seawitch1

I am going to have to do this in parts. I apologize for the length and hope this will not become a novel, but here it goes...

May 22 - Our day began well enough....the plane was leaving Orlando at 7:00 p.m., we left early enough from St. Petersburg so we wouldn’t be rushed should we run into the stretch of I-4 near Orlando which I un-affectionately refer to as Mickey’s parking lot. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no complete stoppage of traffic and we had no trouble finding our parking facility and shuttle to the airport. Upon our arrival at Martinair, we discovered that the departure time had been changed to 8:30 p.m. Evidently, the connecting flight from Amsterdam was going to be two hours late. We had plenty of time to kill so we decided to sit at the gate and stare at the waiting plane we were going to take. There were some interesting goings on by our plane. We spent four hours watching a guy stand by the plane for four hours doing nothing. Every once in a while he talked on a cell phone, but for the most part, he just walked around the plane. I thought that strange. Another guy was armed with duct tape and either scissors or a box cutter or something. Now, I think the round things attached under the wings are engines (I’m not sure), but assuming they are, the guy was duct taping the engine under one of the wings. It begs for a commercial...Ahh, duct tape, it’s not just for pipes anymore! Seriously though, the idea of duct taped planes kind of turns my stomach and I wish I had thought to snap a picture. Someone really should tell Martinair that repairs to planes should not be made in front of passengers. I was hoping he was just duct taping some kind of door or something, but I dunno. We ended up departing Orlando sometime after 9:00 p.m. on an uneventful flight and arrived in CR at about 10:15 or so. Our transportation to Orchideas Inn was waiting for us when we arrived and we were thrilled to finally arrive.

May 23 - The next morning we awoke to a nice sunny day and took a few minutes to walk around the Orchideas grounds. It really is a very pretty place and I wish we had a little more time to spend there, but Oscar was picking us up at 8:30 for our trip to Poas, Doka Plantation, LaPaz Waterfalls & Gardens, and then finally or Lost Iguana near Arenal.

Our first stop was Doka. We arrived shortly after 9:00 and I thought we would have to wait until 9:30 when I thought the first tour was to begin. To my surprise, we were greeted immediately and were taken on our tour. I really liked Doka and would like to tour the facility when the harvesting and all the activity is taking place. The altitude, humidity and weather in general was fabulous. The grounds are very pretty. I want to live there.

By the time we left Doka, the clouds had moved in and we were not able to stop at Poas. That was somewhat disappointing. We’ll have to put it on the list for next time. LaPaz was next. There was off and on drizzling when we arrived at LaPaz. LaPaz is another very pretty place. It is definitely worth a stop. We spent several hours there and had their lunch buffet which was very good. Anxious to meet the volcano, we departed.

The drive to Lost Iguana was nice. It was somewhat cloudy when we arrived and I was hoping for but not expecting a view. Before we left, we checked the forecast for the areas we were visiting which was a waste of time and a mistake...rain, thunder storms, rain and more rain it said. So I mentally prepared for the worst. Check-in at the Lost Iguana was uneventful and Oscar drove us up to our room, Room 23, ground floor luxury suite with king size bed. We had an additional roll away brought in for my daughter. Oh my gosh, I cannot tell you how nice this place is. We had an outdoor shower (ooo la la!) and a pond outside our balcony with huge toads that jumped around at night, and with the rocking chairs, of course. I know other posts have noted musty smells in their rooms, but we had none of that. What we did have was a beautiful room with a great view of the volcano. I really could not have asked for anything more.

We decided since it was getting later and we did not have a car, to eat at the hotel restaurant. The food was good and at some point during, I saw the lava flow from the volcano, but on the wrong side. All the pictures I had seen had the flow on the right of the volcano, but this was on the left. I did not know that the flow had shifted. Regardless, I couldn’t believe I was seeing it the first night we were there. I thought how lucky we were.

Next...One Big Stair Stepper, Hanging Bridges, El Silencio, El Novillo and Cano Negro

shillmac

Good job! Fun to read. . .ready for more!

CRIdo

I'm very interested in doing a similar first day route as yourself: SJ area - Poas & La Paz - then to Arenal
Could you tell me in total how long your trip took & around what time you arrived in Arenal? How many hours would you recommend planning for touring La Paz?

Thanks! Can't wait to read the rest!

Percy

Keep those reports coming seawitch1!!

Thanks

Percy

shillmac

Hi Percy, I didn't bring your e-mail address with me, so shoot me an e-mail, and I'll have it. And see if you can get lower temps in Puerto Rico! Whew!

It's pretty clear today, but Monserrat volcano has been acting up the last few days and it has been very hazy up until today. A little bit of rain Monday coated the cars with ash/mud drops.

Jed

May I suggest that posting all parts on one thread makes it easier to follow your trip report.

Percy

shillmac

I sent you an e-mail, but TRY to suffer it out in that hot Caribbean climate with the palm trees ,white silver sand, touquise water, yacht and the upcoming wedding.

