Costa Rica Trip Report – 12 Days in Feb. PART I
Mar 3rd, 2009, 02:22 PM
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Costa Rica Trip Report – 12 Days in Feb. PART I
Got back from an AMAZING trip to CR!! Thank you all (also on behalf of my DH, JuneJuly, who'd posted some queries) so much for all your suggestions and helpful tips. Everyone we met on our trip was amazed at how we'd planned our activities. Since we kept running into the same set of tourists over & over again, we became defacto advisors to others looking for activities or places to eat etc. and in a couple of instances the doctor Mrs. helped some people with minor ailments. I hope they’ll all join the Fodors community now onwards. Otherwise, I hope this detailed post will help people plan upcoming trips. This one's long.
Here are the highlights & recommendations in summary (detailed report follows):
HOTELS – We highly recommend all these hotels.
• Orquideas Inn in Alajuela– wonderful & perfect for night arrivals in SJO
• Lost Iguana Resort & Lodge in La Fortuna/Arenal – beautiful property with vast grounds , trails etc. Excellent breakfast, service, rooms and plenty of fauna (toucans, frogs etc. ) right on the property.
• Arco Iris Lodge in Monteverde – Amazing little place with beautiful, clean rooms and a very convenient location in town. A steal of a deal!!!! White face monkeys sit right outside the windows during breakfast.
• Costa Verde II in Manuel Antonio – We had a fantastic, HUGE Studio Plus room overlooking the ocean. We spent several hours on that balcony during our stay!! Service was fine but there were some at the desk who were too busy/brisk & one didn’t get the feeling that they were trying hard to please, but there were others at the desk who were better. If you know where to go for lunch /dinner etc. & don’t need to ask the desk for suggestions, this won’t be an issue.
• Grano d’Oro in San Jose – Wonderful hotel, good location close to downtown with very helpful service.
RESTAURANTS/Food-
• Orquideas Inn (SJ/Alajuela) – breakfast that was included was good & enough to put us in the right spirits on our first morning in CR
• Grano d’Oro (SJ) – The upscale restaurant at the hotel is amazing and expensive for SJ. But if you want a good meal, in a refined atmosphere, this is probably one of the best in SJ. The macadamia crusted fish is awesome!
• La Bastille (SJ) – French bistro; walking distance from Grano d’Oro and we went here on Valentine’s day as most fancy places were booked solid. Swiss chef runs this place & we ended up sharing bottles of wine with an American/Tico couple sitting nearby. The American ex-pat mentioned that it was one of her favorite restaurants in SJ and between Grano d’Oro and this place, we had hit her 2 favorite spots in SJ.
• Don Rufinos (La Fortuna) – Amazing and we thought it was the best meal we had in Arenal… try a glass of Malbec with Casado.
• Toad Hall (Arenal) – Not bad for a soda. Beautiful views… most of the pleasure is in the drive to Toad Hall.
• Austrian Bakery (Arenal) – Good for dessert/snack & coffee. Located just next to the German bakery in the back section of a souvenier shop. An ex-pat we met in Arenal recommended this over German Bakery.
• El Novillo (Arenal) – Just average not great. We heard management here changed last year & its quality dropped significantly.
• La Choza de Laurel (La Fortuna)– Good food. After Don Rufino’s this was our 2nd best meal in Arenal.
• Morphos (Monteverde) – Decent food. Fine for lunch as it’s right in town.
• Sofia’s (Monteverde) – Nice upscale ambience for MV. But the food was mixed. Beef was fine but the pork entrée was overcooked, dry & just bad. Do not recommend because it’s expensive and not worth the price, IMHO.
• Donde Henry- Great lil cafeteria style spot right in town. Cheap, quick and tasty. Their Gallo Pinto with pork in some sauce on the side was perfect for lunch.
• Johnny’s Pizzeria – Our best meal in MV. Loved the service & food & wine list was pretty good for CR.
• The Marlin (Manuel Antonio) – this place is recommended often on these forums… but we found it to be more of a tourist trap. Average food for mucho $$$. Clearly catering to the American tourists –“Jumbo Shrimp”, “Surf & turf” etc.
• Monchado’s (Quepos) – Caribbean style seafood in downtown Quepos. Low-key atmosphere but a satisfying meal.
• Soda El Parque – Right at the entrance of Manuel Antonio Park. Excellent Gallo Pinto (try it with beef) & juice for breakfast. We went here twice for breakfast.
• Soda El Mango (Manuel Antonio) – aka “parilla lady” by tourists ☺ . Right on the far end of the beach, past all the shops etc. Simply amazing experience – the whole red snapper I had was ultra fresh… the bbq grilled chicken was also fantastic. Can’t beat eating right on the beach under a tarp with an ice-cold beer. We went here twice.
• Costa Verde Hotel (Manuel Antonio) : We had drinks on one evening at the bar next to the pool in Costa Verde II & the caipariñha was wonderful. We also tried a local favorite cocktail called a “Coco loco” at the Anaconda restaurant on the hotel property… that was probably the best cocktail I had on the entire trip.
• Ronnie’s Place / Mi Lugar (Manuel Antonio) – Amazing! We went there after sunset on both occasions but heard the views are stunning. Food was very good too & the sangria amazing!
• Marisqueria Jiuberth’s (Quepos) – Absolutely fresh caught seafood at this homely, low-key restaurant run by a local couple whose husband literally goes fishing in the morning & begins serving it at lunch time. This place is out of the way – on the way to the airport. But if you want fresh seafood, this place is great.
