Pura Vida Trip Report
 

We're back from our Costa Rica trip - thanks to everyone who helped us in planning it. We had an amazing time. This trip consisted of staying at the Savegre Hotel in San Gerardo de Dota, the Arenal Observatory Lodge, and the Toucan Rescue Ranch. Loved all of them!

Looking forward to more!

Oh - I was hoping for a bit more detail. ;-)

LOL - We had a power outage!

We have a quick three hour flight to Costa Rica - I feel really lucky that we can take a direct flight and can get there so quickly. I had arranged for a driver from Savegre Hotel to pick us up at the airport. After breezing through customs and immigration, we head out the exit door to find our driver, Alexander, waiting for us, holding a sign with our name on it. He helps us load our luggage into his van, and we're off on our adventure. He asks what we want to do once we get to Savegre, and we tell him that we really want to see resplendent quetzals, the beautiful birds this area is known for. His response is, "Oh, but they are very difficult to see this time of year..." I have us booked with Marino Chacon, a guide I've read so many wonderful things about; I know if anyone can find the quetzals for us, it's Marino, but I'm a little worried that after traveling all the way here, we won't get to see them. Fingers crossed.

The drive is quite winding, and we encounter a minor accident that snarls up traffic for a while. We also drive by areas where landslides have occurred and the road is being repaired. Huge dark areas of dirt cover areas on the hill that used to be green. Alexander suggests stopping for a drink and a bathroom break. We stop at a little convenience store for drinks, and we're so excited to see Tropical, our favorite drink when we go to Costa Rica. Our favorite flavor, Mango, is right there in the cooler waiting for us. Our first little sip of Pura Vida, and all the stress of traffic melts away. As we get back into the car, it starts to rain, a pretty heavy downpour. Alexander remarks that it hasn't rained for about two months, so the rain is really welcome.

The valley we're going to was founded by the Chacon family, and they are also the founders of the lodge. The story is that members of the family were on a hunting trip years ago, and when it got dark, they decided to set up camp for the night where they were. When they awakened, they found they were in the most beautiful place they had ever seen and decided to move there and open the lodge. I love that we'll be staying at a family run operation. I ask Alexander if he's a Chacon, and he says, "No, but I'm married to one!"

What was supposed to be a 2 hour and 45 minute drive, turns into one that takes 3 and half hours, but we see some gorgeous views along the way. Alexander says this area is called Cerro de la Muerte, or Mountain of Death, catchy name! He explains that a lot of people have died trying to walk from place to place in this area because the temperatures get so chilly at night. I'm prepared; after reading so many trip reports and reviews, I packed a jacket and even a pair of long undies, something I never thought I would need in Costa Rica.

We arrive before dark, and I'm so happy to see what a sweet little place this is. There's a small reception area and restaurant, and there are gardens everywhere with colorful hummingbirds zipping about. Gorgeous hydrangeas are in bloom, and neat little succulents abound. We're in a valley, but huge green hills surround us.

We check in, and they give us the key to our cabin, number 107. We have a king bed, our own fireplace, and even a bathtub. It's rustic, but very comfortable. The temperatures are so nice, a big change from the 100 plus degree heat we left back home.

We head back to the lodge to go to dinner; I have us set up on the meal plan since this area is isolated, and I've read good things about the food here. They have a buffet set up which is usually kind of a bummer, but the food turns out to be delicious, with a lot of variety. Some of it is a lot more sophisticated than I am expecting, roasted pork with fig sauce? Tastes so good. Also fresh trout which this area is known for, lots of salads, fresh veggies, fresh juices, and a table full of little desserts including some puffy pastries with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce drizzle. So much for roughing it! The service is friendly, and after enjoying a little bit of everything we head back to our cabin.

It's dark on our walk, so I'm glad that we packed a small flashlight to bring with us; we cross a bridge over a small stream and ta da, we're back at our little cabin. It's gotten really chilly since the sun has gone down. I have a clock that tells the temperature, and it proclaims it to be 58 degrees inside our cabin. Glad we have the fireplace to keep us warm. The bed is really cozy and comes equipped with not one, but three thick blankets. We fall asleep at 8:00 which seems to be the norm in Costa Rica. We have a guided tour with Marino set up for the following morning, and we need to be there bright and early at 6:00 a.m. to head out and try to spot the elusive quetzals. We are loving Savegre Hotel and the San Gerardo de Dota Valley and are so happy that we decided to stay here.