Someone has to suffer and tolerate those conditions ,so it might as well be you!!!!!!

Boy,am I glad I am here, where it has been raining all day long !!

Have a good time

Percy

Percy

ttt

having trouble posting this

Percy

seawitch1

CRIdo - We left Orchideas about 8:30 a.m. but couldn't do Poas due to the clouds. Oscar also stopped by this place called Las Iguanas to view the pollo de arboles (chicken of the trees). Some of the biggest iguanas I've ever seen. That probably took 20 minutes or so. We probably spent three hours or a little more at LaPaz (included the lunch buffet which was very good bit also very crowded at that time). I think we probably got to Arenal somewhere around 4:00 or so (it was still daylight and it gets dark early). We could easily have spent more time at LaPaz, but I really wanted to get to the volcano. There is a fern trail we did not do, but we did visit the hummingbird garden (spent quite a bit of time there), the serpentarium, the ranarium and the orchid gardens (not a lot of time there because we were going to do Lankester later during our trip).

While we were with the frogs, one of the workers (they are all so nice) told me that he does some photography on the side besides his job there. I asked him if he would take some pictures for me because you can't shoot frogs with a flash, the flash could blind them. He took a couple of great pictures for me which I will post somewhere as soon as I can put them all together. I took over 1000 during the two weeks and it's going to take some time.

So I think if you want to include the lunch buffet in your plans, three or four hours would be good for LaPaz.

Oh, one other thing. You want to check out their bathrooms. Reminded me of bathroom you would find in Vegas. Yeh, I like bathrooms!

SBROWNELL

seawitch1

Please keep the trip report coming. We are going to Costa Rica too and love hearing your stories. We are following a similar path - sort of. We go to Tortugera first than fly back early one morning to drive to Arenal via the La Paz Waterfall area. Staying at Lost Iguana with our 2 children 13 & 15. Can't wait to hear the rest.

seawitch1

Part 2 - Gosh, I apologize for the length...

For our first full day at Arenal, we had planned to do the hanging bridges and then Oscar was going to take us to the Park to do some climbing on the lava fields. My husband woke up around 4:00 that morning and took a peak out of our window. The volcano was clear as could be with just a slight wisp of a cloud showing itself near the bottom of the volcano. With sunrise near, you just can’t believe how pretty the sight was. Our cameras at the ready, we clicked away. Now I know from previous posts that the LI grounds are spread out and very much a climbing up and down kind of a place. I had no idea just how much climbing I would be doing in Costa Rica. Florida is flat and just above sea level. Costa Rica is not. Ugh! After a day of climbing up and down at LaPaz and now at LI, I thought I was going to die. I could not catch my breath for anything. But by the time we left CR, almost two weeks later, I found myself adjusting and feeling better physically (and mentally) than I have in a long time. My husband dubbed CR “one big stair stepper.” He is right. Although it won’t be the same, I think I’ll buy one. Anyway, after a very good breakfast at LI, we were off to the hanging bridges. I did not know there was a path that leads from LI to the bridges, so we called the cart and they transported us to the entrance. We also didn’t hire a guide at the bridges because our driver was going to pick us up at the bridges to take us to the Park a couple of hours later and if we had a guide, we would probably have him waiting for us, and I didn’t want to do that. If I had to do it over again, I believe I would hire a guide. The views from the hanging bridges were great and we enjoyed them very much. A large crab jumped out and tried to bite my husband. Boy did he jump...my husband, not the crab. It was great. You wouldn’t believe the noise coming out of its claws. I thought he was out of place, a crab in the woods, but nonetheless, he was there. While at one of the bridges, one of the worker guys motioned for us to come to him, that he had found a blue jeans frog. I feel very badly that I had forgotten what they had told me the day before at LaPaz, that you should not shoot frogs with a flash. I made the mistake and shot him. Just then a guide came up and said you should not shoot with a flash. I hope he’s okay. At the conclusion of the bridges, some guy asked if we were there for our driver, Oscar, and we said yes. Unfortunately, Oscar could not make it and he arranged for this guy, Ronald Acuña from Jacamar Tours take us to the hanging bridges. He is soooo nice, friendly, knowledgeable, etc. He said he would take us wherever we wanted to go but that he was told we wanted to do the Park. He said we probably would not see the lava flow from the Park since it had changed directions about 1 ½ weeks prior. (That explained the lava flowing on the wrong side the evening before) He suggested we go to Silencio which is privately-owned and which, though it does not have lava fields, has lush vegetation, more climbing (ugh), and a fabulous and close view of the volcano. We were up for whatever he suggested so we were off to Silencio. The entry cost was $3 pp which is somewhat cheaper than the Park and we were not disappointed. I apologize for dwelling on the climbing, but the steps at this place were like twice the height of normal steps. It was rough....for me. Ronald asked if I thought I could make it and I said sure...that I might have to stop every now and then to catch my breath, but sure, I could do it. We did see some sloths and heard the howler monkeys and Ronald would make that noise the guides make and they would answer back which was comical. He pointed out all the plants and trees and their medicinal uses, etc. He is very knowledgeable. But when I asked him about specific bugs (I like bugs), he wasn’t as knowledgeable, i.e., “Oh, that’s some bug.” He is hilarious.