TRAVEL TIPS:
• Take a small flashlight, Fabreeze, a couple of candles, avg. bug repellant, a small backpack and shampoo, if you’re particular about quality. US$ are fine but note that you will get a really bad exchange rate whenever you’re given change back. So best to get some local Colones from an ATM.
• If you’re going to do rafting, surfing etc., take some basic first-aid stuff. Several people on our rafting trip got scrapes & cuts.
• If you want good pics, a super-zoom camera (they’re not that expensive) will be very useful. If you have SLR, great. Get guides whenever you go to a park… they see & hear things that you will never ever spot on your own!
• Recommend – Mapache Car Rental, Cano negro tour, Rios Tropicales Pacuare river rafting (if you’re in decent shape but maybe too much adventure for seniors).
• Do Not Recommended: Mangrove Tour in Manuel Antonio- saw almost nothing other than a few birds & a few white face monkeys which we had to actually had to chase down. For a 1.5 hour trip in a boat, it’s not worth the $65. We were really let down after this tour.
InterBus- this seems to be hit or miss. But our driver was uncooperative & rude. Recommend taking private car or renting a car & driving. Some new posts say GreyLine is better???
OK. Here goes-
Feb. 5 – Newark to San Jose direct flight arrived on time around 10pm although it was a bit turbulent just before landing. $12 taxi to Orquideas Inn. We learned from the taxi driver that they’d been having stormy weather for the previous few days and saw several trees ravaged by high winds including some that had fallen down. By the time we checked-into our lovely little room, the restaurant had closed but the bar was open. Had a quick beer and retired for the intermittent night with the wind howling through the trees.
Feb. 6 – Awoke early on a calm morning to the sound of chirping birds. After a quick walk around the property (saw some butterflies & ordinary birds but nothing amazing), I met the Mapache Car Rental rep at 7:00 a.m. sharp. Very professional and courteous and fluent in English. It took us just a couple of minutes to finish the paperwork over breakfast (the coffee & gallo pinto were very good) and get on the road to Poas volcano in our Nissan automatic sedan. Weather was warm and sunny when we started but as we weaved through the mountain, it got misty at first & then stormy to the point where trees had fallen across roads & there were a couple of minor land slides. Needless to say, by the time we got to Poas’s entrance it was too cloudy, foggy, windy & rainy to proceed… so we turned right back around, never halting to buy strawberries on the roadside because of gusts & hard rain. Reached Orquideas Inn by 10:30 am to check-out and get on the highway to Arenal.
The drive to Arenal was uneventful but smooth and since we took the highway, wasn’t very scenic either. Stopped at Don Rufino’s for lunch in La Fortuna! It was one of our most memorable meals on this trip!!! Mrs. got a chicken tortilla soup & I got the Casado-a platter of very tasty rice & beans (gallo pinto), small heart of palm salad and a pork chop along with a glass of good Malbec. I was surprised at how good the malbec & the food was.
Continued our drive to Lost Iguana Resort & Lodge after a brief stop at the Sunset Tours office nearby to confirm our Caño Negro tour. The 25 minute drive to LI was superb through lush forests on either side and we spotted our first animal, a coati, on the road there!!! WoW!
Checking-in at Lost Iguana was easy and we were greeted with a fresh juice. They upgraded us to a suite!! Perhaps it was to curtail the disappointing news they were about to reveal- that it had been raining for the past few days & that the forecast didn’t expect any better until 4 days later, when we were checking out. It was clear that a sighting of Arenal was unlikely
But then the hotel was quick on its feet and recommended that we go to EcoTermales hot spring that evening, which they promptly booked us for 5:00 pm.
We went up to our HUGE suite with a balcony and an outdoor tub. But we couldn’t even see the foot of Arenal. And it was very humid in the room with a little moldy smell. So out came our trusty Fabreeze and candles…(thanks Fodorites for the tip)
Eco Termales was amazing even though it was drizzling & a little cold. Certainly lived up to our expectations & perfect for a rainy, cold day. We met some friendly people here and had dinner with them at El Novillo. Unfortunately, El Novillo was a disappointment. The food was merely ok and sitting in restaurant with no walls on a cold, rainy night wasn’t enjoyable. Back at the room, it was still very humid and cool, rain was getting heavier and by now our matchbox had been rendered useless by the humidity to light any candles.
Feb. 7 – Woke up early to the sound of rain and realized it was still pretty cold. Luckily a long hot shower did the trick and after a quick, tasty breakfast at the hotel, we arrived at the Sunset Tours office for 7:30 a.m. for our Caño Negro wildlife reserve trip. We decided to do this today because we knew it was going to be a rainy mess in Arenal and we were hoping for better weather towards the Nicaragua border where the wildlife reserve is. Perfect decision – the weather was not only sunny & clear out there, but all the animals & birds seemed to know it already. Thanks to the tour guides, we saw so much fauna (many, many birds, caimans, parrots, toucans, iguanas, 3 kinds of monkeys etc etc.) on this one tour that no other day would prove to be as rewarding!!! The newly purchased Panasonic FZ28 super-zoom camera (equiv. to a 600-800mm lens) was very useful as well. For those who’re not into SLRs, I suggest you take a look at the super-zoom point & clicks. HIGHLY RECOMMEND CAÑO NEGRO!!
