TRIP REPORT: FAMILY OF 5 FIRST ADVENTURE IN COSTA RICA (or how we survived rental car glitches, the flat tire scam, volcanoes, big waves, and driving in this Central American paradise . . .)

My local travel agent Mark told me that the logistics of Costa Rica booking and confirmation, especially at the last minute, can be difficult, so he prefers to work with Way to Go Costa Rica, ( http://waytogocostarica.com/index.php/costarica/ ), a U.S. agency that specializes in Costa Rican travel. After a week or so of research, they were able to book the Peace Lodge for only the first night after our arrival, and instead offered me an appealing option much closer to the airport — Xandari in Alajuela. This made sense because we couldn’t meet older son in San Jose at the conclusion of his trip until the day after our arrival anyway. The agents and reviews I read on TripAdvisor and in this forum convinced me that three nights at Lost Iguana Resort was the best option for Arenal. The agents also told me that all the Mal Pais hotels that interested me were booked during our entire trip window, so they suggested four nights at the Harmony Hotel in Nosara as an alternative. After some quick research that seemed like an appealing alternative, along with two nights back at Xandari near the airport to wrap up the trip.

Quite frankly, the more I read before departure, the more apprehensive I became about the prospect of driving my family through Costa Rica. First, I was not convinced that the car we had rented, a Mitsubishi Nativa or equivalent, was big enough for our tall family members. However, we were reassured that if we arrived at the airport and the car we reserved was too small, we could easily switch to a larger one. More to the point, however, was my concern over the quality of the roads, the seemingly high rate of automobile accidents that occur in Costa Rica, and the petty scams or even more serious crimes that have been reported by travelers using rental cars there. For example, I read that the last twelve miles of the drive to Nosara are over dirt roads that cross several streams that can occasionally flood during the rainy season, and that four or five years ago, tourists on this route had even been held up. I find that traveling with my family — even though our kids are now older and largely self-sufficient — always introduces an element or feeling of vulnerability that I don’t have when traveling alone or even with my wife. Nevertheless, the freedom of movement and spontaneity that the rental car offered, along with favorable descriptions of driving in Costa Rica in a number of posts on this forum, convinced me that we could do it.

What follows will be my report, as time allows, of our experiences. I hope that my thoughts and comments will be of special value to those who are considering traveling with their families to Costa Rica for the first time and will welcome and try to answer any questions, but perhaps Costa Rica travel veterans will also find some nuggets of interesting or useful information here.

Thank you MRand. I am reading your trip report...and very anxious to see what happened next...and also MUCHAS GRACIAS for mention my name in your post...I am very glad to know that my humble costarican opinion work in some way to plan your vacation...Thank you...thank you again!!

Luis

Hello MRand,

I am looking forward to reading about your travels. Did you actually encounter the flat tire scam? Yikes!!

From your previous post at the Lost Iguana, it sounded like you were enjoying the ambiance of beautiful Costa Rica.

Welcome home, and keep on writing. Enquiring minds want to know!

Wed. July 25

Afternoon: Three hours after a delayed departure from Miami, we’re dropping through the low clouds into the Central Valley on final approach to the San Jose/Juan Santamaria airport. My first impressions of Costa Rica are small patches of dark green that occasionally appear through the broken gray clouds below. I have the sensation that there must be tall mountains on both sides of us, but can’t make any out. We’re seated near the exit row of the airplane, so we’re some of the first passengers off and breeze through immigration and customs in about 10 minutes. I’m not sure what I’m expecting, but I’m surprised by the size and the modernity of Juan Santamaria airport. It’s named after the Costa Rican boy martyr who in the 1850s, along with his countrymen, successfully resisted the efforts of the American filibusterer William Walker and his mercenaries to impose a slave-based economy on Nicaragua and Costa Rica. My youngest son is amused by all the American restaurants in the terminal, such as Schlotzky’s sandwich shop, Burger King, and Church’s fried chicken. It’s about 3:00 p.m. local time, as Costa Rica operates on the equivalent of our Central Standard time zone and does not observe daylight savings time, so night falls early even in summer. For us, this will result in an early to bed/early to rise routine throughout the trip.

As promised in our travel agent’s itinerary, after leaving immigration but before customs we’re met immediately by a Destination Costa Rica agent who has our name along with a few others printed on a dry erase board. He sends us to collect our checked bags and proceed through customs. Destination Costa Rica ( www.destinationcr.com ) is the local agency in San Jose that Way to Go Costa Rica has worked with to make some of our arrangements, including the rental car. We wait only a few minutes to collect our bags, and there’s no line as the customs agent quickly reviews and takes the form we filled out on the plane and directs us to ground transportation. Again as promised, another Destination Costa Rica agent is waiting to walk us to the terminal parking garage and take us by van to Adobe car rental agency, about a five minute drive from the airport. There the fun begins.

The four wheel drive vehicle that’s been reserved is small — way too small — for the four of us, and we still have to pick up my 6’3” older son and all his gear tomorrow. No larger cars are on the lot, and although Adobe has larger vehicles in its fleet, they are all rented for the time we are planning to be in Costa Rica. Alexe, the very helpful Adobe desk clerk and the first Costa Rican with whom we’ve had any meaningful contact, calls Destination Costa Rica for us. Grace, the nice lady there, offers to call other Adobe locations for us and get right back to us about locating a larger car.

She calls back about 45 minutes later, as the afternoon begins to wane, saying that neither any other Adobe offices nor two other agencies she has contacted have any larger cars for the duration of our trip. They can only offer to rent us two small cars for the same price for the trip. Obviously, that defeats the purpose of a family trip and I quickly imagine nightmarish scenarios of two cars getting lost or separated for hours.

mrand - thanks for the mention, hope I helped in a small way, though I'm nowhere near the # of trips & experience of suzie & shillmac!

Your trip sure sounds like it's off to a bust, don't leave us hanging with the car situation! I'm sure it gets better since you put paradise in your title. Looking forward to the Harmony Hotel part, as that's yet another place I've had on my "list" (which is about up to 50 or so) since it opened.

MRand, I'm not sure if I really do or really don't want to read the rest of your report.We leave this Tuesday on our first family trip to Costa Rica. Our families sound very similar, although are 21 yr old son can't make this trip, our 19 yr son and 14 yr daughter will be traveling with us so we'll have 4 instead of 5 this time. I have been planning this trip for 5 months and I also, found the posts of those you mentioned extremely valuable. I couldn't have planned it without them. I haven't heard the rest of your rental car story but the flat tire scam is gonna be scary to hear.I guess there's no turning back now, and we really ARE looking forward to the trip so I guess I'll read on! Just knowing that I'd better expect the unexpected! Thanks for writing your trip report.

tully and agswimmer - not to spoil the story, but you're absolutely right. My reference to paradise signals that everything turns out well. ags - don't want to create any undue anxiety for you. After a stressful initial 24 hours we had a fantatsic trip and I'll bet you all will too. Your concern, however, prompts me to take as much as I can of my "chill" day to hammer out at least the first part of the report before returning to work tomorrow - don't want anyone canceling any plans because of something I said!

Wed. July 25 (cont’d)

I appreciate that I have little time or ability to deal with “situation” on the ground here, so this is where having a good travel agent who has assisted me plan the trip comes in handy. The Adobe clerk graciously calls Mark, my local travel agent, who immediately puts his people on the case. Within 30 minutes, he calls me back, informs me that he has spoken with Way to Go Costa Rica and they have arranged ground transportation that, as we speak, is on its way to pick us up in 10 minutes. They will, at no expense to us, take us to Xandari for the evening and return tomorrow morning to take us to our reunion at the airport with our older son and deliver us to one of three agencies where they have located larger rental cars for us. It sounds like renting a Mitsubishi Montero from Avis will meet our size requirements. He also says that Way to Go Costa Rica has agreed to cover the difference in any rental car rates we were originally quoted and what we ultimately have to rent to get our trip underway.

The promised 10 minutes stretches into 30, but then sure enough, our angel in distress emerges from the passenger seat of a large van. Her name is Maribel Barquero Abarca, a young Tica fluent in English who has recently started an airport/Alajuela/San Jose area shuttle business. She apologizes profusely for the delay, saying she and her driver were delayed by a parade for the Annexation Partido de Nicoya, a celebration that occurs in the country every July 25th to celebrate the decision of Guanacaste province to join Costa Rica instead of Nicaragua. We load our gear in her van and pepper her with questions on our 20 minute ride through Alajuela (a much larger city than I expected) and up the northern heights to a high ridge above the city and the Central Valley. Xandari ( www.xandari.com/description.html ) is a colorful, welcome oasis after a long, somewhat stressful day of travel. After checking in our two rooms, we enjoy drinks and a relaxing dinner in the cool twilight air on the Xandari terrace. Cannon and fireworks boom in the valley, winding down the Annexation Partido festivities, and thousands of lights begin to sparkle in the valley below. The vacation high is starting to set in. In retrospect, perhaps a little prematurely.

Leaving this coming Tuesday, agswimmer? How exciting! I hope you have a wonderful time!

I was a bit paranoid about the flat tire scam myself last year. As we headed out of Alajuela after picking up our rental car, I would nervously watch the rear view mirror everytime we hit a stop light. We luckily had no issues. I'm certainly hoping that MRand had no major issues either!

Once we were out of town and in the beautiful countryside, my anxiety about such things subsided, but I think defensive driving and awareness of your surroundings will never be amiss (anywhere you go!). Anything CAN happen, but the rewards of travel usually outweigh the risks. I hope you'll post a trip report when you return!

Welcome back, MRand - I'm sensing that things are getting better, but that "prematurely" comment sounds like foreshadowing...

Can't wait to see how it all turns out. Thanks for posting a report. I've always been curious about Xandari, so looking forward to hearing the rest. And I think it's amazing that your son was required to spend 3 weeks abroad - great idea.

Thurs. July 26

Morning: We’ve left the drapes open all night because of the spectacular view of the valley below and morning light wakes me up about 5:00 a.m. The air on our terrace is fresh and bracing and the sky is mostly clear with just a few clouds clinging to the purple mountains across the valley. Breakfast at Xandari is excellent. In fact, every breakfast we will have on the trip will be outstanding, and as you might expect, each one is centered around fabulous fresh fruit — papayas, mangoes, and pineapples. This meal is also included as part of the price at all three hotels (Xandari adds a modest charge for preparation of eggs dishes) where we will stay, which adds substantial value when traveling with a family of five.

Maribel arrives as scheduled at 8:30 to take us down to an eagerly anticipated reunion with older son and to work out our rental car dilemma. She says that she had worked at Xandari for a few months, but because the bus dropped her at the bottom of a long, steep hill that she had to walk up every day to get to the hotel, she decided to go into business for herself. Maribel majored in tourism in college, which will be a frequent theme of our guides throughout the trip. She says that she and her business partner/driver bought the larger van we are in several months ago to accommodate larger groups and families who need transportation.

We see children heading to school, and she tells us that the Costa Rican school year extends from February to early December with a two week hiatus in early July. Even though it’s north of the equator, their “summer” break between grades occurs in December and January roughly corresponding to the dry season.

Surprisingly, there is a typical Denny’s restaurant just a few hundred yards from the airport. It is the appointed location for our rendezvous with our son and his travel group, the rest of whom are immediately returning to the U.S. They have not arrived yet, so the rest of the family stays at Denny’s to wait on them and Maribel and her driver take me to the main Belén office of Avis in Costa Rica several kilometers east of the airport. There they have a low-mileage silver Mitsubishi Montero ready to go and it looks like it just might accommodate the entire family and gear. Not that it makes any difference, because there is nothing larger for me to rent.

Avis offers an EzFind Costa Rican GPS system for an additional $8.95 per day. I have what in retrospect turns out to be a very good road map — the Costa Rica map from International Travel Maps series that I ordered from Amazon. (Before departure, I could never locate the Berndston & Berndston map that shillmac so highly recommends.) Nevertheless, based on its indispensability on a previous family trip to Italy, I accept the GPS. This will turn out to be worth its weight in gold, and frankly I now can’t imagine traveling in Costa Rica without one. On reflection, the GPS would probably be worthwhile for at least two or three times the price as very few streets and highways in Costa Rica are marked with signs, and the networks of smaller, streets, roads, and lanes in both urban and rural areas can be confusing at times.

Avis also has a mandatory sheet that the renter must review and sign before renting a car. It lists a number of cautions about driving in Costa Rica, including a scam that has been reported in the vicinity of the airport in which car tires are punctured and the car is followed by thieves who offer assistance changing a tire and then abscond with some of the renter’s possession while they are distracted. It commands that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you accept assistance from anyone other than an authorized Avis representative who can be accessed via an emergency number provided on the rental documents.

It takes about 20 minutes to rent the car, then I drive back towards Denny’s to enjoy breakfast with the family and older son and his school group before we head out for Arenal. I’m trucking down the Pan American Highway at about 50 mph when suddenly traffic comes to a screeching halt. I’m astonished to see perhaps a dozen youngsters spaced out over a couple of hundred yards standing on the broken white lines between the middle and inner lanes of the highway selling souvenirs! Either they are causing the congestion or taking advantage of it to sell their goods.

After a 10 minute or so delay, the GPS directs me right to Denny’s and I’m relieved there’s a uniformed guard in the parking lot. I park in the first available space closest to where he’s stationed. After a brief joyous reunion with our older son and a quick breakfast with his group, I tip the guard 1000 colones ($2), we load our son’s backpacking gear into the Montero, and at 11:00 a.m. we’re finally off down the Pan American Highway towards San Ramon where we will divert off the main highway to Arenal. It’s a partly cloudy day, the vehicle seems adequate for our needs, the highway seems to be of very good quality, and I’ve psyched myself for the drive to Arenal.

