven't tried that yet.

The driver to the Lost Iguana is very sweet and friendly. He looks in the rear view mirror and notices my trying to take pictures of the volcano as we zoom by, and he offers to stop so I can take a few shots. The volcano is fully visible which isn't always the case. I take a few photos, and then back in the van for the short drive to LI. When we check in, things are a little bit in disarray, a storm earlier in the week has caused some damage. They've always had a computer in the lobby on previous trips, but it's been taken out by the storm, likewise the phones in the rooms, and there's no t.v. reception either. The people at the front desk tell us that it caused $10,000 worth of damage. And in green season when occupancy is low. We don't see many people around, and they tell us that only 7 rooms are occupied. It's very quiet which is nice. We decide to spend some time at the pool, but they're retiling it. Then we notice some construction going on. They're making some updates. Now I realize one drawback of travel during green season; it's when hoteliers get caught up on their projects! We've stayed here several times before, and it's a great property. The rooms are a little rustic, but they have great jacuzzi tubs out on the balconies and amazing volcano views, the best we've seen from any hotel. And they have wonderful rocking chairs that are perfect for enjoying the view. We decide to go to the gift shop - turns out it's closed for the day while the clerk goes shopping for items. The person behind the reception desk offers us a free couples massage which is really thoughtful, but we're not massage kind of people. We pass and tell him we'd rather just hike around the property. He offers to have someone in a golf cart take us to a spot with a great view. With that, we hop in the cart and off we go. It's nice to have the golf cart because the property is steep in spots, but we love it for its jungly atmosphere. As promised, the view is amazing - green jungly plants and trees for as far as we can see and the huge conical volcano in the distance. So cool!

We head back to the front desk and decide to book a Hanging Bridges tour for tomorrow since the LI is right next door. LI has its own provider, but we ask if we can use the phone and book Desafio and try to get Francisco again. They happily agree, and we're able to reserve with F. and hope that he'll use his eagle eye to help us spot some wildlife. When we did the Hanging Bridges on our own, the only thing we saw were ants!

Dinner time rolls around, and we go to the neat little open air restaurant on the property. We're the only people in the place. The waiter is really enthusiastic and friendly and brings us some complimentary bread. We're always impressed by the service in CR and how sincere the Ticos are. I order the chicken poblano soup, and it's delicious - really creamy and rich, very nice for a cool night. I get a salad to go with it and order a limonada which I think is going to be lemonade, but it turns out to be a bright green icy drink almost like a Slurpee. It's tart but good. My dh gets a chicken dish that's a little bland, and he keeps trying to steal bites of my soup! He also gets a mango batido; we're developing an addiction to those. I highly recommend them for anyone going to CR. We enjoy our dinner gazing at the volcano and then happily hike back up to our room to turn in for the night.

Day 7 arrives with free breakfast - yea! Go Lost Iguana! They gave us a great deal on our room and included breakfast. I think that says something about a hotel. There's a little buffet set up with fresh fruit, cereal, toast, and some exotic juices, and there's also menu service available. We order eggs, gallo pinto, and sausage. I'm expecting American style sausage, but these are really long and look more like hot dogs. We try blackberry juice for the first time. Everything is great, and the hearty breakfast has us ready for some hiking. Our pickup with Desafio for the Hanging Bridges is at 8:10a.m.. Lo and behold there are two other people on our tour, a couple who has never been to CR before. It's fun to have another couple along. They're excited and want to see a sloth and toucans. There's a light sprinkling of rain as we begin, and we all have our rain ponchos just in case. Right at the entrance is a blue and gold macaw. Everyone is crowded around it taking pictures, but F. tells us that it's most likely a pet since they aren't native to Costa Rica. We don't see much other wildlife at first, but we're having fun learning about all the different plants and insects. I think how hard it must be to be a guide with people having high expectations and the wildlife not always cooperating. Then we see a beautiful blue and yellow eupohonia - really pretty and a slaty-tailed trogon after that. Next we see some type of hook wasp that has Franciso really excited. For each thing we see he comments, "Ah, my friends, this is something special..." We see some cool walking palms that send out roots to bend toward the light. And then we spot howlers in the distance, a big family of them plucking bright orange fruit off a tree. Honestly we wouldn't have spotted them on our own, but eagle eye Francisco notices the branches moving and locates them. We stand on one of the hanging bridges and enjoy watching them for a long time. The views are beautiful as well. People without guides stop and ask what we're looking at.

