Another Great Trip to CR!
Oct 4th, 2012, 09:12 AM
#22
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So day 3 comes bright and early. Our pickup for La Selva is at 5:20a.m., and our tour is set to start at 5:45. We stroll up to the front of the property. There's that darn rooster again! Our driver is prompt, so we get in the van and head off to the La Selva biological station. I've read a lot of trip reports that talk about the abundant wildlife here, so I'm excited to see what's out there.
Before we left for CR, I watched a few YouTube videos about La Selva. One showed a guide with a tour group viewing a toucan and a boa in the same tree, and as they're watching a puma comes walking down the path. I have no expectations of seeing the puma, but think the video bodes well for some good spotting.
Our guide introduces himself as Lenin. And I recognize him as the YouTube guy and tell him that he is famous! He says that he waited his entire life to see that puma, and it was so amazing that it almost made him cry. Just knowing that they live in the area is pretty exciting to us. He asks what we're interested in seeing, and we tell him that we're up for anything but would love to see more toucans. And pretty soon thereafter we start hearing them. We find a tree with several toucans roosting at the top. They seem to like trees with very few leaves. We see both the keel-billed ones that have rainbow Toucan Sam bills and the chestnut-mandibled ones that have gold and brown bills. They sound like giant frogs - croak, croak, croak. The weather is sunny and beautiful, so we're able to get some pictures. Lenin also lets us take pictures through his scope. As we're watching the toucans, two peccaries come out of the brush and run past us. I manage to snap a picture of their legs flying behind them. They smell terrible, but are fun to see!
Lenin finds a lot of beautiful birds including some we've never seen before - a Jacamar, a red-eyed vireo, a white-collared manakin, a rufous mot-mot, and tons of hummingbirds. We see a couple of mot-mots building a nest in the dirt. L. says that they use their long tails to excavate and sweep the dirt out.
We see a bridge you can walk across, and we decide to do that. Below us is a pretty river lined with huge green trees. Lenin mentions that Will Smith was just there filming a movie. I look forward to seeing it! Seems like CR is becoming a hotbed for movie and t.v. filming.
Lenin mentions that he had seen something very cool earlier and asks if we want to see it. Do tourists ever say no to this question? Yes, we want to see it! And he tells us it's a fer de lance, one of the deadliest and most aggressive snakes in the world. When a guide sees one, they mark the trails with tape and a little flag so people will know to look out for them. He leads us off to find the little flag and see if it's still there.
Before we left for CR, I watched a few YouTube videos about La Selva. One showed a guide with a tour group viewing a toucan and a boa in the same tree, and as they're watching a puma comes walking down the path. I have no expectations of seeing the puma, but think the video bodes well for some good spotting.
Our guide introduces himself as Lenin. And I recognize him as the YouTube guy and tell him that he is famous! He says that he waited his entire life to see that puma, and it was so amazing that it almost made him cry. Just knowing that they live in the area is pretty exciting to us. He asks what we're interested in seeing, and we tell him that we're up for anything but would love to see more toucans. And pretty soon thereafter we start hearing them. We find a tree with several toucans roosting at the top. They seem to like trees with very few leaves. We see both the keel-billed ones that have rainbow Toucan Sam bills and the chestnut-mandibled ones that have gold and brown bills. They sound like giant frogs - croak, croak, croak. The weather is sunny and beautiful, so we're able to get some pictures. Lenin also lets us take pictures through his scope. As we're watching the toucans, two peccaries come out of the brush and run past us. I manage to snap a picture of their legs flying behind them. They smell terrible, but are fun to see!
Lenin finds a lot of beautiful birds including some we've never seen before - a Jacamar, a red-eyed vireo, a white-collared manakin, a rufous mot-mot, and tons of hummingbirds. We see a couple of mot-mots building a nest in the dirt. L. says that they use their long tails to excavate and sweep the dirt out.
We see a bridge you can walk across, and we decide to do that. Below us is a pretty river lined with huge green trees. Lenin mentions that Will Smith was just there filming a movie. I look forward to seeing it! Seems like CR is becoming a hotbed for movie and t.v. filming.
Lenin mentions that he had seen something very cool earlier and asks if we want to see it. Do tourists ever say no to this question? Yes, we want to see it! And he tells us it's a fer de lance, one of the deadliest and most aggressive snakes in the world. When a guide sees one, they mark the trails with tape and a little flag so people will know to look out for them. He leads us off to find the little flag and see if it's still there.
Oct 4th, 2012, 03:23 PM
#26
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So off we go to see the dreaded fer de lance! I've heard of them and know that they can be nasty and aggressive. Lenin says there's a saying in Costa Rica - don't be the third - the first person wakes the snake up, the second person ticks it off, and the third person gets the bite. Then he says, "Well I'm the guide, and VG has the camera, so Mr. VG, you're third!"
We hike along the trails. Curiously they're paved, so the hiking is really easy. And then we spy the little flag and piece of plastic tape across the sidewalk area. I'm disappointed to see that the fer de lance is no longer there.
