Just returned from CR; a "first timer's" report (long)
Dec 13th, 2006, 07:35 PM
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Just returned from CR; a "first timer's" report (long)
Hi everyone,
I have just gotten back from a wonderful week in Costa Rica and would like to share my impressions. This forum was such a valuable resource while I was planning my vacation and I want to thank all the regular posters here who are so willing to help us CR novices! Hopefully my experiences will be of some use to another person who is planning their own first trip...
Our travel party consisted of myself, my brother (both 40-ish) and our 67 year old mom. None of us had ever been to Central America before.
Monday Dec 4: We had one of those early flights that required us to get up at 4:00 a.m. after a night of too little sleep.
Sunday had been a day of frenetic activity, full of all sorts of last minute errands that magically materialized just when we should have been winding down for the evening. The highlight was when my mother discovered that she had carefully packed a container of antibiotic tropical fish food in with her prescription medications. I had hunted high and low for that fish food (and had ultimately been forced to make a mad dash to Petsmart before it closed to buy a replacement)! The food was sitting on the kitchen counter along with feeding instructions for the friends who were doing pet duty in my absence. My mother (sans reading glasses) assumed the fish food was one of her vitamin containers, and packed it away. A hearty laugh was had by all, but I'll never get that 45 minutes back that it took to make the extra trip to Petsmart!
Our flight was uneventful, and it was truly thrilling to descend beneath the cloud cover and get our first glimpse of the hills and valleys of Costa Rica as the airplane made its approach into San Jose.
We fumbled our way out to the airport curb and were pointed to the Europcar shuttle by a couple of helpful cab drivers. We waited in line at the Europcar counter behind a couple that took forever to sign their documents! The man was waffling over whether or not to upgrade to a 4 wheel drive vehicle and seemed very concerned that his female companion would not approve of the make and color of the vehicle he wanted to rent. His companion seemed much less concerned about than he was! By the time he started asking for directions to Limon and expressed surprise that it would take so long to get there, and then expressed more surprise when the Europcar agent explained that most of the streets would not be marked along the way, I was about ready to throw a small temper tantrum (I also was perhaps ever-so-slightly cranky due to lack of sleep the night before
). I bit my tongue and aited 'patiently' for my turn. After a full hour waiting behind Mr. Indecisive, we finally got our turn at the counter. Within about 20 minutes, we were wending our way through the bustling streets of Alajuela.
"Make a u-turn at the gas station and head back past the airport, when the street branches past the traffic light, bear to the right and pass the mall, the city park, and the courthouse. Then start looking for signs to the Poas volcano. Follow these signs, but don't go all the way to the volcano. Watch for the turn off to the Peace Lodge". These were the directions from the Europcar representative, and they served us well. Although we were convinced we had gotten lost several times along the way, everytime we were on the verge of turning around to retrace our steps, we would see the next volcano sign. At least we were headed towards "a" volcano! Most of the signs didn't say which one; just had that volcano picture on them. Luckily, it was indeed Poas that we were approaching. The drive was beautiful. I wasn't expecting the steep, winding roads that quickly emerge as you leave the Central Valley area (although I suppose the term 'Central Valley' should have been some sort of giveaway!). At first I was a bit white-knuckled behind the wheel. There were crazy drivers passing us on the switchbacks, and people and dogs strolling in the roadway (just as I had read there would be). But after awhile, the rolling green hills dotted with tiny communities exerted a soothing effect. I drove defensively at all times, but was able to lose that uptight edge I started out with and enjoy the scenery. The only other frustration of the day was the fact that Mr. Indecisive Automobile Renter had taken such a long time to make up his mind about the white 4 wheel drive Rav-4, that nightfall started to descend before we made it to the Peace Lodge, it also started to rain which made the skies even darker. Those last few miles seemed to stretch on forever as the rain intermittently drizzled and poured. The grounds at the Peace Lodge were totally socked in by fog when we arrived and the sun had completely set.
The desk clerk greeted us with a warm smile, and led us down a steep, rainy pathway to our room. On the way, he showed us the pool/jacuzzi area and showed us how to turn on the waterfall over the heated pool. He then took us on an exensive tour of our room. I know that the Peace Lodge is not everyone's cup of tea, but it felt like a wonderful, welcoming oasis to us on that cool, rainy night. We huddled in front of our fire place for a few minutes before braving the elements to go to dinner. Dinner was decent but pricey (as expected). Mom and I hit the public jacuzzi after dinner, while brother tried out the waterfall shower in the room. We were worn out and in bed by 9:00 p.m. I looked out the balcony window before turning in and could not see anything but fog.
Next, our day at the waterfall gardens and drive to Arenal...
I have just gotten back from a wonderful week in Costa Rica and would like to share my impressions. This forum was such a valuable resource while I was planning my vacation and I want to thank all the regular posters here who are so willing to help us CR novices! Hopefully my experiences will be of some use to another person who is planning their own first trip...
Our travel party consisted of myself, my brother (both 40-ish) and our 67 year old mom. None of us had ever been to Central America before.
Monday Dec 4: We had one of those early flights that required us to get up at 4:00 a.m. after a night of too little sleep.
Sunday had been a day of frenetic activity, full of all sorts of last minute errands that magically materialized just when we should have been winding down for the evening. The highlight was when my mother discovered that she had carefully packed a container of antibiotic tropical fish food in with her prescription medications. I had hunted high and low for that fish food (and had ultimately been forced to make a mad dash to Petsmart before it closed to buy a replacement)! The food was sitting on the kitchen counter along with feeding instructions for the friends who were doing pet duty in my absence. My mother (sans reading glasses) assumed the fish food was one of her vitamin containers, and packed it away. A hearty laugh was had by all, but I'll never get that 45 minutes back that it took to make the extra trip to Petsmart!
Our flight was uneventful, and it was truly thrilling to descend beneath the cloud cover and get our first glimpse of the hills and valleys of Costa Rica as the airplane made its approach into San Jose.
We fumbled our way out to the airport curb and were pointed to the Europcar shuttle by a couple of helpful cab drivers. We waited in line at the Europcar counter behind a couple that took forever to sign their documents! The man was waffling over whether or not to upgrade to a 4 wheel drive vehicle and seemed very concerned that his female companion would not approve of the make and color of the vehicle he wanted to rent. His companion seemed much less concerned about than he was! By the time he started asking for directions to Limon and expressed surprise that it would take so long to get there, and then expressed more surprise when the Europcar agent explained that most of the streets would not be marked along the way, I was about ready to throw a small temper tantrum (I also was perhaps ever-so-slightly cranky due to lack of sleep the night before
). I bit my tongue and aited 'patiently' for my turn. After a full hour waiting behind Mr. Indecisive, we finally got our turn at the counter. Within about 20 minutes, we were wending our way through the bustling streets of Alajuela. "Make a u-turn at the gas station and head back past the airport, when the street branches past the traffic light, bear to the right and pass the mall, the city park, and the courthouse. Then start looking for signs to the Poas volcano. Follow these signs, but don't go all the way to the volcano. Watch for the turn off to the Peace Lodge". These were the directions from the Europcar representative, and they served us well. Although we were convinced we had gotten lost several times along the way, everytime we were on the verge of turning around to retrace our steps, we would see the next volcano sign. At least we were headed towards "a" volcano! Most of the signs didn't say which one; just had that volcano picture on them. Luckily, it was indeed Poas that we were approaching. The drive was beautiful. I wasn't expecting the steep, winding roads that quickly emerge as you leave the Central Valley area (although I suppose the term 'Central Valley' should have been some sort of giveaway!). At first I was a bit white-knuckled behind the wheel. There were crazy drivers passing us on the switchbacks, and people and dogs strolling in the roadway (just as I had read there would be). But after awhile, the rolling green hills dotted with tiny communities exerted a soothing effect. I drove defensively at all times, but was able to lose that uptight edge I started out with and enjoy the scenery. The only other frustration of the day was the fact that Mr. Indecisive Automobile Renter had taken such a long time to make up his mind about the white 4 wheel drive Rav-4, that nightfall started to descend before we made it to the Peace Lodge, it also started to rain which made the skies even darker. Those last few miles seemed to stretch on forever as the rain intermittently drizzled and poured. The grounds at the Peace Lodge were totally socked in by fog when we arrived and the sun had completely set.
