Another wonderful trip to CR!
 

Hi, guys! We're back from our wonderful trip to CR. This one included another trip to Arenal, as well as our first trip to Tortuguero, and a stay at Xandari. Everything was so great - as always we were charmed by the beauty of CR and the wonderful Tico people. Is it too early to start planning the next vacation?! We wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped us in planning. You never steer us wrong. :)

Our first day was basically a travel day. We arrived at the airport early and got the surprise of being bumped up to first class; that was a real treat! The flight to CR is only 3 hours for us, so it seems like we were there in no time. Carlos Bogarin, our driver, was there waiting for us at the airport. We breezed through customs and immigration in just 15 minutes, much better than the 3 hours it took us on a previous trip. For anyone with a private driver, they wait for you right at the airport exit and hold a sign with your name on it. We found Carlos right away and headed off to Arenal/La Fortuna in his air-conditioned van. He was very thoughtful and provided a cooler full of cold bottled water for us.

The drive up was beautiful, but full of lots of twists and turns. If anyone gets carsick, I'd recommend taking Dramamine or something similar. We saw a lot of landslide damage that we hadn't seen before. Carlos said that they had had some heavy rains that wiped out a bridge and closed the roads for a while. In a few spots, all the vegetation was gone from the hillsides and there was some road damage. We were setting our watches and asked Carlos if they have daylight savings time. He said they tried it, but that it didn't work because everyone just went to work an hour later - lol. Carlos is really knowledgeable about the area. He even helped the owner of the Lost Iguana find her land for the hotel. He was telling us the prices of some of the plots for sale - $350,000 for this and $700,000 for that. Makes you wish you had bought there a few years ago!

At one point, we stopped for a bathroom break and to get a snack. The air was very cool, and full of a lot of misty clouds. I began to panic a little because I had only packed one long-sleeved top and no jacket, mostly just packed capri pants, shorts, and t-shirts. My husband didn't pack anything with long sleeves. Uh-oh!

We got back in the car and began to see huge swarms of bugs hitting the windshield. Carlos said they were termites, and that about one weekend a year this happens. They were everywhere. Lucky us - lol! Eagle eye Carlos spotted a lot of neat things along the way, including 3 toucans! We found Carlos to be very thoughtful. He even offered to make any stops, zipline, etc. that we wanted at no extra charge. We were anxious to get to the Lost Iguana so we just kept going. He's an interesting man and told us a lot about the culture and people of CR. I think he talks as little or as much as you like. Very happy to answer questions but equally happy to let you sit back and enjoy the ride.

Along the way it starts pouring rain, and my husband mentions that he's glad he isn't driving. We also drive through huge fog banks and can barely see the road. Other than the landslide damage, the roads are in good shape, and it's smooth sailing all the way to Arenal.

Carlos asks us if we want to stop for dinner, and we decide to just get somthing to go, so we can get to our favorite property. He stops at Soda La Parada in La Fortuna, and we get a pizza of all things! It was very good, and the total bill including a drink was only ten bucks!

The total drive is a little under three hours. We paid $140 for our wonderful driver and thought it was well worth it. A lot of people do make the drive on their own though - more adventurous souls than we are! Really the only hindrances are the rain and fog, and of course you don't want to drive after dark.

At LI, they greet us with yummy fruit juice drinks and get us all checked in. When I booked the Lost Iguana, I asked about specials, and they gave me 20% off our room. Doesn't hurt to ask I guess! I had requested the room we stayed in previously, but they were doing maintenance work on it, so they assigned us to another room. Wow, this one was up a steep incline and about as far away from reception as you could get. I was glad that they had the golf cart to take us to our room.

We've stayed at the Lost Iguana previously, and when we entered the room, we found that they had left us a little welcome back gift basket. So thoughtful, and so Costa Rican. It had a coupon for a free dinner for two and their open air restaurant, a certificate for a free couples' massage at their spa, beautiful fresh tropical flowers, and a neat little handmade photo album for us to put our photos in.

As we settle in to enjoy the pizza on our balcony, it starts pouring rain - a huge deluge that seems like it will never stop, but it's so cozy and relaxing. We decide to call it a night and head off to sleep.

Keep it coming ,I am enjoying reading about your adventure :)

Hi, Percy - I hope your hand is getting better!