But then Lenin points, and there it is literally right in front of us, so well camouflaged that we wouldn't have even seen it if he hadn't pointed right at. It's in the brown leaf litter right next to the sidewalk, all coiled up, has a big triangular head, and evil looking vertical eye slits. Super creepy!! I say, "At least it's small." And Lenin says that those are the deadliest because they throw out all of their venom, unlike a full-grown adult who has more control. Lenin asks if we want pictures, and he proceeds to take my camera and get really close to the snake. He takes several pictures. In one picture he's making a really funny "Oh no!" face. We ask how long the venom would take to kill someone, and he says with a juvenile it could be as little as two hours. Then we ask how far away the hospital is. Half an hour - so we're good!
Lenin says that the scary thing is that he saw the snake when we was hiking out, but he knows it was there when he went in, and he just walked right by it. Yowza! He's a brave man.
After all of this, it's still only 7:45 in the morning, and Lenin tells us that our driver is there to pick us up and take us back to the lodge for breakfast. We thank him for a great day and are thrilled to have seen so many amazing things.
We hike along the trails. Curiously they're paved, so the hiking is really easy. And then we spy the little flag and piece of plastic tape across the sidewalk area. I'm disappointed to see that the fer de lance is no longer there.
But then Lenin points, and there it is literally right in front of us, so well camouflaged that we wouldn't have even seen it if he hadn't pointed right at. It's in the brown leaf litter right next to the sidewalk, all coiled up, has a big triangular head, and evil looking vertical eye slits. Super creepy!! I say, "At least it's small." And Lenin says that those are the deadliest because they throw out all of their venom, unlike a full-grown adult who has more control. Lenin asks if we want pictures, and he proceeds to take my camera and get really close to the snake. He takes several pictures. In one picture he's making a really funny "Oh no!" face. We ask how long the venom would take to kill someone, and he says with a juvenile it could be as little as two hours. Then we ask how far away the hospital is. Half an hour - so we're good!
Lenin says that the scary thing is that he saw the snake when we was hiking out, but he knows it was there when he went in, and he just walked right by it. Yowza! He's a brave man.
After all of this, it's still only 7:45 in the morning, and Lenin tells us that our driver is there to pick us up and take us back to the lodge for breakfast. We thank him for a great day and are thrilled to have seen so many amazing things.
Oct 4th, 2012, 05:49 PM
#27
Hey I am following this too in my usual quiet way 
Hi everyone !
Hi everyone !
Oct 5th, 2012, 05:43 AM
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It's in the Sarapiqui area (La Tirimbina at night) that I almost stepped on a very young fer-de-lance.
Very memorable at the start of that hike, the guide got out and assembled his snake-handling hook/stick. It was like--oh crap, what are we doing here?
Very memorable at the start of that hike, the guide got out and assembled his snake-handling hook/stick. It was like--oh crap, what are we doing here?
Oct 5th, 2012, 09:34 AM
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Breakfast for day 3 consists of cheese omelettes - cold by the time we get there, beans and rice (yum!), toast, and lots of great fresh fruit like pineapple and papaya. I grab some Lizano sauce to put on the beans and rice - always a must in CR. Today is the day we're heading to La Fortuna, and we have an 11:00 pickup time set. We're going to be heading to the Springs Resort and Spa - a big change from SV. The Springs is pretty swanky and usually out of our price range, but I had seen and purchased a Groupon deal that gave us about 50% off their regular rate. The driver picks us up, and about 2 hours later we pull into the resort. It's beautiful with a lot of nice landscaping.
We head to the front desk, and we're assigned a concierge to take us around and show us everything. They tell us to leave our bags because we'll be doing a lot of walking, and they'll be happy to deliver the bags to the room. We start off on an extensive tour - the place is 5 stories and has gorgeous views of the volcano, a 14,000 sq. ft. spa (Is that possible? That's what they told us!), a game room, 5 restaurants, 18 hot springs, a gym, and a beautiful river at the base of the property where you can go kayaking, tubing, and horseback riding. We decide to stop at the Treetops restaurant for a quick lunch. It's a tiny little open air spot with nice views. We share a burger and a salad. My husband gets a batido - those yummy fruity milkshakes that they have in CR, and I get fresh pineapple juice. The food is good - pineapple juice is excellent! The service is great and very friendly.
After lunch, we board the green school bus that takes you down to the river. It would be a really long hike down without the bus. Somehow we get waylayed into a tour of their cat facility which is on the way down. The Springs has a lot of rescued animals that they house. It doesn't really interest us since we'd rather see animals in the wild. The tour is bilingual, so we have to sit and listen to everything in Spanish first and then English - argh. They have ocelots and margays and a puma. They seem very well taken care of, but still it's sort of sad to see them caged. They tell us that they try to rehabilitate them for release but it's difficult because most of them have been pets. After the tour, we go down to the river, and wow, it's gorgeous! Really beautiful with some small rapids and a lot of lush greenery. They have lounge chairs set up along the river where you can sit, and there's a cool little open air restaurant for casual dining and drinks. Small glass lanterns sparkle in the trees. It's a neat spot, and we look forward to having lunch there another day.