The sun comes streaming into our room at 5:30 a.m. the next morning. We wander down to reception at 6:00 to meet Marino. We've signed up for the group tour, and we're paired with a nice couple from Holland. Marino says that since it's not nesting season we'll head down the road in his car to see if we can find some quetzals feeding along the road. Apparently in nesting season you can see them right outside your cabin. We travel for about ten minutes, and then see big clusters of people all pointing upward into the same tree. I think we've found our quetzals!

All around us are guides with scopes aimed in the same direction. We scramble out of the car, and Marino shows us the first quetzal of the day. It's a beautiful male with long showy green tail feathers, honestly the prettiest bird I've ever seen. He flits from tree to tree and high over our heads feeding on tiny avocados. When he flies, his tail streams like ribbons behind him. Marino calls us one by one to peer through his scope to get an up close look. Then he spots another and another; we see males, females, juveniles. We spend about 2 hours on the road and are there long after everyone else has gone back to their hotels. I can tell Marino is having as much fun spotting them as we are! Their tails change color as the sunlight brightens and dims, looking variously turquoise, teal, and green. At one point, Marino darts across the road and scrambles over a ditch to come back with a little treasure, a small feather that has fallen from a quetzal's tail. He passes it around so we can all hold it and see it. He's very wise and patient, like a mixture between your favorite grandpa and the best ornithology professor you've ever had. He also shows us a tiny avocado like the ones the quetzals are feeding on. He has us pass him our cameras and phones, and he takes photos and videos for each of us through the scope. Cars and motorcycles come zooming down the road, and we all dash to the edge and then run back to get another peek. After not being sure we would see any at all, we end up seeing about 8 to 10 of these gorgeous birds. And just as we're packing up to leave, Marino spots an emerald toucanet which seems like a bonus.

He sees that I'm carrying the Garrigues and Dean "Birds of Costa Rica" book and tells me it's a good book. "You like it?" I say, and he tells me, "Yes, I helped to write it." And sure enough, there is his name right there inside the book under the acknowledgements. We feel really lucky to have him as our guide. He tells us that we're just getting started and that we'll all go back to the lodge to have breakfast together and then go out spotting again - our choice between hiking in the forest or going to a secret private garden.

Following along and enjoying another visit to Savegre, Volcanogirl. Looking forward to seeing those quetzal pictures! How wonderful that you saw so many - even outside of nesting time. Can picture that little bridge to the cabin - think we stayed in the same one ! A lovely spot and such a nice family.

Volcano Girl: What a treat to read your descriptive report. We will have to save Savegre for a future trip. We wanted to go there next Feb. as part of our three week trip to CR but there was only one night available. Thank you for sharing your experience. Must get the "Birds of Costa Rica" that you mention. We are going to Osa and certainly hope to see many birds there.

Thanks, glover; it was pretty wonderful. We would have been happy to see one, but to see so many was pretty amazing. Thanks for pointing us toward Savegre!

vic, I hope you're able to make it there someday. It's taken several trips to Costa Rica for us to get there. I really like the "Birds of Costa Rica" book; we bring it on every trip and note on each page where we've seen that species. Marino would tell me, "We have plenty of time to write that down. I'll help you remember. Now please come take a look." He didnt' want us to miss anything. And he did remember every single thing that we saw. In total, we saw about 50 different species of birds in two days. Pretty good!

Brings back many fond memories of birding with Marino in 2010 and 2011 - I can almost hear him excitedly (but quietly) saying mira, mira, mira - then moving a little down the trail and mira, mira, mira again - I could barely keep up with him!

Did you make it to Mirian's for lunch or birding out back?

Enjoying the read - thanks for the memories!

Thanks for the report. Brings back memories, as RTJ said!

artie and m, yes, things haven't changed. It's a wonderful place. We did not make it to Mirian's, but we did get to Paraiso Quetzal.

After quetzal spotting, we all head back to the lodge for a hearty buffet breakfast - scrambled eggs, tiny red sausages, toast, pancakes, potato cakes that are like yummy hashbrowns, the best pineapple we've ever tasted, maduros, and of course, gallo pinto, our first of the trip. We're debating if we want to do the rest of our bird watching in the private garden or in the forest; Marino says that the garden is very nice and that we're likely to see more birds there, so we all agree that that will be our choice.

