COSTA RICA TRIP REPORT

Old Apr 23rd, 2013, 04:37 PM
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COSTA RICA TRIP REPORT

Trip Report February 28-March 9, 2013. After a smooth afternoon flight from Miami, we landed in San Jose. and for the next eight days, we visited La Fortuna, Monteverde, and the Pacific Coast. Costa Rica is a gem and the ticos are warm and welcoming. I am posting my trip because this is where I learned in part how to plan my trip.sooo thank you to all who have posted in the past....My next reply will be the first half of our journey.
.Pura Vida
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Old Apr 23rd, 2013, 06:22 PM
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Feb.28- we arrived at SJO, collected our luggage and did 2 things before leaving the airport. 1. purchased a local prepaid cell phone at the airport. This came in super handy-the minute rate to call back to the US is a great deal and local calls were free. 2. exchanged US dollars for Colones upstairs at the National Bank (best rate) in the airport. We stayed the first night at the Adventure Inn which provides free shuttle service. I booked the activities, hotels and transportation in La Fortuna and Monteverde with Desafio Adventure Company. This was a treat for me because all we had to do was show up in the lobby where we were staying and their van was waiting for us..
March 1- Shuttle with Desafio from the Adventure Inn to white water rafting the Sarapiqui, class 3-4 rapids. My college age daughter likes adrenaline action and she got it..She flew out of the raft 5 minutes after we started down the river. The whitewater rafting guides were super and we had a great time. After rafting, we were fed a fresh Costa Rican meal and delivered to our hotel in La Fortuna where we stayed for 3 nights ( Hotel Arenal Parasio). The hotel was clean, beautiful grounds,free breakfast,free wifi in lobby and the price was reasonable. FYI- Desafio will shuttle you from San Jose to rafting and then to La Fortuna for the price of the rafting trip. I chose this because I didnt want to drive from San Jose to La Fortuna.

March 2- I booked the Canyoneering for the late morning so we could sleep in- It is a vacation..!!!! Like magic,Desafio picked us up in the lobby and we went Canyoneering. This is like playing superman down the side of a waterfall. The guides were excellent. I am afraid of heights and after the first segment,I was like ok, Im ready. My daughter loved it but she is fearless. Desafio took pics of us on each excursion-How they got such good shots, Im still wondering, especially of the white water rafting. That afternoon, I had them drop us off at Alamo and we rented a car. This proved to be a good thing because taxi service was about the same price to and from town. That night, we drove to the local festival and danced salsa. This festivalo happens once a year and is scheduled when there is this Bike Race in La Fortuna around the volcano. 4500 people rode there bikes around the volcano. That was not a typo--4500 bicyclist. The hotels were all full.

March 3- I went hiking at the Arenal National Park with a small group. i booked this with the hotel as I didnt want to go alone ( my daughter didnt want to wake up early). It was more of a relaxing walk. That afternnon, I drove us to the hanging bridges and then we stopped at the Lost Iguana Hotel for late lunch. The food was great and The Lost Iguana is amazing.. Its a bit far away from the downtown area but wow, what a place..That evening, we went back to the festival for more dancing..

March 4- We took the van-boat van transfer across Lake Arenal to Monteverde. That took a few hours but the other option was to drive 4-5 hours to get to Monteverde and I didnt want to drive around the mountain so we cruised across the lake in a boat and then spent 1 hour in the van to get to Monteverde. We stayed at the Monteverde Country Lodge for 2 nights. Again,a nice clean hotel with breakfast and helpful staff. We went on a guided hike in the Monteverde Reserve. Amazing place.so pristine and we saw a quetzal and everyone in that reserve was dashing and cameras were clicking like a celebrity sighting. I wanted to see toucans but the quetzal is a rare sighting and there it was. We also saw lots of humming birds. We had the driver drop us off at Stellas Restaurant. Some wonderful person heard me say I wanted a salad and sandwich and told us about Stellas. I am not a foodie so you wont hear much about restaurants in my post but Stellas is great. Fresh food and bakery goods, sandwiches made to order and salad from their garden. Not to miss and a bonus..They put fruit out for the birds and here at Stellas, I saw an Emerald Toucan enjoying Stellas as much as I did. I took about 50 pics of that toucan and other birds that were munching off the fruit. We took a cab back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening.

March 5- Selvatura adventures picked us up and we went on a canopy tour-zip lining--what a blast- and again great guides. My daughter went bungee jumping and I watched, her and 4 other crazy kids do this. She said it was sooo cool..We all have different ideas of cool. That evening, we went to eat at Sofias. we both agree Sofias is a great restaurant. i will post rest of trip soon. ciao, pura vida...
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Old Apr 23rd, 2013, 07:09 PM
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Looking forward to hearing more!
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Old Apr 23rd, 2013, 07:16 PM
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Thanks for posting. How much was the cell phone?
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Old Apr 24th, 2013, 05:49 AM
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Sounds like a great time - we also enjoyed our stay at Arenal Paraiso and loved, loved Stella's in MV. I think we ate there 3 times!

Looking forward to the rest of your trip.
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Old Apr 24th, 2013, 07:57 AM
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Wonderful - sounds like you had some great adventures! The Lost Iguana is a great place to stay if you ever make it back.
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Old Apr 25th, 2013, 05:58 AM
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hi tully,

the cell phone was $40.00 with activation and its yours to keep for future use in CR. The $40.00 includes about 20 minutes of US outgoing calls as well.
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Old Apr 25th, 2013, 11:15 AM
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Great thanks
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Old Apr 29th, 2013, 07:09 PM
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That's about what we paid, too. We just bought a second one, thinking that perhaps it would be nice to communicate with each other occasionally when necessary!

Enjoying reading your report, freespirit61!
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Old Apr 29th, 2013, 07:10 PM
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Part 2-March 6th- we took a shuttle from Monteverde to Los Suenos Marriott on the pacific coast. we stayed 3 nites at Los Suenos. The resort is beautiful. If you are looking for relaxation,its the place. A lazy river swimming pool, swim up bar, right on the pacific. After 5 days of adventure, having no agenda was the agenda. The food is pricey at Los Suenos but we walked to the yacht harbor and found good food at reasonable prices. We did take a shuttle to Tortuga Island. The shuttle (big boat) about 100 people on board took 1 1/2 hours to Tortuga Island. The water is crystal clear and getting there was a tour in itself. We saw MantaRays and porpoises on the way to Tortuga. I kept asking myself?? Why have I not been to Costa Rica sooner?? Its only 3 hours from Miami and I waited this long to discover it. The country is packed with things to do and I have a list..We will be back soon to explore some more Pura Vida.. I have a mantra--Enjoy the Journey--Its short.. Ciao..
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Old Apr 30th, 2013, 01:44 AM
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I'd love to visit Tortuga Island someday. We love to snorkel and haven't really found it in CR.
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Old May 1st, 2013, 02:25 AM
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I had read some reviews that Tortuga had become very touristy but I guess it just depends on your outlook and what you are looking for.
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Old May 1st, 2013, 06:02 AM
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VG--for snorkeling I'd look at Cano Island instead of Tortuga. Plus, it would be an excuse to see the Drake Bay side of the Osa.
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Old May 1st, 2013, 07:26 AM
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Thanks, RAC - the only snorkeling we've done was Manuel Antonio, and it was pretty bad. Did you do Cano Island? What did you see?
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