We take the bus back up and hike down to our room. The property is huge. We walk past all the springs, people having lunch at the pool, down, down, down, and finally arrive at our room. And talk about fancy - the furniture is pretty posh, there's a big tub, a patio with a glass table, chairs, and some rocking chairs, a DVD player, air conditioning, robes and all that, and an absolutely oh wow view of the volcano. The rooms are designed with windows that perfectly frame that lush green view. There's even an ice bucket full of ice and a Toto toilet - lol. My husband is excited that they have ESPN. I'm excited to have a toilet that will accept toilet paper. I know that at some point we'll have to force ourselves to leave this room, but for tonight we decide to just stay in, relax, and enjoy the view. We order some appetizers from room service like hummus, veggies, and quesadillas and settle out on the patio for our little feast. Tomorrow we have an early morning pickup for the Penas Blancas float and are hoping to see some more wildlife in the wild!
We head to the front desk, and we're assigned a concierge to take us around and show us everything. They tell us to leave our bags because we'll be doing a lot of walking, and they'll be happy to deliver the bags to the room. We start off on an extensive tour - the place is 5 stories and has gorgeous views of the volcano, a 14,000 sq. ft. spa (Is that possible? That's what they told us!), a game room, 5 restaurants, 18 hot springs, a gym, and a beautiful river at the base of the property where you can go kayaking, tubing, and horseback riding. We decide to stop at the Treetops restaurant for a quick lunch. It's a tiny little open air spot with nice views. We share a burger and a salad. My husband gets a batido - those yummy fruity milkshakes that they have in CR, and I get fresh pineapple juice. The food is good - pineapple juice is excellent! The service is great and very friendly.
After lunch, we board the green school bus that takes you down to the river. It would be a really long hike down without the bus. Somehow we get waylayed into a tour of their cat facility which is on the way down. The Springs has a lot of rescued animals that they house. It doesn't really interest us since we'd rather see animals in the wild. The tour is bilingual, so we have to sit and listen to everything in Spanish first and then English - argh. They have ocelots and margays and a puma. They seem very well taken care of, but still it's sort of sad to see them caged. They tell us that they try to rehabilitate them for release but it's difficult because most of them have been pets. After the tour, we go down to the river, and wow, it's gorgeous! Really beautiful with some small rapids and a lot of lush greenery. They have lounge chairs set up along the river where you can sit, and there's a cool little open air restaurant for casual dining and drinks. Small glass lanterns sparkle in the trees. It's a neat spot, and we look forward to having lunch there another day.
We take the bus back up and hike down to our room. The property is huge. We walk past all the springs, people having lunch at the pool, down, down, down, and finally arrive at our room. And talk about fancy - the furniture is pretty posh, there's a big tub, a patio with a glass table, chairs, and some rocking chairs, a DVD player, air conditioning, robes and all that, and an absolutely oh wow view of the volcano. The rooms are designed with windows that perfectly frame that lush green view. There's even an ice bucket full of ice and a Toto toilet - lol. My husband is excited that they have ESPN. I'm excited to have a toilet that will accept toilet paper. I know that at some point we'll have to force ourselves to leave this room, but for tonight we decide to just stay in, relax, and enjoy the view. We order some appetizers from room service like hummus, veggies, and quesadillas and settle out on the patio for our little feast. Tomorrow we have an early morning pickup for the Penas Blancas float and are hoping to see some more wildlife in the wild!
Oct 5th, 2012, 08:22 PM
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Day 4 arrives bright and early. Today we have a 7:00a.m. pickup with Sunset Tours to do the Penas Blancas river float. We love the Cano Negro tour, but Penas Blancas is much closer and doesn't involve nearly as much travel. We've done the tour once before, and it poured rain on us the entire time we were in the boat. Surprisingly that was on a December trip which is post rainy season. Luckily, we wake up to beautiful sunny weather after a night of rain. Our bed at The Springs is quite possibly the most comfortable one we've ever been in, and hubby says he doesn't ever want to get up, but the allure of wildlife calls to us, and we head up to the lobby for our pickup. There's not a lof of wildlife in the area, but Penas Blancas gives you a good chance of seeing some.
We're picked up by Sunset Tours and taken to their office in La Fortuna. It's located across the street from the church that's at the town's center. There aren't enough people for our tour, so they decide to pair us with Desafio, and we end up going with them instead. This seems to happen a lot in green season with these two companies joining forces. They arrive to pick us up in a nice air conditioned van. There are 4 other people already inside - a newlywed couple and two women who are traveling together. Our guide will be Francisco, and he's really friendly and enthusiastic.
We drive for about 20 minutes and come to the put in spot for the river. Francisco helps us put on life jackets, and then he and another guide start getting the raft ready for us. It's sort of a large rubber raft and just big enough to hold the six of us plus Francisco in the back. He teaches us how to paddle and says that he'll do most of the work, but occasionally he'll need us to step in. You can tell that he loves wildlife and is as excited as we are.
There's a muddy path leading down to the river. We were smart enough to wear water shoes this time after getting our feet soaked on the last trip. The ride is smooth, but there's always standing water in the bottom of the boat. The two girls get in first, then the newlywed couple; we're led to the front of the boat where it's particularly muddy. As I start walking down I step in the mud and immediately start sliding. I utter a little curse word under my breath and everyone starts laughing. I apologize since I barely know these people, take another step, sliiiide and then curse again. The newlywed husband says, "Woman, I've heard much worse than that - I'm from Ireland!" We all get a chuckle out of that. He has a great accent and sounds like the Lucky Charms leprechaun. His wife is from the South which I guessed because she's wearing eyeliner! Finally I make it into the boat, Mr. VG follows after doing some sliding of his own, and we're off with Francisco steering us along. Poor Mr. Ireland has worn running shoes, and they're already soaked.