We walk further and come upon a beautiful waterfall. There are various tunnels and bridges throughout the property. One is named "the jumping pit viper tunnel" - we get a kick out of all the names. Who came up with these?! As we go across one bridge we come eye to eye with a brilliant green bird called a honeycreeper. I've never seen a color like that in nature; it has a velvety black head and looks like it's wearing a mask. Its body almost looks like it's made out of silk. Then Francisco points out a toucan in a nearby tree. The woman on our tour is so excited; she starts jumping up and down and clapping. They are so cool to see in the wild! We hike for three or four hours in total and really enjoy seeing things other than ants! F. tries to find us an eyelash pit viper, but she's not in her usual spot. We wonder where she is! At the end of the hike, we come upon a little table set up with pineapple, watermelon, the best bananas we've ever tasted, and some Tropical Frutas Mixtas to drink. Everything is laid out so nicely - it almost looks like a still life. It's nice to have that little reward because the jungle has gotten steamy with that tiny bit of rain and the heat of the day. The other couple has to rush off for a zipline tour, so we eat a little fruit, jump back in the van, and head back to our hotel. This is our last day in La Fortuna before heading off to the Peace Lodge. We're sad to go but this has been a wonderful part of our trip.

We stop at the LI front desk and tell them we're ready to check out. Due to all the electrical/phone issues they're having problems getting the credit card machine to work. We decide to go pack and come back a little later. When we leave the room, there's a sweet man in a golf cart waiting to drive us down to reception - hurrah, it would have been a steep hike with our bags! We get everything worked out with the front desk, and our new driver arrives at 1:00 to take us to the Peace Lodge. I'm wondering what kind of shape the road to the Peace Lodge will be in because it was destroyed by the 2009 earthquake, and we haven't seen it since. Lucky for us, the road has been fully repaired and is in great shape. It's smooth black top all the way. Along the way we can see areas where the landslides occurred and the greenery hasn't grown back yet. Our driver tells us that the road is not yet sanctioned or approved by the government, but we're okay with going that route.

As we're driving, we encounter big groups of teenagers in the street holding signs. All the signs are in English and say, "Donate to our graduation!" Our driver says they do that to raise money for their graduation party which is in December. A lot of tourists must travel this road. The drive is very scenic with lots of twists and turns. There are some steep drop offs and no guard rail to speak of. After 2 hours and 15 minutes we get to the Peace Lodge and check in.

We want to have lunch at the Trout Bar, but the clerk wants to take us to our room. He stoops down and picks up my 50 pound suitcase and tosses it up on his shoulder, then he bends down to get an umbrella since it's starting to drizzle. He's really strong for not being a very large guy, and he's quick, down the steps and at our room before we know it. He shows us all the fancy bells and whistles. This place is definitely over the top - has a waterfall shower, fireplace, and a jacuzzi. It's a great spot to spend a first or last night to be closer to the airport which is only an hour away. After he's finished with the tour, we run to the Trout Bar knowing they close at 4:00. We're the only people there, but they say they'll be happy to stay open for us. I order the chicken tacos with cabbage salad - they turn out to be more like chimichangas and are really good. They come with guacamole and some yummy sauces. DH gets quesadillas that come with a big green salad. We both really like our food. I remember some cold Cheez Whiz nachos from a few years ago, so glad the food is back on track.

After that we have time to go to the aviary - it's huge and has several toucans that are enjoying feeding time, we also make it to the serpentarium, and see the big cats and monkeys. All of the animals here are rescue animals. We try to find the ranarium. I ask a worker, "Donde esta el ranario?" And he thinks my Spanish is much better than it is and talks to me very quickly and for a long time. Luckily he points while he's talking, and we can deduce where to go. Next we visit the hummingbird garden which is a favorite spot of mine on this property. They have 25 varieties of hummingbirds that visit, and they zoom all around from one feeder to another and from flower to flower. They sound like little race cars. There are more than we can count. You can even hand feed them at certain times of day, and they'll land right on your hand to sip nectar. It's starting to get dark, so we decide to get up early tomorrow and hike the waterfalls before the waterfall gardens open to the public. We're still pretty full from our late lunch, so we order a soup and salad to share from room service. The food is great, and we enjoy relaxing out on our balcony and enjoy our fireplace before heading to bed. This will be our last night in Costa Rica.

Thanks VG, your report had me heading into my CR bird book. It helps me to start getting my head around the diversity. That Euphonia reminds me of a bird I saw in PNG called a Blue-capped Ifrita which stores poison from its food in its skin and feathers so that handling the bird is enough to get a reaction on your skin.

I have a few contacts to hear from before I start drawing up the rest of my plans.

I think MR VG is right, you should be an employee of the Costa Rica Tourist Board at least in a honorary capacity.

A, do you have the Garrigues and Dean book? That's the one we use. I try to bring it on every trip. If you're interested in diversity, try to make it to the Osa if you can.