Day two was our Cano Negro trip day with Sunset Tours. We have already done this tour before on previous trips, but the wildlife sightings have always been so good for us that I can't resist doing it again. We have a 7:00 a.m. pickup so we'll miss the complimentary Lost Iguana breakfast. I always pack a box of granola bars in the luggage for that very reason. All the good stuff in CR happens in the a.m!

Our driver arrives promptly at 7:00. I've noticed that people in CR tend to be very punctual, much different than our experiences in the Caribbean and Mexico. The driver takes us to the Sunset Tours office where we board an air-conditioned van to begin the trek to Cano Negro - about two hours and close to the border of Nicaragua. We introduce ourselves to the other four people on the van and right away hit it off with one of the other couples. It's their first trip to CR, but they've traveled all over and tell us they are loving CR - our kind of people! The ride is very smooth - no volcano in site though, and it's very foggy. The two other couples both tell us that they don't even believe there's a volcano there, that it's some sort of marketing ploy set up by the CR government to increase tourism - lol! We are so happy that we're with a good, fun group because we've learned that that can make a huge difference in how fun the tours are. We assure them that there really is a volcano and hope they get the chance to see it!

Along the way we stop at the Iguanas restaurant for cold drinks and a bathroom break. Lots of souvenirs to buy here as well. The trees are full of huge iguanas, and there are lots of good photo ops. They discourage you from going out on the bridge like we used to do. A woman was hit by a big truck there and knocked over the edge into the water below. Luckily she survived, but she did break her arm. The restaurant has put fresh fruit out for the birds, and we see some pretty ones.

Back on the road and lots of chatting with the other couples. The last stretch of the road is very bumpy, Monteverdeish unpaved road that has us bouncing along for the last twenty minutes or so. We arrive at the put-in point and get one last chance at the bathrooms since there are none on board. My husband realized that he has forgotten to pack the binoculars for our trip, but the guide has some we can share. I'd highly recommend bringing your own with you though.

Right away we have some great animal sightings; we see a laughing falcon, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, caimans, long-nose bats, sloths, and lots of birds, including a Poo Too, anhingas, egrets, kingfishers, etc. We spend several hours on the water. Sunset Tours provides a cooler full of cold fruit drinks - Tropical is the brand, and the mixed fruit and the mango ones are delicious. The day is hot and muggy, much more humid than trips we've had in the past. We're glad to have the cold drinks on board. Our guide is very good and informative. He tells us that Zender is no longer with Sunset Tours, which is a bummer because he was one of our favorite guides.

After the tour, we head back to the on-site restaurant where we enjoy casados. You have your choice of beef or chicken, and we get one of each so we can try both. The food was pretty good, kind of homey comfort food, and they serve it with some kind of white fruit juice - guanabana I think? As we're finishing up, we're astounded when a girl from our group begins doing karaoke! Apparently out in the middle of nowhere they have a karoke machine, and she has a lot of fun serenading us with a Beetle's song! After that, we head back to La Fortuna and make one last stop at the Iguanas restaurant.

They have delicious homemade ice creams there with some exotic flavors, and we all get a cone. As we're enjoying it, a baby howler comes crawling down to get some of the fruit that was left out for the birds. He seems to really love the people, and even shakes hands with a little boy. We all have to watch our ice cream because he seems intent on trying a lick!

We all get dropped off, and one couple tells us that if we're ever in Vegas that we should come stay in their home. Don't you just love CR? Such fun and friendly people go there. For some reason, I rarely see this sort of thing in the states, but people in CR just seem to bond over the great experience and natural beauty. They told us that they had driven to La Fortuna and freaked out about driving in the fog and rain. We pass along the name of our driver in case they need him.

Back at the hotel, we decide to redeem our certificate for our free welcome dinner at the LI. The food in years past hasn't been great, and it's the only thing we haven't loved about the hotel. Surprisingly, it's pretty good. I had heard that they had gotten a new chef, and it shows. They have really good homemade tortillas, and a guacamole with chips that we love. Of course, we have to pair it with an Imperial! The chips in CR are so good, much thicker than those back home, and they all taste homemade. Good stuff! The only thing we didn't enjoy at the restaurant was the tilapia my husband ordered, too dry and overcooked for our tastes.

I forgot to mention that we saw a snake on the way to dinner! I always carry a headlamp just because the paths in CR can be dark, and as we're walking, we see a big snake laying across the cement walkway. It's kind of dark, so I can't tell what kind it is, but I struggle to get the camera turned on, so I can get a pic. It's more scared of us than we are of it, and it scrambled off into the bushes, leaving me with a picture of the tail!