The desk clerk greeted us with a warm smile, and led us down a steep, rainy pathway to our room. On the way, he showed us the pool/jacuzzi area and showed us how to turn on the waterfall over the heated pool. He then took us on an exensive tour of our room. I know that the Peace Lodge is not everyone's cup of tea, but it felt like a wonderful, welcoming oasis to us on that cool, rainy night. We huddled in front of our fire place for a few minutes before braving the elements to go to dinner. Dinner was decent but pricey (as expected). Mom and I hit the public jacuzzi after dinner, while brother tried out the waterfall shower in the room. We were worn out and in bed by 9:00 p.m. I looked out the balcony window before turning in and could not see anything but fog.
Next, our day at the waterfall gardens and drive to Arenal...
Dec 14th, 2006, 06:09 PM
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Thanks for the positive feedback, Shillmac and Tully! I tend to get a bit wordy when I write, and was worried I had gone way overboard when I posted this last night. Thanks for reading!
Now on to the next thrilling installment...
Tuesday December 5: I woke up around 6 a.m. The first thing I noticed was the sound of numerous singing and chirping birds. The second thing I noticed was the lack of man-made noise; no traffic or loud voices. Just the birds. What a pleasant way to wake up!
My mom woke up about that same time and slipped out of bed to peek out the balcony window. She immediately let out a gasp of pure delight and pulled back the curtains so that I could see as well. What an amazing view! It was still raining gently but the heavy fog from the night before had lifted, leaving an ethereal looking mist hanging over the mountain tops. A veritable flock of hummingbirds danced around the feeder on our balcony, vying for prime position. Below our balcony was a profusion of gorgeous plants and flowers. I think the folks at La Paz have done a truly impressive job merging their landscaped grounds with the surrounding natural flora. My mom is a total sucker for botanical gardens and really fell in love with the place. I think we could have quite happily spent the whole day just sitting on our porch watching the hummingbirds, but the waterfalls beckoned so we forced my brother out of bed and made our way over to the breakfast buffet.
The buffet offerings were very tasty and we enjoyed watching the colorful birds that showed up for their own buffet of bananas provided by the Peace Lodge staff.
After a nice breakfast, we donned our rain gear (as the rain had picked up a bit) and started our walking tour at the trout pond. We followed the trail that winds around the side of the pond ("Fern Trail", I believe it was called). This lead us through some nice flower beds, and then down to the river. The rain blessedly started to let up, and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. The trail dumped us out just below the butterfly house, so we visited that next.
The Morphos were spectacular (as were all of the species) and it was really neat to see the developing cocoons and the caterpillars. Next up was the hummingbird gardens, serpentarium, orchids and ranarium. We enjoyed every second.
Then we were ready to tackle the waterfalls. I had seen plenty of pictures of the falls (on the La Paz website, and in various people's photo albums posted online), but photographs just never do that type of thing justice. We walked up and down the multitudes of stairs to visit each overlook. My poor mother was starting to fade by this point. She has a touch of arthritis and has has some minor issues with her knees. She desperately wanted to see everything, but the steep trails were a bit tough for her.
She was cheered by the sight of the gift shop at the end of the trail, and we spent a happy hour browsing and purchasing.
By this time it was almost 2:30 and we needed to hit the road to Arenal. We hit one minor snag at checkout. I booked our hotels, rental car, and airfare through a travel agent, and had a single pre-paid voucher paper for both Europcar and the Peace Lodge. I couldn't find the voucher anywhere! I had presented it at Europcar, and finally called them to see if I had left it there. It turns out that they had deliberately kept it for their records, and I had not realized that they never gave it back to me. Undoubtedly, I had been too distracted by Mr. Indecisive to notice! Poor Mr. Indecisive! He's probably a perfectly nice man, but it amuses me to make him my scapegoat. ;-)
Europcar offered to fax a copy of the voucher to the Peace Lodge, but they said not to worry about it. So we were packed up and ready to head to La Fortuna, until my mom raised concerns about her receipt from the gift store. She could not figure out why the stuff she had purchased had been so expensive. I took the reciept which was all in spanish (I speak just a little bit), and eventually figured out that they had charged her for 22 little rubber bouncing balls. She had bought 3 for the young grandkids back home. We went back to the gift store and got the receipt straightened out, but by this time it was just after 3:30. Yikes! Visions of not getting to the Arenal Lodge before nightfall started dancing in my head...
We set out, armed with the fancy little printed card from Peace Lodge that provides driving directions from La Paz to the Tabacon Resort (apparently, this is a popular tourist route ).
We did quite well until we got to the large-ish intersection that turns off for Muelle. We went straight through the intersection and proceeded for what seemed an eternity. We had been seeing periodic volcano signs along the route, but hadn't noticed one for 30 minutes or so. We finally decided to retrace our steps to see where we had gone wrong. We ended up back at the intersection to Muelle and pulled off the road to ask for directions. Just as I was getting ready to get out of the car, I noticed a little brown sign with a volcano on it; pointing down the road we had just come from! Aargh, we had been heading in correct direction all along! By this time, the sun was setting and we still had a ways to go (and we had just wasted half an hour 'not' getting lost).
Luckily, the road we were on was nicely paved. It was dark by the time we reached La Fortuna, and the road around the volcano to the lake was a bit scary in the dark, but nicely paved as well. The drive up to Arenal Lodge on the other hand... Bumpy, narrow, steep, winding, and totally socked in by fog! We survived the adventure and the "Congratulations, you made it!" sign at the top of the hill was appropriate indeed.
It was starting to rain, so we opted to just have dinner at the hotel (fine, but nothing to write home about), and settled into our room for the night. I looked out the balcony window before turning in - and just like at the Peace Lodge the night before - could see nothing but fog.
Next up, Cano Negro...
Now on to the next thrilling installment...
Tuesday December 5: I woke up around 6 a.m. The first thing I noticed was the sound of numerous singing and chirping birds. The second thing I noticed was the lack of man-made noise; no traffic or loud voices. Just the birds. What a pleasant way to wake up!
My mom woke up about that same time and slipped out of bed to peek out the balcony window. She immediately let out a gasp of pure delight and pulled back the curtains so that I could see as well. What an amazing view! It was still raining gently but the heavy fog from the night before had lifted, leaving an ethereal looking mist hanging over the mountain tops. A veritable flock of hummingbirds danced around the feeder on our balcony, vying for prime position. Below our balcony was a profusion of gorgeous plants and flowers. I think the folks at La Paz have done a truly impressive job merging their landscaped grounds with the surrounding natural flora. My mom is a total sucker for botanical gardens and really fell in love with the place. I think we could have quite happily spent the whole day just sitting on our porch watching the hummingbirds, but the waterfalls beckoned so we forced my brother out of bed and made our way over to the breakfast buffet.
The buffet offerings were very tasty and we enjoyed watching the colorful birds that showed up for their own buffet of bananas provided by the Peace Lodge staff.
After a nice breakfast, we donned our rain gear (as the rain had picked up a bit) and started our walking tour at the trout pond. We followed the trail that winds around the side of the pond ("Fern Trail", I believe it was called). This lead us through some nice flower beds, and then down to the river. The rain blessedly started to let up, and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. The trail dumped us out just below the butterfly house, so we visited that next.
The Morphos were spectacular (as were all of the species) and it was really neat to see the developing cocoons and the caterpillars. Next up was the hummingbird gardens, serpentarium, orchids and ranarium. We enjoyed every second.
Then we were ready to tackle the waterfalls. I had seen plenty of pictures of the falls (on the La Paz website, and in various people's photo albums posted online), but photographs just never do that type of thing justice. We walked up and down the multitudes of stairs to visit each overlook. My poor mother was starting to fade by this point. She has a touch of arthritis and has has some minor issues with her knees. She desperately wanted to see everything, but the steep trails were a bit tough for her.
She was cheered by the sight of the gift shop at the end of the trail, and we spent a happy hour browsing and purchasing.