Right off the bat, I’m confused at an interchange, misread the GPS, and erroneously exit the highway back onto a boulevard heading into Alajuela. A quarter mile or so later, I execute a U turn, get back on the Pan American, and continue towards San Ramon. After five miles or so, I’m struck by the odd handling characteristics of the Montero. It’s driving like the steering is a little too loose or the vehicle is a little top heavy, but I assume that’s simply because I’m not used to its handling characteristics. After a few more miles, we hear a loud thunka-thunka-thunka-thunka and the car begins to list noticeably to the right. Damn! Only ten minutes on the road and already a flat tire? No way. I specifically eyeballed the car, all four tires, and the tire pressure at Avis and everything looked fine.

I slowly work my way to the outer lane, but the shoulder is muddy as far as I can see. I finally locate what looks like a flat, hard spot off the shoulder to pull over. I’m in front of a mechanic’s shop and used car dealership across and down the highway from a large Dos Pinos dairy facility in outer Alajuela. (The green Dos Pinos logo will be ubiquitious across Costa Rica.) Ten days later we’ll pass by the same site and then I’ll have my bearings and realize it was a decent place to have car trouble, but right now I’m new to the country and have no idea where I am or where I’m pulling over.

Welcome back MRand & Family! I'm glad I was able to give you a tip or two for your trip planning, but I can see already from your trip report you will be giving dozens more back!

Good job perservering with your travel agent on booking hotels, and also with the rental car snafu! Is Xandari hoytie-toytie or good for families/kids?

Looking forward to hearing about what you all enjoyed best, and more on family dynamics on the road

I keep "refreshing" this site hoping that MRand has posted some more of his trip report. I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear.

Thurs. July 26 (cont'd)

Sure enough, the right rear tire is flat as a pancake, but there are no visible nails or tears in the tread. I immediately remember Avis's admonition to not accept help from anyone, and fully expect a trailing car to appear at any minute offering help. I advise the family to crack the windows, lock the doors, and not to accept help of any kind from anyone. I then walk through the gate to the small office of the used car dealer where a young girl, probably in her early teens, sits reading a book. She does not speak English, but I point to my car outside the fence and to the emergency number on the Avis rental folder, and motion that I need to call them. Probably far more trusting than the situation warrants, she graciously dials the number for me and I soon have the local Avis representative who speaks English on the line. He emphatically advises me that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should we accept assistance from anyone other than the authorized Avis representative whom he will dispatch immediately. He asks where we are, and of course I have no idea. A man who I presume is the young girl’s father and owner of the lot appears at the door. She quickly explains the situation to him in Spanish, and I hand the phone to him mustering “Donde?”, one of the handful of words and phrases I recall from my year of Spanish as a high school senior. He takes the phone and gives to Avis what I presume are detailed instructions in Spanish on my location. After the call, he tells me in his halting English that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should we accept assistance from anyone other than the authorized Avis representative who is on his way.

When I return to the car, the family relates that a couple of cars have slowed down, but no one has stopped to offer help. The promised 10 minutes stretches into 30 or 40 and we all begin to sweat in the noonday heat. I stand outside the car talking to my wife, sons, and daughter inside, trying to create the impression to the cars whizzing by on the highway that nothing appears to be wrong and I’m simply carrying on a nonchalant conversation.

Sure enough, our second Tican angel in distress within the last 24 hours, a small young man in a red Avis shirt, emerges from a white pickup truck and begins to pull a commercial size car jack from the bed of his pickup. This is all the bona fides I need, and within another 20 minutes or so, he professionally changes replaces both back tires with new ones while my family and the luggage remain in the Montero. He shows me the deflated tire. When I inquire “cuchillo ?” (knife), he replies “Si” and shows me a clear puncture mark made with either a knife or sharp screwdriver in the sidewall of the tire. I shake his hand firmly and tip him a 10,000 colones (about $20 US). By this time, we’ve attracted a small audience -- the owner of the used car lot and one of the proprietors at the mechanics shop next door. They signal the young Avis employee over, and I see him animatedly describing what has happened to our car as he motions to the tire and a pantomimes someone puncturing it with a knife. As I get back in the car to drive off, a beat up car with a couple of rough looking guys slows down and rolls by slowly on the shoulder, but then it speeds up and continues down the highway. Had their quarry escaped, or is this just my paranoid imagination gone wild at that point? No way to tell.

As we return to the highway, I still can’t figure out where the tire was punctured. I think it is highly unlikely that it occurred at Avis, because everything looked fine there. Perhaps it happened when I slowed down to a crawl in the traffic jam with the young highway peddlers. The only other opportunity seems to have been in the Denny’s parking lot, but the car was largely in our view while we ate breakfast as well as in the view, as I mentioned, of a uniformed guard in the parking lot. Did it happen when he looked away? Was he in on the scam? Had we shaken a tailing vehicle that followed us from Denny’s when I made the wrong initial turn towards Alajuela, then returned a few minutes later to the Pan American Highway? Again, no way to tell for sure. But the bottom line is, thanks to the help of several Tican Good Samaritans (the young girl, her father/proprietor of the used car lot, the Avis mechanic), by 12:30 p.m. we’re up and running again on the way to Arenal. Whew!

Thanks for the detailed report MRand.
Happy to hear you didn't have to chase off banditos in addition to your vehicle troubles.
Looking forward to more of your adventures in Pura Vida land.

Wow MRand! Thank goodness things worked out okay with the car tire! So unfortunate to start a vacation out on a sour note.

This report is becoming quite the engrossing read! Now that the rocky start is out of the way, I'm looking forward to the good stuff!

MRand - really enjoy and appreciate your report. We (family of 4, teenage DD and friend) are going to CR this Sat (8/11) for the first time. Have been pouring over these posts and searches for weeks. Will spend a week in MA area. Big issue for us has been rent v driver so appreciate your insights. Anxious to hear more.

MRand - my husband and I have visited CR the past 13 or so years and have similar car stories. Your wonderfully written description puts me in mind of two cautions I want to share with others:
1. in case you stop at a gas station pump & are encouraged to move your car to another pump, don't do it. Either use the pump you are at or go to another station. We got stung with an excessive price for a fill up outside Liberia when we did as requested and moved to what was likely a pump with an altered read out.
2. make certain the gas cap is returned, once the car tank has been filled.
Carol L

Wow, what a trip report so far! You have a great style of writing, I'm engrossed! I'm sorry your trip got off to such a rocky start though and I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your time in CR!

dfr4848, we(hubby, teenage son & daughter)will be in MA 8/11-14. We'll look for you!

Unfortunately, this is a busy week back at work so it may take me some time to complete my report. Many thanks, however, roadadvisor, cmerrell, tully, volcanogirl, ShellD and others for your kinds words and I'll try to shorten it up as I go.

In the meantime, I'd like to try to answer some questions posed.

tully, volcanogirl, and hipvirgochick - I thought Xandari was great for families. In fact, the majority of guests there on both the front and back end of our trip were families, including American, French, and Dutch. We chuckled at some of the "New Age" ambience of both Xandari and Harmony Hotel, but both were very family-friendly places to stay that Mom, Dad, and all three kids enjoyed tremendously. I'd unreservedly recommend both, as well as Lost Iguana, to singles, couples young and old, and families.

As far as family dynamics go, although we as all families have our moments with each other, there's almost nothing I'd rather do than travel with mine. Somehow, especially in a foreign country, we sense that we're all in this together and drop or soften some of our more mutually irritating habits. Many of our best memories are and will be the time we've spent traveling together, including this trip. I expect those dynamics will inevitably change if and when our daughter and sons go their separate ways, get married, and have their own families.

dfr4848 - since you asked, I thought I would put down my thoughts on the eternal debate of rental car vs. hied drivers in Costa Rica so you could factor this in to your planning. Several years ago, we rented a car for a two-plus week family trip in Italy and I thoroughly enjoyed driving there, despite the amount and speed of the traffic, primarily because of the excellent conditions of the Italian roads and highways. Overall, I found driving in Costa Rica to also be highly enjoyable, maybe even more so than driving in Italy, but for much different reasons. Although the roads in Costa Rica off the main Pan American Highway are narrow and have many curves, I found the general lack of traffic on those roads compared to American or Italian roads and highways to more than compensate. Plus, there’s so much incredible, unremitting beauty in the people and the countryside that driving more slowly actually allowed me an occasional opportunity to admire them to a much greater degree than if I had been driving faster. We drove about 525 miles on this trip, and I quickly made the following mental notes to myself that I’ll share with you, and invite comments from others who undoubtedly have more experience than I do driving in Costa Rica:

MRAND'S SUGGESTIONS/RULES TO SELF FOR DRIVING IN COSTA RICA

1. Rent and use a GPS system if possible.
2. Slow down. There are many pedestrians, including very young (precious) children walking alongside or crossing even the busiest highways during the day and often even after dark. (Plus, I never saw a speed limit greater than 60 kmph or ~ 48 mph).
3. Be patient. You will encounter slow moving individual cars and trucks as well as lines of the same, often on roads with numerous curves that make it unsafe or difficult to pass for extended periods of time. I often averaged the equivalent of 25 to 35 mph max.
4. Even though distances on maps, signs, and the GPS are measured in kilometers, mentally assume (for the reasons above) that they are in miles in terms when judging driving time. For longer distances, add 30 minutes for good measure. For example, 30 kilometers = about 18 miles, but you should assume that it will take at least 30 minutes to drive those 30 km./18 mi.
5. Slow down. Almost all highways and roads we took, except the major ones in the immediate environs of San Jose, are undivided two lanes, sometimes unstriped, with no paved shoulder. Sometimes the shoulders also drop precipitously away from the main roadway.
6. Slow down. Off major highways you will often encounter single lane bridges. Either one approach to the bridge or the other will usually have a triangular sign saying “CEDA EL PASO” and a white painted line, which means that side of the bridge must yield to traffic that is on or approaching the other side of the bridge. [Other words on road signs it helps to know before you begin to drive in CR: ALTO = stop, DESPACIO = slow down, ESCUELA = school (zone), PELIGROSO = dangerous, CURVA = curves, ADELANTE = ahead, ANGOSTO = narrow, PUENTE = bridge.]
7. Gasoline stations are usually not self-service and instead have attendants to fill your tank. (Isn't that a nice throwback? I think I remember that when I was younger, or maybe it was just a dream.) You should state “full” to them when they begin to service your car if you want your tank filled. Many but not all service stations accept Visa or MasterCard. (I don’t know whether it’s expected, but I tipped the attendants who filled up our car about 500 colones ($1) the two or three times we stopped for gas.)
8. Fill up as early in the day as you perceive a need for gas, because you don’t want have to be sweating a low tank as darkness is approaching.
9. Avoid driving long distances at night. At Arenal or on the Pacific coast, I thought it was fine to drive short distances (slowly) after dark to and from restaurants, although the utmost caution should be taken because of the many pedestrians and bicycle riders after dark.
10. You will often see on a roadway surface a yellow painted square that has a heart with a halo over it inside the square. A CR guide told me the government is using these to indicate the sites of automobile-related fatalities, and they a sobering reminders (as if you needed one) to be cautious.

I think my bottom line is that if you would fairly characterize yourself as an overly aggressive/impatient or overly timid driver by U.S. standards, then Costa Rica is probably not a good or safe place for you to drive. Despite all the warnings, I still got a kick out of driving there and never felt like we came close to having an accident.

Ah, someone else who shares our point of view that driving in Costa Rica is part of the adventure! Sometimes too much so, eh?! What excitement (and inconvenience) you guys had so early in your visit--bummer!

I am anxious to hear all the ways it turned out to be more than ok! Very cool the work your son was doing for grad requirements.

Thanks for the mention, but the more I'm here in Costa Rica, the more I realize I DON'T know! Still have lots to explore! For sure, there are MANY very good brains to pick on this board--yours included now!

Keep it coming--very interesting!

Thurs. July 26 (cont'd)

Afternoon: Drive to La Fortuna/Arenal

Okay, now on to the fun stuff. We drive west on the Pan American Highway to San Ramon. The Central Valley narrows and the highway becomes two lanes, with an occasional passing lane on either the east or westbound side. The scenery is becoming more and more lush and we begin to be surrounded by high hills on both sides of the road. We're amazed by all the vegetation and its countless varieties of green hues, and little do we know that we've haven't seen ANYTHING yet.

The GPS directs us easily off the Pam American and through San Ramon. We climb and then begin to descend the Cordillera de Tilaran. Unimaginably verdant, lush greenery and constantly
changing landscape. My grandparents and parents took my younger sister and me to Maui and Kauai in the late 1960s, before there was much development there. I tell my kids this is exactly
how I remember Hawaii then. The road from San Ramon now turns into a number of hairpin turns, and I'm driving about 20 mph as we sneak around each one. Speaking of Hawaii, did anyone say "Road to Hana"? If you've done it, then you'll know what I'm talking about when describing this stretch. We pass through countless small villages with beautiful young children and their parents or older siblings walking them along the roads. As a parent, I shudder to think how their parents must worry about living so close each day to such a narrow but heavily traveled route.

The road finally straightens out and suddenly with little warning we're driving in to La Fortuna. The green mass of Arenal rises impressively to the immediate west of town. We decide push on without stopping to the Lost Iguana, which the GPS indicates is about 10 miles west of the town. We drive northwest, west, then southwest around the northern half of Arenal, recongnizing many names -- Silencio del Campo, Arenal Paraiso, Tabacon as we trace the northern circumference of Arenal.

Soon we're crossing the dam at the eastern end of Lake Arenal and immediately after crossing it we make a 180 degree turn below the dam on the road to Lost Iguana. We have to drive up and down one impossibly steep hill before arriving at Lost Iguana. This reminds me of a weird recurring dream I have, trying to drive a car up a hill that always becomes too steep and causes the car to roll back down before reaching the top. Then we're there, about 3 hours after leaving Alajuela.