The river is wide and sort of brownish in color. Much different than the clear water of the Arenal river at our hotel. Francisco says that if we're lucky we may see crocs. Crocs, and us a in a rubber raft? I have that fer de lance feeling all over again.
The first thing we see is a kingfisher - the Green kind, and then we see an Amazon variety. We see several kiskadees, some sand pipers, and a beautiful Passerini's Tanager with a bright red rump. Then we see something really cool - a Jesus Christ lizard. Francisco says they get their name because they can run across the top of the water. It's a brilliant green color and looks like a little dinosaur. Francisco splashes it, and it takes off running across the river while we all try to take photos. As we float down the river, something else catches F.'s eye, and he has us paddle over to the side of the river. Instead of calling it the edge or the side, he calls it "the cliff" - as in let's go over the cliff or now we'll head to the cliff! I get a chuckle out of the semantics. He has us underneath a tree and tells us to look up. None of us sees anything. Look very closely he says. And then we all see them - rows and rows of tiny long-nosed bats clinging to the tree. As we get closer, they all start moving back and forth in unison. They do that to look bigger and ward off predators. They aren't very scary as far as bats go, more tiny and cute and neat to see.
Then we see movement in a tree up ahead. Branches are moving up and down, and immediately we think monkeys!! Turns out it's a family of howlers, and we stop and watch them for a long time - several of them and some with babies on their backs. I never get tired of monkeys, and it's fun to see the Oh Wow! reactions of the people who have never seen them in the wild before. We're all just pretty thrilled and content to sit and watch them for a long time. We try to get pictures, but they move so much that it's nearly impossible, but at least we got to see them.
We see several more water birds, including anhingas with their wings spread wide to dry. We round a bend, and there we see something unexpected - cows! Lots and lots of them, just hanging out at the side of the river. There are a lot of farms in the area, and they must come here to drink. And they're kind of stinky! We round another bend and see something even more unexpected - a giant dredging forklift. F. says it's taking sediment and rock from the river to build roads. Given the state of some of CR's roads, we joke that they don't alter the material much, just dredge and dump. We're having a great time and enjoying all the great sightings.
Then Francisco says, "Ah, here we go" and he points to a big croc on the edge of the water. It's a little freaky to see it, but really amazing at the same time. He has his mouth wide open, and we can clearly see all of his teeth. F. says that they do that to regulate their body temperature. We all want to know if we're okay, and he says they aren't very aggressive in that area because there aren't that many of them to compete and there's plenty of easy food like monkeys, birds, and sloths. We have a debate about if we should get closer. Mr. Ireland is all for it, but the girls aren't as keen on the idea. I snap a picture, and then my camera says "your batteries are dead" - and I feel very lucky that I was able to get a pic of the croc.
We've seen them at the Rio Tarcoles bridge near Manuel Antonio but never from the water as we're floating by. And with that we come to the end of the tour. F. says that we'll be going to a little restaurant for lunch. Sunset's tour description didn't say anything about lunch, so this a little bonus, and we anticipate having some good casados. F. mentions that there will also be beer - Imperial which is our favorite - and a first for us on a tour. It also happens to be my birthday and is shaping up to be a wonderful day. Seeing a croc is a great b-day present!
We're picked up by Sunset Tours and taken to their office in La Fortuna. It's located across the street from the church that's at the town's center. There aren't enough people for our tour, so they decide to pair us with Desafio, and we end up going with them instead. This seems to happen a lot in green season with these two companies joining forces. They arrive to pick us up in a nice air conditioned van. There are 4 other people already inside - a newlywed couple and two women who are traveling together. Our guide will be Francisco, and he's really friendly and enthusiastic.
We drive for about 20 minutes and come to the put in spot for the river. Francisco helps us put on life jackets, and then he and another guide start getting the raft ready for us. It's sort of a large rubber raft and just big enough to hold the six of us plus Francisco in the back. He teaches us how to paddle and says that he'll do most of the work, but occasionally he'll need us to step in. You can tell that he loves wildlife and is as excited as we are.
There's a muddy path leading down to the river. We were smart enough to wear water shoes this time after getting our feet soaked on the last trip. The ride is smooth, but there's always standing water in the bottom of the boat. The two girls get in first, then the newlywed couple; we're led to the front of the boat where it's particularly muddy. As I start walking down I step in the mud and immediately start sliding. I utter a little curse word under my breath and everyone starts laughing. I apologize since I barely know these people, take another step, sliiiide and then curse again. The newlywed husband says, "Woman, I've heard much worse than that - I'm from Ireland!" We all get a chuckle out of that. He has a great accent and sounds like the Lucky Charms leprechaun. His wife is from the South which I guessed because she's wearing eyeliner! Finally I make it into the boat, Mr. VG follows after doing some sliding of his own, and we're off with Francisco steering us along. Poor Mr. Ireland has worn running shoes, and they're already soaked.