Got back to La Fortuna in the early evening where it was still raining. We walked around town a bit & enquired about activities in Arenal on rainy days- rappelling down the waterfall sounded exciting but was expensive at $90pp for a 15-20 minute thrill; so we passed. After freshening up back at the hotel and having some wine on the balcony at the LI we got the first glimpse of the foot of the Arenal mountain. We drove back into town for a nice dinner at Choza de Laurel. Another good meal, although Don Rufino’s was a little better.
Feb. 8 – Still raining & cloudy. The Lost Iguana discounts admission to the hanging bridges which was our activity for the morning. We had a good guide but we didn’t see very much wildlife, just a couple of small birds, leaf-cutter ants & 1 yellow eyelash pitviper – most of the others seemed to be taking shelter from the rain which was causing trees to loudly fall over in the forest. We were told not to bother with La Fortuna falls later in the day because the water would be muddy & dirty due to the storm and it wasn’t going to be very pretty. So we decided to take a drive to the town of Arenal & have lunch at the German bakery- and what a wonderful decision that was. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this drive along lake Arenal… it’s so picturesque and takes you through 7-8 microclimates. It’s like being in Switzerland one minute and in an Asian bamboo forest the next. It was beautiful and the microclimates provided brief respite from the rain as well. So we took our time & saw Soda Toad Hall on the way. Stopped for lunch & to take in the wonderful view of the lake from there. Lunch wasn’t bad and we continued on to the town of Arenal where we checked out the German bakery & the Austrian bakery next door. We’re fans of Teutonic kuchen & were happy to see some favorites here. You won’t know the delight of a gipfeli at the end of a marvelous drive, unless you do this yourself.
At the hotel it was raining harder than on any other day. Decided to stay in and get packed for departure to Monteverde the next morning.
Monteverde & MA coming up next...
Here are the highlights & recommendations in summary (detailed report follows):
HOTELS – We highly recommend all these hotels.
• Orquideas Inn in Alajuela– wonderful & perfect for night arrivals in SJO
• Lost Iguana Resort & Lodge in La Fortuna/Arenal – beautiful property with vast grounds , trails etc. Excellent breakfast, service, rooms and plenty of fauna (toucans, frogs etc. ) right on the property.
• Arco Iris Lodge in Monteverde – Amazing little place with beautiful, clean rooms and a very convenient location in town. A steal of a deal!!!! White face monkeys sit right outside the windows during breakfast.
• Costa Verde II in Manuel Antonio – We had a fantastic, HUGE Studio Plus room overlooking the ocean. We spent several hours on that balcony during our stay!! Service was fine but there were some at the desk who were too busy/brisk & one didn’t get the feeling that they were trying hard to please, but there were others at the desk who were better. If you know where to go for lunch /dinner etc. & don’t need to ask the desk for suggestions, this won’t be an issue.
• Grano d’Oro in San Jose – Wonderful hotel, good location close to downtown with very helpful service.
RESTAURANTS/Food-
• Orquideas Inn (SJ/Alajuela) – breakfast that was included was good & enough to put us in the right spirits on our first morning in CR
• Grano d’Oro (SJ) – The upscale restaurant at the hotel is amazing and expensive for SJ. But if you want a good meal, in a refined atmosphere, this is probably one of the best in SJ. The macadamia crusted fish is awesome!
• La Bastille (SJ) – French bistro; walking distance from Grano d’Oro and we went here on Valentine’s day as most fancy places were booked solid. Swiss chef runs this place & we ended up sharing bottles of wine with an American/Tico couple sitting nearby. The American ex-pat mentioned that it was one of her favorite restaurants in SJ and between Grano d’Oro and this place, we had hit her 2 favorite spots in SJ.
• Don Rufinos (La Fortuna) – Amazing and we thought it was the best meal we had in Arenal… try a glass of Malbec with Casado.
• Toad Hall (Arenal) – Not bad for a soda. Beautiful views… most of the pleasure is in the drive to Toad Hall.
• Austrian Bakery (Arenal) – Good for dessert/snack & coffee. Located just next to the German bakery in the back section of a souvenier shop. An ex-pat we met in Arenal recommended this over German Bakery.
• El Novillo (Arenal) – Just average not great. We heard management here changed last year & its quality dropped significantly.
• La Choza de Laurel (La Fortuna)– Good food. After Don Rufino’s this was our 2nd best meal in Arenal.
• Morphos (Monteverde) – Decent food. Fine for lunch as it’s right in town.
• Sofia’s (Monteverde) – Nice upscale ambience for MV. But the food was mixed. Beef was fine but the pork entrée was overcooked, dry & just bad. Do not recommend because it’s expensive and not worth the price, IMHO.
• Donde Henry- Great lil cafeteria style spot right in town. Cheap, quick and tasty. Their Gallo Pinto with pork in some sauce on the side was perfect for lunch.
• Johnny’s Pizzeria – Our best meal in MV. Loved the service & food & wine list was pretty good for CR.
• The Marlin (Manuel Antonio) – this place is recommended often on these forums… but we found it to be more of a tourist trap. Average food for mucho $$$. Clearly catering to the American tourists –“Jumbo Shrimp”, “Surf & turf” etc.
• Monchado’s (Quepos) – Caribbean style seafood in downtown Quepos. Low-key atmosphere but a satisfying meal.
• Soda El Parque – Right at the entrance of Manuel Antonio Park. Excellent Gallo Pinto (try it with beef) & juice for breakfast. We went here twice for breakfast.
• Soda El Mango (Manuel Antonio) – aka “parilla lady” by tourists ☺ . Right on the far end of the beach, past all the shops etc. Simply amazing experience – the whole red snapper I had was ultra fresh… the bbq grilled chicken was also fantastic. Can’t beat eating right on the beach under a tarp with an ice-cold beer. We went here twice.