Our family is like fish out of water when we haven't been able to swim for a few days, so we checkin and immediately hit the Iguana pool for a refreshing dip. We have a clear view of Arenal, and from that angle I'm completely transfixed by the shape of the volcano. It's a classic conical shape, like the
picture of a volcano a child would draw in school, except it continues higher and more narrow than seems logical. We are fortunate that despite the rainy season, our first day or two there permits unobstructed views of Arenal. Over the next three days, I will stare transfixed at this image of the volcano
many times, just like Richard Dreyfuss staring at that pile of mashed potatoes shaped like Devil's Tower in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. My family will begin to joke and maybe even worry about this obsession.

Then we have a late lunch/early dinner as twilight falls. (We actually think our dinner at Lost Iguana is much better than those described by several others here and on Trip Advisor.)A few minutes into dinner, my daughter exclaims "Oh, look at that" and we see reddish orange streaks race down the right flank of Arenal. Now I'm completely hooked.

Exhausted after a stressful and exhilirating day, we retire to the balconies of our adjoining rooms to watch the lava show, and what a show it is. Every few minutes, a small "spark" appears at the top of Arenal. After a brief pause, the spark begins to race down the side and split into other sparks. Some go further down the side than others, but like a Fourth of July fireworks show, each "eruption" elicits
oohs and aahs from the spectators. Unbelievable.

Excellent information on driving in CR, MRand! Thoughtful and well written.

I understand about hectic work-weeks all too well! Please keep plugging along on your report as best you can. I'm really enjoying your detailed, articulate writing style!

MRand, we're up early headed to the airport for the start of our CR experience! I'm so glad I checked your post before heading out. I'm printing out your details about the drive to Arenal in case we can't get a GPS, which sounds like a good idea. We're staying at the Lost Iguana too. Thanks SO much for your trip report this far. You've been great!

MRand (and agswimmer) - thanks very much for the driving insights. Am sure they will come in very handy. Agswimmer - have a good trip and hope you get this. We're staying at Si Como No so maybe we'll run into each other!

I have to jump in here and say that we got a flat tire on our rental about an hour into our trip- in Naranjo- in June. A bunch of people helped us change it- I mean they really helped-my husband couldn't figure it all out (how to get tire off etc.) All the guys who came by to help )or watch and offer advice to the tican guys lying on their backs in the street- were all friendly and wonderful and refused our offers to pay them. We don't speak spanish and we had 5 teenagers with us. I have photographs of this to prove it. SO...sometimes a flat tire is just a flat tire and helpers really are just good people helping!

Really loving your report MRand. Very full of useful info, facts and ancedotes. You have a way with cliffhangers! Glad you had great weather to see that beauty. Looking forward to the rest.

Road to Hana - yes, we drove it on our honeymoon, and I can definitely see the comparison! Large portions of CR reminded my husband and me of Hawaii. We spent way too much time stopping and taking pictures and had to do a lot of the drive back from Hana in the dark - if I never see another single lane bridge again, it will be too soon - wonderful memories though.

Thurs. July 26 (cont'd)

Evening: The Eternal Tabacon v. EcoThermales Debate

When we were checking in to Lost Iguana earlier in the afternoon, we asked the desk clerk to check on reservations for SkyTram/SkyTrek and one of the hot springs. SkyTram/SkyTrek is booked at the earlier times we preferred, and 11:30 a.m. is the first available time tomorrow. Fearing rains later in the afternoon, we take that reservation.

When we had driven by Tabacon on our way to Lost Iguana, it looked very crowded with many cars and buses. The clerk says it is a great place, but will be crowded. We ask him to check on EcoThermales, which he also highly recommends. Good thing we did this on check in, because he after calling he reports that EcoThermales has only an evening opening without dinner tonight and is already booked solid for the next two nights (Friday and Saturday) --our only remaining nights in the area. We take the evening reservation.

After our long day, we're so content watching the Arenal volcanic fireworks from our room that it's hard to summon the energy for the 20 minute drive to EcoThermales, but we somehow "force" ourselves to do it. EcoThermales is right across the road from Baldi hot springs (which also looks overrun with vehicles). It is unmarked and you enter via intercom outside a large wooden gate.

The springs are everything they're advertised to be, and more -- beautiful and uncrowded (they apparently limit their crowds). They have five hot springs, and recommend that you start in the lowest one that is the coolest at 98 degrees. Each pool increases by approximately 2 degrees except the last one with the big waterfall, which is a steamy, breathtaking 108 F. You can also alternate between the hot springs under the waterspouts in cool pool. After a few Imperial at Lost Iguana (wonderful wife drove to EcoThermales), I'm not in the mood for any more alcoholic beverages, but they concoct some fantastic pineapple smoothies that hit our spots.

I also wanted to do some investigation of the claim that Tabacon is in the volcano "danger zone." Apparently, it is true, but not because house-sized boulders can come crashing down on the property without notice at any minute. Tabacon is located in a depression or ravine on the lower northern side of Arenal. Arenal is periodically subject to pyroclastic flows -- avalanches of superhot volcanic rock, ash, and smoke that race down the side of the volcano. (Tragically, an 8 year old American girl, her mother, and their Costa Rican guide were severly burned by one of these flows while hiking near the lakes above Los Lagos in 2000. Despite the heroic efforts of the guide, both he and the young girl died from their injuries.) These flows tend to channel down the side of the volcano to the lower areas, such as the one where Tabacon is situated.

On the negative side, the flows can move fast enough that they could theoretically reach the 4-5 kilometers from the volcano summit to Tabacon in about 5 to 10 minutes. However, such flows occur only once every few years or so, Tabacon has done a danger assessment that has been reviewed by the government, and no flows in recent times have gotten as far down the mountain as Tabacon. We didn't opt for EcoThermales over Tabacon because of any perceived volcano danger, but only becaue of the crowd factor. Regardless, EcoThermales is a HUGE hit with the entire family and the perfect ending to our long, eventful first full day in Costa Rica.

You are a terrific story-teller, MRand! Loved the Close Encounters reference and can picture those streaks of lava just as you describe them (and I am forced to live vicariously for now, as Arenal was totally clouded over each of the 3 nights I was there last year ).

I'm glad you enjoyed EcoThermales. We did Tabacon last year and I'm really glad we got to see it, but I would probably choose EcoThermales next time around.

Maryinmadison,

Thanks for sharing your flat tire story! Its good to have that reminder about good samaritans lest we all be overly paranoid the next time we have occasion to drive in Costa Rica!

Yes, I agree cmerrell and maryinmadison. I hope it was sufficiently clear from my account that despite being anonymous strangers, we were bailed out of our rental car and flat tire situations by the kindness of some of the first Costa Ricans with whom we had contact.

Fri. July 27th

Morning: SkyTram/SkyTrek

Our luck still holds. Almost two full days in CR in the rainy season and not a drop of rain yet. Our SkyTram/SkyTrek reservation isn't until 11:30 a.m., later than I would have preferred, so I ask if anyone would be interested in doing Hanging Bridges above Lost Iguana before we go ziplining. My inquiry is met with resounding silence, and based on plenty of travel experience with this crew, I could read the "Dad, it's just chill time now" expressions on their faces. So we enjoy a fabulous leisurely breakfast at Lost Iguana and watch Arenal, out in full glory in the morning sun.

The drive to SkyTram/SkyTrek takes about 25 minutes from Lost Iguana. As many here have mentioned, there is an excellent map of the area on the arenal.net site, but I couldn't ever get it to properly display on my computer. If you imagine the volcano Arenal itself as the center of a clock, then in a semi-circle around it La Fortuna town is at 3 o'clock; Los Lagos, Silencio del Campo, Arenal Paraiso, Baldi and EcoThermales hot springs, El Novillo and Arenal Kioro steakhouses, and Tabacon are roughly arrayed from, say, 2 to 11 o'clock along the (excellent) two-lane highway around the northern half of Arenal; the Lake Arenal dam, Lost Iguana, Arenal Lodge, and Hanging Bridges are all around the 10 o'clock position; and SkyTram/SkyTrek and Arenal Volcano Lodge are, respectively, at 4 and 6-7 o'clock on the clock face off a rough dirt/gravel road that runs south from the main highway near the dam.

SkyTram/SkyTrek lies at the top of a steep drive up a hillside, and this day has a magnificent unobstructed view of Lake Arenal to the left and Arenal to the center right. We arrive 30 minutes before our reservation and linger on the large open platform at the base of the SkyTram. After gazing at Arenal for some time, we begin to notice lines of small white puffs rising from the side of the volcano. Looking more closely through the binoculars (take a pair to CR if at all possible), we realize these puffs trace the paths of huge boulders that are ejecting from the volcano summit and bounding down the face breaking apart as they move further down the mountain. Undoubtedly, these boulders are super-heated and are the objects that glow orange-red in the dark. We resolve to return to Arenal Observatory Lodge either tonight or tomorrow night, our last night in the area, to get a ringside seat to this incredible display.

Promptly at 11:30 our guides Rey and Renaldo assemble my family of five, a Spanish family of four, and an American couple for our trip up and zipline down the side of the mountain facing Arenal. They fit us out with harnesses and helmets, and their ebullience (Rey's constant exhortations of "Pura Vida!") immediately inspires confidence that these guys are in charge, know exactly what they're doing, and we are in excellent hands for the zipline tour.

The SkyTram portion of the tour is in an open air tram "cage" made by Doppelmayr, the famous Austrian ski lift manufacturer, that slowly glides through the rain forest canopy allowing the occupants a close up view. Halfway up, Rey spots a sloth hanging in the upper branches of a very tall tree and has the operator back the lift up and stop so we can get a closer view and take pictures. When we reach the top, Rey and Renaldo immediately put us through the paces, showing us how to harness up, speed up, slow down, and
come to a stop on two small practice ziplines. Now we're eager and ready for the six "real" ziplines, the first of which crosses a wide, deep green valley to the opposite ridge.

Rey and Renaldo are top notch guides. Rey speaks fluent English, so he takes the lead in explaining the rain forest and the zipline procedures. Renaldo always zips first in the group to insure he's set to receive each zipliner that Rey will send in turn. The young boys in the Spanish family prefer to ride double with the guides, and they gladly accomdate them. Rey tells me that he is a father of two, and graduated from college with a tourism degree. His enthusiasm is infectious and I very much enjoy visiting with him about his life in Costa Rica and the Arenal area. The SkyTrek ziplines don't afford much opportunity while traversing to examine the rain forest closely, but each large metal platform stop within the forest allows a close examination. In many places, the vegetation is so thick you can't see the ground even though you're only a few feet above it.

I can't say much more that hasn't already been said about SkyTram/SkyTrek on this or other sites or on their web site: http://skytrek.com/english/arenal.html except that the experience is a utter adrenaline rush. It's not only the thrill of flying through the air, but the unbelievably spectacular setting - lake, volcano, rain forest - all around you while you're flying. I can understand why some may think they're squeamish about this, but we felt it was ABSOLUTELY safe for me, my wife, and kids and you're really cheating yourself if you opt out of this unparalleled experience. Just suck it up and do it! I can promise you won't regret it.

Totally agree with you about the zipline experience. This is the same one we did (stayed at LI too, loved it), I was a bit scared but it turned out to be the best adrenaline rush ever!!!!

You are so lucky to have seen the volcano active, we just heard rumbles while we were there, but saw no activity.

Sky Trek is a blast to be sure!

My mother (67 years old at the time) was so excited to go...until the day we actually went. She spent that whole morning psyching herself out and remembering that she is quite fearful of heights. Marcos, our Sky Trek guide, really took her under his wing and set her mind at ease. She opted to go in tandem with him through the lines and was so glad she didn't back out! It really is a worthwhile experience!

Eagerly awaiting your next installment, MRand...

I enjoyed your comments about visiting in the rainy season and "no rain yet". That has been our experience more often than not. It is absolutely hands down our favorite time to visit! Enjoying. . . thanks for all the attention to detail--very informative!

MRand I've soooo been enjoying you thorough trip report. It almost puts me right back there! I don't think I'll be renting a car unless I travel with another adult though! Thank you for taking the time and I look forwar to the rest.

Thanks cmerrell, shillmac, and hipvirgochick for your positive comments. I know this is a long trip report, but I think the value in these reports (at least to me) is more than just rating hotels and restaurants, and hopefully can give those contemplating such a trip more of a feel for what it was really like traveling in the place. I'm eager to finish this, but have a killer work project that will extend well into next week, so it may be a few days before I can finish it. Thanks again for the great feedback, especially from those I consider the real CR experts.

OMG, I am soooo engrossed in this trip report! I feel like I am reading a book! This is great. Having been to CR twice and getting married there next year, this makes me feel like I am there again and I love it!
Thanks MRand. Are you an author?? You should be...

Wow...I've only been a member here for 2 days and I'm SO glad I found this site. Thank you MRand for your trip report. I can't wait for the next instalment! Muchas gracias!

Hi MRand,

Take your time with each installment. We'll be here!

Hi MRAND,
I have been reading your post also and I am anxiously awaiting future installments. I have been reading as much as possible about Costa Rica on this site for the last week or two and I am just loving all the info. and comraderie. Our family leaves flies to CR August 20th for a 13 day/12 night trip. Our first night is a hotel in San Jose. I have booked the next three nights at the Lost Iguana Resort but I haven't decided the remainder. It's complicated because we're traveling with another family from our town. I am the only one who wants to read up on things and make plans. Everyone else is just happy to get there and decide as we go. I can do a bit of that but I also love to get tips and hear other people's suggestions. Better to find out ahead of time how the driving experiences will go from tourist site to tourist site. Thank you so much for your detailed report! I loved the Close Encounters humor, too.