No volcano sighting again today, but we do hear the rumbles behind the mist. Even that is exciting!

Back in the room, we check CNN for any news. It seems like 24/7 Michael Jackson coverage so we turn it off and head out to the balcony to relax. More rumbles from the volcano, and I enjoy taking a bath out on the balcony. They have these great jacuzzi tubs complete with bath salts and a candle - so relaxing after a long day. Big cascading vines and flowering plants all around, so you're hidden from view. Very fun! Hopefully the volcano will make an appearance while we're here!

The next day we're going white water rafting, which we've never done before. After several trips, there are still so many things we haven't done!

vgirl, when were you here exactly? We should have tried to "arrange" a meeting! Great report--sounds like the perfect trip. Planning the next one yet? Hot in Houston, I'll bet?!

So white water rafting day has arrived! After a lot of research on the board, we decided to go with Rios Tropicales; they seem to get consistently good reviews. Our tour includes breakfast, lunch, and the rafting, so we decide to skip the Lost Iguana complimentary breakfast and sleep in. Another night of pouring rain and lots of lightning, but so far we've been lucky with the weather during the day.

The driver picks us up promptly at 8:00, and we go around to the other hotels to pick everyone else up. We meet a couple from New York and three girls who only speak Spanish. After picking everyone up, the driver pulls over to pick up what smells like a delicious breakfast. One of the guides starts eating, and it turns out the breakfast is just for them! Granola bars to the rescue. But we're regretting passing up our free hotel breakfast. I'd recommend eating before you go.

We drive about an hour and forty minutes to the Sarapiqui River. The drive is very pretty, very green, lots of trees - several of the trees are in bloom with yellow flowers. The roads are in good shape. Our tour also includes a photographer that takes shots along the way for purchase later if you're interested. Pretty impressive resume - expert photographer AND kayaker.

We arrive at the river and are joined by a new guide, Michael - he's awesome, very friendly. They give us all helmets and life jackets and begin giving us a thorough safety lesson - teaching us all the commands like when to paddle forward, paddle backward, brake, huddle in the middle, etc. We all apply sunscreen and have our sunglasses attached to our Croakies, so we don't lose them. They decide to put is in two different boats. We're paired with NYC couple because they speak English. I imagine it would be pretty difficult to give all the commands in both English and Spanish both!

We board the boats, and the women vote for the men to be in front! I'm curious to see how the river looks because I know the area was hard hit by the earthquake in January. Our guide tells us that the river was shut down for several months due to debris and that during that time he became a high school English teacher until the river opened again.

We begin negotiating the class III rapids and at one dip, my husband gets flipped out of the boat. Our guide promptly reaches in and hauls my husband and the paddle into the boat. It's impressive how fast he does it. We all kind of get a kick out of someone going overboard so soon. And our guide seems happy that we're all adventurous and not too freaked out! Parts of the river are very smooth and parts have some really fun rapids. It's fun to float along and then get a wild ride. At one point he has us do the "washing machine" down some rapids. Our side paddles forward while the other paddles backward, and we just spin and spin down the rapids. He has us all raise our paddles in the air and yell, "Pura Vida!" It's so much fun!

The photographer rides in the kayak and takes photos the entire trip, which is awesome because we love pictures, but there's no way you could keep a camera dry in the boat.

I notice that when the river splits in a few spots, the other guide takes the girls down the easy side, while we go bucking over the wilder side. We love it!

After a couple of hours, they have us pull over to a little beach/sand bar, and they pull out all this amazing fruit - ah, this is breakfast! They cut up mangos, papaya, pineapple, and watermelon and lay it all out beautifully on top of the canoe. The fruit in CR is always so good, and we are all hungry from the workout we've gotten. After we've eaten, they have us put the peels in the river to feed the fish, and we all begin piling back into the rafts.

At this point, the guide decides the women should be in the front. Wow, the view is so much better if you're the lead! We're having so much fun until we sail over the top of a big rock and the boat flips on its side. My husband and I sail to the right and flip NY guy out of the boat along with us! Boy, was he happy about that - ha, ha! The guide pulls us all back in without batting an eye. He wants reassurance that we're all okay, and we give it to him, so back to the adventure!