• Costa Verde Hotel (Manuel Antonio) : We had drinks on one evening at the bar next to the pool in Costa Verde II & the caipariñha was wonderful. We also tried a local favorite cocktail called a “Coco loco” at the Anaconda restaurant on the hotel property… that was probably the best cocktail I had on the entire trip.
• Ronnie’s Place / Mi Lugar (Manuel Antonio) – Amazing! We went there after sunset on both occasions but heard the views are stunning. Food was very good too & the sangria amazing!
• Marisqueria Jiuberth’s (Quepos) – Absolutely fresh caught seafood at this homely, low-key restaurant run by a local couple whose husband literally goes fishing in the morning & begins serving it at lunch time. This place is out of the way – on the way to the airport. But if you want fresh seafood, this place is great.
TRAVEL TIPS:
• Take a small flashlight, Fabreeze, a couple of candles, avg. bug repellant, a small backpack and shampoo, if you’re particular about quality. US$ are fine but note that you will get a really bad exchange rate whenever you’re given change back. So best to get some local Colones from an ATM.
• If you’re going to do rafting, surfing etc., take some basic first-aid stuff. Several people on our rafting trip got scrapes & cuts.
• If you want good pics, a super-zoom camera (they’re not that expensive) will be very useful. If you have SLR, great. Get guides whenever you go to a park… they see & hear things that you will never ever spot on your own!
• Recommend – Mapache Car Rental, Cano negro tour, Rios Tropicales Pacuare river rafting (if you’re in decent shape but maybe too much adventure for seniors).
• Do Not Recommended: Mangrove Tour in Manuel Antonio- saw almost nothing other than a few birds & a few white face monkeys which we had to actually had to chase down. For a 1.5 hour trip in a boat, it’s not worth the $65. We were really let down after this tour.
InterBus- this seems to be hit or miss. But our driver was uncooperative & rude. Recommend taking private car or renting a car & driving. Some new posts say GreyLine is better???
OK. Here goes-
Feb. 5 – Newark to San Jose direct flight arrived on time around 10pm although it was a bit turbulent just before landing. $12 taxi to Orquideas Inn. We learned from the taxi driver that they’d been having stormy weather for the previous few days and saw several trees ravaged by high winds including some that had fallen down. By the time we checked-into our lovely little room, the restaurant had closed but the bar was open. Had a quick beer and retired for the intermittent night with the wind howling through the trees.
Feb. 6 – Awoke early on a calm morning to the sound of chirping birds. After a quick walk around the property (saw some butterflies & ordinary birds but nothing amazing), I met the Mapache Car Rental rep at 7:00 a.m. sharp. Very professional and courteous and fluent in English. It took us just a couple of minutes to finish the paperwork over breakfast (the coffee & gallo pinto were very good) and get on the road to Poas volcano in our Nissan automatic sedan. Weather was warm and sunny when we started but as we weaved through the mountain, it got misty at first & then stormy to the point where trees had fallen across roads & there were a couple of minor land slides. Needless to say, by the time we got to Poas’s entrance it was too cloudy, foggy, windy & rainy to proceed… so we turned right back around, never halting to buy strawberries on the roadside because of gusts & hard rain. Reached Orquideas Inn by 10:30 am to check-out and get on the highway to Arenal.
The drive to Arenal was uneventful but smooth and since we took the highway, wasn’t very scenic either. Stopped at Don Rufino’s for lunch in La Fortuna! It was one of our most memorable meals on this trip!!! Mrs. got a chicken tortilla soup & I got the Casado-a platter of very tasty rice & beans (gallo pinto), small heart of palm salad and a pork chop along with a glass of good Malbec. I was surprised at how good the malbec & the food was.
Continued our drive to Lost Iguana Resort & Lodge after a brief stop at the Sunset Tours office nearby to confirm our Caño Negro tour. The 25 minute drive to LI was superb through lush forests on either side and we spotted our first animal, a coati, on the road there!!! WoW!
Checking-in at Lost Iguana was easy and we were greeted with a fresh juice. They upgraded us to a suite!! Perhaps it was to curtail the disappointing news they were about to reveal- that it had been raining for the past few days & that the forecast didn’t expect any better until 4 days later, when we were checking out. It was clear that a sighting of Arenal was unlikely
But then the hotel was quick on its feet and recommended that we go to EcoTermales hot spring that evening, which they promptly booked us for 5:00 pm.We went up to our HUGE suite with a balcony and an outdoor tub. But we couldn’t even see the foot of Arenal. And it was very humid in the room with a little moldy smell. So out came our trusty Fabreeze and candles…(thanks Fodorites for the tip)
Eco Termales was amazing even though it was drizzling & a little cold. Certainly lived up to our expectations & perfect for a rainy, cold day. We met some friendly people here and had dinner with them at El Novillo. Unfortunately, El Novillo was a disappointment. The food was merely ok and sitting in restaurant with no walls on a cold, rainy night wasn’t enjoyable. Back at the room, it was still very humid and cool, rain was getting heavier and by now our matchbox had been rendered useless by the humidity to light any candles.