I'm not a huge birder, but I do like to note what we're seeing. We saw an ornate hawk eagle on on trip that was really cool.

Your report is wonderful, VG! All of your posts over the years have been very helpful while I was in planning mode for my first trip to CR!

My husband and I are staying at Arenal Nayara Hotel & Gardens in November -- it looks like Nayara is very close to Springs Resort and Spa, is this correct? I'm wondering if it's easy to walk between the 2 resorts, with the idea that we might check out the restaurants at Springs for lunch or dinner. Are there other good restaurants within walking distance or a short taxi ride?

Thanks, b! Things that look close on a map really aren't so close when you're there in person. The Springs Resort and Spa is about 10 minutes or so off the main road by car. I don't think you can walk to anything from there. Nayara is off the main road as well. You can't walk, but it would be pretty easy to take a taxi from there into town. We've stayed at Nayara before too, and it's really nice. You'll like it. The food is very good, but if you're looking for a good restaurant, we like Don Rufino.

We wake up early the next day and head out to take some pictures and hike the waterfalls. It's really quiet, but we see a father and son fishing at the trout pond. The waterfall hike here is really amazing - 5 beautiful waterfalls along the trail. There are various viewing platforms built throughout the property that allow you to get close. The river is so pretty and full of those big mossy boulders that you see so often in this country. The hike consists mostly of steps, some going up and some going down, and you just see one fall after another after another. The hike has changed a little bit since the earthquake although I can't really pinpoint how - everything looks completely back to normal which is impressive because a lot of the area was destroyed. As we hike, we're the only ones here except for a man clearing the trails with a leaf blower. If you stay at the lodge, I'd highly recommend hiking early so you can just enjoy the beauty and quiet before the crowds arrive.

We reach the end half an hour later just as a worker is unlocking the gate, and we have one more, "Do you want to see something?" wonderful CR moment. The man takes us around the corner and points to two tiny baby raccoons nestled in a tree. They look up at us with huge eyes. Really cute and especially cool because we didn't expect to see any wildlife here. The man offers to drive us back to reception which works out great because the bus that picks you up isn't running yet.

We pack up, check out, and promptly at 9:00 a.m. our driver Edmar arrives to take us to the airport which is about an hour away. We go into the airport and are promptly accosted by the people that want to wrap your luggage in plastic. I've never understood why people buy this, but it seems very popular! We head to the line to pay our airport tax, and the line is surprisingly long, but they have 8 people working, so it only takes us 5 minutes to breeze through. We pay $28 each so we can leave the country. Security takes us half an hour. I set off the alarm as usual. They can't find anything on me; the woman whispers that she thinks it may be my bra and lets me go. We do some shopping at the Cafe Britt store - you can find anything here, great place to buy coffee or chocolates for the people back home. They have bowls of samples you can try. Also some wooden crafts, t-shirts, caps, and things along those lines. After that it's time for lunch, and the entire food area is under construction so there's only one place to eat - a new restaurant with some pretty decent food. We're used to seeing big American chains at the airport, but this seems more Costa Rican. I believe the name is Malinche. The man next to us in line is laughing at some of the menu translations and tells us we should get the "fish digits" - lol. I get a salad and quiche. The salad is wonderful; the quiche looks more like a muffin but tastes fine. The place is packed; they also have alcoholic drinks and beer, and a lot of people are enjoying those before their flights.

One more security check at the gate - they're pretty thorough and check through our bags. Unknowingly I have a bottle of water in my bag way at the bottom, but they don't see it, and I discover it once I'm on the plane. For some reason, they always confiscate water here even if you buy it at the airport after security. Unlike our flight here, this return flight is packed. We're sad to go but thrilled that we had such a wonderful trip. Time to start planning the next one!

Wow, a coral snake!

I was just in the airport two days ago, on a 5 hour layover. The Malinche cafe is fine for a meal (just had the ala carte chicken and plain rice for $6 total). There are also a few coffee shop places and a Quiznos!

Thanks for the tips and the Don Rufino reco VG!

m, yes, that was very cool! We don't normally see snakes even when we ask the guide to try to find them. The fer de lance was even better because it posed for pictures - lol.

You're welcome, b. La Choza de Laurel is a good open air restaurant. If you want cheap casados, Soda La Parada is a good spot. Enjoy your trip!

What a great vacation! It sounds like you had some very special CR moments. It's been a couple of years since we've been to CR, and I'm really missing my wildlife sightings! Thanks for the report!

VG, I have Stiles and Skutch which is not really up to date but the price was right, free. I'm still looking for some general natural history and mammal books.