It's really cloudy and overcast that day. I don't even bother wearing the sunglasses. Along the banks are some big trees toppled on their side, but other than that we see very little damage and no debris in the water. We go along for another couple of hours, and I get flipped out one more time. I think it really is harder to be in the front because a big dip doesn't give that much time to hunker down in the middle of the boat. I decided to move back to the middle of the boat where it's safe - lol.

After we reach the end of the ride, we all pile out of the boat. We're glad we wore Keen's - great water shoe and perfect for rafting. The other couple has on running shoes - not very comfortable when wet and full of little rocks.

The guides pack up the boats and all the gear, and we head to Turrialba Reserve for a nice buffet lunch of beef and chicken, cold salads, veggies, and homemade ice pops for dessert. The pops are good - I get coconut, and it's really refreshing. During lunch, they run all the pictures on the computer. There's a funny one with my husband upside down in the river with only his feet sticking up in the air! I have a look of deep concern on my face. In the next shot we're all laughing. Fun way to relive the trip!

After lunch, we walk out onto the bridge - it has a great view of the river. Turrialba has a place where you can shower and change clothes - nice to be back in something dry for the trip back. Total cost for everything was $75 per person. We loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat. NYC couple asks if there really is a volcano - seems to be the theme of the trip!

We get back around 4:00, and lo and behold, Volcano! We get a great view and decide we don't want to leave the room, so we just sit out on the balcony and enjoy it. I probably take 100 pictures! We had thought about visiting one of the hot springs, but we don't want to leave our view, so we order room service. We've done both Tabacon and Eco Termales on prior trips. I definitely think the springs are worth doing if you've never done them before.

We get chips and guacamole with homemade pico de gallo, an awesome hamburger with grilled onions and barbecue sauce, and some decent quesadillas. The hamburger is seriously good. My husband raids the mini bar for some Imperials - only $2 each, which seems pretty reasonable for hotel fare.

We enjoy sitting on the balcony in our rocking chairs, looking out at paradise. The LI property is gorgeous - huge acreage with lots of trails, ponds, and gorgeous plants and flowers. Butterflies are everywhere. It's amazing we ever leave the room! Housekeepings leave little towel animals every day, so it's fun to come home and see what will greet us. The first day we got two swans and a heart with fresh flowers, another day we got two elephants kissing, and another day we find a towel basket full of fresh flowers. Great little touches that make this place so fun!

Boy , were you having a time.

Yeah men in the front of the boat, so they cannot tell if the women are paddling back there :)

All that talk about food made me hungry ...see you after lunch!!

What a great report, VG! Keep it coming!

Great way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon reading about your fun Costa Rican adventures - keep the report coming! It sounds like you had a wonderful time at Arenal and am anxious to hear all about Tortuguero since I kept urging you to go there.

I am LOL imaging all of you getting dumped repeatedly out of the raft!

Hey, yea, we could have taken it easy back there. Wish I had thought of it!

Thanks, crl - we had such a good time!

So the next day we wake up and run out on the balcony - sunny weather! Hurrah! The volcano is gorgeous, and we see rocks bouncing down the right side of Arenal. Very cool! The rocks leave a smoky trail behind as they go tumbling down. I hope everyone who goes to La Fortuna gets the chance to see it!

This is sort of our free day, and we debated about hiking the waterfall or doing Sky Trek since that got rained out last time. We've ziplined before in Monteverde, so we decide to go with the waterfall hike. I've heard it's beautiful with an easy hike down and a long haul back up.

At long last, we get to enjoy breakfast - they offer juices, eggs, the ubiquitous yummy rice and beans, some herbed potatoes, and sausage that looks suspiciously like hot dogs! The open air restaurant on site has a perfect view of the volcano. After breakfast, the LI front desk calls a cab for us. The front desk service was great - really helpful and really fluent in English. They also have a computer so you can check your e-mail if you want to.

The cab arrives and drives us to the entrance of the waterfall. The setup is much more elaborate than I expected. Big parking lot and a building at the entrance. You pay a $10 fee and get your receipt then take the receipt to a separate window to get a paper bracelet to wear for entry.

