Percy

<red> Hi Volcanogirl <Green> of course any color you want.

<blue> I am reading and enjoying your </blue> <brown> trip report.

</brown> <yellow> Seems like you </yellow> <purple> had a great time. !!
</purple> <orange> Looking forward to more. </orange>
<maroon> Thanks for taking time to post.</maroon>

volcanogirl

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

AlanJG

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

volcanogirl

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

volcanogirl

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

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

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

volcanogirl

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

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

volcanogirl

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

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

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

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

AlanJG

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

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

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

volcanogirl

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

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

bniemand

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

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

volcanogirl

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

volcanogirl

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

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

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

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

mlgb

Wow, a coral snake!

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

bniemand

Thanks for the tips and the Don Rufino reco VG!

volcanogirl

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

volcanogirl

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

ShellD

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

AlanJG

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

RAC

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

RAC

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