The river is wide and sort of brownish in color. Much different than the clear water of the Arenal river at our hotel. Francisco says that if we're lucky we may see crocs. Crocs, and us a in a rubber raft? I have that fer de lance feeling all over again.
The first thing we see is a kingfisher - the Green kind, and then we see an Amazon variety. We see several kiskadees, some sand pipers, and a beautiful Passerini's Tanager with a bright red rump. Then we see something really cool - a Jesus Christ lizard. Francisco says they get their name because they can run across the top of the water. It's a brilliant green color and looks like a little dinosaur. Francisco splashes it, and it takes off running across the river while we all try to take photos. As we float down the river, something else catches F.'s eye, and he has us paddle over to the side of the river. Instead of calling it the edge or the side, he calls it "the cliff" - as in let's go over the cliff or now we'll head to the cliff! I get a chuckle out of the semantics. He has us underneath a tree and tells us to look up. None of us sees anything. Look very closely he says. And then we all see them - rows and rows of tiny long-nosed bats clinging to the tree. As we get closer, they all start moving back and forth in unison. They do that to look bigger and ward off predators. They aren't very scary as far as bats go, more tiny and cute and neat to see.
Then we see movement in a tree up ahead. Branches are moving up and down, and immediately we think monkeys!! Turns out it's a family of howlers, and we stop and watch them for a long time - several of them and some with babies on their backs. I never get tired of monkeys, and it's fun to see the Oh Wow! reactions of the people who have never seen them in the wild before. We're all just pretty thrilled and content to sit and watch them for a long time. We try to get pictures, but they move so much that it's nearly impossible, but at least we got to see them.
We see several more water birds, including anhingas with their wings spread wide to dry. We round a bend, and there we see something unexpected - cows! Lots and lots of them, just hanging out at the side of the river. There are a lot of farms in the area, and they must come here to drink. And they're kind of stinky! We round another bend and see something even more unexpected - a giant dredging forklift. F. says it's taking sediment and rock from the river to build roads. Given the state of some of CR's roads, we joke that they don't alter the material much, just dredge and dump. We're having a great time and enjoying all the great sightings.
Then Francisco says, "Ah, here we go" and he points to a big croc on the edge of the water. It's a little freaky to see it, but really amazing at the same time. He has his mouth wide open, and we can clearly see all of his teeth. F. says that they do that to regulate their body temperature. We all want to know if we're okay, and he says they aren't very aggressive in that area because there aren't that many of them to compete and there's plenty of easy food like monkeys, birds, and sloths. We have a debate about if we should get closer. Mr. Ireland is all for it, but the girls aren't as keen on the idea. I snap a picture, and then my camera says "your batteries are dead" - and I feel very lucky that I was able to get a pic of the croc.
We've seen them at the Rio Tarcoles bridge near Manuel Antonio but never from the water as we're floating by. And with that we come to the end of the tour. F. says that we'll be going to a little restaurant for lunch. Sunset's tour description didn't say anything about lunch, so this a little bonus, and we anticipate having some good casados. F. mentions that there will also be beer - Imperial which is our favorite - and a first for us on a tour. It also happens to be my birthday and is shaping up to be a wonderful day. Seeing a croc is a great b-day present!
Oct 6th, 2012, 08:17 AM
#34
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We take a short drive to the restaurant. It's a small little open air place alongside the river. There are tables covered with big red patio umbrellas, and a big lazy dog lays on the patio. There's also a cute little chihuahua running around, and he wags his tail when I say, "Hola perro." Francisco and a sweet waitress bring big pitchers of cold water to the table and also pitchers of what they call soursop juice, and he opens a cooler full of Imperials. We're in a great group; everyone is friendly and having a lot of fun. They sing Feliz Cumpleanos to me. The waitress brings out the plates of food, and it's the usual CR combination of beef stew, white rice, and black beans. There's also something on the plate we've never seen before - fluorescent hot pink salad of some kind. We try it, and it takes like potato salad, but F. says it's made with beets - who would have guessed? As we finish up, F. comes out of the kitchen and hands me a beautiful little paper flower made from a paper towel. He says that the waitress made it for me, and he also hands me a tiny bottle of pink wine. So sweet and thoughtful. This is why we love the people of Costa Rica so much.
Oct 6th, 2012, 04:35 PM
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Our Pura Vida day continues back at the hotel where we spend the rest of the day exploring the grounds and all of the hot springs. There's an area up near the hotel where they have a big pool and a swim up bar with a great view of the volcano and numerous other hot springs scattered about. The hottest ones seem to be towards the top and the remainder get cooler as you move down the property. There's even a list of the mineral content of each pool. Towards the bottom is an area they call Los Perdidos or The Lost Ones. We wander down there and have the area all to ourselves. Since it's low season there really aren't a lot of people around. The front desk tells us that they're at about 40% occupancy, hence the Groupon deal I guess. In this section of springs, we discover a water slide. It's kind of hidden and surrounded by huge green plants, flowers, and vegetation. We decide to try it out, and wow, it's fast! My husband who is more of a daredevil than I does it over and over again. The good weather holds out and we order drinks and spend the rest of the day by the pool. Mr. VG asks if I'd like to go to Las Ventanas for dinner - it's the swanky high end restaurant on the property. He thinks it would be a great way to celebrate my b-day, and I agree. Going into town from the Springs is kind of a pain because the road is in pretty rough shape between the main road and the hotel. It's the type of road that the ticos refer to as a "free butt massage" - bumpy!!!