The Garrigues book is a perfect field guide. Entries are pithy but instructive, range maps are very user friendly, and the color plates are very good. It's the best birding book for the field I've seen for any location, not just Costa Rica.

And, contra Skiles, it doesn't weigh a ton.

Thanks, Shell - it was a great time - lots of good wildlife this time too. Time for you to make a return trip!

Alan, Stiles and Skutch is a great book, but too big for me to lug around!

Thank you so much for sharing your vacation with us . What an amazing trip you had and by the way Happy Birthday !!
I'll be headed to CR on the 31st but for only 6 days ., I see you chose driver and tours .
I've been debating whether to rent a car or do the same and hire a driver . Can you share the details and how to go about hiring one ., it seems those you hired are very experienced with nature and willife which is what we want to see. We have decided to stay 5 nights in Fortuna and see as much as we can within the surrounding areas with enough time to be back by night fall .

Great all around report vg, enjoyed reading it. Do you remember approx how much the driver was from Selva Verde to Arenal?

Thanks, Angel! We book our drivers through our hotels when we reserve them. We've also used Destinos Encantados; they have a website. There are lots of good recommendations on the board too. Doing it through the hotel is so easy though. Five nights in Fortuna will be wonderful!

Thanks, tully - I'll go back through my notes and check on that. Love Selva Verde!

RAC, I'm with you!

Thanks for the lovely Trip Report volcanogirl.

It was nice "following" you around Costa Rica.

( Hi tully hope all is fine with you )

vc, I am LOVING your trip report! We want to try waterfall rappelling too, but minus the landing on a rock part...

tully, my husband booked that transportation, but he said he thinks it was about $125. We booked it through Selva Verde. Have you ever seen their van? It has a crazy paint job and is covered with sloths and monkeys.

P, thanks for tagging along!

Cat, I hope you get to go. We had so much fun, minus the rock landing - ha, ha!! I would definitely do it again.

If anyone has any suggestions on new areas to visit next, I'd love to hear them. We like to see wildlife. We've done most of the wildlife intensive areas like the Osa and Tortuguero. Have also done Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. Have not done Guanacaste yet. Let me know if you guys have ideas.

Volcanogirl:

If you can swing August/September/October, maybe a trip to Ostional to see an arribada of sea turtles (hundreds nesting at a time). It's a lovely area during green season.

VG,
Great trip report! We were supposed to go to the Peace Lodge in 2009, but...it did not happen. We will definitely get there next time we go to CR. And we'll try to do that in turtle season

VG - I'm just back from Patagonia, so late in chipping in here, but LOVED your report! So glad that you enjoyed Selva Verde and survived without the waterfall shower - LOL!!

We had a super time with Alejandro as our guide at SV and have always had great wildlife sightings both there and at La Selva. I'm heading back in Feb. and staying at La Carolina/Rio Celeste area for the first time. I'm hoping it is as spectacular as the photos I've seen!

You should think about the GTG at BdC in June - Mr. Colibri and I are going along with loads of other frequent posters - can't wait!

Thanks, RAC - I'll check that area out.

Sounds good, x - it's definitely worth visiting. The hummingbirds and waterfalls will make your jaw drop.

Welcome back, col! Looking forward to reading your trip report. Hey, I feel all rugged now - ha, ha!! Yes, SV had amazing wildlife - loved it. Thanks for all the good recommendations.

Volcanogirl, you seem to be in the know with Costa Rica, so I'm hoping you can help me! I've skimmed your reports, but because I'm still at the beginning of even thinking about it, I'm a little overwhelmed. If it was your FIRST trip to CR and you had two weeks, what would be the Must Do's? I posted a new topic today if you get a chance and could reply there!

I've been away from this forum for a while. Nice to come back and read such a well written and detailed report. Thanks VG.

Cindy, we did Arenal and Manuel Antonio for our first trip. That's probably the most popular combination for first timers. It gives you lots of adventure activities plus plus both volcano and beach time. With two weeks, you can definitely throw in a third location. We love the Osa Peninsula for seeing wildlife. Monteverde is good if the cloud forest interests you. Tortuguero is fun during turtle season. There are lots of good options! You could even spend a couple of nights somewhere like the Peace Lodge and go see the Waterfall Gardens, Poas Volcano, and the Doka Coffee Estate.

Thanks, J - glad you enjoyed it; we had a great time.

I'm enjoying your report VG, will have to come back and finish later. DH may be going on a birding trip in July, so lots of good tips here!

That's great, Toucan. Does he have any idea where he's going yet?

VG He has a wish list, but we are still waiting on some confirmations. We should have that sometime this month then we can start buying airline tickets and firming up plans.