Feb. 7 – Woke up early to the sound of rain and realized it was still pretty cold. Luckily a long hot shower did the trick and after a quick, tasty breakfast at the hotel, we arrived at the Sunset Tours office for 7:30 a.m. for our Caño Negro wildlife reserve trip. We decided to do this today because we knew it was going to be a rainy mess in Arenal and we were hoping for better weather towards the Nicaragua border where the wildlife reserve is. Perfect decision – the weather was not only sunny & clear out there, but all the animals & birds seemed to know it already. Thanks to the tour guides, we saw so much fauna (many, many birds, caimans, parrots, toucans, iguanas, 3 kinds of monkeys etc etc.) on this one tour that no other day would prove to be as rewarding!!! The newly purchased Panasonic FZ28 super-zoom camera (equiv. to a 600-800mm lens) was very useful as well. For those who’re not into SLRs, I suggest you take a look at the super-zoom point & clicks. HIGHLY RECOMMEND CAÑO NEGRO!!
Got back to La Fortuna in the early evening where it was still raining. We walked around town a bit & enquired about activities in Arenal on rainy days- rappelling down the waterfall sounded exciting but was expensive at $90pp for a 15-20 minute thrill; so we passed. After freshening up back at the hotel and having some wine on the balcony at the LI we got the first glimpse of the foot of the Arenal mountain. We drove back into town for a nice dinner at Choza de Laurel. Another good meal, although Don Rufino’s was a little better.
Feb. 8 – Still raining & cloudy. The Lost Iguana discounts admission to the hanging bridges which was our activity for the morning. We had a good guide but we didn’t see very much wildlife, just a couple of small birds, leaf-cutter ants & 1 yellow eyelash pitviper – most of the others seemed to be taking shelter from the rain which was causing trees to loudly fall over in the forest. We were told not to bother with La Fortuna falls later in the day because the water would be muddy & dirty due to the storm and it wasn’t going to be very pretty. So we decided to take a drive to the town of Arenal & have lunch at the German bakery- and what a wonderful decision that was. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this drive along lake Arenal… it’s so picturesque and takes you through 7-8 microclimates. It’s like being in Switzerland one minute and in an Asian bamboo forest the next. It was beautiful and the microclimates provided brief respite from the rain as well. So we took our time & saw Soda Toad Hall on the way. Stopped for lunch & to take in the wonderful view of the lake from there. Lunch wasn’t bad and we continued on to the town of Arenal where we checked out the German bakery & the Austrian bakery next door. We’re fans of Teutonic kuchen & were happy to see some favorites here. You won’t know the delight of a gipfeli at the end of a marvelous drive, unless you do this yourself.
At the hotel it was raining harder than on any other day. Decided to stay in and get packed for departure to Monteverde the next morning.
Monteverde & MA coming up next...
Mar 3rd, 2009, 04:46 PM
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Just chiming in here... I am mdn's DW (wife for those of you who are new to the forum). My husband's excellent trip report mentions Interbus - that it's hit or miss. I just want to say that if anyone (like me) has problems with car sickness, you really should just book a private car or drive yourself. The driver wouldn't allow anyone to sit next to him, and there were a few of us who suffer from motion sickness in that packed bus (they say they limit the passenger #, but it was packed, except in the seat next to the driver, which he wouldn't allow anyone to occupy), so it was really a problem. It's worth paying a little extra to not lose a day of your vacation feeling sick. DH will continue from here....
Mar 3rd, 2009, 07:50 PM
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I'm enjoying your report. We love the Lost Iguana, Cano Negro, and Eco Termales. Thanks for the tip on Don Ruffino; we'll have to give that one a try. Where did you guys see the pit viper? I always hear people say they see them at the Hanging Bridges, but I'm not sure where to look. I would have loved to have seen one.
Mar 3rd, 2009, 09:49 PM
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Enjoying your report! Thanks for taking the time. Sorry to hear El Novillo wasn't all that. We like Don Rufino's as well. Looking forward to "the rest of the story"--in honor of the late Paul Harvey. 
Mar 4th, 2009, 03:02 AM
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Oh! We got pretty lucky with regard to wildlife sightings. We pretty much saw everything that we'd hoped for & imagined and then some more. The yellow pitviper (just about a foot long) was on a tree around 3/4th of the way into the Hanging Bridges tour in Arenal, just past the last bridge.
In MA we saw another yet another green pitviper. We learned that these snakes are internally hatched by the mother and born in 4 different colors in order to better protect them from various predators & so that they don't compete with each other for shelter in the same areas.
You can see the pics here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/heymanis...eat=directlink
In MA we saw another yet another green pitviper. We learned that these snakes are internally hatched by the mother and born in 4 different colors in order to better protect them from various predators & so that they don't compete with each other for shelter in the same areas.
You can see the pics here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/heymanis...eat=directlink
Mar 4th, 2009, 04:10 AM
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I really enjoyed your report so far! Isn't the view from Costa Verde a wonder? I would sit out there and just sit for far too long but hard to tear yourself away. Sorry the Poas trip was a bust, it's always a toss-up. Totally agree with the candles, always on my packing list!
Mar 4th, 2009, 04:33 AM
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I'm jealous about the pit vipers - I wonder how many we've strolled past without ever noticing them. Your pictures are great! We skipped the mangrove tour in MA, and I've always felt like we missed something, but I keep reading posts that people didn't see much wildlife there. Cano Negro looks awesome as always.
Mar 9th, 2009, 05:13 PM
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janenicole - your DH shouldn't worry too much about Arenal to Alajuela; the drive is relatively short on decent roads, compared to the drive from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio.
I hope you'll have a wonderful time!
I hope you'll have a wonderful time!