By this time it was almost 2:30 and we needed to hit the road to Arenal. We hit one minor snag at checkout. I booked our hotels, rental car, and airfare through a travel agent, and had a single pre-paid voucher paper for both Europcar and the Peace Lodge. I couldn't find the voucher anywhere! I had presented it at Europcar, and finally called them to see if I had left it there. It turns out that they had deliberately kept it for their records, and I had not realized that they never gave it back to me. Undoubtedly, I had been too distracted by Mr. Indecisive to notice! Poor Mr. Indecisive! He's probably a perfectly nice man, but it amuses me to make him my scapegoat. ;-)
Europcar offered to fax a copy of the voucher to the Peace Lodge, but they said not to worry about it. So we were packed up and ready to head to La Fortuna, until my mom raised concerns about her receipt from the gift store. She could not figure out why the stuff she had purchased had been so expensive. I took the reciept which was all in spanish (I speak just a little bit), and eventually figured out that they had charged her for 22 little rubber bouncing balls. She had bought 3 for the young grandkids back home. We went back to the gift store and got the receipt straightened out, but by this time it was just after 3:30. Yikes! Visions of not getting to the Arenal Lodge before nightfall started dancing in my head...
We set out, armed with the fancy little printed card from Peace Lodge that provides driving directions from La Paz to the Tabacon Resort (apparently, this is a popular tourist route
).We did quite well until we got to the large-ish intersection that turns off for Muelle. We went straight through the intersection and proceeded for what seemed an eternity. We had been seeing periodic volcano signs along the route, but hadn't noticed one for 30 minutes or so. We finally decided to retrace our steps to see where we had gone wrong. We ended up back at the intersection to Muelle and pulled off the road to ask for directions. Just as I was getting ready to get out of the car, I noticed a little brown sign with a volcano on it; pointing down the road we had just come from! Aargh, we had been heading in correct direction all along! By this time, the sun was setting and we still had a ways to go (and we had just wasted half an hour 'not' getting lost).
Luckily, the road we were on was nicely paved. It was dark by the time we reached La Fortuna, and the road around the volcano to the lake was a bit scary in the dark, but nicely paved as well. The drive up to Arenal Lodge on the other hand... Bumpy, narrow, steep, winding, and totally socked in by fog! We survived the adventure and the "Congratulations, you made it!" sign at the top of the hill was appropriate indeed.
It was starting to rain, so we opted to just have dinner at the hotel (fine, but nothing to write home about), and settled into our room for the night. I looked out the balcony window before turning in - and just like at the Peace Lodge the night before - could see nothing but fog.
Next up, Cano Negro...
Dec 15th, 2006, 06:30 PM
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Hi Lorrie and Mazuka. Thanks for reading! Its fun to relive the details (and makes me wish I was still there)!
On to Chapter 3...
Wednesday December 6: The alarm clock went off at 5:00 a.m. and I was raring to go, which is surprising considering what a morning person I am not! Its amazing what a little excitement and anticipation will do for you.
As I was drying my hair, I heard a sudden loud growling noise that sort of reverberated around our room. It was followed by more of the same sounds. I realized that it had to be Howler monkeys! They sounded close by, but I couldn't spot them from our balcony. The morning was quite drizzly and foggy. Our Junior Suite with a volcano view offered no sight of the volcano that rainy day.
We were all ready to go by 6:30, which allowed us to hit the breakfast buffet before Sunset Tours came to collect us at 7:00 for our Cano Negro excursion. Dinner the night before had been nothing special, but Arenal Lodge does a very nice breakfast.
The Sunset Tour van arrived shortly after 7:00, and we were off on our next adventure. I had read so many good things on this forum about Cano Negro that I was really looking forward to the tour. Our guide Julio talked to us about the Arenal volcano, and pointed out the various fruit orchards and other types of crops as we rode along. He explained how the Cassava roots were harvested, and had the driver pull over next to a stray Teak tree and showed us how the leaves produce a natural red dye when scrunched up.
He also spoke to us about the Nicaraguan migrant workers who pour across the border looking for a better life. Most of these people work in the fields doing back-breaking work for a mere pittance. They are typically paid one colon per pineapple, which means that they have to harvest/plant approximately 500 pineapples in order to make the equivalent of one U.S. dollar. They are also expected to work rain or shine, in sickness or in health. Its so humbling to hear how these people are forced to live. I hope this reflection gives me pause the next time I feel tempted to whine about the stress at my job!
Julio also told us that there is such an issue with illegal immigration (and so few resources to control it), that its been estimated that within a few decades there may be more Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica than Costa Ricans. He did not mention this with any trace of bitterness or dislike for the Nicaraguans; just matter of fact, and I got the impression that he is sympathetic to their plight.
Meanwhile, our driver Claudio spotted a sloth in a tree right next to the road. We pulled over and were able to snap some photos. It was my first sloth in the wild, and very cool!
We made a stop in Muelle to see the iguanas in the trees. Julio counted about 50 that day, and said that he had counted as many as 150 there on several occasions.
Our next stop was in Los Chiles to pick up lunch for the boat trip. It had been drizzling for most of the drive, but the skies cleared over Los Chiles and stayed clear from most of our Cano Negro adventure. Julio told us that a tropical depression had been sitting over the La Fortuna area for the past 2 weeks, and that it had been rainier than usual for this time of year.
We boarded our boat on the Rio Frio, and began our cruise. There were only 9 of us on the boat that day, so we plenty of room to spread out and move around for prime viewing opportunities.
We immediately came across 3 smallish caimens lazing in the sun with their mouths gaped open to let off heat.
We then saw several different kinds of birds, including Kingfishers, Herons (my favorite was the Boat-billed Heron), and Anhingas (which we have lots of in Florida where I live). We also saw several turtles, and cute little Long-nosed bats. Then the piece de resistance; monkeys! There was a troop of Spider monkeys and a troop of Howlers in the same stand of trees. The Howlers howled a little bit for us, while the Spiders spastically jumped from branch to branch. I could have watched them for hours.
A little farther up the river, we came upon another troop of Howlers. This group was much closer to us, and we had a pretty good view of a youngster eating some leaves while his mother supervised from nearby.
Our excursion finished up with a tasty tipica lunch by the river bank. As we were finishing up the food, it began to rain again. We dashed back to boat and huddled towards the center aisle as we made our way back to the dock. Claudio was standing by with the van, and we were soon enroute to La Fortuna. It was such a nice day!
Back at the hotel, we spent a few minutes out on the porch while deciding what to do that evening. We were delighted to see a couple of Coatis scamper across the lawn under our balcony. Then we saw the strangest creature; about the size of a Coati, black with a tan patch on its chest. It had a long body with a long fuzzy tail and a rather catlike face. I had no idea what it was, but it had no trouble scaling up the tall bird feeder pole to steal a banana. We found out the next day that it was a Tayra (member of the weasel family). It was a cool looking critter, and we saw it several times while at the Arenal Lodge.
We ended up eating at La Choza de Laurel for dinner. We spent a whopping 19$ for the 3 of us, and all agreed that it was our favorite meal of the entire trip. Delicious roasted chicken, served with tortillas and guacamole!
After dinner we ended up at Tabacon. We paid the night fee of 35$ and were there for almost 3 hours. We must have picked a really good time to visit, because it wasn't crowded at all. We had no problem finding uninhabited pools to soak in. We even had the main waterfall all to ourselves for quite a while. My only regret was that we hadn't arrived while it was still daylight. We kind of decided to go the springs on the spur of the moment because we weren't sure we would have time to fit it in the next afternoon. It was a very enjoyable, relaxing way to end the day.
That night it absolutely poured! I woke up several times and anxiously peered out the window hoping to see lava. All I saw was rain and more fog. The fog was becoming a definite theme for the trip.
Next, a soaking wet visit to the Hanging Gardens, and my mother bravely conquers Sky Trek...
On to Chapter 3...
Wednesday December 6: The alarm clock went off at 5:00 a.m. and I was raring to go, which is surprising considering what a morning person I am not! Its amazing what a little excitement and anticipation will do for you.