We begin hiking down - a few little steep spots but a pretty easy hike. You can either hike to the waterfall or go to the "Mirador" which is a lookout spot where you can enjoy the view. We want to hike down to the bottom so we go that route. It probably takes 10-15 minutes in total. When we get to the bottom, we're surprised at how big the falls are. So pretty and lots of people swimming at the bottom. One guy is swimming into the bottom of the falls even though a sign warns of imminent death! I guess it's pretty dangerous. We take lots of pictures, and then without warning the skies open up, and it starts pouring! Everyone runs for cover and most people leave. We're already wet, so we decided to just wait it out. After 10 minutes, it stops, and we have the place just about to ourselves!

There's an older man, a security guard of sorts that stands around near the waterfall. We walk past him and see a little set of stairs on the left, so we take those down and end up on a beautiful little beach. We didn't even know it was there. I know people swim near the falls, but this was on the opposite side, in the river. The water is crystal clear in spots and a gorgeous shade of blue in others. We can see big trout in the water. We have on shorts, but wade in up to our knees. The water feels awesome. Definitely wear your swimsuit if you want to enjoy it - it's gorgeous!

As we're in the water, we see a couple on the opposite side of the river. They look exhausted and pretty cranky. They ask how long it took us to get to the river, and we say about 10 minutes. They have been hiking down the opposite side, in an area outside the park over an untamed area. Their guide had told them there was a river down there, but they didn't realize how bad the walk would be. The girl looks so sad, so I tell them just to hike back up the way we came. Only then do we realize what the security guard does. He keeps people without wristbands from going near the falls or back up the trail. They don't have any money with them, so they're doomed to go back up and redo the horrible hike that brought them down. My husband offered to give them $20 to pay the fee, but they don't want to accept it. We would want people to save us in that situation! They decide to swim and then head back up the way they came. Brave souls!

After enjoying the water, we begin the hike up. Boy, does it seems lot harder going up than it did coming down! We decide to check out the Mirador view on the way back up - so pretty, and we discover a little souvenir shop that sells cold drinks. We split a water and hike back up to the entrance where the front desk agrees to call the number we have for our taxi.

The same driver returns, and we ask him to drop us off in town so we can go to dinner. We decide to try a place we've never been before, Don Rufino. We've enjoyed La Choza de Laurel and El Novillo before, but the front desk at LI told us El Novillo recently changed owners and chefs, so we decide to try the new spot. Don Rufino is more restaurant-like than the other spots - it's a beautiful little spot, but still with a very casual dress code which suits our needs perfectly. I ordered trout in lemon/butter/brandy sauce. It comes, and it's pink! I've never seen pink trout before - it looks like salmon, but they assure me it's trout. I take a bite, and it's delicious. Also comes with the best mashed potatoes I've ever had. My husband has pasta and enjoys it, and of course Imperial again!

CR isn't known for its desserts - we usually see rice pudding or Jello, so give it a pass, but I've heard DR has great desserts. I ask for the dessert menu, and the waiter rattles off cheesecake, brownie - brownie sounds good, so we ask for one to go! We are too stuffed from the great food, but think we can split it later while we're watching the volcano. We call our cab for pickup. The driver is very sweet and asks if we'd like to go by the park and big church nearby to take pictures; we do and then set out on the 15-20 minute drive back.

We get back to the hotel, and I take the to-go container out of the bag. I notice it feels really cold, so I peek inside and realize they put ice cream on top of the brownie! Perhaps to-go is not a common concept in CR! The brownie is delish and beats rice pudding by a long ways.

We settle in and notice that LI has left us some beautiful fresh flowers and a little note thanking us for being return visitors. They also left us a bottle of wine - really thoughtful.

I decide to take one last bath on the balcony because I know Tortuguero will be a little more basic. We enjoy the last chance for air conditioning, and my husband checks the sports scores on ESPN before we drift off to sleep.

The beds at LI are great - positioned in the middle of the room in front of full length windows so you can enjoy the volcano - very cool! We will definitely be back!

What a wonderful trip vgirl!! I'm really enjoying all of the detail and you now have me mentally planning my next adventure to CR!! I'm looking forward to your next installment!

colibri, I'm so glad you urged us to go to Tortuguero; our wildlife sightings were so good!

Hi, shillmac and shell - you guys were a big help with all our planning!

Next up Tortuguero!

