| freespirit61 |
Apr 23rd, 2013 06:22 PM |
Feb.28- we arrived at SJO, collected our luggage and did 2 things before leaving the airport. 1. purchased a local prepaid cell phone at the airport. This came in super handy-the minute rate to call back to the US is a great deal and local calls were free. 2. exchanged US dollars for Colones upstairs at the National Bank (best rate) in the airport. We stayed the first night at the Adventure Inn which provides free shuttle service. I booked the activities, hotels and transportation in La Fortuna and Monteverde with Desafio Adventure Company. This was a treat for me because all we had to do was show up in the lobby where we were staying and their van was waiting for us..
March 1- Shuttle with Desafio from the Adventure Inn to white water rafting the Sarapiqui, class 3-4 rapids. My college age daughter likes adrenaline action and she got it..She flew out of the raft 5 minutes after we started down the river. The whitewater rafting guides were super and we had a great time. After rafting, we were fed a fresh Costa Rican meal and delivered to our hotel in La Fortuna where we stayed for 3 nights ( Hotel Arenal Parasio). The hotel was clean, beautiful grounds,free breakfast,free wifi in lobby and the price was reasonable. FYI- Desafio will shuttle you from San Jose to rafting and then to La Fortuna for the price of the rafting trip. I chose this because I didnt want to drive from San Jose to La Fortuna.
March 2- I booked the Canyoneering for the late morning so we could sleep in- It is a vacation..!!!! Like magic,Desafio picked us up in the lobby and we went Canyoneering. This is like playing superman down the side of a waterfall. The guides were excellent. I am afraid of heights and after the first segment,I was like ok, Im ready. My daughter loved it but she is fearless. Desafio took pics of us on each excursion-How they got such good shots, Im still wondering, especially of the white water rafting. That afternoon, I had them drop us off at Alamo and we rented a car. This proved to be a good thing because taxi service was about the same price to and from town. That night, we drove to the local festival and danced salsa. This festivalo happens once a year and is scheduled when there is this Bike Race in La Fortuna around the volcano. 4500 people rode there bikes around the volcano. That was not a typo--4500 bicyclist. The hotels were all full.
March 3- I went hiking at the Arenal National Park with a small group. i booked this with the hotel as I didnt want to go alone ( my daughter didnt want to wake up early). It was more of a relaxing walk. That afternnon, I drove us to the hanging bridges and then we stopped at the Lost Iguana Hotel for late lunch. The food was great and The Lost Iguana is amazing.. Its a bit far away from the downtown area but wow, what a place..That evening, we went back to the festival for more dancing..
March 4- We took the van-boat van transfer across Lake Arenal to Monteverde. That took a few hours but the other option was to drive 4-5 hours to get to Monteverde and I didnt want to drive around the mountain so we cruised across the lake in a boat and then spent 1 hour in the van to get to Monteverde. We stayed at the Monteverde Country Lodge for 2 nights. Again,a nice clean hotel with breakfast and helpful staff. We went on a guided hike in the Monteverde Reserve. Amazing place.so pristine and we saw a quetzal and everyone in that reserve was dashing and cameras were clicking like a celebrity sighting. I wanted to see toucans but the quetzal is a rare sighting and there it was. We also saw lots of humming birds. We had the driver drop us off at Stellas Restaurant. Some wonderful person heard me say I wanted a salad and sandwich and told us about Stellas. I am not a foodie so you wont hear much about restaurants in my post but Stellas is great. Fresh food and bakery goods, sandwiches made to order and salad from their garden. Not to miss and a bonus..They put fruit out for the birds and here at Stellas, I saw an Emerald Toucan enjoying Stellas as much as I did. I took about 50 pics of that toucan and other birds that were munching off the fruit. We took a cab back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening.
March 5- Selvatura adventures picked us up and we went on a canopy tour-zip lining--what a blast- and again great guides. My daughter went bungee jumping and I watched, her and 4 other crazy kids do this. She said it was sooo cool..We all have different ideas of cool. That evening, we went to eat at Sofias. we both agree Sofias is a great restaurant. i will post rest of trip soon. ciao, pura vida...
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