We pile into Marino's car and head up, up, up to an old abandoned orchard. On the way, we see a large-footed finch, an ochraceous wren, white-naped bush finch, yellow-thighed finch, and a rufous collared sparrow. When we reach the garden, there are apple trees, peach trees, avocado trees, and a beautiful view of the green valley below us. We pay an additional $10 each to the farmer who owns the orchard and maintains it, and Marino begins to set things up for us. He unloads 4 folding chairs and a huge umbrella to cover us. This is the easiest birding we'll ever do. He asks us to please have a seat while he gets fresh fruit from his car. Right in the center of the garden is a big tree upon which he places bananas, mangoes, and other fruit. Almost immediately the birds start arriving for a little nibble. There are also several hummingbird feeders that Marino fills, so the hummers start arriving too. Before we know it, we've seen a long-tailed silky flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, acorn woodpecker, silver throated tanagers, flame colored tanagers, a red tailed hawk, blue gray tanagers, a golden olive woodpecker (Marino is excited about this because he hasn't seen one since March!), elegant euphonia, golden-browed chlorophonia (gorgeous), green violet ear hummingbird (my favorite), stripe-tailed hummingbirds, scintillant hummingbirds, magnificent hummingbirds, and a white-throated mountain gem - best bird name ever in my opinion.

Marino has recordings of several bird sounds. He wants a closer look at the woodpecker, so he begins to play that specific call. He tells us the bird will hear it and fly down and land on the tree in front of us, and that's exactly what happens. It's pretty amazing to us how well he can predict their behavior. Bird whisperer. We just relax and watch nature at her best. Around noon, it starts looking dark and gloomy; the skies open up, and it begins pouring rain. Perfect timing because we're all ready to head back to the lodge for lunch.

Lunch consists of trout (I'm learning that trout will be available at every lunch and dinner), beef with black peppercorn sauce, Thai style pork (fantastic!), rice, more of that delicious pineapple, fresh veggies, and some mysterious looking desserts - they look like something you would see at a church potluck. I point to one and ask the waiter what it is, and he says, "Pineapple fluff." There's also a fluorescent hot pink gelatinous one that he tells me is cheesecake. We take a little bit of everything, and it's all good.

I ask Marino about the trout, and he tells us that the fish weren't originally indigenous to this area. His father met a man from Minnesota who mailed him a container of tiny baby trout, which he then carried on horseback to release into the Savegre River where they reproduced like crazy. Turns out the environment is perfect for them! I love the story; there are so many things here that wouldn't even exist without the Chacon family.

After lunch, we spend the day exploring the property. We stroll down to the Savegre River that runs through it. It's beautiful and fast running, full of moss covered boulders. Five foot tall impatiens and more hydrangeas bloom all around us. We explore a little further and come across a lake full of trout. Flocks of barred parakeets fly overhead in huge groups making a racket as they go. There are trails all over the property. We wander back to the hummingbird feeders by the restaurant. More hummingbirds here than we can count, and we get some nice photos and videos. I try out the slow-mo video function on my iPhone, and it's cool to see the beating wings of the birds in slow motion. As we're watching them, Marino wanders by, and asks, "Did you see the kittens?" No, we missed them. Marino points to the top of the huge expansive green hill that towers over the property and says, "Right, there, you don't see them?" We get out our binoculars, and yes indeed there is a mother cat with little kittens. No idea how he saw them, but he does indeed have the eagle eye!

Eventually we make our way to dinner which consists of trout!, chicken with olives, seafood stew, rosemary potatoes, cream of mushroom soup, and fresh veggies. Lots of good options. Dessert is awesome coconut cake, ice cream, and the fluorescent pink "cheesecake" which we find out is actually Jello. Afterward, we head to the bar next door, and it's amazing. A big fire pit in the center with a warm fire blazing, great drinks, games to play, books, and it's all very warm and modern looking, but still cozy. There's a large stained glass window with a quetzal image on it. We relax here for a while before heading back to our cabin. Tonight the temperature reads 59 degrees. We use the supplied wood and fire starter to build a roaring fire that takes the temp all the way up to a balmy 64. We're looking forward to going birding again with Marino in the morning - first to see more quetzals and then to explore the forest together.

