Another wonderful trip to CR!

Old Jul 12th, 2009, 05:56 PM
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col, you steered me in the right direction.

The only bad thing about doing the tour this time of day is that we will miss the hours for lunch. I mention to Jorge that we'd rather see animals than eat lunch but are sad we're going to miss out, and he says he'd be happy to hold some lunch for us. Again, awesome top-notch service and very thoughtful.

Our guide, Fernando, is Nicaraguan but of Jamaican descent. It's interesting to hear the Caribbean accents on this side of CR - something we haven't experienced before.

We head off for our "three-hour tour" - the cost is $12 per person per hour. Right away we see a huge croc in the water - whoa, so close to the lodge. I guess this is why they don't allow swimming in the canals! One of the guides also told us they once caught a 300-pound bull shark right by the dock - yowza!

A couple of seconds later, our guide points out a river otter swimming by - wow, I've never seen one before!

It's pretty much non-stop wildlife spotting from this point on - a toucan flies overhead and perches nearby; we see howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and capuchin monkeys. Every twist and turn reveals something new. So many blue morphos that are the most gorgeous things I've ever seen. Green parrots flying overhead. It's fun to go through the canals. Several times our guide will say "look at that", and we won't see anything. Then he'll say "Right in front of you" and all of a sudden we'll see a gorgeous bird or a caiman. Weird how he's so good at spotting everything and we completely suck - lol. Back in the smaller canals we see a slaty-tail trogon, and a black-throated trogon - amazing colors on these. We also see egrets, anhingas, boat-billed herons, green herons, yellow-throated herons, and lots of Amazon and Green Kingfishers. At one point, a Jesus Christ lizard runs all the way across the canal on top of the water right in front of us. We pass every manor of boat along the way. Some people kayak on their own, some people are in canoes with a guide, and some are in big groups in larger boats. The tour was great, and we feel so lucky that the rain stopped so that we could do it. The temps are cooler, and it has turned out to be a beautiful day.
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Old Jul 12th, 2009, 07:19 PM
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Volcanogirl-

Do you think that 7 nights in the Arenal area is too much for a first timer's visit to Costa Rica? It seems as if there is plenty to do.
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Old Jul 12th, 2009, 08:08 PM
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Hi, mah - I think it depends on how many days total you have for your vacation. Personally I like to explore more than one area, so we usually stay in Arenal for 4 nights and then move on to another area of the country. You're right that there is so much to do there - the active volcano, the Hanging Bridges, Cano Negro tour, rafting, ziplines, natural hot springs, the waterfall; it's our favorite spot. It offers some of the best adventure activities in the country.
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Old Jul 12th, 2009, 08:17 PM
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So Fernando (best guide ever!) brings us back to the dock, and we head off for lunch. Again it's a swanky meal - delicious ceviche with chips, a fresh salad topped with mango and papaya with a fruity vinaigrette dressing, grilled beef skewers with roasted butternut squash, and homemade coconut ice cream for dessert. Seems pretty decadent to be enjoying all of this in the jungle! We take a peek at the weather and cross our fingers that we'll have good weather for our turtle night hike.

The hiking time is assigned by lottery by the park service, and you either go from 8-10 or 10-12. They also assign you to a specific zone. We have to wait to hear which zone and time we'll be assigned - fingers crossed for 8:00. I defy anyone to stay up until midnight in CR. One night we stayed up until 10:00 and were proud of ourselves. It's a running joke amongst everyone we meet - in bed by 9:00 p.m. because the howlers woke you up at 5:00 a.m.