Friday, July 27th

Afternoon: La Choza de Laurel and La Catarata de La Fortuna (Fortuna Waterfall)

We finish up at SkyTrek about 2:00 p.m. and thunder is starting to rumble in the distance. We decide to head back in to La Fortuna for lunch and to take a closer look at the little town. A 15 minute ride over the rough gravel road soon gives way to the smooth ride on the excellent paved highway around the north side of Arenal, and after another 15 minutes we're at our destination: La Choza de Laurel ("the hut of laurel wood"), and inviting open air restaurant frequently recommended in this forum and our various Costa Rican guides' unanimous #1 choice for best and most authentic restaurant in the Arenal area ( www.lachozadelaurel.com ). Even though it is mid-afternoon, the place is bustling and it looks like we're the only travelers in the place. Lunch is every bit a good as billed - my wife and I order the famous roasted chicken (washed down by an ice cold Imperial or two) and daughter and youngest son have arroz con pollo and pineapple and mixed fruit smoothies. Older son has a variation of this - volcano rice. When he is served, the rice is molded into a cone with carrot strips mimicking lava coming down the sides. The service is very attentive. During lunch, the bottom falls out of the sky. A real gullywasher as they say out West -- our first rain in 48 hours on the trip.

We debate what to do with our final day at Arenal tomorrow -- Cano Negro tour, PureTrek canyoning, horseback riding, La Fortuna waterfall? I lean toward Cano Negro, based on rave reviews here from cmerrell, hipvirochick, shillmac, and others. The kids express interest in canyon rappeling. By all accounts I've read, PureTrek is a solid, highly qualified, safe outfit. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a little haunted by a story I read in AM Costa Rica right before we left for the trip: "Five vacationers who died were rappelling waterfalls" (July 10, 2007):

www.amcostarica.com/071007.htm

A terrible, terrible tragedy. I ask several of our guides about this, and they say it involved an unlicensed company away from the La Fortuna area doing this at a site where waterfall rappelling is not normally done, but unfortunately I could learn no other details. We resolve to postpone the decision until later in the afternoon when we see if the downpour eases up.

Thanks for fitting in another installment, MRand. That is a truly tragic story about the family who died. It sounds like a freak accident. Can you imagine how those guides from that company must feel?

nut4GIS,

Welcome! Does the GIS in your name stand for something specific? I ask because those initials mean something to me in the work that I do. Just wondering if you are a fellow geographer...

Wow, some great and not so great experiences. Fortunately, so far anyway, nothing terrible has happened and you have kept a positive attitude. Between delays and your tire, I know more nervous people would not have remained as calm. I sure am glad though that my learning how to drive came with the proviso (from my parents) that I also learn how to change a flat tire. I have since taught my daughter, son, and husband how to as well. I do hope that that was the worst problem of your trip. I am sure you have also helped people following in your footsteps to stay safe by letting them know that this really does happen.

Thank you for your great report. I am self limiting myself to time on these forums after 10 years at least of participation. The dust bunnies have totally taken over and I have run out of names. I am glad that I chose your report to read as it is so much fun and I look forward to reading more in a few days.

Hi Suzie2!

Things have actually been pretty quiet on the 'Dust Bunny' front the past few days. Hopefully that will be a trend.

MRand-

I am planning a February trip to CR for my family of 5. Your detailed reports have been incredibly helpful. Thank you so much for taking to time to share your experiences!

I loved the line about the Hana Highway!

I can't wait to see which tour you chose Cano? Rapelling? La Fortuna falls? Horseback riding? I'll be checking back frequently...

cmerrell,

I worked as a Geographic Info. System analyst for 14 years at a water mgmt. district in Florida. Loved it. I am a stay-at-home mom right now but I am heading up a 4-H GIS/GPS club because I can't stay away from it! I hope to keep my skills up so that I can get back into the GIS work one day when my daughter is older. It's great to find another geography buff! Following along with these Costa Rica postings has become addictive for me!

Very cool, nut4GIS! I actually work more on the remote sensing/image processing side (I'm more of a raster gal, than a vector gal these days), but I do love GIS; focused on it in school... I was playing around in ArcGIS just last week.

Sounds like your CR trip is right around the corner. Have a wonderful time and please share your impressions when you return!

Friday, July 10th

Afternoon: La Choza de Laurel and Las Cataratas de Fortuna (Fortuna Waterfall) (cont'd)

The rain is still pouring down, so we order dessert and linger at La Choza much longer than planned. The family seems to be half-hearted about Cano Negro — “what will we see?, how long will it take?, sounds boring to me” — but the rain discourages any thoughts of canyon rappelling. It’s already 4:30 p.m. so I figure it’s probably too late to book a Cano Negro tour for the next day anyway. Finally the rain starts to slack enough that I suggest we go to Las Cataratas — the waterfall a short distance from town.

We drive a few kilometers back south on the highway in the direction of San Ramona until we see the sign for the fall. We turn right onto a rutted dirt road towards the back side of Cerro Chato, an smaller inactive volcano to the southeast of Arenal. A short distance later we pass a group of muddy four-wheelers who must have been to the fall. The road becomes narrower and the mud deeper but we press on until we unexpectedly reach a dirt parking lot for Las Cataratas, which is largely deserted. There is a ticket office and when I approach it, the young man there says we only have a few more minutes to hike down and he strongly recommends that we return tomorrow when we have more time to spend there. We debate whether to go or return. My thought is that one of the Fodorites’ laws of travel is now coming in to play: that is, unless the site, shop, or attraction is a major reason for your trip, the likelihood that you’ll “return tomorrow” is very low. When we finally decide to go, the attendant has already closed up shop, but he graciously reopens the cash register and issues our tickets. At 3500 colones apiece ($7), the admission seems a bit steep.

We walk across a covered bridge and over a paved pathway past a closed snack bar on one side and a closing gift shop on the other. A few hundred meters through the rain forest later we see a metal stairway and platform that offers a bird’s eye view high above falls, and it is impressive. A thick white ribbon of water thunders out of a cleft from the opposite green cliffside to a pool far below and out of sight. There seems to be no one around, and with the darkening skies and returning thunder I’m beginning to have doubts whether this late excursion is a good idea.

We begin the long climb down through the jungle on stairs carved into the side of a cliff. We encounter a small group of twentysomethings on their way up and then we really are all alone. The fall is much more impressive when we reach the bottom. The focused stream slams down from high above us into a turbulent, circular pool of blue green water. The setting equals that of any of the waterfalls I’ve seen in Hawaii. I’ve read in a guidebook that the proprietors discourage swimming in this pool, and you certainly wouldn’t want to get near the fall itself because of the raw force of the water and the risk of rocks shooting over the edge. Yet the only posted sign we see simply warns visitors to stay off the cliff face under the fall.

Youngest son was farsighted enough to bring his bathing suit and is eager to swim, but the sky is growing gloomier and in the back of my mind I wonder if the heavy rainfall might lead to a sudden surge of water. An emaciated dog walks over to us looking for food. Other than the odd looking dog, we have the place completely to ourselves. It seems like we’re the only people for many miles around. Our sense of isolation is both exhilarating and somewhat unsettling. I tell my son he can take a five minute dip if he stays immediately adjacent to the rocky bank. He finds the water so refreshing that the rest of us immediately wish we’d brought our bathing suits too. A separate short path leads to a calm, shallow stretch of water downstream from the pool, ideal for the rest of us to wade in our shorts for a few minutes. I wish we had allowed more time for this place, but it’s time to go if we want to climb back out of the narrow canyon before dark.

We hike up and out so quickly that we are weak-kneed and sweltering in the humidity when we reach the top. A swim back the Iguana sounds like a really good idea. Our car is the only one in the parking lot, and after our experience the first day of the trip, I’m slightly relieved to see that all the tires on the Montero appear intact. We return to La Fortuna, find a service station, and ask the attendant to fill 'er up with diesel. We’re also starting to run short of cash and need to find an ATM. La Fortuna seems to be as good a place as any to do that, but Banco Nacional and Banco de Costa Rica reject both my and my wife’s cards. Almost as an afterthought, we try the ATM at BAC San Jose, and our persistence is finally rewarded with a fresh stock of colones.

We drive back to Lost Iguana and take the swim. Returning to our rooms to clean up for dinner at the hotel, I sit on the hotel balcony and watch the clouds around Arenal. As they lift and thin in the last light of day, the volcano gives another show with frequent orange/red streaks down its right edge. By positioning my laptop on the balcony railing (still can’t figure out quite why I brought this thing, except that I have a ton of Costa Rica information downloaded to my hard drive), I can actually get a barely strong enough wireless signal to access the Internet. I post a message on Fodors.com gloating about my volcano view, ( www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=6&tid=35040412 ). Pride goeth before the fall and all that -- within minutes Arenal is shrouded again in clouds. They’re now so thick and far down its base that if I didn’t know better, I’d swear the mountain I saw twenty minutes ago wasn’t really there.

At dinner, I overrule collective family doubts and make a command decision that tomorrow, rain or no rain, we’ll go to Cano Negro if there’s still any chance we can reserve a tour. It’s the one thing left that we can’t do anywhere else. Although my wife is an excellent driver, I’ve done most of the driving so far and we’d both like someone else to drive us around for a day. Josef at the front desk is extremely helpful, and by 9:00 p.m. he calls our rooms to confirm that we’ll be picked up at the hotel by our guide at 7:00 tomorrow morning.

Hope work is getting back under control as the weekend approaches, MRand!

Thanks for another nice installment. Looking forward to Cano Negro...

Glad you finally posted more MRand, looking forward to reading more - hey shrug off work why not The falls sound wonderful, wish I'd made it to them last time.

nut4gis - did you work for swfwmd? Hey I use GIS a lot too (though probably not in the same way you do!), maybe we should a convention....I'm thinking of this great place

cmerrell, tully - work is finally back under control so maybe I can finish this thing off. Thanks for your continuing interest and feedback. You guys and others I've named do such a great (and patient) job of scouting the forum for questions, especially those by new posters. Think about all those contemplating or planning trips to CR without even knowing about such a great resource. Just hope I can convince some first timers, especially families, to shed any doubts and go.

MRand, I enjoyed reading about the waterfall. We didn't make it there last year, but will definitely put it on our "to do" list when we go back. Sounds wonderful. Isn't the Lost Iguana a treat? We adored it.

mRand--I am continuing to follow along also--enjoying your recounting of your adventures! You must have the Cirrus card--Bank of San Jose is the ticket for using it! BSJ uses what is called "Sistem Clave" which works well with Cirrus. When we were in Panama, we found it everywhere, very easily. You still have to search a bit in CR to find it--characterized by the red lion's head.

Keep it coming--I'm enjoying the read! And thanks for taking the time. . .

MRand -- I'm still engrossed and waiting to hear what you and the family thought of Cano Negro. Hope the wildlife was out and plentiful as it was with some of your readers here! I think your kids are going to remember this trip of a lifetime!

I've also read more about the 5 rapellers since you mentioned it and it does seem like an extremely isolated situation. Even though it does seem the tour operation may have been a little shady, I guess the rain this year is almost double the average, which contributed to the unforseen burst /current of water that took them. So sad.

Looking forward to your next installment...

Saturday, July 28th

Morning & Afternoon: Cano Negro

Okay, I’ll admit I was very skeptical about Cano Negro, and compared to the rest of the family I was actually the advocate for going there. This demonstrates the power of the Fodors.com/Latin America/Costa Rica forum. I’m sure that without reading the enthusiastic posts here, I wouldn’t have insisted that we go there because reading descriptions in guidebooks made it sound far less interesting. Nevertheless, I thought that a price of $55 per person for a full day trip that included an early morning pick up at the Lost Iguana and lunch sounded reasonable, and I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about.

At 7:00 a.m. sharp, the minibus from Sunset Tours staffed by guide Jaime and driver Efren arrive at Lost Iguana to pick us up. The hotel has graciously packed a box breakfast for the five of us (banana, corn flakes, milk, and orange juice) and we’re off back to La Fortuna to pick up the other guests for the tour. There are two no-shows so the only other person on the tour with us is an older Englishwoman. That’s fine with us — a virtually private family tour of Cano Negro.

Anticipating the trip, I was almost as interested in the two hour drive to and from Cano Negro as I was being there because I wanted a chance to relax, soak in some different scenery, read or nap a little, and not have to worry about driving the family off the road every minute or two because of new spectacular vistas that have a way of cropping up so often in Costa Rica. I was curious what route we would take.
Efren drove us about 16 miles due east of La Fortuna before turning on national Highway 35 at Muelle. Of course we made the apparently obligatory stop at the Restaurante Las Iguanas in Muelle to see the iguanas in the trees overhanging the Rio San Rafael.

We piled out of the minibus and walked out over the river bridge – wary as trucks passed inches from our back — to scope the lizards out and take pictures. There’s one large iguana visible on the corner of the restaurant and another one in the tree, but as we walk further out over the bridge, suddenly dozens of semi-camouflaged iguanas become visible! They all seem motionless and for a moment the Englishwoman and I joke that they are just fake lizards put in the tree to trick the tourists. However, unless the owner of Restaurante Las Iguanas has concocted some elaborate animatronic scheme, the iguanas are real because a few begin to move ever so slowly. Our daughter, who’d seemed indifferent about this whole excursion, is now enjoying the closeup pictures she’s taking with her new camera. After 10 minutes ogling and photographing the iguanas, we return to the restaurant for a drink and rest stop before continuing.

Our son who has already spent three weeks in Costa Rica before we arrived insists that we all try his favorite drink he has discovered in Costa Rica — Te Frio con melocoton (literally “cold tea with peach”) in bottles available at many restaurants and grocerias. We agree Te Frio is super refreshing and it becomes our favorite drink for the rest of the trip too. We reboard and head north on Highway 35 through beautiful rolling agricultural country towards Los Chiles and the Nicaraguan border.

This is just to let you know that there are some lurkers like myself enjoying this trip report. Thanks.

The drive north through Santa Rosa and Pavon starts first through yuca and small coffee plantations surrounding Muelle, then giving way to rolling rich red-orange soil and wide sugar cane and pineapple fields. North of Pavon the partly cloudy morning gives way to heavy rain. A few kilometers south of Los Chiles (which was reportedly a CIA base of operations during the Nicaraguan civil war in the 1980s), we turn off the main highway, pick up our boat driver Jodi, and drive slowly in the downpour on a muddy road toward the Rio Frio.