Quite some time later, we made it to the place to “view” this monster. There was a nice bench right next to a tree with a nest full of baby birds and their parents. It was so clear and pretty and you could see the lava flow down just to the left of center. We just sat there for a long time staring at the volcano. There was no one else there but us...it was great. While there, the owner of the property had come by to say hello. After we finished ooooing and ahhhing, we decided to head out. I made the comment that I thought this would be a great place to see the volcano at night and on our way out Ronald asked the guy we bought the tickets from if we could return later. He said it would be fine as long as we kept our ticket from that morning.

It was nearing lunch time, so we decided to stop at El Novillo for something to eat. Missypie was right about the steak. It was excellent. She was also right, according to my daughter, that the Fetuccini Alfredo was excellent as well. Since the lava has shifted, the best view of the flow right down the middle of the volcano is from El Novillo. We paid for Ronald’s meal which he was not expecting and for which he was grateful.

Just a note about guides. I do not know if this is common, but in Ronald’s case it is. He has a wife and kids about 70 KM from LaFortuna. He does not own a car and told us that only 30% or so of Costa Ricans own a car, so has to take buses to work. As it would take a long time to go back and forth, he only goes home once a week to see his family. His family lives in a farming community and the pay to work in the farming business is not good, so in order to make a better wage, he became a guide and stays in LaFortuna in what he described as a dorm with other guides that can’t make it home and back for work. Jacamar pays for the accommodations. He doesn’t live in LaFortuna because it costs more to live there than where his family currently is. I found it sad that he sees his family only once a week. I thought being a guide would be a pretty neat job, but.....

Having eaten, we asked Ronald to return us to LI so we could take a dip in the pool which was very refreshing. It was at the pool that I tried my first Cacique Sour (hiccup!). In interesting taste indeed. A couple of them was enough.

Ronald picked us up later and we were either going to go to Tabacon or try the volcano again. Since it was quite warm out, we decided to do the volcano. The Springs I think would be better in the rain or when it is a little cooler, plus when we drove by, it looked quite crowded from all the cars in the lot. We weren’t the only ones with the idea to view the volcano from Silencio at night. There were a number of vans/cars there for the same thing. Unfortunately, the clouds had moved in and we didn’t stay too long because we were starting to get bit by mosquitos. This was a tiring day for us so we asked Ronald to return us to LI, which he did. Sure enough, an hour or so later the view of the volcano was clear again...maybe we should have hung around. Tomorrow is Cano Negro.

seawitch1

Part 3 - Cano Negro

Oscar had arranged for us to take a trip to Cano Negro through Jacamar Tours on our third day. Jacamar picked us up at LI and transported us to their offices in LaFortuna. We got on the bus at Jacamar and then drove a block or two. Turns out we had one more person than seats available on the bus and, too bad for us, we had to take this huge Mercedes air conditioned bus instead of the much smaller bus to Cano Negro. It was a nice ride. Our guide for the trip, I believe his name was Alex, commented on the farms, etc., we passed along the way and we made a stop at Los Iguanas to view the iguanas (although we had seen them on the way up to Arenal). The drive was a pleasant one, the countryside is pretty. I don’t want to sound negative on this tour, but living in Florida, we have areas similar to this, although without some of the birds, but basically somewhat the same. It also was difficult to get to the front of the boat for pictures...seems everyone wanted to be there and our group didn’t seem to want to take turns to give everyone a chance. We did get to see an emerald basilisk, spider monkeys, a sloth and howler monkeys. All in all, at that time, I thought it was just okay. But hindsight is 20-20, and it turns out that this was the only place we were able to see a large number of howlers (only saw one stray at MA) and spider monkeys. So, I’m glad we did it. A very good lunch was provided on the way back to town. That night, back at LI, I needed to confirm my taxi/boat/taxi reservations. I attempted to make that call from our room, but the call wouldn’t go through. I called down to the office to let them know I could not make a call I needed to make. If I had anything negative to say about LI, it would be the lack of phone service we experienced. I don’t know if it was just during the time we were there or if this is a common occurrence, but I understand that at least while we were there, only 11 phone lines were available to be shared between the LI, the hanging bridges and another nearby hotel (don’t know which hotel that is). The front desk told me they were hoping to get service within the next two hours. I tried back later and they still could not get service. I was afraid we were going to get canceled if I didn’t get through, though I’m not sure that would have happened. The on-site manager offered for me to use her cell phone to make the call, but I would have to make the call at the dam since there was no cell phone service at LI. They drove me down to the dam and I was able to make the call. So all was okay and I thought their customer service was excellent in that regard. I did question (wouldn’t be the last time) my decision not to rent a cell phone when I had the opportunity upon our arrival at Orchideas.

Next – Monteverde, Children’s Eternal Forest twilight tour and MV Reserve in the late afternoon