As I was drying my hair, I heard a sudden loud growling noise that sort of reverberated around our room. It was followed by more of the same sounds. I realized that it had to be Howler monkeys! They sounded close by, but I couldn't spot them from our balcony. The morning was quite drizzly and foggy. Our Junior Suite with a volcano view offered no sight of the volcano that rainy day.
We were all ready to go by 6:30, which allowed us to hit the breakfast buffet before Sunset Tours came to collect us at 7:00 for our Cano Negro excursion. Dinner the night before had been nothing special, but Arenal Lodge does a very nice breakfast.
The Sunset Tour van arrived shortly after 7:00, and we were off on our next adventure. I had read so many good things on this forum about Cano Negro that I was really looking forward to the tour. Our guide Julio talked to us about the Arenal volcano, and pointed out the various fruit orchards and other types of crops as we rode along. He explained how the Cassava roots were harvested, and had the driver pull over next to a stray Teak tree and showed us how the leaves produce a natural red dye when scrunched up.
He also spoke to us about the Nicaraguan migrant workers who pour across the border looking for a better life. Most of these people work in the fields doing back-breaking work for a mere pittance. They are typically paid one colon per pineapple, which means that they have to harvest/plant approximately 500 pineapples in order to make the equivalent of one U.S. dollar. They are also expected to work rain or shine, in sickness or in health. Its so humbling to hear how these people are forced to live. I hope this reflection gives me pause the next time I feel tempted to whine about the stress at my job!
Julio also told us that there is such an issue with illegal immigration (and so few resources to control it), that its been estimated that within a few decades there may be more Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica than Costa Ricans. He did not mention this with any trace of bitterness or dislike for the Nicaraguans; just matter of fact, and I got the impression that he is sympathetic to their plight.
Meanwhile, our driver Claudio spotted a sloth in a tree right next to the road. We pulled over and were able to snap some photos. It was my first sloth in the wild, and very cool!
We made a stop in Muelle to see the iguanas in the trees. Julio counted about 50 that day, and said that he had counted as many as 150 there on several occasions.
Our next stop was in Los Chiles to pick up lunch for the boat trip. It had been drizzling for most of the drive, but the skies cleared over Los Chiles and stayed clear from most of our Cano Negro adventure. Julio told us that a tropical depression had been sitting over the La Fortuna area for the past 2 weeks, and that it had been rainier than usual for this time of year.
We boarded our boat on the Rio Frio, and began our cruise. There were only 9 of us on the boat that day, so we plenty of room to spread out and move around for prime viewing opportunities.
We immediately came across 3 smallish caimens lazing in the sun with their mouths gaped open to let off heat.
We then saw several different kinds of birds, including Kingfishers, Herons (my favorite was the Boat-billed Heron), and Anhingas (which we have lots of in Florida where I live). We also saw several turtles, and cute little Long-nosed bats. Then the piece de resistance; monkeys! There was a troop of Spider monkeys and a troop of Howlers in the same stand of trees. The Howlers howled a little bit for us, while the Spiders spastically jumped from branch to branch. I could have watched them for hours.
A little farther up the river, we came upon another troop of Howlers. This group was much closer to us, and we had a pretty good view of a youngster eating some leaves while his mother supervised from nearby.
Our excursion finished up with a tasty tipica lunch by the river bank. As we were finishing up the food, it began to rain again. We dashed back to boat and huddled towards the center aisle as we made our way back to the dock. Claudio was standing by with the van, and we were soon enroute to La Fortuna. It was such a nice day!
Back at the hotel, we spent a few minutes out on the porch while deciding what to do that evening. We were delighted to see a couple of Coatis scamper across the lawn under our balcony. Then we saw the strangest creature; about the size of a Coati, black with a tan patch on its chest. It had a long body with a long fuzzy tail and a rather catlike face. I had no idea what it was, but it had no trouble scaling up the tall bird feeder pole to steal a banana. We found out the next day that it was a Tayra (member of the weasel family). It was a cool looking critter, and we saw it several times while at the Arenal Lodge.
We ended up eating at La Choza de Laurel for dinner. We spent a whopping 19$ for the 3 of us, and all agreed that it was our favorite meal of the entire trip. Delicious roasted chicken, served with tortillas and guacamole!
After dinner we ended up at Tabacon. We paid the night fee of 35$ and were there for almost 3 hours. We must have picked a really good time to visit, because it wasn't crowded at all. We had no problem finding uninhabited pools to soak in. We even had the main waterfall all to ourselves for quite a while. My only regret was that we hadn't arrived while it was still daylight. We kind of decided to go the springs on the spur of the moment because we weren't sure we would have time to fit it in the next afternoon. It was a very enjoyable, relaxing way to end the day.
That night it absolutely poured! I woke up several times and anxiously peered out the window hoping to see lava. All I saw was rain and more fog. The fog was becoming a definite theme for the trip.
Next, a soaking wet visit to the Hanging Gardens, and my mother bravely conquers Sky Trek...
Dec 15th, 2006, 09:28 PM
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Thursday December 7: We had another early wakeup call because we had booked a morning tour to the Hanging Bridges. We opted to go with Sunset Tours again because they had done such a nice job with Cano Negro. Our friend, the Tayra made an appearance at breakfast and once again displayed his/her pole climbing prowess in pursuit of fresh bananas.
The birds here were gorgeous. I am not a birder, so I don't know most of their names, but I believe both the Blue-gray Tanager and the Cherries Tanager were present along with several other attractive species. They were very engaging to watch.
The Sunset Tours shuttle driver arrived; a charming, friendly man named Carlos who spoke very little english. I put my limited spanish to the test and was very pleased that I could actually understand much of what he said! He asked how we were enjoying our stay in his country and told us that Alajuela is a really important province for Costa Rica because of its agricultural and milk production. He asked what sights we had seen in the area, and where we were going next. At least, I think that's what he asked; I responded as if it was!
He dropped us off at the entrance drive up to the Hanging Bridges, where we transferred to another Sunset Tours van. Who was in that van? None other than Julio and Claudio; our guide and driver from the previous day! It was fun to see them again. There was a second guide in the van as well. Julio was going to lead a group of Spaniards through the park, while Jairo would be our guide.
It was another overcast day. Initially, it just drizzled and misted, but by the time we were on the first trail in the park, it was pouring! We had cheap rain ponchos and umbrellas, but any exposed body part (hands, arms, legs, feet) were quickly soaking wet! We tried not to let the rain dampen our spirits (pun intended), but it did affect our enjoyment level a bit.
We forged ahead and Jairo proceeded to educate us about the trees and plants along the way. We learned about the bromeliads and how the poison arrow frogs use them for breeding. They lay their eggs in the large water holding wells in the center of the bromeliad, and the tadpoles grow there until they become little frogs, at which point they climb out of the bromeliad to venture out on their own. Pretty neat adaptation!
We also learned about the vines that compete with the trees and eventually kill them, which makes room for secondary forest growth. He identified lots of different plant species for us, and despite the rain, it was beautiful along those pathways and bridges! At one point we had a view of a gorgeous waterfall that was partially obscured by a curtain of wispy mist. It was very other-worldly. My brother remarked that he expected a dinosaur to emerge from the trees at any moment, since Costa Rica was the setting for Jurassic Park. Our misty jungle surroundings certainly had a primordial feel.
The rain gradually lessoned as we continued our trek. The mist prevailed and Jairo told us that we could practically tell people we had visited Monteverde, because the Hanging Bridges were very reminiscent of cloud forest ecosystem that day.
He knew we hoped to see animals and did his best to find some for us. We had gotten a good view of a beautiful White Hawk just outside the park (which is apparently a fairly rare sighting in that area). We also saw some hummingbirds inside the park. We came upon a group of Leaf Cutter Ants on the trail and Jairo explained how the workers cannot be disuaded from their leaf gathering task, and will follow each other over any type of terrain. He demonstrated by putting his hand in the middle of their trail as a barrier. They simply crawled up and over his hand rather than looking for a way to go around. Pretty fascinating. Our wildlife spotting desire was further appeased by the appearance of a single Spider Monkey who clambered around in a nearby tree for a few minutes before moving out of view.