So Tortuguero day arrives, and CRE is supposed to pick us up at 7:00, which means we'll miss breakfast again. The LI front desk says we can grab something to go - yea! They send a golf cart to pick us up from our room - no way we can get down that steep hill with our luggage! I should mention that the golf carts will take you to and from your room whenever you want in case you think the walk is too steep. The property is beautiful though, so we don't mind the hikes. We check out without any problems. LI had rented us binoculars for $5.00 a day, so we turn those in, pay the mini bar fees, etc. Promptly at 7:00 our CRE pickup arrives. My husband runs to the restaurant and comes back with rice and beans, pineapple, and toast - pretty good! Our driver is very nice, but not quite as fluent in English as our other drivers. We head out on the 5-hour drive to Cano Blanco. I was attracted to CRE because they would pick us up in Arenal. The first 4 hours were very smooth, a pretty drive, but the last hour - yowza, you think Monteverde is bad?! The road was bump, bump, bumpy and unpaved!

Our driver asked us if we wanted to see the banana plantation, and we did. Very neat - huge plantations full of banana plants. They have hanging conveyor belts set up to carry the bananas from the field, so you see bananas zipping by overhead. We saw signs for both Dole and Chiquita. Our driver takes us to the main processing area, and we can see the bananas come in, get cut, get washed, etc. It's pretty interesting.

There's a man selling coconuts, and for a dollar, he'll whack the top off with a machete and put a straw in it so you can drink the juice. We try one - fun to drink but not much flavor. After we finish, he cuts the meat out with the machete, and we try that. I guess the coconut we're used to is highly sweetened because this has a very mild flavor.

We finish bouncing down the road and end up at Cano Blanco marina. Quick bathroom break and we head down to the dock to catch our boat. Turns out it's just Mr. Volcano and me for the ride. The driver tells us he'll head out and about halfway we'll stop for a little picnic lunch.

As we drive, he pulls over to show us some wildlife - two big crocs and later we see some roseate spoonbills. It's a pretty area. He tells us it's time for the picnic, and we expect a couple of sandwiches, but instead he pulls the boat over.

We get out, and there is a young guy in a crisp white uniform standing at a picnic table. The table is covered with nice linens, tons of food, and a big silver bowl full of iced down drinks - wine, Imperial, fresh watermelon juice in a carafe. You could have knocked me over! My reps never mentioned a word about this. I guess they usually have a bigger group, but since it was just us, we had this fancy little picnic by the side of water all to ourselves. Our driver joined us - it was so much fun! They had fresh fruit, salads, sandwiches, cookies. There was a cute little dog there that stared at me the whole time, hoping I would drop a morsel. I asked if I could feed him, and they said no - poor doggy; he was really cute. My husband knew I was tempted! After eating, we got back in the boat to continue the ride to Tortuga Lodge.

We saw a lot of water birds like egrets and anhingas, but the most beautiful thing was all the blue morphos flying with the sun shining on them - they were stunning.

Total water trip was less than two hours, and we pulled up to the doc and were promptly greeted by Jorge and a big staff of people; he introduced them all by name, which was great and whisked us off to reception while our bags got sent to our room.

At reception, he brought us two great glasses of lemonade, which was awesome because it was really hot, sweaty hot. He told us to always wear sunscreen, always wear mosquito repellent, and went over the lodge setup with us. Tortuga Lodge lets you do things independently, eat and tour when you want, etc. We really liked that.

We headed off to our room. I had requested a second floor room and got it. I'd really recommend it because the windows are just mesh screens, so not much privacy, and your neighbors can really hear everything. There are drapes to use at night, but we kept ours open to catch the breeze. The room was very small, but decorated really cutely with matching Roman blinds, comforter, and cute pillows. Kind of like fancy Girl Scout camp. Bathroom was pretty basic - a sink, shower, toilet, and a safe in the bathroom. We decide to try the trails and are immediately munched on by swarms of mosquitoes, despite our use of spray. We do see several little blue jean frogs along the trail before making a run for it.

After that, we decided to head off to enjoy the pool. The pool was great, and we got some drinks from the bar - they have nice chaise lounges with big comfy cushions on them, so even though we were roughing it, we weren't really roughing it. After that we went back to change for dinner.

At night, the lodge is really transformed, they have lighted candles everywhere, and you eat right on the edge of the water. It was beautiful, and a full moon came up over the water while we were dining. The food was pretty swanky - much more so than any other food in CR. Each meal was 4 courses, and served with great homemade bread. The first night, we had chilled gazpacho, then salad, then a yummy Corvina, which I think is sea bass, and then fruit and sorbet for dessert. If this is roughing it, I like it!

this is such a great report vgirl! thank you - we're leaving tuesday for arenal and tortuguero and now i'm even more excited if that's possible!

