Greetings All! Three of us, with assorted bad knees and ankles, have hired a driver for a day. We'll be sightseeing. However, after spending many hours the previous day in airplanes, we're going to NEED to do more than ride. Help! Can anyone suggest some nice easy to moderate walks? We're going to tour the Doka coffee finca. Any other easy walks you can think of? For example, does anyone know if the orchids are blooming at Lankester Gardens? I'm afraid with so many steep steps that La Paz is outof the question. (Stairs are the worst problem.) I can't recall if there are stairs at Poas. I don't remember it as being a terribly strenuos hike for reasonably active people. Can anyone refresh my memory?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Gretchen

Poas should be fine for you guys. It's a short 5-10 min. walk from the parking area up to the crater rim. The trails are pretty simple there as well.

Lankester is good always--lovely area. A day trip down there would provide several nice little walking opportunities. Especially if you stopped by Irazu as well.

La Paz is okay too. You might choose not to do the waterfalls (although I don't remember them being a big deal, and there was transport back to the top), but you could still take very nice walks to see the hummingbirds and the butterflies. It's a nice property.

If you could find the time to drive up near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, you could tour La Selva. Nice morning hiking, flat trails, very pleasant. You have just one day (!) and lots of options. The simplest would probably be La Paz/Poas/Doka. Have the driver take you by Bosques de Fraijanes--you can walk around that property as well--nice area. AND your driver will probably have a suggestion. Ask him about San Jose de Montana--I hear it's a nice alternative cloud forest. . .not too far out.

There are a lot of stairs going down to the bottom at La Paz waterfall gardens. You do not have to go back up. There is a van at the bottom to take you back up. I have trouble on stairs when I go up but had no problem going down. You can stop at various points to give your knees and ankles a rest. If you go take a poncho or something to keep you dry so you can get a good look. You can still see the waterfalls without one but you can get closer with one. The mist gets pretty heavy the closer you get. There are some other walks you can take there without going down the steps and of course there is always the butterfly conservatory and the hummingbird area. Everything will be somewhat downhill so if you don't keep going there will be an incline somewhat to get back up. They have bamboo poles for you to use.

Lankester Garden has some very interesting plant groupings. We were fascinated by the cactus plants. My husband has a lot of cacti here at the house and it was fun to see some of them so large. The key times for the Orchid blooms is Feb-May but there are always a few blooming year round. On your way there you could stop at the Basilica de los Angeles in Cartago. Gabriel up in Monteverde has some of the really tiny orchids and gives you a magnifying glass when you go in. You might want to tuck a small one in your pocket if you are going to Lankester as they also have some very tiny ones.

Zoo Ave near Alajuela is a nice walk to see many of the native birds and some animals. It takes about 1 1/2 hr to go through.

I don't recall too many stairs at Poas. Mostly just around the visitors center.

The whole Orosi Valley trip would be nice.

When we visited Lankester Gardens in Feb 05, it was just the beginning of orchid season, so we only saw a few. However the gardens are fascinating. I think it would be well worth a stop.

Ditto on the churches and ruins in Cartago and on through the Orosi Valley.

Lunch overlooking Cachi Lake with nice views.

Hi Shillmac,Suzie2 and dfarmer!
Thanks for the info. everyone.

Shillmac, I'm not familiar with Bosques de Fraijanes. Please tell me about it. I'm not finding it in my tour book.

Suzie, unfortunately my knee problems are just the opposite of yours. Going DOWN is the problem. I don't remember there being enough at La Paz to justify paying the entrace fee considering that we'll be seeing the hummers, morphos, and, other butterflys in the wild elsewhere. Is there more i
I don't know about?

dfarmer, Can you refresh my memory? How many hours of riding is the full tour around the Orosi Valley? We'll be taking Interbus to Cahuita early the next day. And, I really don't want our first two days to be spent almost entirely sitting in vehicles. We're very much outdoors women... ages 85, 56, and 40ish...more into walking than looking. But, speaking of looking, was there a particular restaurant near Cachi Lake that you were thinking of? Lunch with a view sounded nice.
Thanks, again everyone. I truly value your experience.

La Casona del Cafetal is a fine restaurant on Cachi Lake. Good food and nice covered outdoor patio in back to take in the beautiful view and watch the hummingbirds flit about the flowering orchids and bushes as you eat.

Bosques de Fraijanes is a little private "park" on the road past the Doka Estate tour and up toward Poas--town of Fraijanes, very small. It is privately owned, has a caretaker who opens the gate in the a.m. and people can go in, look around, hike down to the river if they want. Just a nice little property with ducks, geese, horses, etc. Playground area for children, and a very nice lookout over a beautiful valley.

Let's see - we were staying at Orchideas Inn and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. So probably left out around 8 AM. Our driver stopped often enough that I did not remember it being terribly long in the vehicle. We stopped at the ruins and the famous church in Cartago, then at the Lankester Gardens, then at several other churches along the way, stopped at the lake, the dam, and several look out points. I believe La Casona del Cafetal was the place we lunched. The grounds were very pretty with a large number of flowering plants. We also stopped on the way back to Orchideas in one of the towns walk around, visit the markets and purchase coffee. Returned to Orchideas at about 5 PM. So pretty much a day, but lots of stops.

If you hire a driver he will customize your day the way you wish. We booked a driver through Wady Tours, his name was Carlos and pleasure to spend the day with.