As dinnertime rolls around, we head to the restaurant. There's only one other couple in there when we arrive. The place is very pretty. It has huge floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the volcano - it's green as far as the eye can see. It's pretty fancy as far as Costa Rican places go. As far as we're concerned, just having walls is fancy. I order a salad to start, and it comes with amazing fresh papaya and strawberries on top and a delicious homemade vinaigrette dressing. For the meal, I order the surf and turf. It comes with some truffled mashed potatoes and veggies. They also serve yummy little garlic twists of bread with it - so good. My husband has the chicken stuffed with plantains, and he loves his too. The food is definitely a step up from most hotel food, and the service is wonderful. At the end of the meal, they ask if we want dessert, and they recommend homemade ice cream. They have lots of interesting flavors, so we place our order. The next thing I know, the staff comes out carrying a birthday cake for me - tres leches with a raspberry sauce and a candle on top. They clap and sing, and my husband looks really delighted that he was able to surprise me. The people are all so sweet and gracious. Everywhere we go in the hotel people call us by name and know our room number. It's pretty amazing. Fingers crossed that this Groupon deal rolls around again!
As dinnertime rolls around, we head to the restaurant. There's only one other couple in there when we arrive. The place is very pretty. It has huge floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the volcano - it's green as far as the eye can see. It's pretty fancy as far as Costa Rican places go. As far as we're concerned, just having walls is fancy. I order a salad to start, and it comes with amazing fresh papaya and strawberries on top and a delicious homemade vinaigrette dressing. For the meal, I order the surf and turf. It comes with some truffled mashed potatoes and veggies. They also serve yummy little garlic twists of bread with it - so good. My husband has the chicken stuffed with plantains, and he loves his too. The food is definitely a step up from most hotel food, and the service is wonderful. At the end of the meal, they ask if we want dessert, and they recommend homemade ice cream. They have lots of interesting flavors, so we place our order. The next thing I know, the staff comes out carrying a birthday cake for me - tres leches with a raspberry sauce and a candle on top. They clap and sing, and my husband looks really delighted that he was able to surprise me. The people are all so sweet and gracious. Everywhere we go in the hotel people call us by name and know our room number. It's pretty amazing. Fingers crossed that this Groupon deal rolls around again!
Oct 6th, 2012, 05:57 PM
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Day 5 - Mr. VG has picked the activity for today, and he wants to go waterfall rappelling. After so many trips to the area, it's getting harder for us to find new activities, but we've seen this one recommended so many times, and Sunset Tours offered us a good discount since it's a new tour for them. Their tour is called La Roca - The Rock. We wake up at 5:45 a.m. to the sounds of loud howlers close by. I go out onto the patio balcony, but can't see them. I can hear toucans close by as well. As nice as The Springs is, they don't offer a free breakfast so we grab a couple of granola bars before we head up to the lobby. Sunset Tours arrives to pick us up, and there are 4 guides in the van. I ask how many people will be on the tour, and they say just the two of us - yay for low season! Edson is our main guide, and we even have our own photographer named Arturo. He has a tablet with some of his photos on it, and they're incredible. They tell us he's "the paparazzi!" We head down the bad road and spot a sloth along the way. It's rolled up in a tight little ball high in a tree. We drive for a while and end up right by the Lost Iguana which is another favorite hotel of ours. We pull up to a little wooden place that has a nice covered area with picnic tables, and bathrooms complete with showers and changing rooms. They do a brief safety course and help us put our gear on. Our canyoneering will consist of 4 rappels plus a zipline, hanging bridge, some jumps, etc. The highest rappel will be 100 feet. As we're getting ready we spot two chestnut-mandibled toucans in a nearby tree. I'd recognize that squeaky nasaly high-pitched song anywhere. Always love to see those.
We get to the first spot, and I'm the first to go. The guide says to just hang over the edge of the platform and let myself down by gradually releasing the rope in my right hand. I do it, and it's really fun and pretty easy! My husband follows, and wow we're loving this! The scenery is so beautiful, and we have the place all to ourselves. Arturo starts snapping photos. Yay, photos with sopping wet hair and no makeup, but we think it's fun to have proof that we actually did this! All of the drops have amusing names - one is called "The Laundry" and as I look over the edge, I see a swirl of a waterfall. I plunge down, and it totally engulfs me, and I twirl around in the water before making my way to the bottom. There's another drop called "Walking the Plank" and also a couple of spots where we just have to jump off the rocks into the river below. My husband does one of the jumps first, and he comes up in pain. He tells me there's a huge rock under the water and that he smashed his foot into it. Costa Ricans are so tough; one of the guides tells him to just swish it around in the water and it will be fine. It's a little unnerving to jump after that since I'm not sure where the rock is, but the guide says just don't jump as far as your husband. I jump and come up okay. Mr. VG's foot hurts, but he toughs it out. He's having too much fun to let it stop him!