Before we even come near the river, Jaime, Efren, and Jodi begin to spot caimans and exotic birds in the swampy fields. We arrive at El Caiman, a restaurant on the banks of the muddy Rio Frio, where we get coffee and other drinks and place our lunch order for later. Guide Jaime, boat driver Jodi, the Englishwoman, and my family board the boat and first head north (I think) up the river. The rain slackens as the two eagle-eyed guides intently search both banks of the river. Soon they're spotting all sorts of birds, caimans (small crocodiles), the bright green but oddly named Jesus Cristo lizards (because they walk on water?), and then, most spectacularly, a tribe(?) of cackling howler monkeys. Jodi pulls the boat near the bank for spectacular photos.

We then head back south on the river towards the boundary of the Cano Negro wildlife reserve proper. Along the way, we spot a large group of white-faced cappuchin monkeys, egrets, kingfishers, and many, many other birds. Jodi pulls the boat over to the bank when Jaime spots a roseate spoonbill a long way down a canal. We walk along a levee to get an up close look. We're no birdwatchers, but all these birds are unusually beautiful and wife and daughter, the family photographers, have countless opportunities for close up shots.

We reach a small island where a large wooden sign announces the border of the acutal Cano Negro wildlife preserve, and it is surrounded by larger sunning caimans. When we step off the boat onto the island for a picture, several caimans slip off the bank and thrash in the water. We continue further south on the river and into the preserve, but surprisingly the wildlife begins to thin out. We're getting hungry, so soon our guides decide its time to return to El Caiman for lunch.

The ride back goes much more quickly, because we are going with the current that is deceptively fast moving. The typical Costa Rican lunch at El Caiman is very good, and then we're on the road back to La Fortuna. I pepper Jaime with questions. He has a wife and small child in La Fortuna, and got a tourism degree at college in San Jose. Amazingly, after he completes this tour about 4:30 p.m. today, he is taking another group on a volcano hike near Tabacon. The Costa Rican guides we've had have been uniformly excellent, and Jaime is no exception - I'm impressed with his ambition and his knowledge of and pride in his country. Efren is also an excellent driver, never taking chances with frequent bicyclists and pedestrians we encounter or slower vehicles we must pass.

Efren drops Jaime and the Englishwoman off in La Fortuna, then drives us back to Lost Iguana where we head for the pool for our daily dip. I return the room, and snap a great picture of Arenal emerging from the clouds. The thinning clouds make me think tonight would be a great opportunity to get a full frontal closeup view of the lava flow from Arenal Observatory Lodge, so we plan to head there for dinner.

Was Cano Negro worth it? Absolutely - the whole family agrees. I think they had no idea (nor did I) how many animals we'd get to see at close range in their natural habitat. In fact, it will prove to be our best opportunity to see animals in the wild during our trip. A big thanks to all our Fodorite friends who recommended it.

MRand, I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed Cano Negro. It's absolutely the best thing we did on our first trip to Costa Rica, and we got amazing pictures there. So glad you got to enjoy it.

So glad you and the family decided to go! It really is a wonderful way to spot lots of wildlife and get good photo ops. Plus, we enjoyed the river trip itself, allbeit muddy.

So glad Cano Negro didn't disappoint--don't see how it could! I'm so glad you were able to see so much and enjoy your day. I am enjoying your report, very much!

Saturday, July 28th (cont'd)

Evening: Arenal Observatory Lodge

Throughout our stay at Lost Iguana, Arenal Observatory Lodge, south of Arenal, has plainly had the best view of the volcano's daily eruptions, so I'm anxious to go there for dinner and a lava rocks show this evening. As the sun has set the sky looks like it should be clearing for a great view. However, by the time we make the 25 minute drive from Lost Iguana to the guard station below AOL, it looks like the mountain is starting to cloud back up. We're charged admission just to get on the premises (don't recall exactly how much, but it seemed hefty in the $20 - 30 range), and the guard tells us as non-guests we can't participate in the dinner buffet at the Lodge for another hour, until after 8:00 p.m.

We reach the lodge's parking lot and make our way to the restaurant. There seems to be plenty of open tables in the restaurant, so we seat ourselves, order drinks, then go through the buffet line, hoping things will clear up outside while we eat. The buffet is pretty average, probably our most mediocre meal on the trip. As we finish dinner, I walk outside on the terrace. A thoughtless group of Scandinavians are sitting on the outside window sills of the dining room with their legs stretched across the walkway. They're talking loudly and none of them are even paying attention to the volcano. Other visitors have to repeatedly excuse themselves when they try to walk by this group, and some give up trying to do so entirely.

The clouds are low enough down the mountain that only an occasional red-orange streak can be seen every twenty minutes or so, and only then for just a few seconds. I'm fairly disappointed, and this is compounded when I hear a few other guests remark how spectacular the lava shows had been from the same location the two or three previous evenings. After an hour or so, the family is growing impatient and I see no signs that the clouds will lift anytime soon, so we head back to the Lost Iguana to pack up for our trip to Nosara tomorrow.

I'm both excited and apprehensive about the six hour drive. The Moon guide describes potentially difficult road conditions driving around the north side of Lake Arenal ("huge sections of the paved road had been washed out at last visit" and "landslides are a frequent occurrence and often close the road for days at a time"). From other accounts I've read, the final twelve mile unpaved stretch to Nosara is also supposed to be an abysmal road. We shall see.

Back at the Iguana we pack and go to bed because I'd like to get up and on the road by 9:00 a.m. Noisy guests in another room down the hall are not respecting the hotel's printed admonition to be quiet and respect the solitude of other guests. I finally fall asleep. I wake up several times during the night and glance outside. Arenal is covered with clouds each time. I wake a final time around 5:00 a.m. The haze briefly thins, and I can barely make out Arenal's entire dark outline. As if to give me a parting gift of our stay, a final bright orange streak rolls down the side of the mountain and disappears into the blackness near the base.

Wow--those last sentences dramatic! I can just see it! Amazing how some people can be disrespectful of others around them. Believing in the basic goodness in everyone as I do, it probably isn't usually intentional, but irritating nonetheless! Waiting for more. . .anxious to hear about "the road"!

Maybe if you accidently tripped over one of their legs, whilst holding a big bloody mary would've got the point across. Not that I would ever consider doing such a thing!

Sounds like Arenal was being uncooperative for your visit, she's so tempermental. Looking forward to the Nosara drive!

Thanks Hershey for your positive comments and volcanogirl, shillmac, hipvirgochick, tully, and others for your continued interest. With a little luck, I'll get to finish this Costa Rican version of War and Peace this week.

Sunday, July 29th

Morning and Early Afternoon: Drive from Arenal to Nosara

We eat another fantastic breakfast at the Lost Iguana and are on the road by 10:00 a.m., only an hour behind schedule, not bad for our crew. It’s serendipitous that this mostly travel day turns in to one of the most memorable days of the trip for me (I doubt my family probably feels the same). For the first time as we emerge from the road connecting the Lost Iguana, rather than turning left back over the Lake Arenal dam towards Arenal and La Fortuna, we turn right towards the unknown. The first ten or twenty kilometers of the road wind dramatically through the rain forest, in and out of the lush ravines that drain into the northern side of Lake Arenal. At first we have only occasional glances at the lake and none of Arenal itself (in fact, we won’t view Arenal again on the trip). We pass some interesting places I’ve read about along the way, including Toad Hall bookshop and gallery, a Swiss chalet style hotel, and Arenal Botanical Gardens, but since we don’t know how long the trip to Nosara will take, we feel we must press on.

I’m thoroughly enjoying driving now, it’s a beautiful partly cloudy day and the scenery is varied and interesting at every turn. I must keep my speed down because of the turns, and we rarely if ever encounter another vehicle. On the other hand, there are enough signs of civilization that I wouldn’t be concerned if we had another flat or car trouble. Even better, the large sections of washed out road and landslides that the Moon guide warned about never materialize, and in fact the paved road is of much higher quality than I imagined.

The countryside begins to open up and we begin a long climb to Nuevo Arenal, which seems like a hill town of sorts high above the lake. The village is a little more upscale than many we’ve seen and reminds me of some lakeside towns I’ve driven through in the U.S. Tom’s Pan in Nuevo Arenal and Caballo Negro a short distance later both look like inviting places to stop for breakfast, but we’ve already eaten and want to make good time. Soon giant wind turbines at the far west end of Lake Arenal come into view on a ridge and we eventually swing around that end of the lake and back southeast towards Tilaran. I expected much more mountainous terrain as we’re technically near the crest of the Cordillera de Tilaran, but the road continues to be relatively straight and of very high quality. We climb to Tilaran, an interesting looking larger town that we don’t have time to explore. We maove on, and soon have sweeping vistas from high rolling hills with some of the greenest grass I’ve ever seen — it’s the highlands cattle ranching country between Tilaran and the cowboy town of Las Canas. In fact, we see an occasional Tico cowboy on horseback. If I were a rancher, I wouldn’t mind owning one here.

We finally emerge onto the plain at Canas. Again, this is another small town that, like Tilaran, I wish I had some time to explore. I wouldn’t even mind buying one of those characteristic Costa Rican cowboys hats we’ve seen some riders wearing, but the town seems quiet and largely shuttered. Of course, it finally dawns on us that it’s Sunday, which probably explains the lack of traffic and activity on the roads and in the towns. It’s nearing noon, but we’re still full from breakfast at the Iguana. We merge onto the Pan American Highway. I remember seeing the highway on geography maps when I was a kid, and imagined what it would be like to travel its entire length from the U.S. through Mexico and Central America as far down towards the tip of Chile as possible.

Right there with ya! (Hope you don't mind. . .)

Hello MRand,

I've just gotten caught up on the last few chapters of your 'War and Peace'.

My trip report last year was also lengthy. I didn't really intend for it to be, but once I started writing out the details I simply could not prevent myself from waxing poetic (in my own little way...). You have a really nice writing style, and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading each new post!

I'm so glad you got to experience the magic of Cano Negro! We saw our first monkeys there (howlers and spiders), and it was such a thrill! I'm a huge fan of viewing wildlife in it's natural habitat (where WE are the visitors, not vice versa), so Cano Negro is totally the kind of thing that I really enjoy. It's always so satisfying to hear about other people appreciating the experience as well.

Bummer about not getting the full Arenal show at the Observatory Lodge, but at least you did get to see the lava (I am determined to get back there for another shot at it, since the volcano was not in the mood to cooperate when I was there).

Sounds like a scenic drive over to the coast. I'll be looking forward to hearing more about the next leg of the trip!

Tully,

You out there? Your work involves the use of GIS, too?! Amazing! It's so rare to find people (outside of work) who have ever even heard of Geographic Information Systems, and then when you try to explain it to them, they either think it sounds cool, but maybe can't entirely grasp the concept, or you see their eyes start to glaze over, lol!

I liked your idea of a convention. I'm thinking we'll bring along a GPS unit and map the BdC trails, download some USGS DEM data, and grab some satellite imagery to serve as a base layer. Yikes, I'm displaying my geekiness, full throttle!

Sorry for the digression, MRand. Carry on!

MRand- I am so thankful you shared your Cano Negro experience. I have been torn about doing the tour because I was concerned that it might be a bit boring for my kids. We all enjoy nature but we aren't avid birders & the kids are happiest when they are doing something active. I'd really like to try Cano and your trip report gave me added confidence. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your Costa Rican adventures!

MRand - post faster Just kidding, we'll be here, just interested in hearing about Nosara.

sorry for the o/t - cmerrell - um, did you think I was kidding about the May convention? I wasn't In fact just booked my tickets (HOW can I pass up $232 R/T - yes with taxes???!) Just heard back from Leo and Congo is available, so come on - who's next ? I use GIS sites set up by counties, solely for the satellite imagery/parcels - I work for an aerial photography co and am charge of maps etc. Old school we used to have to just use lat/long and hope we got the right site, nowadays I can find pretty much anything - though sometimes trying to find a specific 100 acre parcel in the middle of 1000's of just raw land makes my head explode, but the technology sure has come along way. Sorry for the digression MRand!

Tully: My husband and I will be at BdC in May, probably in Mariposa - we chose BdC based on the great reviews by you and others. When will you be there?

MRand: I'm another lurker enjoying your trip report! Your writing style is engaging and I appreciate the detailed account of Arenal/La Fortuna. We'll be there in May.

Good for you, Tully! Glad to hear you didn't pass that up!

Phenomenal airfare, Tully! Congrats on snatching it up. May, eh? Hmmmm...

As an FYI: I work primarily with commercial satellite imagery. We build large data sets that are used for mapping and visual simulation purposes. We also work occasionally with aerial imagery (which we purchase from various data vendors).

If you are always on the hunt for image data commonly utilized by counties, I'm assuming you are familiar with the large archive of DOQs available via the USGS? You can also find some stuff at the GIS Data Depot and many states now have some sort of geospatial data clearinghouse-type of site (you probably are already aware...).

I don't want to keep deviating from the topic at hand; i.e. MRand's very excellent trip account, but I definitely have an interest in geospatial data processing and analysis (it's what pays my bills ).

Okay, MRand, you have my completely undivided attention for your next chapter!

omg, MRand let me just throw in a couple o/t things then I will eagerly await your report!

quarters - so far I have Congo for May 10th - 15th. I may get there 1-2 days earlier but still leave on 15th, kind of up in the air as my dad may join me on the Osa portion (so I'd have to switch cabinas ) I'm pushing him to commit as who knows how long these rock bottom fares will last! Hope we'll run into each other.

shillmac - c'mon you knew I would

cmerrell - don't get too techy on me, ya lost me, lol! I may be using what you're talking about and just not know it! Like one of my faves is is Lee County (http://www.leepa.org/), one of the worst is my own county - Pinellas. Use googlearth a lot too and recently liveearth as well. If you know of some clearinghouse sites, let me know - always on the lookout (though maybe we should start a new CR chat thread, lol)!