Mar 9th, 2009, 05:37 PM
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mdn: Enjoying your trip report. Thanks for posting. We also loved Lost Iguana Resort and Arenal our first visit to Costa Rica. We are planning our second trip to Costa Rica for January/February 2010. Do you think there is enough to see to be worth staying at Lake Arenal? We didn't get to see Lake Arenal on our first visit.
Mar 9th, 2009, 06:44 PM
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Wonderful trip report mdn. Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for posting! I'm a fan of Ronnie's Place as well. Haven't made it to El Novillo yet but it does seem to get pretty decent reviews most of the time. Sorry yours wasn't so great. All the other places sound yummy. ;-)
Not a pit viper, but I saw a yellow eyelash viper on a hike and got dangerously close, it's true they have long eyelashes!
janenicole -- Try letting Interbus know you have motion sickness. I've always done that and most of the time they've saved the front seats for us.
Not a pit viper, but I saw a yellow eyelash viper on a hike and got dangerously close, it's true they have long eyelashes!
janenicole -- Try letting Interbus know you have motion sickness. I've always done that and most of the time they've saved the front seats for us.
Mar 10th, 2009, 05:11 AM
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Loving the report, getting ready to look at your pictures. Aren't you glad you got the Pany? I absolutely love my Panasonic FZ18. I think they are great cams. In fact Shillmac bought one b/c I loved mine so much. They are wonderful , looking forward to the next installment.
Mar 10th, 2009, 05:17 AM
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Just finished looking at your pictures! Wonderful.
My goal is to see a Quetzal this year....where did you see it and did you have a guide? I loved the little MX porcupine.
Beautiful beautiful pictures!!!!
Plus the snakes....wonderful! Toni
My goal is to see a Quetzal this year....where did you see it and did you have a guide? I loved the little MX porcupine.
Beautiful beautiful pictures!!!!
Plus the snakes....wonderful! Toni
Mar 10th, 2009, 05:27 AM
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All right, continuing from where I left off before...
Feb 9 – I was slightly despondent after 3 days of heavy rains & no volcano spotting. Yes, we’d seen coatis by the roadside a few times, heard frogs croak on the way to our room every night but never spotted one. I’d even spotted a toucan in the distance from our balcony but the pic was far from something I could boast about ☺ So I’d signed up for an early morning tour of the Lost Iguana’s trails on the morning before our departure for Monteverde. Started at 5:00 am with Johann, the guide, when the rain had slowed to a light drizzle. But the streams were gushing, trails were muddy & slippery and branches had bent over onto the trails. Alas, I was losing hope of seeing anything worthwhile. I started thinking about he logistics of returning the rental car to Mapache at 8:00 a.m. where Defasio’s taxi-boat-taxi was supposed to pick us up for the journey to Monteverde. But then, towards the end of the trail, there was a great big Black Guan perched atop a barren tree! I was relieved that we’d seen at least 1 great big bird & 1 brown leaf frog… but then as we stepped foot onto the paved road of the hotel property, we heard a Laughing Falcon. As we tried to trace it, I spotted a promiscuous Toucan and got some great shots!! By the time I was satisfied, I was running 10 mins behind schedule.
Luckily I spotted DW rushing down for breakfast and we made a bee line for check-out & our rental that was low on fuel. Still 10 mins behind schedule…
Rushed back to Mapache, with the gasoline indicator in the red to learn that the Defasio bus had left a couple of mins ago. But here’s where Mapache showed a flair for service. The Mapache agent took the wheel of our rental car & told us to jump in the back… he had the cell number of the Defasio bus driver whom he called as he started driving us in the direction of the lake and we rendezvoused with the bus a few miles down where they were making another hotel pick-up. The rental car agent did a quick look-over of the car while we waited for the bus to load bags etc. and assured us that the car was in good condition and that there would be no extra charges other than the fuel usage charge (returned it on almost empty .
The trip to Monteverde was as expected and once we were at Arco Iris Lodge in MV, we were really, really happy with our choice! The service was efficient, friendly and helpful. They formulated a fantastic itinerary for us as we checked-in – night tour & a visit to the frog museum that evening, cloud forest the next morning & bridges & ziplining in the afternoon (she told us to insist on doing the bridges first & zip-lining after… don’t know why but she seemed to have a reason).
Since it was still an hour before check-in time, we walked to Morphos for a quick lunch and ran into some people from California whom we’d met on the Caño Negro tour. They weren’t Fodorites and appreciated our recommendations for lunch spots in the area ;-) Then it was back to Arco Iris for a quick shower & then on to the Frog Museum, a 15 walk. The guide at the museum was very nice & the variety of frogs & tadpoles was super but unfortunately the Kermits were asleep since they’re nocturnal. Our guide told us that if we wanted to see the creatures in their true glory, we should come back at night since the ticket allows you 2 entries.
It was 10 minutes to 5:00 pm when the Hidden Valley Night Tour minibus was supposed to pick us up at the hotel. So we rushed back to start the great adventure for the evening. Night tour was fun at first when the sun was still out providing warmth & visibility. But soon it got rather cool & it was night! No dogs were howling though ☺ Then as soon as we started out on the trail, someone in our group screamed! Fortunately it was only an agouti that had scrambled across the path in front of her. As our eyes got accustomed to the dark, we could see a family of coatis scrounging for food. Soon we saw a Mexican porcupine, a few birds asleep, a couple of large tarantulas etc. Good tour overall for an experience different from hitting the regular trails.
Wrapped up with a dinner at Sofia’s which disappointed. The room is nice & service was fine too but 1 of the 2 entrées was overcooked, dry & just plain bad. Not good at that price point.