Next we do a Tarzan swing. This consists of holding the rope tightly behind you while the guide pushes you - you swing way out, and the guide at the other end pushes you back. It's really cool! We also walk a hanging bridge, and do a zipline. My husband and I both get stuck on the zipline! Since we've done those before, I know to flip myself around and just pull myself hand over hand until I get to the end. We hike and hike through the water. There are beautiful smooth boulders and pretty green moss everywhere. We never see another soul for as long as we're there, and it's amazing to be someplace that seems so undiscovered. We are loving the low season and getting to have these beautiful spots all to ourselves. We end the course by jumping into the beautiful river and play in the water before we begin the long hike back up. The guides have been great, joking and playing around with us while still helping us to feel safe. I would highly recommend canyoneering for anyone coming to this area - it's a great little adventure and the scenery is just incredible.
We get to the first spot, and I'm the first to go. The guide says to just hang over the edge of the platform and let myself down by gradually releasing the rope in my right hand. I do it, and it's really fun and pretty easy! My husband follows, and wow we're loving this! The scenery is so beautiful, and we have the place all to ourselves. Arturo starts snapping photos. Yay, photos with sopping wet hair and no makeup, but we think it's fun to have proof that we actually did this! All of the drops have amusing names - one is called "The Laundry" and as I look over the edge, I see a swirl of a waterfall. I plunge down, and it totally engulfs me, and I twirl around in the water before making my way to the bottom. There's another drop called "Walking the Plank" and also a couple of spots where we just have to jump off the rocks into the river below. My husband does one of the jumps first, and he comes up in pain. He tells me there's a huge rock under the water and that he smashed his foot into it. Costa Ricans are so tough; one of the guides tells him to just swish it around in the water and it will be fine. It's a little unnerving to jump after that since I'm not sure where the rock is, but the guide says just don't jump as far as your husband. I jump and come up okay. Mr. VG's foot hurts, but he toughs it out. He's having too much fun to let it stop him!
Next we do a Tarzan swing. This consists of holding the rope tightly behind you while the guide pushes you - you swing way out, and the guide at the other end pushes you back. It's really cool! We also walk a hanging bridge, and do a zipline. My husband and I both get stuck on the zipline! Since we've done those before, I know to flip myself around and just pull myself hand over hand until I get to the end. We hike and hike through the water. There are beautiful smooth boulders and pretty green moss everywhere. We never see another soul for as long as we're there, and it's amazing to be someplace that seems so undiscovered. We are loving the low season and getting to have these beautiful spots all to ourselves. We end the course by jumping into the beautiful river and play in the water before we begin the long hike back up. The guides have been great, joking and playing around with us while still helping us to feel safe. I would highly recommend canyoneering for anyone coming to this area - it's a great little adventure and the scenery is just incredible.
Oct 7th, 2012, 07:19 AM
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The hike back up takes a while, maybe about 15 minutes, and its all uphill. We huff and puff a bit on the way up, and E. occasionally stops to show us some neat little plant or cool tree. I think he's taking pity on us and giving us a little break! When we get back to the wooden shelter, the other guides have prepared a great snack of fresh pineapple and bananas and cold water. Our paparazzi has created a photo slide show of all our pictures for us, so we watch that while we snack. Some of our expressions are pretty funny - biting our lips our sticking out our tongues while we focus on getting down the walls and through the waterfalls. Arturo tells us that they would appreciate our doing a review of the tour since it's new, and he adds, "If you have any problems, my name is Juan!" They say we can shower and change if we want to and then we'll head off to the Hanging Bridges for lunch. We're dry by that time so decide to just go as we are.
At the Hanging Bridges, these great ladies prepare lunch for us. We have our choice of casados, and I choose fish, and my husband chooses chicken. Mine is tilapia and so good. It's accompanied by guess what? Rica and black beans! And also some yummy plantains. To drink we have orange soda. As per the rest of the trip, we're the only ones here. The weather is still sunny and clear, and we have some great views of the volcano. After lunch, the guides take us back to the hotel where we pay Arturo $25 for the cd of our pictures. We decide to spend the rest of the day exploring the trails at the base of the property.
At the Hanging Bridges, these great ladies prepare lunch for us. We have our choice of casados, and I choose fish, and my husband chooses chicken. Mine is tilapia and so good. It's accompanied by guess what? Rica and black beans! And also some yummy plantains. To drink we have orange soda. As per the rest of the trip, we're the only ones here. The weather is still sunny and clear, and we have some great views of the volcano. After lunch, the guides take us back to the hotel where we pay Arturo $25 for the cd of our pictures. We decide to spend the rest of the day exploring the trails at the base of the property.
Oct 7th, 2012, 10:09 AM
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We take the old green school bus down to the river to do some exploring. There are lots of steps to hike up and down on the trails. There's a natural waterfall full of cool mineral formations and the water in it is hot, heated by the volcano. As we hike up one trail, water starts pouring down the steps, and we come upon workers trying to contain it. Turns out that the recent earthquake has opened up an entirely new hot spring and the heated water has nowhere to go. They tell us that the day of the earthquake they went out and the water was shooting straight up into the air. So I guess although Arenal isn't currently producing lava, there's still a lot going on underneath the surface.