Sorry again, MRand, we're just talking amongst ourselves while waiting for the next eposide!

shillmac, cmerrell, CathyF, Tully – you guys are great. Tully - crankin' it out just as fast as I can, consistent with having to pay for the incredible vacation we just took.

Sunday, July 29th

Morning and Early Afternoon: Drive from Arenal to Nosara (cont’d)

The twelve or thirteen mile drive south on the Pan American to the Costa Rica national Highway 18 cutoff for the Nicoya Peninsula is very scenic and enjoyable. Traffic is light over the rolling hills, and the trees from both sides of the unlined two-lane highway frequently meet overhead to form a natural tunnel. But we haven’t seen anything yet. The International Travel Maps – Costa Rica map we have shows Highway 18 cutting west over the Rio Tempisque and into the heart of the peninsula. I’ve studied that map many times before our trip, trying to imagine what kind of road it is and what the terrain looks like.

Soon enough, the turn off comes, with a number of road signs pointing us in the right direction. Highway 18 is nothing like I expected. In fact, I’m hard pressed to think when I’ve enjoyed driving more than this. We joke that the current or former president of Costa Rica must have a villa off the highway. Other than the occasional precipitous shoulder drop-off, it is an extremely well-designed, wide, and striped two-lane highway through incredibly verdant countryside. At first, it reminds me of Hawaii, then the high tree-covered hills contrasting with the surrounding flat grassy plains look like pictures of Southeast Asia, perhaps Indonesia. We’re cruising about 50 mph through this paradise and encounter only a few cars in either direction, although we do pass a soda here and there and Tico highway patrolmen with radar hidden in the shadows at two different locations.

Soon enough were approaching the Rio Tempisque, the wide river that feeds into the Gulf of Nicoya separating the mainland from the Nicoya Peninsula. Until 2003, a ferry was the only means across the river. In fact, my map still shows a ferry and no bridge at that crossing. In that year, a modern bridge -- the Puente de la Amistad de Costa Rica-Taiwan ("bridge of friendship between Costa Rica and Taiwan")– a multi-million dollar gift from Taiwan to Costa Rica, was dedicated. (Must have been a token of past friendship. Costa Rica apparently broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan in June of this year.)

The River Tempisque at this point is quite wide – looking more like a broad coffee-colored estuary than a river. The bridge is a typical pillar supported bridge for the eastern two-thirds of its length, but over the deepest part of the channel it changes to an ultra-modern cable-stayed bridge. The twin H-pylon that holds the cables up is reportedly the highest man-made structure in Costa Rica, and the cable-stayed design was intentionally chosen over others because the pattern of the cables resembles a symbol of Costa Rica: the outline of volcano Arenal. (See this picture to get the idea - www.pbase.com/vertman/image/26575327 ). The peninsula has been hit by at least three 7.0 or greater earthquakes in the last half-century, so the bridge is supposedly constructed to withstand that.

On the opposite side of the bridge on the left side of the road, there’s a small busy parking lot, a portable soda stand, and stairs leading up to a painted concrete observation platform. Maybe we’ll stop on the way back to San Jose. The road quality worsens markedly a short time after the bridge, when we reach the village of Quebrada Honda. Another eight or ten miles to a T-intersection and then we’re headed nortwest on CR Highway 21 to Nicoya. Nicoya is a large town or small city as you would have it, again inviting exploration, but the anticipation is mounting to tackle the infamous Road to Nosara and hit the beach if possible this afternoon.

Sounds like a truly enjoyable drive, MRand! I love meandering through gorgeous countryside on an uncrowded road.

Tully,

Sorry if I got a bit 'terminology happy'! Sounds like you are a bit more on the fringes of working with this type of image data, whereas I am deeply entrenched in it! No worries! Some of the stuff I'm referring to is what you see on Google Earth and on Microsoft's Live Local site (although they both incorporate imagery from lots of different sources). Here are a couple of sites you can check out for tracking down state and county data.

http://www.usgsquads.com/prod_doqq.htm

http://data.geocomm.com/catalog/US/sublist.html

Note: the first site charges a small fee per image tile. The second site offers quite a bit of data that can be downloaded for free. The Digital Orthophotos and OrthoImagery subdirectories are probably the ones of most interest to you. Happy hunting and let me know if I can offer any additional info or advice into the wonderful world of digital geographic-based data!

MRand,

We are all yours once again, and looking forward to more of your marvelous adventures!

The road from Nicoya to the coast is even more amazing, if that is possible. Lush green valleys, blue skies and white cumulus clouds appear in all directions. The road, although paved, is deteriorating as we pass through a number of small hamlets. People young and old are out everywhere along the road, watching the soccer games that are occurring at each “village green” we pass.

We must go slowly now, and good thing too. As we reach the bottom of a curve at the base of a long hill, two cars have just had a head on collision. Fortunately the police have just arrived and everyone looks all right. I notice out of my rear view mirror a dilapidated broen car with four occupants. After a few miles, the car has made no effort to pass us, so I make a mental note to keep an eye on it. We continue through countless natural green tree tunnels, looking for the last service station where the guide books advise us to fill up, a few hundred yards before the dirt track for Nosara veers away from the main paved highway that continues on to Samara.

We finally reach the service station and pull over to top off the tank of the Montero. There is a line of a few cars in front of us on our side of the gas pump island, so I debate whether to pull on the opposite side which is empty. Before I can do that, the rusty brown car pulls up behind us. I wait for it to pull on the other side of the island, but it doesn’t. Although my daughter and younger son need a restroom break, I’m a little uneasy about the situation. Out of an abundance of caution, I tell my older son that only he and I, who are both pretty big guys at about 6’3”, are going to get out of the car here.

I should digress to explain what may seem like mild travel paranoia. When my wife and I were first married, one of our first trips was to Hawaii. The second day of our trip, in Maui, we decided to drive around the north end of the island in our rent car, then double back to Lahaina for dinner. We packed a nice change of clothes in some luggage and headed out. After a great day of sightseeing, we headed back to Lahaina, but an inviting beach distracted us where we went swimming and body surfing for about an hour. When we returned to our rent car, all the windows had been smashed and the trunk, where we thought we had safely stowed our belongings, had been sprung. We were wiped out – clothes, cash, travelers’ checks, credit cards, wallet, purse, nice camera we’d received for a wedding gift, photos, condo keys – everything was gone. It took us a good day and a half to switch condos and replace the credit cards and traveler’s checks (and I had to take a Hawaiian drivers’ exam -- that I barely passed -- to get a temporary license to boot). Add to this experience another AM Costa Rica story I’d read about robbery on the Road to Nosara (see www.amcostarica.com/040705.htm ), then perhaps you’ll understand what I mean. Mild paranoia is a little extreme; I think a more accurate description would be “heightened level of awareness while traveling.” Maybe these rough looking guys behind us in the gas line are just surfer dudes headed on the main road to Samara anyway.

After ten minutes or so of waiting, we finally gas up and head down the road. Within a few hundred yards the road to Nosara appears and we veer to the right. We bump our way down a long hill and the road widens. It is a washboard-type dirt-and-gravel road, if you know what I mean (and I think you do). It seems not too bad for a few miles, then the potholes begin to get fairly big. We really can’t travel over about 20 miles an hour. We eventually catch up to a taxi that is presumably taking people to Nosara and I decide to follow it instead of passing it. On the unlikely chance that any highwaymen are about, I assume they’re much less likely to try to take on a convoy of two cars rather than one.

We follow the taxi, often diverting into the oncoming lane of the road while picking and choosing our way on the “smoothest” stretch around some largely impassable swaths of potholes. In places, the Montero rocks up and down. If you’ve ever ridden the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye ride at Disneyland, you’ll know what I’m talking about. After about ten minutes, I glance in my rear view mirror and see the rusty brown car speeding up behind us.

You just love those cliffhangers don't you?! Can't wait to hear more about the rusty car. I remember hearing about issues on the roads a couple years ago, not sure if it's better lately or not. Sure sounds like you had relatively good roads for most of the drive. Carry on!

cmerrell - thanks will look into those!

Cliffhanger is correct, tully! I am on pins and needles about the rusty brown car!

What a horrible thing to have happen on your Hawaiian vacation! I had my car broken into and my purse stolen once years ago. It's such a feeling of helplessness and violation. I hope the brown rusty car tale is headed in a much more positive direction!

Now how am I suppose to concentrate on finishing my own report when you leave me hanging like that!

And then what happened?!!!

When I read about the "rusty brown car" I imagine ominous organ music - dun, dun, dun....

I hope they turned out to be friendly?

Sunday, July 29th

Morning and Early Afternoon: Drive from Arenal to Nosara (cont’d)

Just what's going with these guys anyway? We aren't going fast at all, but they don't seem to want to pass. Funny how the mere facts of one car following another take on a completely different significance when you project all your experiences and attitudes -- the theft in Hawaii, the AM Costa Rica story about the Nosara road robbery, our experience with the flat tire scam near the San Jose airport on the first day, my responsibility for my family's safety -- on that simple situation. After about five minutes, the brown car passes us and the taxi and speeds on out of sight. I assume there's a 95% chance they were just local dudes out for a drive, probably headed to the beach, although they didn't have any surfboards on their car. A short time later, another new looking SUV joins our "convoy," enhancing my comfort zone even more.

Soon near the little village of Garza, the road swings near the blue Pacific Ocean -- the first time we've seen it on this trip. We don't live near the coast, so that first sighting of the ocean is always a thrill. However, wife and daughter are beginning to ask for assurances about our destination: “Do you think we’re going to like this place? Do you think the hotel is going to be, uh, nice?”

We pass a couple of new entrances to future developments, then we’re at Playa Guiones, on the “outskirts” of Nosara, as if you could tell. Nosara is actually a few kilometers off the coast, and the hotels and restaurants are actually at Guiones. A few wooden signs indicate unseen businesses down dirt roads to the left in what we assume is the direction of the beach, then we’re at Coconut Harry’s Surf Shop and the GPS is telling us to take a left turn to Harmony Hotel. The GPS has been an absolute lifesaver on this drive, never once telling us a wrong turn and estimating our arrival time almost to the minute. It’s only 2:30 and we’re 200 kilometers from our start at Arenal, so we’ve made much, much better time than I anticipated. A few hundred yards down this side road, and we almost miss the unobtrusive brick entrance to the Harmony. We drive down a narrow lane, and then are greeted in the parking lot by a friendly “bellman.” The Harmony grounds look like a veritable botanical garden. Yeah, this is the right place.

Whew, MRand! Thank goodness, no mishaps on the way to Nosara!

Sound like drivings becoming old hat for you now! I've given up my book until you're back home because this trip report is like a mystery/suspense/drama/comedy/documentary all in one!

Thanks for the good read!

Sunday, July 29th (cont'd)

Late Afternoon and Evening: Nosara and the Harmony Hotel

The grounds of the Harmony are an explosion of various shades of soothing green. We walk into the open air reception area, quickly check in and go to our bungalow to change for a late lunch and our obligatory swim. Here's how the Harmony is laid out: the main building is a sleek, one story modern white building with a metal roof in the shape of a square sided capital U. The long, narrow bottom of the U contains the open air reception area, a bar area, and the main dining area and kitchen: www.harmonynosara.com/en/features.html .The medium-sized pool is in the middle of the U. The sides of the U are guest rooms. The open side of the U, which faces the direction of the ocean (which can be heard but not seen from the hotel), also faces a group of large one-story white bungalows "duplexes" that each contain two bedrooms and baths. Our family has been given one of these bungalows and we open the adjoining door between the two bedrooms to create a very comfortable, spacious "house" feel. Thankfully, there is no development on the beach itself at Playa Guiones. To get to the beach requires a short perhaps hundred yard walk from the Harmony along a sand path through an appealing jungle scape until you reach the open beach and a thatched hut where the hotel posts a guard for your belongings while you're swimming or surfing.

Before we can even change, wife and daughter have walked to the beach and back. They report, wide-eyed, that "it's awesome, and the waves are HUGE" and my daughter says she's already seen hundreds of the largest crabs she's ever seen. We take a quick dip in in Harmony pool and grab an excellent lunch in the open air dining area. We will eat most of our meals for the next 3 1/2 days at the Harmony and we all agree the food is very, very good.

Now it's time to head to the beach. We see the amazing crabs too - called Halloween crabs - that are hands down the coolest looking crabs we've ever seen: http://www.answers.com/topic/halloween-crab .

The sun is low in the horizon when we emerge from the path. Wife and daughter are right on; Guiones is an amazing beach. It is probably a 3 or 4 mile long crescent of sand, perhaps an average of 50 yards from the foliage to the surf depending on the tides, framed by large, tapering rock headlands at the north and south ends. Almost 40 years ago, my grandparents and parents took my then young sister and me to Kaanapali Beach on Maui while it was largely still undeveloped. Guiones now reminds me of Kaanapali then.

Our family has always been crazy about playing in the surf -- swimming, body-surfing, boogie boarding, rarely attempting to surf, you name it — we've tried it. Ever since I was a little kid, there's just something incredible about the feeling of being picked up and propelled by waves at the ocean, and Playa Guiones has plenty of these. Then as a teenager I saw "The Endless Summer" and even though we lived nowhere close to a beach, I was hooked on the idea of trying to surf. This afternoon at Guiones, big surf - sometimes between two to four feet higher than head high - is breaking further out where a few surfers are. The waves reform into still-large waves that are an absolute blast to body-surf. All five of us do this for a good while, then sons and I continue on until the point of virtual exhaustion. Tomorrow we'll definitely line up some surfing lessons from Coconut Harry's.

We'll eat another excellent meal a little later, but for now we lay on the beach and watch the huge orange ball of the sun dip below purple clouds on the horizon, as utter relaxation sets in. This is why we came to Nosara.