That's awesome, cheryl - I think it's a great combo!

The waitstaff at Tortuga Lodge was great - very charming and funny. We enjoyed chatting with them. One waiter would speak to us only in Spanish, and then we figured out he was fluent in English too. He just wanted to see how much we could grasp! I think we did pretty well - understanding it is a lot easier than speaking it. I have the problem of knowing a little bit, and then they think I'm fluent, and I get completely lost!

After dinner, we turned in for the night. I was surprised that the water in the rooms was not drinkable - rarely see that in CR. They served filtered water in the dining room. Each room had a big water dispenser sitting outside of it, so we kept our water bottles filled with that. The water was fine for brushing our teeth and showering. The rooms were hot, and no ac of course, so we left the drapes open - yay for second floor room!

The next day we woke up to pouring rain - I mean crazy pouring rain and major lightning and thunder. Oh, no, this is the day we're supposed to tour the canals and go see the turtles! It's so bad that the planes at the airport can't take off, so the people at the airport get brought back to the lodge. The good news is that the rain really cooled things off.

It pours for several hours straight, and there's really not much to do if it's rainy. We went to breakfast and instead of getting a menu, they said they would make us whatever we wanted. My husband had pancakes, and I had bacon and eggs. We're normally not breakfast eaters, but the jungle takes something out of you. Everything was delicious. They also served fresh fruit and homemade granola cereal that was really good. They also had a snack/coffee bar that was constantly stocked with coffee, muffins, and butter cookies with guava filling - the whole lodge was filled with these kinds of touches.

My husband was lamenting the fact that we didn't have binoculars; they gave us a pair to use. They also produced a blow dryer and bandaids. I don't think they could be stumped!

Still pouring rain at our pre-appointed 7:30 tour time, so we cancel and head back to the room. We had packed a DVD player in case of rain, so we were glad we had it. Also brought books to read. I'd recommend a backup plan in case of rain. The reception area also had a few small games.

After several hours of being in our little tree house, the rain let up. We were thrilled. We came all this way to see the wildlife, so sitting in our room for the entire trip was going to be a bummer. We see a woman outside our room, and she tells us of a few wildlife sightings right near our room. There's a baby boa constrictor in the tree and several little long-nose bats on the coconut tree nearby. I wish I could get pics of the baby boa, but he's too high up - can only see his little tail wrapped around the branch. The little bats are cool; they line up and move in unison when someone comes by or a loud boat passes by. A guide tells us that they are trying to look like one long snake so predators won't attack them.

Another couple comes back from hiking the trails and says they saw an eyelash viper - ooh! I'd love to see it if it didn't surprise me. We head out to the trails again, but the area we're in is almost completely under water. The lodge has boots to use, so we sludge through, but don't see much. We can hear howlers close by, but never spot them.

We run by the front desk and ask if there's any way we can go out on the canals, and Jorge says he'd be happy to call a guide for us. Within a couple of minutes, the boat with our guide pulls up, and we're off on our own little adventure. We think we won't see much, but Fernando says that since the temps have cooled off, we should be fine. Animals only hide from the heat off the day. We set off and are thrilled that we get to do the tour after all!

VG - from your description I think you were on the luxury tour to Tortuguero!! Fancy picnics with white uniform waiter in the middle of the jungle?? You rock, VGirl!!!

I know, col - it was so cool! Remember what a struggle I had with my CRE rep in the beginning. I really didn't know how cool it was going to be. I remember asking him if we should eat before we get to the lodge, and he said it would be a good idea for us to eat. And then I said, so will we stop for lunch or anything, and he said "there will be opportunities for lunch" or something along those lines. It was all kind of mysterious. No one said fancy cool CR man pouring fresh watermelon juice in the jungle! But then again, I think that made it even more special - the surprise of it all was really cool! The whole place reminded me very much of the vibe at Bosque del Cabo - you're in the jungle but things are so amazing that you're just constantly in awe.

I am sooo glad that you loved Tortuguero - now you understand why I am always raving about it and am just sort of lukewarm about Cano Negro! I liked Cano N., good wildlife, but cannot compare to Tortuguero with its amazing canals and wonderful atmosphere in the early morning.