I had on a pair of lightweight Champion track pants (purchased at Target, of all places) that were composed of polyester and spandex. Those things performed like their brand name, and were almost completely dry by the time we had finished the trail loop and made it back to the van.
Within a few short minutes, we had been dropped off at our nearby hotel. We decided to eat lunch onsite, as we had a 2:30 reservation at Sky Trek and didn't want to drive all the way into town for food. As we were getting ready to leave our room to walk over to the restaurant, I glanced out our balcony window and saw a hint of a steep moutain side materializing from behind the clouds. It was Arenal! I grabbed my camera thinking that this might be my only glimpse of it, as we were leaving the area the next morning. We went out on the balcony and watched the mountain for several minutes. The cloud cover moved and metamorphosed rapidly; more and more of the volcano gradually came into view. Finally, we could see the entire mountain, and it was magnificent! There was always a small puff of cloud directly above the volcano and I think it was likely a small smoke/steam plume generated by the lava, as opposed to a true cloud. At least that's what I hope it was. We eventually tore ourselves from the balcony, realizing that the restaurant dining room would also have volcano views.
Lunch was better than the dinner we had there a couple of nights before. I tried their ceviche and it was quite tasty! Arenal Lodge also has a free internet room for their guests, so I took a few minutes to check in with my petsitting friends back home.
After lunch, we walked down to the pool area that sits below the restaurant. We sat in the lounge chairs and gazed upon the volcano and surrounding gorgeous scenery.
The resident parrots were up on the restaurant deck. Beautiful birds! As we approached the steps leading back up to the restaurant, our Tayra appeared. He/she stood on the steps just feet away (in our direct path) and calmly regarded us for a few minutes. He/she then slipped under the stairs and let us pass.
To be continued...
The birds here were gorgeous. I am not a birder, so I don't know most of their names, but I believe both the Blue-gray Tanager and the Cherries Tanager were present along with several other attractive species. They were very engaging to watch.
The Sunset Tours shuttle driver arrived; a charming, friendly man named Carlos who spoke very little english. I put my limited spanish to the test and was very pleased that I could actually understand much of what he said! He asked how we were enjoying our stay in his country and told us that Alajuela is a really important province for Costa Rica because of its agricultural and milk production. He asked what sights we had seen in the area, and where we were going next. At least, I think that's what he asked; I responded as if it was!
He dropped us off at the entrance drive up to the Hanging Bridges, where we transferred to another Sunset Tours van. Who was in that van? None other than Julio and Claudio; our guide and driver from the previous day! It was fun to see them again. There was a second guide in the van as well. Julio was going to lead a group of Spaniards through the park, while Jairo would be our guide.
It was another overcast day. Initially, it just drizzled and misted, but by the time we were on the first trail in the park, it was pouring! We had cheap rain ponchos and umbrellas, but any exposed body part (hands, arms, legs, feet) were quickly soaking wet! We tried not to let the rain dampen our spirits (pun intended), but it did affect our enjoyment level a bit.
We forged ahead and Jairo proceeded to educate us about the trees and plants along the way. We learned about the bromeliads and how the poison arrow frogs use them for breeding. They lay their eggs in the large water holding wells in the center of the bromeliad, and the tadpoles grow there until they become little frogs, at which point they climb out of the bromeliad to venture out on their own. Pretty neat adaptation!
We also learned about the vines that compete with the trees and eventually kill them, which makes room for secondary forest growth. He identified lots of different plant species for us, and despite the rain, it was beautiful along those pathways and bridges! At one point we had a view of a gorgeous waterfall that was partially obscured by a curtain of wispy mist. It was very other-worldly. My brother remarked that he expected a dinosaur to emerge from the trees at any moment, since Costa Rica was the setting for Jurassic Park. Our misty jungle surroundings certainly had a primordial feel.
The rain gradually lessoned as we continued our trek. The mist prevailed and Jairo told us that we could practically tell people we had visited Monteverde, because the Hanging Bridges were very reminiscent of cloud forest ecosystem that day.
He knew we hoped to see animals and did his best to find some for us. We had gotten a good view of a beautiful White Hawk just outside the park (which is apparently a fairly rare sighting in that area). We also saw some hummingbirds inside the park. We came upon a group of Leaf Cutter Ants on the trail and Jairo explained how the workers cannot be disuaded from their leaf gathering task, and will follow each other over any type of terrain. He demonstrated by putting his hand in the middle of their trail as a barrier. They simply crawled up and over his hand rather than looking for a way to go around. Pretty fascinating. Our wildlife spotting desire was further appeased by the appearance of a single Spider Monkey who clambered around in a nearby tree for a few minutes before moving out of view.
I had on a pair of lightweight Champion track pants (purchased at Target, of all places) that were composed of polyester and spandex. Those things performed like their brand name, and were almost completely dry by the time we had finished the trail loop and made it back to the van.
Within a few short minutes, we had been dropped off at our nearby hotel. We decided to eat lunch onsite, as we had a 2:30 reservation at Sky Trek and didn't want to drive all the way into town for food. As we were getting ready to leave our room to walk over to the restaurant, I glanced out our balcony window and saw a hint of a steep moutain side materializing from behind the clouds. It was Arenal! I grabbed my camera thinking that this might be my only glimpse of it, as we were leaving the area the next morning. We went out on the balcony and watched the mountain for several minutes. The cloud cover moved and metamorphosed rapidly; more and more of the volcano gradually came into view. Finally, we could see the entire mountain, and it was magnificent! There was always a small puff of cloud directly above the volcano and I think it was likely a small smoke/steam plume generated by the lava, as opposed to a true cloud. At least that's what I hope it was. We eventually tore ourselves from the balcony, realizing that the restaurant dining room would also have volcano views.
Lunch was better than the dinner we had there a couple of nights before. I tried their ceviche and it was quite tasty! Arenal Lodge also has a free internet room for their guests, so I took a few minutes to check in with my petsitting friends back home.
After lunch, we walked down to the pool area that sits below the restaurant. We sat in the lounge chairs and gazed upon the volcano and surrounding gorgeous scenery.
The resident parrots were up on the restaurant deck. Beautiful birds! As we approached the steps leading back up to the restaurant, our Tayra appeared. He/she stood on the steps just feet away (in our direct path) and calmly regarded us for a few minutes. He/she then slipped under the stairs and let us pass.
To be continued...
Dec 15th, 2006, 09:33 PM
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cmerrell--did you think the Cano Negro tour was worth it? We're not from Florida, but we've done a bit of canoeing there so we don't want to duplicate what we usually do when we visit Florida. Thanks--keep the wonderful trip report coming!
Dec 16th, 2006, 06:26 AM
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I'm still enjoying! The details about the Tayra are especially interesting. Not sure we've ever seen one of those. We still talk about the medium sized black streak that crossed the road in front of us a few years ago in that area up north of San Jose, near La Paz. Can't recall now the name of what we thought it was, something like a jacarundi? But it was cool, knowing that we saw something rather unusual!
Last night I was watching a Discovery special about the most dangerous snakes in the world. They were rating them on several levels to determine the absolute worst. The black mamba scored highest, as excected, but the Fer de Lance scored very high as well. It showed great (and gory) footage of a woman bitten in La Selva back in 1997. She survived, but was very lucky.
For those who worry about these guys (and there have been several posts), I found it reassuring to be reminded that they are nocturnal for the most part. The woman was studying at La Selva and was on a trail after dark, but with sandals. We did see one in the daytime down near Puriscal a couple of years ago--one of the security/groundskeeper guys at the hotel killed it and showed us. But there is also that "fake" fer de lance as well.
Didn't mean to go into such a long story. What I meant to say that your mention of CEVICHE was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes! I love that stuff, and none of it anywhere is as good as what you find in Costa Rica! Carry on. . . .
Last night I was watching a Discovery special about the most dangerous snakes in the world. They were rating them on several levels to determine the absolute worst. The black mamba scored highest, as excected, but the Fer de Lance scored very high as well. It showed great (and gory) footage of a woman bitten in La Selva back in 1997. She survived, but was very lucky.