Whew, glad you got there safely! Sounds like Harmony is lovely, I've been wondering about it for awhile. Don't you just love those crabs? Unfortunately whenever I saw them down on the Osa they were usually smooshed in the road, guess they're not as fast as they think they are.

MRand,
I'm really enjoying your report! If I'm not mistaken, the Harmony is the former Villa Taype where I've stayed some years ago. They used to have a few palm thatched 'ranchos' closer to the beach which were very private. Did the new owners keep them? Eager to hear your thoughts on Nosara...one of my favorite areas.

Your Nosara experience sounds totally idyllic so far! There is just something about ocean waves rolling up on shore, isn't there?

Harmony (and Nosara) sound just fantastic. . .perhaps it had better go back on my list! Guiones sounds very appealing, as well. . .thanks for taking the time to say it all so well!

Monday, July 30th; Tuesday, July 31st; and Wednesday, August 1st

Morning, Afternoon, and Night: Nosara and Playa Guiones

After a great breakfast in the open air dining area, we’re off to Coconut Harry’s to schedule surfing lessons. This isn’t our first time, but we all could use a refresher course. We meet the current owner Steve, a transplanted Texan who bought out Harry when he returned recently to the East Coast. We arrange to rent surfboards for four days and lessons today at 11:30 a.m., between low and high tides. I’m impressed that Steve assigns three instructors for the family, guaranteeing more personal attention for each of us. At the appointed time, we meet our instructors, great local guys about my daughter’s age named Luis (nicknamed “Luigi”), Esteban, and Alonzo. Apparently Luis is ranked in the top 20 surfers in Costa Rica and Alonzo is trying to break into the rankings. I think it’s very cool that the Harmony Hotel sponsors them as a team to go to surfing competitions around Costa Rica.

Seeing how fit these guys looked, and they should be fit since they get to surf about every day, I should have known what I was in for. I try to work out to stay in reasonable shape, but unfortunately regular swimming hasn’t been on my regimen. Luis, who I assume gets first choice in the pecking order, volunteers to teach my wife and daughter. Esteban gets my two sons, and perhaps anticipating trouble, Alonzo draws the short straw and gets the old dude one-on-one.

For the next hour or so, we split up in the surf, get intensive instruction, and have an absolute blast. Since I’ve got my own instructor rather than sharing, I get double the attempted rides and double the exhaustion. Daughter and youngest son take to it immediately, and catch about three- fourths of their waves. Wife catches about half, and older son and I, the two tallest in the family, are lucky to get decent rides about one in every four or five attempts. We attribute that to our higher centers of gravity.

For the next three days, we just - as our kids would say - “chill” with the following routine:

- Wake up

- Go surfing

- Eat late breakfast

- Go surfing again

- Eat late lunch

- Family challenge ping-pong (very intense rivalries), relax at the pool, or in the bungalow if it’s raining

- Late afternoon swim at the beach

- Dinner (first night at Harmony then the next two nights out)

- Family challenge ping-pong

- Read books or magazines individually or mean game of hearts in the bungalow

- Bedtime

It’s a very tough routine.

Dirty work, but someone's got to do it, right?

Are any of your family's photos from the trip online?

Thanks so much for the report.

Keith

Monday, July 30th,, Tuesday, July 31st, and Wednesday, August 1st

Morning, Afternoon, and Night: Nosara and Playa Guiones (cont’d)

The Harmony Hotel is a wonderful place for us to stay. They gave each of us large bottles of cold water when we checked in and leave free bottles of water in the room each day. Not only does the hotel station an attendant at the beach to watch your belongings while you swim or surf, but they have a second attendant and storage area on the beach side of the complex where you can pick up and leave beach towels, your room keys, personal effects, and your surfboards when you are done. Plus, the cold water outdoor showers in the complex near the wooden walkway that returns from the beach are very refreshing.

It is quite environmentally and health conscious, and the locals who work at the hotel really seem to like it and appreciate its efforts to help the local community. Yet I am shocked the first day to learn they don’t sell any soft drinks. I’ve grown particularly fond of the taste of the Costa Rican version of Diet Coke. So the second night my sons and I sneak out to a local groceria to acquire some of the forbidden fruit and sneak it back to the small refrigerators in our bungalow in a brown bag. The hotel also offers frequent yoga classes, which wife and daughter enjoy. The background music they play in the dining area amuses me a little, a combination of New Age, world music, jazz, and occasional ‘70’s folk music thrown in. In fact, I probably haven’t listened to Joni Mitchell’s Blue album in years - "the wind is in from Africa, last night I couldn’t sleep . . . " - , but hearing it here again brings back some good memories (and after lo these many years, I’ve now revived it on my iPod).

I reflect whether families with small children would like Playa Guiones. On one hand, the surf is big and the ocean is not clear and aquamarine colored like in the Caribbean. There surf here is too turbulent for snorkeling. Yet there are families at the Harmony with small children who seem thrilled to play on boogie boards on the edge of the water, so I wouldn’t reject it out of hand for younger families.

Nosara is apparently named after an ancient princess from the Chorotega tribe who lived in the area in prehistoric times. Legend has it that she took her own life when her significant other, a warrior named Curime who had immigrated from another tribe near Mexico, lost his life in battle. (There is a small village between Nicoya and Nosara named Curime.) There is stuff to do in the Nosara area besides swimming and surfing, such as a visit to the Riserva Biologica Nosara near the Lagarta Lodge, the blowhole at Playa Pelada just north of Guiones, or the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge a few miles north, where ridley turtles invade en masse – an arribada -- to lay their eggs from late July until December. Unfortunately, the arribada is affected by the phase of the moon, and it isn’t the right phase, so we miss the turtles. However, we like the laid back ambience of the Harmony so much we’re content to hang at the hotel and the beach almost all the time. Good thing, because the infrastructure at Nosara is pretty non-existent. The labyrinth of potholed dirt roads seems like it would be almost impossible to navigate without a GPS, and after dark it is pitch black – no street lights here. But we like it like this - we wanted to avoid the more built up areas like Tamarindo or Manuel Antonio for this very reason. At night we can occasionally hear music from another hotel nearby, but we’re absolutely content to have relaxed family time together.

We eat dinner the first two evenings at the Harmony and are very content with the quality of the food. However, the second night when we venture out to the groceria for the Diet Coke, we drive by a recommended Italian restaurant called La Dolce Vita. It’s elevated in a thin forest and I have my sons go check it out. They report it is a fairly large place, but only one table is occupied, not a good sign. We return there the third night for a change of pace.

When we walk in, we see we are the only ones in the place. We order uneasily. The appetizers seem good enough, and then more parties arrive, including two others from our hotel Our entrees are served. They are huge portions – for me, dorado with balsamic sauce; for my wife, eggplant parmigiana; for daughter and older son, shrimp and pasta in arrabiata sauce, for younger son, margherita pizza. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Italy several times for business and pleasure and have a fair share of dinners in very nice Italian restaurants across the U.S. through the years. But no joke this meal is in the top 10 Italian meals I’ve ever had, and my family agrees. I’m even starting to doubt my own taste buds, so as we’re leaving I ask some of our hotel mates how their dinners are. “Fantastic! Excellent! Incredible!” This amazing food is the creation of Roberto De Silvio, the proprietor of La Dolce Vita. He’s very friendly and visits our table several times during dinner. Perhaps emboldened by the wine and overestimating my Spanish ability, I shout “muy frio” (very cold) to him as we leave. I immediately recognize my mistake, and change the “complement” to “muy RICO” (very rich, very good). Senor De Silvio knows what I mean, and we both share a hearty laugh.

Thanks for another terrific, descriptive chapter, MRand! Nosara sounds like an excellent place to chill and relax. La Dolce Vita sounds delicious! I'm a big fan of Italian food.

Thanks cmerrell.

joeschmo and Keith - thanks to you too. joe, the Harmony Hotel is the former Villa Taype, but the thatched-covered ranchos closer to the beach must have been cleared out when the new management took over a year or two ago. Keith, I'll try to post a few pictures as soon as I figure out the best way to do so. Suggestions appreciated.

Wednesday, August 1st

Evening: Nosara and Playa Guiones (cont’d)

For our last night in Nosara / Playa Guiones, we go to dinner at the locally famous Lagarta Lodge, high on the headland overlooking green biological reserve and mouths of the Rio Nosara and Rio Montana that meet there at Playa Nosara. Further to the north, we can make out the turtle hatching ground at Ostional and the coastal mountains, where thunder and lightning indicate the last vestiges of an afternoon thunderstorm. Another spectacular sunset, this time over happy hour shared with a group of American retirees who've settled in Nosara and are also having dinner at Lagarta. As the sun sets below the ocean horizon, we look for the mysterious "green flash" that sometimes can be observed at sunset, particularly over the ocean. Several of the retirees and my family claims to see it, but I'm not sure I know quite what to look for.

One of my sons asks if we would be safe on this hill high above the ocean in the event of a tsunami. I assure him we would, but being interested in natural phenomena like volcanoes and earthquakes and knowing that the low-lying topography of the Nosara area somewhat resembles areas of Thailand that were devastated by the huge tsunami in December 2005, I wonder if they are ever a threat here. The Mid America Trench, where the Cocos Plate of the earth's crust dives beneath the Carribean plate on which Central America rests, runs just off the Pacific coast and is the reason for all the volcanoes in Central America. Apparently earthquakes along the trench have periodically generated tidal waves, including one that devastated a swath of Nicaraguan coast in 1992 with significant loss of life. Puenta Arenas, Costa Rica, which sits on a spit of land that projects into the Gulf of Nicoya, is a sitting duck for such a tsunami. (Sure enough, when the earthquake occurred in Peru last week, I read that a tsunami alert was generated for the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. This of course included Nosara, and evacuations of lower areas there was commenced. Fortunately, it was a false alarm, this time.)

Dinner at Lagarta is excellente, although twice the price and not quite as good as the night before at La Dolce Vita.

Do you have a geology or geography background, MRand? I enjoyed your reference to plate tectonics! Takes me back to my college days!

An early night after my daughter's 23 yr. old friend's outdoor wedding in central S.D. Listening to Three Dog Night (cuz Chuck Negron played at our Worlds Only Corn Palace along with Blood Sweat and Tears this past week) AND enjoyin' MRand's report. Life's simple pleasures!!!! Thank to Costa Rica trip planning for my family almost 3 yrs. ago ( I had never heard of Fodors, Frommers, Trip Advisor - always left the planning up to a travel agency) I have become a fodorite and when I need it - IT takes me away. Oh, the places in CR I want to visit!!!! Thanks for the report MRand, and all the added tips and experiences shared here. Pura Vida

I've never seen the green flash either. I wonder if the legend of it comes from a lot of people hanging at a bar watching the sunset Enjoying your report and little details. Harmony sounds like a lovely place.

Really enjoying your trip report! Nosara wasn't on our radar. It sounds like a really cool place. Your family sounds SO much like ours, especially when traveling with both of my sons!Our family loves to just "hang out" sometimes on vacation too. And we'll challenge your family to a family ping pong challenge!

cmerrell - amazing insight - I was a high school history and geography teacher many years ago in what seems like another life, before I went back to school.

Dyer - wow - Three Dog Night. Now THAT brings back some vivid memories. Glad you're enjoying the report.

tully - let's keep up the quest for the green flash. Good question about whether it's more often sighted from bars, but it's supposed to be a real phenomenon.

ags - bring on the ping pong challenge, although I hear you Aggies are pretty intense. You need to get working on more of you're trip report. Especially anxious to hear your Arenal details.

Thursday, August 2nd

Morning: Nosara / Playa Guiones

How we wish we could slow down vacation time. You’re planning and anticipating, then you’re there in the moment – scarcely believing it’s real, then suddenly you’re back home in your routine, wondering if it was real. At least your pictures confirm it wasn’t just a long dream that you had.

With wistfulness and a desire to squeeze every last minute out of the moment, we wake up early, walk to Playa Guiones for a final surfing session, eat a long late breakfast at Harmony, and check out around noon-thirty. After a hazy first two days, we’ve had beautiful blue skies for our final two days in Nosara.

Afternoon: Drive from Nosara to Alajuela (Xandari)

The rough road back doesn’t seem so forbidding now. Soon we’re off the dirt track and back on the paved road to Nicoya, which one guide describes as one of the most beautiful drives in Costa Rica. Hard to disagree.

Through Nicoya, down Highway 21 to Highway 18, then back over the Taiwan Friendship bridge over the Rio Tempisque and, in what seems like no time at all, we’re back on the Pan American Highway headed southeast to our trip starting point of Alajuela and Xandari hotel. I’m concerned about the traffic we may encounter, because today is the celebration of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles at the basilica of the same name in Cartago, east of San Jose. Apparently thousands of pilgrims make their way from all over Central America to the basilica for this day. There are heart rending scenes in AM Costa Rica and Tico Times of young parents with newborns suffering from birth defects seeking healing there. I’ve read that the basilica, rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in the early 1900s, is quite beautiful and make a mental note to try to see it on our next trip to Costa Rica. To the extent there is any traffic from the celebration, it is in the opposite direction. However, we begin to encounter more long lines of traffic, usually backed up behind slow moving trucks, as we approach San Ramon.

Just west of San Ramon, we resign ourselves to stay put in a long traffic line as we slowly climb up a spectacular ridge line and then start to descend to the town and the Central Valley. This is where we left the Pan American Highway for La Fortuna and Arenal exactly one week ago. Now simple words in guidebooks and travel forums and images in our imagination about places we would see in Costa Rica have been vividly replaced by actual memories of those places. We have acquired a whole world of sights, smells, and sounds so, in some ways we already feel (amusingly) like Costa Rica travel veterans.