Jorge informs us that we got 8:00 p.m. - yea! We will be going with another couple and their teenage son - very nice family from California. They have us meet at 4:00 to watch a video about the turtles and their conservation. It's pretty interesting. Tortuguero is the second largest green turtle nesting area in the world. No one knows why they pick this spot, but they return year after year and then their babies return. Pretty cool!
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 02:31 AM
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Tortuga Lodge sounds great. The only thing I didn't like agout Laguna Lodge was the food - sounds like Tortuga had that going for it! I can't wait to hear about your turtle experience. Your report is great - so detailed! Keep it coming!!!
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 03:39 AM
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Sounds like a great trip vg, love the details. Good that you got to see the volcano, know it can be hit or miss this time of year. Bummer about that couple at the bottom of the falls, I would've taken you up on your offer for sure!
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 04:30 AM
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Hi, Shell - we went by Laguna Lodge in our boat, and I remember that it looked like a nice place. tully, I know! I think the girl wanted to. When they said no, I said, "Wow, you guys are adventurous," and she said, "Well, HE is." She looked like she was dreading it.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 04:46 AM
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So we ate an early dinner - not even that hungry since we had a late lunch. I didn't write down all the details since we dashed off for our turtle nesting tour, but I do remember we had ice cream cake - ha, ha!

We met at 7:30 to be taken on the tour. The boat pulls up, and it's Fernando again. We know he'll be a good guide since we did the earlier tour with him. We are assigned to Zone 5, and the boat takes us to Tortuga town. This is the first chance I've had to see it. Not much to it really. We walk and walk, behind houses, in alleys - it's kind of weird actually and very dark. Then we make it to the trails to the beach and walk and walk and walk. After about 30 minutes, we make it to the ranger station. They take away all our flashlights. Only the ranger is allowed to have a light, and it's red so that the turtles won't be disturbed.

It's kind of funny; we join up with all these other groups, so there's about 50 of us sitting there in the dark. It seriously reminded me of Girl Scout camp - I expected someone to start telling ghost stories! CRE provided us with bottled water, but I don't want to drink it because there's no bathroom. The ranger station is just a bunch of cement benches! Wonder what the rangers do...

Fernando took the time to explain the turtle nesting process to us. The turtles mate, and then over the course of the season, the female comes ashore to lay her eggs 6 different times. The park service is very serious about the allotted time window. A few nights earlier, the people waited the two hours without seeing anything, and then all of a sudden a turtle started coming ashore, and everyone had to leave without seeing it.

After about 45 minutes we get the signal that there is a turtle on the beach! I really wish they had let us bring our cameras, but they aren't allowed - no turtle pics for us.

They tell us to approach the turtle from behind so as not to spook her. Turns out turtles are deaf, so speaking is okay.

With big anticipation, we all begin walking down the beach. There's a full moon out, so things are pretty illuminated. Can't wait to see her!
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 05:41 AM
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Welcome back, VG! I am loving your report! So glad you enjoyed a new spot, and found some new things to do in Arenal. Thanks for describing the set-up at LaFortuna waterfall so well. All of the details in your report are great! Can't wait to hear the rest.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 08:07 AM
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Hey volcanogirl -
Could you tell me about how much it costs to get from Lost Iguana to Don Rufino/town. We will be staying at LI too and will not have a car so I am trying to figure out the costs of getting to places in Arenal. Thanks.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 08:22 AM
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Me too, loving the report, sounds like the LI gave you the royal treatment, our second time there we didn't get anything! But then again, the economy hadn't tanked yet.

Tortuga Lodge sounds awesome, would it be a good place to visit when the turtle season is over?
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 08:55 AM
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Thanks, jn - that waterfall experience was really neat. I love finding unexpected things!

Hey, AK - we had the driver for the entire day - taking us to the waterfall, then to eat, then by the park and church, and then back to LI was $50. We had agreed on it with him ahead of time. He's a driver named Eduardo that LI recommended to us. Sunset Tours quoted me $100 to do the same thing. We don't rent a car because we do tours every day, and they always pick you up and drop you off.

Other times we've just gone into town has cost us $12-$17 one way, depending on where we're going. LI has a free shuttle that goes into town during certain times of day because they shuttle their employees back and forth; we've ridden that several times for free, but you have to operate on their schedule.