Signing on!

Hi, Miss Patty! Good to see you!

The next morning, we meet Marino and our group at 6:00 for more quetzal spotting. We park close to a sign for the Kahawah restaurant and all head towards the groups of birders who are already there. This time we have a couple from Germany with us, Christina and Sebastian, and a family from Holland. Very few Americans on this trip. It's interesting and kind of strange that all of the tours are conducted in English; it's always the first language the guides start with - lucky for us. Marino points out several birds as we walk down the dusty road - a black billed nightingale thrush, black-cheeked warbler, and flame colored tanager. He spots a quetzal right away, but none of the rest of us can see it. It has its back to us, and the green feathers blend in perfectly with the avocado trees high above us. Another guide gets out a laser pointer, and once we see it, it seems so obvious! Then we see another and another - both males and females. Marino spots another emerald toucanet and a pygmy owl - he tells us this is the only owl to be out and about during the day, but if we want to see more, we can do a night hike to go make some more discoveries. Marino takes photos for all of us - most of the birds are very high up, so in the photos, they appear headless, but at least we got them! He tells us that we can all head back for breakfast together, and then go hiking in the forest to see what else we can see.

Breakfast today consists of juevos rancheros, really good taquitos, pineapple, papaya, gallo pinto, plantains, pancakes, a delicious fruit punch, and some tasty passion fruit juice. That's one of the things we always love in Costa Rica - the juices are always so good. I ask Marino if he knows how famous he is on the internet. I think he actually blushes! He's so humble and sweet, but almost everything I read about this area recommends getting him as your guide. I mention to the other people in our group that he helped to write the Garrigues and Dean book, and the father of the family from Holland promptly goes to the gift shop to buy it. I ask Marino if he will sign a little note to me in the front of mine, and he takes the book so he can think of what to write. Later he returns the book, and there's a very thoughtful, kind note from him inside. I ask if it's the first autograph he's ever given, and he chuckles and tells me it's not! We all get a kick out of that!

Finally it's time to head out on our next adventure - we're going to hike the La Quebrada trail. The property has 988 acres to explore, and more than 18 miles of trails. La Quebrada runs through primary forest and has a small stream that runs through it. It's beautiful and easy hiking with a few ups and downs, about two or two and a half miles in total. We see a collared redstart, acorn woodpeckers, and a fat, fluffy little white-throated mountain gem baby in a tiny nest. The trail is easy going but muddy. It starts lightly raining as we go, but we get some protection from the trees above us. We come to a muddy gulley, and as we hike down Marino says, "Hmmm, puma tracks" while he casually points at them. "And they're very fresh." We all snap pictures and continue on our hike wondering what's watching us as we go. We see a yellow-bellied sisken and a flame throated warbler before the skies open up and we all decide to head back for lunch. Seeing the puma tracks was a big thrill for us. That plus the quetzals makes this another excellent day at Savegre.

As we come out of the forest, we're met with some amazing views out over the valley below us. Everything is green and beautiful. We ask Marino if we can sign up for the night hike, and he says that he'll take care of it. Owl spotting sounds like a fun way to spend the evening.

At lunch, we have a buffet that consists of bacon wrapped chicken, meatballs, corn, squash, yucca balls that are like huge tater tots (love these!), and fresh blackberry juice. We enjoy getting to know Christina and Sebastian. Sebastian is gluten free and has a slip of paper that translates his gluten intolerance into Spanish - my husband is gluten free too, so we think that's a great idea. He shows it to the waiter who shows it to the chef. The chef comes out and points out the items that have wheat. My husband is thrilled - this hotel really makes things easy on their guests.

It's interesting getting to know what our new German friends think of Americans. Sebastian says he doesn't understand why we're all going to church, class reunions, and on family vacations, and that he thinks we're all likable but uptight! Pretty amusing to us. He tells us that in Germany you can walk naked down the street and no one will bat an eye. Christina punches him and says he's exaggerating. They tell us the story of staying with friends in America who have an alarm system; they think that's absolutely crazy. They accidentally set it off while staying there, and the police, came which they also think is so strange. We're amused by their observations because we have an alarm system! My husband is going to Germany on an upcoming business trip, and Sebastian says he would be happy to show him around once he gets there. They're really fun, so we exchange email addresses and all agree to meet up at the bar that night and share our photos.