We stop at the little open air restaurant for drinks and chat with Danny the friendly bartender. We've noticed a lot of American names on this trip - there are several Jasons, Alans, and Johnnys and Dannys. Jason tells us that his parents got his name from watching an American television program! Danny serves us our drinks, and the bus driver starts honking. Since the bus only runs once an hour, it's our only chance to make it so we grab our drinks and run for it. We run past the stable where there are some beautiful horses - they appear to be in much better shape than some others we've seen in CR. And there's also a new rock wall that's being built. There's a lot to do here without ever leaving the property, but I hope the people that stay here will still get out and explore. There's just so much to see and do in this area.
We decide to eat dinner at the Tres Cascadas open air restaurant. As we're walking there it starts pouring rain, but it doesn't last long. The food is okay - we have a club sandwich and some enchiladas that have a pretty good kick to them. Also have Imperials and more of that awesome fresh pineapple juice. After dinner, we walk back down to our room and thankfully the rain has stopped. We settle in for a Downton Abbey marathon and stay up until 9:30 woo-hoo, that's practically a record! Tomorrow we're going to go tubing on the river and then we'll be heading off to another hotel.
We stop at the little open air restaurant for drinks and chat with Danny the friendly bartender. We've noticed a lot of American names on this trip - there are several Jasons, Alans, and Johnnys and Dannys. Jason tells us that his parents got his name from watching an American television program! Danny serves us our drinks, and the bus driver starts honking. Since the bus only runs once an hour, it's our only chance to make it so we grab our drinks and run for it. We run past the stable where there are some beautiful horses - they appear to be in much better shape than some others we've seen in CR. And there's also a new rock wall that's being built. There's a lot to do here without ever leaving the property, but I hope the people that stay here will still get out and explore. There's just so much to see and do in this area.
We decide to eat dinner at the Tres Cascadas open air restaurant. As we're walking there it starts pouring rain, but it doesn't last long. The food is okay - we have a club sandwich and some enchiladas that have a pretty good kick to them. Also have Imperials and more of that awesome fresh pineapple juice. After dinner, we walk back down to our room and thankfully the rain has stopped. We settle in for a Downton Abbey marathon and stay up until 9:30 woo-hoo, that's practically a record! Tomorrow we're going to go tubing on the river and then we'll be heading off to another hotel.
Oct 7th, 2012, 03:12 PM
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Today is our Club Rio day. Of all the activities available, we've chosen tubing, and yes, we're the only people on the tour again! We have two tour guides - Roberto and Mario. They offer to take a video for us, but we pass on it just wanting to spend the day on the river. One set of soggy pictures is enough! We have our choice of tubes - the blue ones which are sort of cushy and have a built-in chair or the yellow ones which are smaller and much more likely to tip over and give you more of a thrill. As quickly as I say blue, Mr. V says yellow! They give us life jackets and helmets and off we go. This activity turned out to be a favorite of ours. In spots you just drift along, but there are several areas of small rapids where you spin around and speed up. Occasionally we get hung up on a rock or in a small whirlpool, and one of the guides quickly swims over to give us a push so we can be on our way again. Mr. V gets tossed off his tube quite a bit, but my trusty blue tube never fails me. There are big beautiful trees all along the riverside. We reach the end, and the guides say we have time to do the run again if we want to. Back on the bus we go to start the river run one more time. At one point my husband spins off towards a rock and comes face to face with a big tarantula perched on top. The second trip is just as fun as the first, and so much for green season, we have not a cloud in the sky. At the end, the guides approach me with tiny smiles on their faces, and I realize they're going to flip my tube over, and that's exactly what happens! They ask if we want to climb the waterfall, and we swim over to it. As we climb, the hot water spills all around us. It's really a cool phenomenon. We really don't want our river trip to end, but we have to grab a quick lunch and head off to the Lost Iguana.
We stop at that neat little open air restaurant where the lanterns hang in the trees. This is one of our favorite spots on the property. Donald is working and says that they aren't quite open yet but after checking with the cook says that they'd be happy to open up for us. We order some ceviche to start, and they serve it with casava chips. Then we share an order of empanadas and a great big salad. The empanadas are so good, and they come with three dipping sauces - a creamy avocado sauce, a spicier red one, and a creamy chipotle that's my favorite. The salad is really good too, very fresh. Donald is super friendly. I think he's just happy to have some customers given the low occupancy. He tells us that during high season the place is packed. We finish our lunch, go back to the room to pack, and then get picked up by our driver to go to the Lost Iguana.
We stop at that neat little open air restaurant where the lanterns hang in the trees. This is one of our favorite spots on the property. Donald is working and says that they aren't quite open yet but after checking with the cook says that they'd be happy to open up for us. We order some ceviche to start, and they serve it with casava chips. Then we share an order of empanadas and a great big salad. The empanadas are so good, and they come with three dipping sauces - a creamy avocado sauce, a spicier red one, and a creamy chipotle that's my favorite. The salad is really good too, very fresh. Donald is super friendly. I think he's just happy to have some customers given the low occupancy. He tells us that during high season the place is packed. We finish our lunch, go back to the room to pack, and then get picked up by our driver to go to the Lost Iguana.