I the darkening twilight, we drive slowly through Alajuela in heavy traffic. We drive past the square with the famous statue of the boy hero Juan Santamaria exhorting his invisible followers. Another mental note: spend a few hours walking around downtown Alajuela on our next visit. We climb the long hill -- actually a foothill of Poas -- up to the Xandari. We check in again, take our obligatory swim, and enjoy a dinner on the terrace overlooking the Central Valley at a table between a French family with young children on one side and a Dutch family with older kids on the other. The service at Xandari is excellent and tonight the food is as well. Invigorated by our languid pace in Nosara, tomorrow we have a final ambitious day in Costa Rica planned, if the weather holds up and we have time: Poas volcano crater (if we’re lucky enough to see it among the clouds in the rainy season), La Paz waterfall gardens, and Doka Coffee Plantation.

Eloquently put as usual, MRand! I can't believe your report is winding down to the end. I tend to enjoy reading all the trip reports here, but a really good one is just like losing yourself in an absorbing novel; you don't want to put it down, and you don't want it to end! Lookind forward to (and yet dreading) your final chapter!

Friday, Aug. 2nd

Morning and Afternoon: Poas Volcano, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and Doka Coffee Plantation

Uncharacterstically, we’re on the road this morning actually close to our target time. I want to arrive at Parque Nacional Volcan Poas close to its opening time to maximize our chances of seeing the crater. When we arrived at the San Jose airport the week before, I didn’t realize that the hulking green mountain visible immediately above us to the north was in fact Poas volcano. Xandari rests on the first high ridge in the foothills of Poas. Although the Central Valley is shining in the early morning sun, as we push our serpentine road climb up the side of the mountain — always upward — clouds are starting form and move up the mountainside.

The green upper reaches of Poas, especially near the park entrance, almost seem alpine. We arrive a little after 8:30 and the parking lot is barely starting to fill. The park employee directs us to park facing outward — “in the event of an emergency evacuation.” Hmmm. After a rest stop at the visitor center and 15 minute hike up small paved two-lane boulevard that is closed to vehicle traffic, we’re nearing the crest. To the east, toward the Caribbean, a thick blanket of white and gray clouds stretches to the horizon. The wind gusts actually have a bit of a chill. Now we’re on the crest, looking down. Not a single cloud obscures the view of the crater!

A column of steam rises from the forbidding green acidic lake in the middle of the crater. The crater is huge, and the air around us reeks of sulfur. To the right of the crater, fumaroles steam gases upward. One fumarole on the far right side catches my attention. It is surrounded by bright yellow soil (sulfur?). It looks like a kid splattered a huge yellow paint balloon there.

After 15 or 20 minutes marveling at the view — a very different volcano experience than Arenal — we divert and hike on a plank-covered trail through the dripping woods to Lake Botos, a nearby blue, water-filled extinct crater. We continue down Canto de las Aves trail back to the visitor center/café/gift shop for quick refreshments, then to our car to continue onward to La Paz. Fortunately, no quick evacuation from Poas is needed.

The scenic drive from the top of Poas to La Paz Waterfall Gardens only takes about 45 minutes. The La Paz stream flows east, then south from the upper heights of Poas down the mountainside to a cleft where the Peace Lodge and the Waterfall Gardens are located adjacent to one another: www.waterfallgardens.com/index.html When we arrive, it’s late morning but it still seems we’ve beaten the crowds. The admission price for the five of us — about $135 without lunch — seems quite steep. A quick restroom stop reveals Flintstone-esque faux-rock water faucet handles and spigots.

I didn’t fully appreciate before we arrived that the grounds at La Paz also double as a zoo of sorts. The aviary here is the best we’ve ever seen, allowing close up photos of scarlet macaws, green macaws, toucans, large blue parrots, and a variety of other amazing birds. The butterfly garden is almost as fascinating, with fantastically-colored butterflies alighting on nearby plants and sometimes even arms and shoulders.

Mom and daughter avoid the serpentarium, where the guys appreciate the indolent bushmaster and the fierce fer-de-lance (“terciopelo”), the two deadliest poisonous snakes in Costa Rica. The bushmaster rests motionless, but the sinister terciopelo eyes us and changes position as we move around its glass enclosure. There is also an excellent ranarium, where the most unusual tiny frogs we’ve ever seen are attached to the underside or curled inside of plant leaves, almost camouflaged from view until the guide there points them out.

We opt for lunch at Peace Lodge’s a la carte Trout Bar rather than the buffet at Colibries Restaurant. The food is very good, but we linger to long poolside too long and the crowds begin to catch up with us. We climb the waterfall trail down the steepest, deepest part of the La Paz ravine. There the five falls - El Temple, Magia Blanca, Encantada, Escondida, and La Paz with inviting pools in between – stairstep down the small valley, each one thundering over its cliff in a different pattern. At the bottom of the trail, La Paz has generously provided a shuttle bus service for its guests back up the steep hill to the entrance facilities and Peace Lodge at the top.

Now we’re starting to run late if we’re going to make the last tour of the day (3:30) at Doka Coffee Plantation - www.dokaestate.com Even though it is only a few miles distant and on the way back to Xandari, a heavy rainstorm limits visibility and slows us to a crawl. We arrive at 3:45 and the parking lot looks empty. Surely we are too late. But our luck holds. A guard near the entrance steps out into the rain to wave us on in. Our guide, a young Tica named Maricruz, tells us the tour will run rain or shine. It is partially outside (Doka provides umbrellas if needed), but mostly indoors in the plantation’s coffee mill. We are joined by two or three other families.

Maricruz, like all of our other Costa Rican guides, is simply excellent. She’s tremendously knowledgeable about coffee and its production. She tells us that because Costa Rica is a small country, it must concentrate on the quality of its coffee rather than the quantity, so it is hand-picked. However, as the standard of living has improved in Costa Rica through the years, it is increasingly difficult to find locals willing to perform the labor, so guest workers are imported from Nicaragua and Panama for several months out of the year to harvest the coffee beans. They are provided with living quarters and schools if they choose to use them. Doka sells its beans unroasted to coffee companies around the world, but about 70% of its production is purchased by American companies and the vast majority by Starbucks. The gift shop here provides a good opportunity to stock up on Costa Rican souvenirs for friends and family back home.

As we leave Doka, after the downpour, a heavy fog has settled in and the day is beginning to fade. Now we’re really thankful for our GPS, which takes us through a maze of back roads and muddy country lanes (thank goodness for the 4-wheel drive) that I’m sure we would never have deciphered on our own. Just about the time we begin to doubt its accuracy, the entrance to Xandari materializes out of the mist. Dinner (this time no nighttime view of the Central Valley, it’s completely socked in) a swim in the light rain, the pack for home.

Saturday, August 4th

Morning: Homeward Bound

We wake up at 4 a.m., as older son has a 7:00 a.m. return flight booked when his school trip plans were made and the rest of us have a 7:25 a.m departure. (The Three Hour Rule must’ve slipped my mind.) We shower and scarf the boxed breakfasts that the folks at Xandari thoughtfully put together for us the night before. It’s a quick 20 minute drive down the hill at first light from Xandari and through a deserted Alajuela to the airport, where I drop the family off at the already bustling terminal building.

I drive three miles to Avis Belen to return the Montero, but it doesn’t open until 5:30 a.m. I while away the minutes at the gate listening to an American ‘70s FM station in San Jose and watching the sun rise over the Central Valley. After Avis opens, the paperwork takes about 10 minutes and a young man shuttles me back to the terminal. Family is nowhere to be seen, so I assume they are safely through immigration and security.

The departure tax line is about 10 minutes long. I use up the last of my colones to pay the tax (wife reports she was able to use a mix of her remaining colones and her Visa to pay the tax for the rest of the family), get my boarding pass, and it takes another 15 minutes to go through immigration and security. I meet the family at the food court in the terminal about 6:25 a.m. to learn our flight has been delayed about an hour.

After a second breakfast of sorts, we head to our gate and board our plane. Unfortunately this time we don’t have a window seat. I think about our days in Costa Rica and the people we’ve met, especially our wonderful guides and teachers: Maribel our rocky first day and night in Alajuela when we were in rental car limbo; the young man from Avis who changed our flat tire near the airport; Rey and Renaldo and the incredible vistas at SkyTram/SkyTrek; Jaime, Efren, and Jodi on the Cano Negro tour; our patient surfing instructors Luigi, Esteban, and Alonzo; chef Roberto at La Dolce Vita; and Doka coffee guide Maricruz. They have an beautiful, amazing country and every right to be proud of it.

On takeoff, I catch across the aisle a momentary glimpse of the green flank of Poas. Then, suddenly, Costa Rica is gone as we head into the clouds. . . . Pura vida.

Fitting ending, MRand - I feel almost teary-eyed that you had to leave, but so glad that you had an amazing adventure. Thanks for a wonderful report.

MRand - thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! I enjoyed every minute of it.

Question: Would you recommend the hike to Lake Botos during a visit to Poas? We have 3 children (13, 9 & 7). Is the hike easy? Approx. how long does it take? Thanks!

Now way! Is it really over? You are either remarkably observant and retain everything, or took notes as you went...right? Because I'd have be carrying a little min-recorder around with me to remember all those names and places (which, I had actually thought to take last time, but didn't)! I'm in awe of the detail of everything and your entire trip turned into be such a great story!

Glad you enjoyed La Paz. The entrance fee is indeed, steep. That's why even though the rooms are spendy, when you figure it includes the entrance fees, it's not such a bad deal! We thought the food at the Trout Bar was excellent. Daughter loved feeding those toucans in the aviary (and hummingbirds in the garden). But yes, much of the architecture, including the room interiors, are "Flintstonesque".

Sad to see your trip report end, but really glad you posted it!

hipvirgochick, try carrying a few 3.5 x 5 inch file cards for quick notes, or even writing out a future journal entry.

Keith

MRand--Amazing report!! Man you make me look bad!! Here's your trip report-
"We climb the waterfall trail down the steepest, deepest part of the La Paz ravine. There the five falls - El Temple, Magia Blanca, Encantada, Escondida, and La Paz with inviting pools in between – stairstep down the small valley, each one thundering over its cliff in a different pattern."
Here's mine-
"we hiked the La Paz waterfalls"
Boy I wish I could write as colorfully as you! You're awesome! Thanks again for a great trip report.

Too funny, agswimmer!

MRand,

I LOVED your report! Excellent job! Definitely a pleasure to read.

Despite a slightly rocky start that could have soured the whole thing, it sounds like the trip lived up to (exceeded?) expectations. There is a magical quality to the place, don't you think?

Have any thoughts of a return visit started worming their way into your subconscious yet? I think we weren't home for more than 2 weeks before we started looking into our 2nd trip.

There are about a million places in the world that I want to see, but I can't imagine not occasionally working Costa Rica into the overall gameplan!

Thank you MRand for the fine report of your family adventure in Pura Vida land.

Thank you cmerrell, volcanogirl, CathyF, HVC, agswimmer, tully, Earthtraveler, and others for hanging in there 'til the bitter end, including all the typos. You guys are great -- my CR cyber-friends.

CathyF - I definitely would recommend the hike to Lake Botos for your kids. The hike is uphill, but easy. From the rim of Poas to the lake back to the parking lot probably takes 30 - 45 minutes.

hipvirgochick - I do take a few notes as I go. For previous trips, I've taken a few notes a day on a small notepad. This time, for some reason I still can't quite fathom (I didn't check e-mail a single time - it's a vacation after all), I took my laptop, and Lost Iguana and Harmony Hotel did both have wireless Internet access. I took very brief notes on it. I've found if I try to write more than a couple of notes per day while on vacation, I simply won't do it.

agswimmer - Your are very kind. I'm very much enjoying your trip report too. A lot of people looking for information on this web site don't want a lot of excessive detail. Frankly, like you, we took several family trips that I didn't make any record of. I started writing trip reports after a trip we took to Italy in 2005 because I wanted to try to give potential first timers, especially parents, a real feel for what it was like to travel with the whole family to different places. My wife and kids also get a big kick of going back to the report a few months or years later to recall details we might otherwise have forgotten.

cmerrell - the trip, after the rocky start, absolutely exceeded our expectations. Costa Rica is far more consistently beautiful and visitor-friendly than I imagined beforehand.

MRand--I just spent an hour reading your report-I loved it!

Right around this time last year i was planning our June '07 2 week trip to CR, and it was my first time using fodors. Folks like shillmac gave me great advice, and we had a wonderful trip. (thanks guys!)

Now we are having the Longest and Coldest and Snowiest Winter Ever here (Madison WI) and I am sad and longing for CR and for the fun I had planning the trip! Reading your report was a great reminder of all the fun we had. I had a hard time deciding on Nicoya or Manual Antonio-we opted for MA, and also decided not to do cano negro, so reading your report on those places was especially fun-so well-written I feel like I went there after all!

MRand- where are you going next? I want to read your next trip report!!

maryinmadison - thanks so much for your very kind comments. The "real life" posters/experts on this forum and others as Fodors.com have been invaluable to us for getting the best and the most current information. I was planning for Greece this summer, but looks like we may have to do that next year. Please post a trip report from your next trip -- nothing like having information from someone's who's just been to the place you want to go.

Just found and read your wonderful report . . . thank you so much for taking the time to post it. You are a very entertaining writer.

Buenos viajes,
Sandy (in Denton)

bookmarking

I know this is an old post but I was doing a search and found it. This has got to be one of the most helpful Trip Reports ever! Thanks so much. You now have a fan who will follow all your travel reports.

Ditto! This was an enthralling read. Thank you for giving so many details!

Yes, this was one of my all-time favorites as well. Extremely well written and entertaining. An excellent read for anyone who's in the midst of planning a CR trip. I remember reading an Italy trip report from MRand a few years back and it was also very well done.

I know the report is almost four years old, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought that if I commented on it, it would bring it into recent activity for other people to enjoy. Learned a lot from it. Thanks MRand! Very well written!

I can't thank you enough for all the time you took to write this detailed account of your trip. We are headed to CR in 4 weeks. I was starting to get a little concerned about the driving, but you have allayed my fears. I'm not expecting everything to be smooth. But, as you and others have said, it is all part of the adventure.

You are an incredibly, captivating writer.