Hi VG! I'm not frequent on Fodor's anymore, and just came across your report. Excellent reading. Loved every minute of it. Sounds like a marvelous trip!

Hi VG! I haven't been on Fodor's much lately and just caught up with your most recent travels to Costa Rica! It sounds like an awesome trip, loved reading every detail! Thanks!

T, I hope he has a great trip. We really liked the birding at Selva Verde. Also the Osa is particularly good. And Monteverde has those beautiful quetzals.

shillmac, it's so good to see you back! Do you guys still have your place in CR? Glad you had fun reading my report; yes, we had an awesome time!

Really enjoyed your detail report of your trip, but now I have so many questions about my own plan! We are a family of 6 traveling to CR for the first time with our 4 children 12/25-1/5. We are booked at Tulemar for 7 nights starting 12/28 which I feel really good about. I need some guidance in planning the first 3 nights. We will be arriving in San Jose at 7:30pm on Christmas, and after reading several posts, I have changed my reservation from a hotel near the airport to Peace Lodge-the Monarch Villa. It is Christmas after all and this place sounds like heaven! I booked the Lost Iguana for the next 2 nights. Now I am thinking I should spend 2 nights at Peace Lodge and 1 and Lost Iguana, since we are getting in so late, would probable need to chill post holiday, and relax and enjoy the gardens at a leisurely pace. I really want to take the kids to Finca Corsicana before heading over to the Arenal area. From what I can tell it is only a little out of the way. (Is that part of the road safe to travel?) The other must do on my list is the Hanging Bridges, which is why I picked the LI to stay (now I see they get great reviews), but is that too out of the way for us? Our friends are staying at the Springs and would love to catch up with them there for a day as well. I was also considering staying at the Springs as well, but was trying to give the kids a different kind of experience than a resort, but the tubing looks really fun and of course all the hot springs. Do you know what the travel time would be from LI to the Springs? After reading about your repelling experience and it being so close to LI it makes me want to do that as well. Since we will be having a lot of time in Manuel Antonio, I was planning on doing most of our activities and enjoying the wildlife there. Ugh so much too think about and anything you could help me with would be greatly appreciated. After I figure this part of the trip, I will ask you questions about MA.

Volcanogirl, I am really glad that someone posted recently as it bumped your trip reports to the top. Somehow I missed it before. Well, that settles it, next trip is to La Selva! Muchas gracias for the posts.

Con much gusto, frustrated. I'm glad it gave you some good ideas! We really enjoyed La Selva - good wildlife and that setting along the river is really nice. Hope you enjoy it.

sheno, I wouldn't go all the way to Arenal for just one night. It's worth about three nights there. If you're getting in at 7:30 at night, I would stay closer to the airport than the Peace Lodge. You're going to be paying big bucks for the Monarch Villa that first night and not even get to really enjoy it. If you want to stay somewhere nice your first night, Xandari is wonderful and much closer to the airport. I'd stay there the first night and then go to either the Peace Lodge or to Arenal; if you're spending that much time in Manuel Antonio I don't think you have time to do both spots. The Peace Lodge is nice for about two nights. If you choose Arenal, I think most kids would pick the Springs Resort and Spa over the Lost Iguana; we love both spots, but the Springs has the tubing, hot springs, water slide, kayaking, horseback riding, rock wall and all those things a kid would love; plus the rooms are really elaborate. It's also closer to town, but off a long rough road. But like you said if you want to do the La Roca tour and do the Hanging Bridges, the Lost Iguana is very convenient for that and nice in a more rustic way. Between the two is probably about a half hour or a little less. It's really just up to you and what you think your family would enjoy. You can still do the Hanging Bridges and canyoneering if you stay at the Springs. Tulemar will definitely be a hit. I personally wouldn't stay that long in Manuel Antonio, but if you want a lot of time to chill on the beach then stick with it.

I should have found your trip reports earlier! During the holidays they require you to spend 7 nights at Tulemar. 5 would have been fine and I could have fit what I wanted in in the other 5 days. Who knew such a small country could be so complicated to plan. My friends can't believe I am planning this trip so far in advance, but I will have you know that I was NOT able to secure the top private drivers most talked about here, I am on wait list for the Spring Resort's 2bedroom (would need to reserve 2 rooms and it is so $$$ during the holidays). Peace Lodge has no availability on 12/26 & 12/27 to accommodate my family again without booking 2 rooms with cots. The Lost Iguana can so my itinerary may be dictated on where my family of 6 can stay. I booked Tulemar a month ago and I didn't even get my top picks, but still very happy with my choice. I agree it's a lot of time in MA. Got any suggestions on day trips there?