For those who worry about these guys (and there have been several posts), I found it reassuring to be reminded that they are nocturnal for the most part. The woman was studying at La Selva and was on a trail after dark, but with sandals. We did see one in the daytime down near Puriscal a couple of years ago--one of the security/groundskeeper guys at the hotel killed it and showed us. But there is also that "fake" fer de lance as well.
Didn't mean to go into such a long story. What I meant to say that your mention of CEVICHE was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes! I love that stuff, and none of it anywhere is as good as what you find in Costa Rica! Carry on. . . .
Dec 16th, 2006, 08:56 AM
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Hi Lorrie,
I really did enjoy the Cano Negro tour. The drive out there was very nice, and our guide Julio gave us so much great information about the area.
That said, it was fairly reminiscent of certain parts of Florida. I would liken it to narrower stretches of the St. Johns river if you've ever been canoeing there. Several of the birds were familiar (Great Blue Herons, Anhingas...), and if you squinted your eyes a bit, you could mistake the caimens for alligators. What we don't have living wild in Florida however, are monkeys and sloths! Wildlife observation is a bit of a passion of mine, so that was a big selling point for Cano Negro. I thought it was worth the visit, but it all depends on what you are most interested in seeing.
Hi Shillmac,
That would be really cool if you actually did see a jacarundi (or jaguarundi; I've seen it spelled both ways...). Our Sunset Tour guides told us that sightings of any of the wild cats are extremely rare. All of them are threatened which is such a tragedy! Julio had only seen his very first jaguarundi about a month before our vist, near the entrance to Arenal Volcano National Park.
You'll have to keep your eyes peeled for the tayra on your next visit. Apparently, they are somewhat common in forests up to 2000m elevation.
We didn't see any snakes on our trip (I would have liked to!), other than in the serpentarium at La Paz. They had a Fer de Lance there. My mom is famous for getting her words a bit tangled up (not an age thing; she's always been that way!). She came up with all sorts of unintentionally creative titles for the Fer de Lance, because she never could quite remember its correct name. Our favorite was the "Fernando Delilio snake". She used this description more than once and by the end of the week, we were all calling it the Fernando Delilio.
I really did enjoy the Cano Negro tour. The drive out there was very nice, and our guide Julio gave us so much great information about the area.
That said, it was fairly reminiscent of certain parts of Florida. I would liken it to narrower stretches of the St. Johns river if you've ever been canoeing there. Several of the birds were familiar (Great Blue Herons, Anhingas...), and if you squinted your eyes a bit, you could mistake the caimens for alligators. What we don't have living wild in Florida however, are monkeys and sloths! Wildlife observation is a bit of a passion of mine, so that was a big selling point for Cano Negro. I thought it was worth the visit, but it all depends on what you are most interested in seeing.
Hi Shillmac,
That would be really cool if you actually did see a jacarundi (or jaguarundi; I've seen it spelled both ways...). Our Sunset Tour guides told us that sightings of any of the wild cats are extremely rare. All of them are threatened which is such a tragedy! Julio had only seen his very first jaguarundi about a month before our vist, near the entrance to Arenal Volcano National Park.
You'll have to keep your eyes peeled for the tayra on your next visit. Apparently, they are somewhat common in forests up to 2000m elevation.
We didn't see any snakes on our trip (I would have liked to!), other than in the serpentarium at La Paz. They had a Fer de Lance there. My mom is famous for getting her words a bit tangled up (not an age thing; she's always been that way!). She came up with all sorts of unintentionally creative titles for the Fer de Lance, because she never could quite remember its correct name. Our favorite was the "Fernando Delilio snake". She used this description more than once and by the end of the week, we were all calling it the Fernando Delilio.
Dec 16th, 2006, 10:34 AM
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LOL! That is just hilarious. Your mom must be a LOT of fun. Sounds like she always has been. You are blessed!
Yes, it makes sense that it would be spelled with jaguar in the root word. We just can't imagine what ELSE it could have been. So fast, solid black, medium sized. Can you think of anything else?
Yes, it makes sense that it would be spelled with jaguar in the root word. We just can't imagine what ELSE it could have been. So fast, solid black, medium sized. Can you think of anything else?
Dec 16th, 2006, 10:15 PM
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Hi Shillmac,
Yes, my mom does keep us entertained! She has a good sense of humor and is willing to laugh at herself (which is good, because we frequently can't help laughing at her antics; she might as well laugh with us!).
I have no idea what else might fit the description of your mystery animal! I hope it was a jaguarundi! It sounds fairly likely.
Yes, my mom does keep us entertained! She has a good sense of humor and is willing to laugh at herself (which is good, because we frequently can't help laughing at her antics; she might as well laugh with us!).
I have no idea what else might fit the description of your mystery animal! I hope it was a jaguarundi! It sounds fairly likely.
Dec 16th, 2006, 11:35 PM
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Thursday December 7, cont'd: We made the bumpy drive past the National Park entrance and Observatory Lodge for our 2:30 reservation at Sky Tram/Sky Trek.
My mom had been saying for months that she wanted to try the ziplines. She had talked to several people who had done them in various vacation destinations, and said they were a blast. I was surprised she was so gung ho because she is quite fearful of heights, but she was determined to give it a try.
I could tell that she was having second thoughts that day. She started making comments such as "I wonder if they have a waiting area for people who chicken out and need to wait for their family to do the ziplines". When I asked if she was ready to go partake of the adventure, her reply was a vague "I don't know...".
When we got to Sky Trek, we were greeted by a woman who showed us an overview map of the lines and told us how long and high each one was. By this time my poor mother had a look of absolute terror on her face! The woman assured us that we could back out if necessary at the Sky Tram observation platform, or after the 2 practice lines, so mom agreed to at least do the Sky Tram portion of the excursion.
We were taken to the equipment area and introduced to Marcos, who would be our main guide. We were quickly helped into our helmets and harnesses and led over to Sky Tram. I pulled Marcos aside and told him he would need to help my mom, because she was terrified. He said he had already noticed her anxiety, and not to worry because he would take good care of her. And he really did! On the tram ride up the hill, he focused his attention on my mom, joking with her and explaining the safety features of Sky Trek. He stopped the gondola so that we could see a toucan sitting in a distant tree, and was generally just a very personable fellow. The views from the observation platform were quite spectacular. Arenal was still visible, and we also had a terrific view of the lake and nearby wooded hills
When we got to the first little practice run, Marcos made my mom go first. He didn't give her any time to freak out; he told her she was going to be his model to demonstrate proper technique and body positioning and then had her zip down to the first platform. He did the same thing at the second platform, but then told her that if she had any remaining fears, he would go in tandem with her on the big lines. She opted to have him do just that, but later said that she wished she had gone on her own because it really wasn't anywhere near as scary as she thought it would be. Brave words after the fact! ;-)
She did do the final traverse on her own (which was another baby sized one), and we ended up buying the picture their photographer snapped of her coming in for her final landing (for her to use as bragging rights back home). We gave Marcos a handsome tip for taking such good care of our mother. He seemed quite delighted, and even gave my mom a little hug. As we were getting ready to leave the premises, he called out to us and asked if it might be possible to hitch a ride back into town. We were happy to oblige, and shared some pleasant conversation with him as we headed into La Fortuna.
We made a quick stop at the Super Christian to buy some cheap coffee for the folks back home, and then meandered over to El Novillo for dinner. I had the steak with garlic and it was yummy!
By the time we had reached El Novillo, Arenal's afternoon flirtation with clear skies had come to an end. The mountain was once again shrouded in clouds so that not even the base of the volcano was visible. Ater dinner, we joined the group of tourists that had arrived with their guide in hopes of viewing the lava. We stayed in El Novillo's parking area for close to an hour watching the clouds swirl and drift, but the volcano never made a guest appearance. We finally gave up and went home. That night, I once again woke up multiple times and peered out our window, hoping to see the glowing red stuff, but it never materialized. We were scheduled to leave the next morning, and the lack of lava was really the only big disappointment I had on the entire trip. I knew there was no guarantee, but I really, really wanted to witness the lava flow. C'est la vie...
Next up, the trek to Manuel Antonio...
