Beth

I got such great advice from this website that I had to share the results of my trip:<BR>A. San Jose - stayed at Finca Rosa Blanca - great inn to start & end your CR visit at. Wonderful food.<BR>B. Osa - Stayed at Aguila de Osa. 13 cabanas, howler monkeys wake you up at 5:30AM for the arrival of your pot of coffee to drink in your rocking chair and watch the birds. Fantastic spot. Diving isn't Belize but saw sharks & stingrays. Hiking in Corcovado is great. Food was good also.<BR>C. Monteverde - Don't stay at Hotel Heliconia - it is a sterile Holiday Inn type place with poor service. Eat at Johnny's Pizza. Take the Monteverde canopy tour (not Sky Trek) which goes from tree to tree. Take plenty of cash for the tours. Guides at Monteverde Cloud Forest are very knowledgable but we weren't into birds that much so we didn't appreciate it - we liked Corcovado better for the big animals.<BR>D. Arenal - Read mediocre comments about Tabacon but we really liked it - friendly staff, great breakfast buffet. Hot springs are extremely relaxing - it can get crowded but there are many hot springs and you just need to move away from the main pool. Take the $6 cab to La Fortuna for dinner. Eat at Nene's - it's down one of the back alleys. It was almost empty so we almost went somewhere else but it turned out to be one of our best meals - definitely have the stoganoff - which actually was more of a Costa Rican steak dish.<BR>E. Andrea at Best of Costa Rica was a great travel agent and was very responsive to all of our questions - so I thought I'd give her a plug.<BR>F. Timing for tours, buses, etc was very prompt and efficient. I never felt like I was on island time - almost felt like I was in Japan. And people are so helpful and so friendly, as you probably have read by now.<BR>G. Roads really aren't that bad if you have been to Sedona or other places where off-road can be rough. Though the drive to Monteverde gets tiring on such a rough road.<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip. We'd like to back in a couple of years and do the Caribbean side.<BR><BR>Beth

bly

Beth - thanks for the trip report. Did you rent a car, hire a driver or go on a tour? We're looking at going next month. b

Beth

We did the "planes, trains and automobile" route. Took a plane to Osa, had Sunset tours take us by 4x4 and boat from Monteverde to Arenal and had a driver for the other legs. If I was doing it over, I was definitely do the intra-country flying first and then rent a 4x4. Though we met great people in the vans to exchange notes with and got great tips from the taxi drivers and van drivers, so I don't think being without a car was bad - it just didn't allow us to explore the country on our time.<BR><BR>Beth

Terri

Beth,<BR><BR>How did you like the jeep/boat/jeep trip by Sunset? I'm going in June for 3 weeks and will not be renting a car, so this looked like a good option for getting between Fortuna and Santa Elena.<BR><BR>Thanks

Traveller

Thank you, Beth, for the very good trip report.<BR>Wish more people would write them and include details such as your -- even giving prices when available.

Beth

Terri - <BR><BR>Sunset tour worked out okay to do jeep/boat/jeep. Though the drivers were not as talkative as our other drivers for the hotels and/or our driver from Best of Costa Rica. But it was prompt and friendly and we talked to other travelers. Beth<BR><BR>