Feb. 10 - In the hotel’s breakfast room, we were amazed to see a few white-faced monkeys sitting right outside the windows staring at us eating bananas & fresh fruit.
At 7:30 am we were picked up for our morning trip to the MV cloud forest. We saw a quetzal fairly soon, although it was on a distant tree & we needed the guide’s telescope to get a good look. Saw several humming bird nests etc. We went to the nearby enchanting humming bird sanctuary at the end of this tour. Recommended!
After a quick, easy & tasty cafeteria-style lunch at Donde Henry’s & ice-cream in town, we got picked up by Selvatura Tours for our afternoon MV hanging bridges and zip-line tour. As expected, hanging bridges were lovely and the zip-lines were thoroughly exciting. Selvatura offers 15 zip-lines (incl. one that’s 1KM long) & Tarzan swings vs. fewer lines with other operators. Two pieces of advise here: (i) take a fleece jacket/sweater (ii) on the zip lines, in order to keep from spinning, extend your rear arm to full stretch as much as possible.
Dinner that night was at Johnny’s Pizzeria. Very good & recommended.
Feb. 11 – The day of our worst experience on this trip. After a quick breakfast in town, we were waiting for Interbus to pick us up at 8:25 or earlier. We’d called Interbus from the US as well as from MV to inform them that DW gets car sick & to check if she’d be able to sit in the front seat. We’d been told that they’d send the bus to our hotel first so that she could sit in the front & so on. The bus arrived 30 minutes late and was already full, except for the 2 fold-out seats. When we told the driver about car-sickness, DW’s need to sit in the front seat & our calls to Interbus to make prior arrangements, he ignored our concerns. The front seat was already taken & if we didn’t want to go in his bus, he told us to sign a form waiving any refunds etc. All this when there still was a 2nd seat in the front that was still available had it not been for the driver’s backpack on it. When DW asked if he could move the backpack, he refused. Finally, DW requested the person sitting in front to switch seats, which he did although he wasn’t too happy about it. I suspect he suffers from some car-sickness as well. Anyway, the ride itself wasn’t particularly enjoyable- our driver made it clear that he takes 5 hours for the journey unlike other “rash” drivers who do it faster. It was soon clear why he needed longer because he seemed to be driving at a brisk pace over the winding roads & bumpy sections oblivious to the sensitivities of passengers. Around 90 mins into the trip, he stopped at some souvenir shop, which also sold water at the price of elixir and announced that the halt would be for 30-35 minutes for people to freshen up. Everyone protested immediately saying 5 minutes at this stage of the journey was more than enough… I suppose he took our desire to get going as a license to go even faster and while we got to MA in decent time, the ride wasn’t comfortable. We heard from another passenger on the bus who’d taken Interbus on another route that these journeys are not scripted in detail. The driver often makes or breaks the journey & that the other driver hadn’t stopped for the “souvenir” break. We were just glad to arrive in MA and leave the misery of Interbus behind.
More on Manuel Antonio soon....
Feb 9 – I was slightly despondent after 3 days of heavy rains & no volcano spotting. Yes, we’d seen coatis by the roadside a few times, heard frogs croak on the way to our room every night but never spotted one. I’d even spotted a toucan in the distance from our balcony but the pic was far from something I could boast about ☺ So I’d signed up for an early morning tour of the Lost Iguana’s trails on the morning before our departure for Monteverde. Started at 5:00 am with Johann, the guide, when the rain had slowed to a light drizzle. But the streams were gushing, trails were muddy & slippery and branches had bent over onto the trails. Alas, I was losing hope of seeing anything worthwhile. I started thinking about he logistics of returning the rental car to Mapache at 8:00 a.m. where Defasio’s taxi-boat-taxi was supposed to pick us up for the journey to Monteverde. But then, towards the end of the trail, there was a great big Black Guan perched atop a barren tree! I was relieved that we’d seen at least 1 great big bird & 1 brown leaf frog… but then as we stepped foot onto the paved road of the hotel property, we heard a Laughing Falcon. As we tried to trace it, I spotted a promiscuous Toucan and got some great shots!! By the time I was satisfied, I was running 10 mins behind schedule.
Luckily I spotted DW rushing down for breakfast and we made a bee line for check-out & our rental that was low on fuel. Still 10 mins behind schedule…
Rushed back to Mapache, with the gasoline indicator in the red to learn that the Defasio bus had left a couple of mins ago. But here’s where Mapache showed a flair for service. The Mapache agent took the wheel of our rental car & told us to jump in the back… he had the cell number of the Defasio bus driver whom he called as he started driving us in the direction of the lake and we rendezvoused with the bus a few miles down where they were making another hotel pick-up. The rental car agent did a quick look-over of the car while we waited for the bus to load bags etc. and assured us that the car was in good condition and that there would be no extra charges other than the fuel usage charge (returned it on almost empty
.The trip to Monteverde was as expected and once we were at Arco Iris Lodge in MV, we were really, really happy with our choice! The service was efficient, friendly and helpful. They formulated a fantastic itinerary for us as we checked-in – night tour & a visit to the frog museum that evening, cloud forest the next morning & bridges & ziplining in the afternoon (she told us to insist on doing the bridges first & zip-lining after… don’t know why but she seemed to have a reason).
Since it was still an hour before check-in time, we walked to Morphos for a quick lunch and ran into some people from California whom we’d met on the Caño Negro tour. They weren’t Fodorites and appreciated our recommendations for lunch spots in the area ;-) Then it was back to Arco Iris for a quick shower & then on to the Frog Museum, a 15 walk. The guide at the museum was very nice & the variety of frogs & tadpoles was super but unfortunately the Kermits were asleep since they’re nocturnal. Our guide told us that if we wanted to see the creatures in their true glory, we should come back at night since the ticket allows you 2 entries.