My mom had been saying for months that she wanted to try the ziplines. She had talked to several people who had done them in various vacation destinations, and said they were a blast. I was surprised she was so gung ho because she is quite fearful of heights, but she was determined to give it a try.
I could tell that she was having second thoughts that day. She started making comments such as "I wonder if they have a waiting area for people who chicken out and need to wait for their family to do the ziplines". When I asked if she was ready to go partake of the adventure, her reply was a vague "I don't know...".
When we got to Sky Trek, we were greeted by a woman who showed us an overview map of the lines and told us how long and high each one was. By this time my poor mother had a look of absolute terror on her face! The woman assured us that we could back out if necessary at the Sky Tram observation platform, or after the 2 practice lines, so mom agreed to at least do the Sky Tram portion of the excursion.
We were taken to the equipment area and introduced to Marcos, who would be our main guide. We were quickly helped into our helmets and harnesses and led over to Sky Tram. I pulled Marcos aside and told him he would need to help my mom, because she was terrified. He said he had already noticed her anxiety, and not to worry because he would take good care of her. And he really did! On the tram ride up the hill, he focused his attention on my mom, joking with her and explaining the safety features of Sky Trek. He stopped the gondola so that we could see a toucan sitting in a distant tree, and was generally just a very personable fellow. The views from the observation platform were quite spectacular. Arenal was still visible, and we also had a terrific view of the lake and nearby wooded hills
When we got to the first little practice run, Marcos made my mom go first. He didn't give her any time to freak out; he told her she was going to be his model to demonstrate proper technique and body positioning and then had her zip down to the first platform. He did the same thing at the second platform, but then told her that if she had any remaining fears, he would go in tandem with her on the big lines. She opted to have him do just that, but later said that she wished she had gone on her own because it really wasn't anywhere near as scary as she thought it would be. Brave words after the fact! ;-)
She did do the final traverse on her own (which was another baby sized one), and we ended up buying the picture their photographer snapped of her coming in for her final landing (for her to use as bragging rights back home). We gave Marcos a handsome tip for taking such good care of our mother. He seemed quite delighted, and even gave my mom a little hug. As we were getting ready to leave the premises, he called out to us and asked if it might be possible to hitch a ride back into town. We were happy to oblige, and shared some pleasant conversation with him as we headed into La Fortuna.
We made a quick stop at the Super Christian to buy some cheap coffee for the folks back home, and then meandered over to El Novillo for dinner. I had the steak with garlic and it was yummy!
By the time we had reached El Novillo, Arenal's afternoon flirtation with clear skies had come to an end. The mountain was once again shrouded in clouds so that not even the base of the volcano was visible. Ater dinner, we joined the group of tourists that had arrived with their guide in hopes of viewing the lava. We stayed in El Novillo's parking area for close to an hour watching the clouds swirl and drift, but the volcano never made a guest appearance. We finally gave up and went home. That night, I once again woke up multiple times and peered out our window, hoping to see the glowing red stuff, but it never materialized. We were scheduled to leave the next morning, and the lack of lava was really the only big disappointment I had on the entire trip. I knew there was no guarantee, but I really, really wanted to witness the lava flow. C'est la vie...
Next up, the trek to Manuel Antonio...
Dec 17th, 2006, 04:47 AM
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Good on your mom for sticking with it at SkyTrek! I know after you do those 2 small practice lines, you turn a little and see your next line - the one that starts there and then just goes on and on and on to....somewhere. When I saw that first 'real' line I was convinced I had swallowed some of the beautiful butterflies about! So I can understand how she feels! Sounds like you had a great time and you were able to fit in Hanging Gardens & SkyTrek in the same day. Looking forward to hearing about MA.
Dec 17th, 2006, 05:34 AM
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Hats off to your mom! As for your disappointment in Arenal, well, the lava flow really is a must see; great to watch while dining at El Novillo! I guess you'll just have to go back, but you've probably already determined that on your own!
As for Marcos, we've met him a jillion times all over Costa Rica. The real treasure--the people. They are what I call "heart warmers"!
As for Marcos, we've met him a jillion times all over Costa Rica. The real treasure--the people. They are what I call "heart warmers"!
Dec 17th, 2006, 09:48 AM
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I love Blue Springs, Lorrie! That's exactly the stretch of the St. John's I was thinking about in my other post to you. Had any of the manatees arrived in the spring when you were there? Blue Springs is one of the best places to see them because the water is so clear.
I would also add that while some of the waterways of Florida bear a resemblance to the Rio Frio/Cano Negro area, the other places we visited in Costa Rica looked nothing like Florida; well maybe the Damas Mangrove tour outside of Quepos was slightly reminiscent, but hardly a carbon copy. The bottom line is that there is a lot of diversity in the terrain. Arenal looked and felt very different than Manuel Antonio...
Hi Tully and Shillmac,
I was proud of my mom for conquering her fear of Sky Trek! I think she was quite proud of herself as well.
I too, felt the butterflies at that first big line, Tully! It's very impressive and quite intimidating until you get underway.
Shillmac, you are correct in assuming that I want to get back to Costa Rica for another shot at Arenal! Someone I work with went to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving this year. When he heard I was going, he sent me his picture of lava running down the side of the volcano. Within that 2 week period between his trip and mine, Mother Nature decided to put the kibosh on lava sightings. Isn't that just the way of life sometimes?
I would also add that while some of the waterways of Florida bear a resemblance to the Rio Frio/Cano Negro area, the other places we visited in Costa Rica looked nothing like Florida; well maybe the Damas Mangrove tour outside of Quepos was slightly reminiscent, but hardly a carbon copy. The bottom line is that there is a lot of diversity in the terrain. Arenal looked and felt very different than Manuel Antonio...
Hi Tully and Shillmac,
I was proud of my mom for conquering her fear of Sky Trek! I think she was quite proud of herself as well.
I too, felt the butterflies at that first big line, Tully! It's very impressive and quite intimidating until you get underway.
Shillmac, you are correct in assuming that I want to get back to Costa Rica for another shot at Arenal! Someone I work with went to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving this year. When he heard I was going, he sent me his picture of lava running down the side of the volcano. Within that 2 week period between his trip and mine, Mother Nature decided to put the kibosh on lava sightings. Isn't that just the way of life sometimes?
Dec 17th, 2006, 11:59 AM
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Friday December 8: Another rainy, overcast morning saw us ready to pack up and head to the beach (where hopefully, the sun would not be in perpetual hibernation). We enjoyed a final hearty breakfast at the Arenal Lodge and grabbed our umbrellas for a quick stroll over to their butterfly house (which we had not previously visited).
Checkout was uneventful, and we made our final descent down that twisty, steep, bumpy (but very scenic) drive to the main road. We liked the Arenal Lodge and would definitely recommend it to others.
On a whim, I pulled off at Tabacon Hot Springs to see if we could peer through the fence at all to catch a glimpse of the grounds in daylight. It was hard to get a vantage point so my mom and I decided to ask the people at the front entrance if we could slip in for a quick view (brother waited in the car with our stuff). The staff were quite hesitant, but the man they deferred to said we could have 5 minutes.
We scurried down the steps to survey the waterfall and surrounding pools. It really is an opulent place! A bit over the top perhaps, but very pretty. About this time, I realized I had left my camera in the car. Drats! I didn't dare push my luck with the front entrance folks, so had to content myself with just feasting my eyes (and not my camera lens) on the sights.
We jumped back in the car and headed into La Fortuna for some gas. My brother took the wheel for the first time (he doesn't drive a manual transmission at home, and wanted to start out on flatter, less winding terrain to get comfortable with the stick shift). He drove like a pro, and manned the wheel for most of the remainder of the trip, which suited me just fine!
We followed the route through La Tigra, San Lorenzo, and San Ramon. We were convinced we had gotten lost on a number of occasions (especially when the road would branch and there would be no sign telling you which route to take!). We would always invariably come upon a little town that I could locate on my Berndtson map to let us know we were headed in the right direction. The only time we went wrong was in Atenas. We got totally turned around and the only signs we could find pointed to either San Jose (which I knew was not the right direction), or Los Angeles (I had no idea where this was in relation to where we wanted to go, and couldn't find it on my map). We pulled over at a small soda and asked for directions. The sweet lady behind the counter spoke no english, so I pulled out my high school spanish once again. With much pointing, gesturing, and even some mutual laughter at the situation, I was able to get the gist of the directions. We bought some taquitos from her as well, and they were really good!