Hi, owl - yes, LI was wonderful. This was actually our third trip there. We didn't get any big treatment for our second trip either, but I think this is the first time I mentioned being a return visitor. Our guides told us that tourism is down %50 so you can get some good deals I think.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 08:57 AM
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Owl, if you just want to go to see the wildlife there and not see the turtles, I think you would still enjoy it. The wildlife is abundant. In August, they have baby turtle hatching - I think that would have been neat to see too.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 08:58 AM
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Thanks volcanogirl -
I actually was think of hiring a driver one day to hit a few spots so glad to know LI will help arrange that.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 09:04 AM
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Finally we begin our walk down the beach; the turtles take a long time to lay so no one is rushing. All of a sudden our guide gets a message that the turtle doesn't like the spot and is turning around and heading back to the water - noooooo! Our guide tells us to run, run, run! We all start running like crazy people, and luckily she is still there. Wow, she is gorgeous, and huge - I've seen them underwater in Hawaii, but they always zip by so gracefully that I've never noticed their weight - about 700 pounds!

So our turtle was fickle, and she just starts heading back for the water - no eggs, but really just seeing her is amazing. Really much more nimble than what I expected. We watch her in the moonlight as she flits off back to the sea. At one point she gets hung up on a log, but eventually overcomes it and heads back into the water. We are just excited that we got to see one.

At this point they herd us all back to the "ranger station" to wait in the dark again. On the way back, we see another turtle nest that has been dug - cool to see that too. Our guide tells us that only 5% of the babies survive. The biggest predators are crabs and ants of all things.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 09:09 AM
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AK, Eduardo was very nice. When we got to the falls, we offered to pay him half, and he said just to wait. Then at the restaurant we offered again, and he said we could just pay later. He was very honest and very trusting. He gave us his number, and we just had reception or the restaurant call him when we were ready. The front desk at LI said they really like him because he'll call if someone leaves their camera or something in the taxi - nice man.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 01:57 PM
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Back at the ranger station we wait some more. Eventually groups start leaving until there are very few of us left. Our guide tells us that it doesn't look promising, but we wait until 10:00 with no new sightings and head back down the trails to catch our boat. The trails are pretty dark, so we're happy to get our flashlights back. We wind around through the town, in front of people's houses and behind them. We pass a club with booming music - kind of a surprise since the town seems completely dead. I guess this is the hot spot! We find our boat and zip along the water until we're back at the lodge. The family we're with says they want to go again the following night! We head back to our room to pack up for our flight out the next day.

My husband and I both want to shower to get the ick off of us. He comments that he had forgotten how hot and sticky it can get in CR. I take off my shoes and am surprised that the sand inside is black. The beach was so dark that we couldn't tell what color the sand was. Even though you can't swim at the beach, I wish we had gotten to see it in the day time, but we've sort of run out of time. Maybe we'll be back some day. It's so hot in our room that we go to sleep on top of the covers.
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 02:43 PM
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Hi-this is so great to read, we leave on Saturday for our first trip and are going to take advantage of some of your planning and research since we don't have time (just decided last week we are going so am a bit frantic)! We will be in CR for 8 days and are renting a car in San Jose. We will definitely be in the Arenal for 2 nights, at least, but are struggling with where to go from there. The Osa Peninsula sounds really appealing but the long drive is a deterrent. Have you been there? If we don't go there, it'll either be MA or Tortuguero. Based on your experience, if you had to pick one area other than the Arenal-which would it be?
Lastly, what kind of shoes do you recommend we bring along? Are hiking boots a necessity? Teva like sandals for water/beach areas?
Thanks so much!
Jen
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 03:14 PM
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Yep, we've been to the Osa; we love Bosque del Cabo down there. Most people don't drive there though. You can check out Nature Air or Sansa for intercountry airfares. The Osa is great if you want to hike and see amazing wildlife. MA has beautiful beaches and is very Americanized - lots of restaurant choices and sunset views here; Tortuguero is kind of wild and offers wildlife in a more natural state. I think it depends upon what you're looking for. For shoes, we never bring hiking boots. I wear running shoes on the trails and Keen's for the beach and rafting. Bring extra socks too. I hope you guys have a great trip!
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Old Jul 13th, 2009, 03:41 PM
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VG...WOW what a great great report. Love it. I really love long lengthy reports. Keep it coming and fotos please
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