It was 10 minutes to 5:00 pm when the Hidden Valley Night Tour minibus was supposed to pick us up at the hotel. So we rushed back to start the great adventure for the evening. Night tour was fun at first when the sun was still out providing warmth & visibility. But soon it got rather cool & it was night! No dogs were howling though ☺ Then as soon as we started out on the trail, someone in our group screamed! Fortunately it was only an agouti that had scrambled across the path in front of her. As our eyes got accustomed to the dark, we could see a family of coatis scrounging for food. Soon we saw a Mexican porcupine, a few birds asleep, a couple of large tarantulas etc. Good tour overall for an experience different from hitting the regular trails.
Wrapped up with a dinner at Sofia’s which disappointed. The room is nice & service was fine too but 1 of the 2 entrées was overcooked, dry & just plain bad. Not good at that price point.
Feb. 10 - In the hotel’s breakfast room, we were amazed to see a few white-faced monkeys sitting right outside the windows staring at us eating bananas & fresh fruit.
At 7:30 am we were picked up for our morning trip to the MV cloud forest. We saw a quetzal fairly soon, although it was on a distant tree & we needed the guide’s telescope to get a good look. Saw several humming bird nests etc. We went to the nearby enchanting humming bird sanctuary at the end of this tour. Recommended!
After a quick, easy & tasty cafeteria-style lunch at Donde Henry’s & ice-cream in town, we got picked up by Selvatura Tours for our afternoon MV hanging bridges and zip-line tour. As expected, hanging bridges were lovely and the zip-lines were thoroughly exciting. Selvatura offers 15 zip-lines (incl. one that’s 1KM long) & Tarzan swings vs. fewer lines with other operators. Two pieces of advise here: (i) take a fleece jacket/sweater (ii) on the zip lines, in order to keep from spinning, extend your rear arm to full stretch as much as possible.
Dinner that night was at Johnny’s Pizzeria. Very good & recommended.
Feb. 11 – The day of our worst experience on this trip. After a quick breakfast in town, we were waiting for Interbus to pick us up at 8:25 or earlier. We’d called Interbus from the US as well as from MV to inform them that DW gets car sick & to check if she’d be able to sit in the front seat. We’d been told that they’d send the bus to our hotel first so that she could sit in the front & so on. The bus arrived 30 minutes late and was already full, except for the 2 fold-out seats. When we told the driver about car-sickness, DW’s need to sit in the front seat & our calls to Interbus to make prior arrangements, he ignored our concerns. The front seat was already taken & if we didn’t want to go in his bus, he told us to sign a form waiving any refunds etc. All this when there still was a 2nd seat in the front that was still available had it not been for the driver’s backpack on it. When DW asked if he could move the backpack, he refused. Finally, DW requested the person sitting in front to switch seats, which he did although he wasn’t too happy about it. I suspect he suffers from some car-sickness as well. Anyway, the ride itself wasn’t particularly enjoyable- our driver made it clear that he takes 5 hours for the journey unlike other “rash” drivers who do it faster. It was soon clear why he needed longer because he seemed to be driving at a brisk pace over the winding roads & bumpy sections oblivious to the sensitivities of passengers. Around 90 mins into the trip, he stopped at some souvenir shop, which also sold water at the price of elixir and announced that the halt would be for 30-35 minutes for people to freshen up. Everyone protested immediately saying 5 minutes at this stage of the journey was more than enough… I suppose he took our desire to get going as a license to go even faster and while we got to MA in decent time, the ride wasn’t comfortable. We heard from another passenger on the bus who’d taken Interbus on another route that these journeys are not scripted in detail. The driver often makes or breaks the journey & that the other driver hadn’t stopped for the “souvenir” break. We were just glad to arrive in MA and leave the misery of Interbus behind.
More on Manuel Antonio soon....
Mar 10th, 2009, 06:06 AM
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Melissa5 - A drive along the lake up to Arenal town should suffice. Staying at a hotel further than the Lost Iguana would mean even more driving time into La Fortuna etc. which can become tedious because so many travel agencies, restaurants etc are there.
We didn't do the drive to Arenal Observatory Lodge because the road was supposed to be in horrible condition. And we hadn't planned on the drive to Arenal town either, but it was serene.
We didn't do the drive to Arenal Observatory Lodge because the road was supposed to be in horrible condition. And we hadn't planned on the drive to Arenal town either, but it was serene.
Mar 10th, 2009, 08:00 AM
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MDN - Glad you enjoyed Arco Iris - we loved our cabin there last March. People seem to either love MV or hate it and we definitely would return there again. Isn't the Hummingbird Gallery just amazing? It really spoiled me, didn't see near the variety of hummers last month. I was LOL at the woman screaming at the agouti. Sorry to hear about Interbus, we haven't used them but most people are pretty happy. I am prone to motion sickness, so just pop a Dramamine Light before any long car rides. Enjoyed your photos, thanks for sharing.
Mar 10th, 2009, 09:21 AM
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Me too; I never get car sickness, but I did in CR. Now I take Dramamine and wear Sea Bands, and that does the trick for me. I missed the Hummingbird Gallery - darn it! We loved Pizzeria de Johnny too. I had a great salad there, and I loved the atmosphere of the place. Looking forward to hearing more...
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