Soon out of Atenas, we started seeing lots of billboards for condos in Jaco. There were also periodic beach signs (that showed a diagram of a sun hanging over ocean waves and a palm tree, I believe). The best sign was one of a large tree. As with the volcano signs we had followed to both Poas and Arenal, there was no text to describe what or where the 'big tree' was; just the tree diagram on a blue sign. We all wondered about 'big tree' and were somewhat saddened when we reached the turn off that would take us south to Manuel Antonio, and noted the the last 'big tree' sign we encountered pointed towards the north. Shillmac or Tully, what is 'big tree'? I must know!
Our next stop along the route to Manuel Antonio was the famous Rio Tarcoles bridge. There were several people standing on the bridge pointing over the side, so I knew some crocs were present. We found a parking place along the busy roadside, and my brother stayed with the car while mom and I went to survey the huge reptiles.
The weather was a bit muggy, and we were immediately attacked by a swarm of biting gnats! We could not get rid of the little suckers! My mom was in front of me and had a veritable cloud of them hovering around her head. We ran squealing down the bridge walkway. It was like some dysfunctional scene from Hitchcock's The Birds; only with gnats!
We saw one croc in the river below, but most of the onlookers were on the other side of the road, so we waited for a break in the traffic and ran across the street. Most of the evil gnats blessedly seemed to prefer the side of the road we had come from. We got to see several large, fat crocodiles sunning themselves on the sand. I'm always fascinated by the sight of alligators in Florida (even after living here for almost a decade), and the crocs were equally intriguing to me.
We admired them for a few minutes, and then went back to the car so that my brother could have a turn. He was also assailed by the gnats, but managed to get some good video footage of the crocs for us.
The rest of our drive into Quepos and Manuel Antonio was pleasant and uneventful. We saw a couple of macaws fly overhead, but they were backlit by the sun and I couldn't tell what color they were. I hope they were Scarlets!
I was ready for the horrendous one lane bridges between Parrita and Quepos. Its rather awe inspiring to see the big delivery trucks cross those things. It seems they must surely buckle under the weight, but we made it across unscathed.
We had once again tarried too long along the way, and did not reach Hotel California until the sun had set. I knew it was located across the street from the Mono Azul, but we still managed to pass by the driveway 3 times before we finally found it. We were greeted by yet another friendly desk clerk and quickly got settled into our room. We opted to eat at the hotel's restaurant for dinner rather than venture out in unfamiliar territory in the dark. Hotel California had the best restaurant dinner fare of any of the hotels we stayed at. It was really tasty!
They had live music by the pool that night. It was a local band that played some fairly hard core rock songs (such as Alice in Chains, Guns 'N' Roses, and Alanis Morrisette during her 'angry' phase), but they had mellowed them out for more universal appeal. It was kind of funny, but they actually pulled it off and sounded good.
We turned in about 10:00 p.m. knowing we needed to get up bright and early to visit the national park. I peeked out the window before climbing into bed and saw...no fog!!
Next up, Manuel Antonio National Park...
Checkout was uneventful, and we made our final descent down that twisty, steep, bumpy (but very scenic) drive to the main road. We liked the Arenal Lodge and would definitely recommend it to others.
On a whim, I pulled off at Tabacon Hot Springs to see if we could peer through the fence at all to catch a glimpse of the grounds in daylight. It was hard to get a vantage point so my mom and I decided to ask the people at the front entrance if we could slip in for a quick view (brother waited in the car with our stuff). The staff were quite hesitant, but the man they deferred to said we could have 5 minutes.
We scurried down the steps to survey the waterfall and surrounding pools. It really is an opulent place! A bit over the top perhaps, but very pretty. About this time, I realized I had left my camera in the car. Drats! I didn't dare push my luck with the front entrance folks, so had to content myself with just feasting my eyes (and not my camera lens) on the sights.
We jumped back in the car and headed into La Fortuna for some gas. My brother took the wheel for the first time (he doesn't drive a manual transmission at home, and wanted to start out on flatter, less winding terrain to get comfortable with the stick shift). He drove like a pro, and manned the wheel for most of the remainder of the trip, which suited me just fine!
We followed the route through La Tigra, San Lorenzo, and San Ramon. We were convinced we had gotten lost on a number of occasions (especially when the road would branch and there would be no sign telling you which route to take!). We would always invariably come upon a little town that I could locate on my Berndtson map to let us know we were headed in the right direction. The only time we went wrong was in Atenas. We got totally turned around and the only signs we could find pointed to either San Jose (which I knew was not the right direction), or Los Angeles (I had no idea where this was in relation to where we wanted to go, and couldn't find it on my map). We pulled over at a small soda and asked for directions. The sweet lady behind the counter spoke no english, so I pulled out my high school spanish once again. With much pointing, gesturing, and even some mutual laughter at the situation, I was able to get the gist of the directions. We bought some taquitos from her as well, and they were really good!
Soon out of Atenas, we started seeing lots of billboards for condos in Jaco. There were also periodic beach signs (that showed a diagram of a sun hanging over ocean waves and a palm tree, I believe). The best sign was one of a large tree. As with the volcano signs we had followed to both Poas and Arenal, there was no text to describe what or where the 'big tree' was; just the tree diagram on a blue sign. We all wondered about 'big tree' and were somewhat saddened when we reached the turn off that would take us south to Manuel Antonio, and noted the the last 'big tree' sign we encountered pointed towards the north. Shillmac or Tully, what is 'big tree'? I must know!
Our next stop along the route to Manuel Antonio was the famous Rio Tarcoles bridge. There were several people standing on the bridge pointing over the side, so I knew some crocs were present. We found a parking place along the busy roadside, and my brother stayed with the car while mom and I went to survey the huge reptiles.
The weather was a bit muggy, and we were immediately attacked by a swarm of biting gnats! We could not get rid of the little suckers! My mom was in front of me and had a veritable cloud of them hovering around her head. We ran squealing down the bridge walkway. It was like some dysfunctional scene from Hitchcock's The Birds; only with gnats!
We saw one croc in the river below, but most of the onlookers were on the other side of the road, so we waited for a break in the traffic and ran across the street. Most of the evil gnats blessedly seemed to prefer the side of the road we had come from. We got to see several large, fat crocodiles sunning themselves on the sand. I'm always fascinated by the sight of alligators in Florida (even after living here for almost a decade), and the crocs were equally intriguing to me.
We admired them for a few minutes, and then went back to the car so that my brother could have a turn. He was also assailed by the gnats, but managed to get some good video footage of the crocs for us.
The rest of our drive into Quepos and Manuel Antonio was pleasant and uneventful. We saw a couple of macaws fly overhead, but they were backlit by the sun and I couldn't tell what color they were. I hope they were Scarlets!
I was ready for the horrendous one lane bridges between Parrita and Quepos. Its rather awe inspiring to see the big delivery trucks cross those things. It seems they must surely buckle under the weight, but we made it across unscathed.
We had once again tarried too long along the way, and did not reach Hotel California until the sun had set. I knew it was located across the street from the Mono Azul, but we still managed to pass by the driveway 3 times before we finally found it. We were greeted by yet another friendly desk clerk and quickly got settled into our room. We opted to eat at the hotel's restaurant for dinner rather than venture out in unfamiliar territory in the dark. Hotel California had the best restaurant dinner fare of any of the hotels we stayed at. It was really tasty!
They had live music by the pool that night. It was a local band that played some fairly hard core rock songs (such as Alice in Chains, Guns 'N' Roses, and Alanis Morrisette during her 'angry' phase), but they had mellowed them out for more universal appeal. It was kind of funny, but they actually pulled it off and sounded good.
We turned in about 10:00 p.m. knowing we needed to get up bright and early to visit the national park. I peeked out the window before climbing into bed and saw...no fog!!
Next up, Manuel Antonio National Park...