At 4:00, we meet Marino for our night hike. He first takes us back to the orchard garden where he sets up the umbrella and chairs. We have some nice sightings here - lots of hummingbirds, blue and white swallows, silver throated tanagers, white-naped brush finches, flame colored tanagers, and a family of acorn woodpeckers. As it starts getting dark, here comes the rain again. We're huddle under the umbrella and we make a mad dash for the car. Marino is worried that we won't see much in the heavy rain, but we decide to take our chances and head up, up, up the winding dirt road.

For an area that hasn't seen any rain for a long time, we sure are seeing our share of it. We've had some awesome sightings though, so maybe our luck will hold out. It's just my husband and I on the night tour. Marino takes us up to the very highest point, an area where he has seen many owls. We each have our own umbrella and stand out in an absolute deluge that finally starts to let up a bit. It's a little eerie standing out in the pitch darkness, but it also has the feeling of a great adventure. Marino has a high powered flashlight which he shines around without much luck. He decides to take out his magical bird calling machine and says he will play the call for the mottled owl. He plays it over and over as we each wait under our own umbrella. Then I hear it, swooping right over my umbrella and whizzing right by my ear, a huge flapping of wings as I see the owl land on the tree in front of me. The funny thing is that neither Marino nor my husband see it! They're both looking in other directions, and honestly I would have missed it too if I hadn't heard it first. The beating of the wings was loud and rhythmic. I knew it would be something big before I saw it. I ask Marino to please shine his light on the tree, and then they see it too. Great moment, and we're all thrilled that we got to see something in this crazy downpour. "Mottled owl," Marino says.

As the rain gets so hard that we can barely see, we all decide to call it a night and head back down the dark winding dirt road in Marino's car. He tells us some neat stories along the way. We pass a nice house, and he points to it and tells us that it's the Donald Duck house. "Not actual Donald Duck, but the rich one; this guy did the voice." Not Donald Duck but the rich one. "Uncle Scrooge?" we ask. "Yes, exactly, Uncle Scrooge!"

Dinner tonight is a buffet of pork with red wine sauce, carrots and zucchini, rice, eggplant au gratin, pasta with bechamel sauce, and you guessed it, trout. Dessert is pretty fancy and delicious - chocolate cake and ice cream with Bananas Foster. We see Christina and Sebastian and all walk over to the bar together.

We spend the evening looking at our photos and comparing notes on what we've seen. I have a mango daiquiri that's so good, and everyone else enjoys their drinks as well. The best wifi on the property is in the bar, so we all take the opportunity to download our emails, and Christina sends me some of her best photos. Turns out they are leaving for the Arenal area tomorrow just like we are, and we're only leaving half an hour apart. We all stay up until 10:00 p.m., which has to be a record for CR, and say goodnight. My husband and I walk back to our cabin, build a roaring fire, and fall asleep. We'll be picked up at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow to go to the next stop on our trip, the Arenal Observatory Lodge. Very excited about this because the lodge is known for having great wildlife.

The next morning we're surprised to find that we're given menus at breakfast. Since the lodge isn't very full, we get to order a la carte instead of having the usual buffet option. We order an omelette and an American breakfast - both good, and they offer us delicious homemade strawberry jam. We see Christina and Sebastian, and he points to his toast and says, "Hey guys, I'm in a bit of a jam!" LOL, we're impressed by a man making puns in his non-native language!

Our driver Hugo picks us up at 9:00 a.m. and soon we're back on the narrow winding road that will lead us to the highway. We ask Hugo if we can stop at Paraiso Quetzal to see hummingbirds, and he happily agrees. I've read on this board that this is one of the best places to see them. We have some difficulty getting into the property, a huge hill that we go up and roll back down, go up and roll back down, finally we make it over and go to the tiny restaurant where we buy drinks and head out to the back patio. Another nice view here, and there are feeders full of fiery-throated hummingbirds, the ones we wanted to see! As they turn their heads, their little throats are illuminated by the sun, and we can see where they get their name. Really beautiful.

We spend six long hours bumping along. I look down at my Fitbit to see that I'm getting credit for climbing 161 flights of stairs! We get to travel on the Pan American highway, a road that Hugo tells us runs all the way from Panama to Alaska. We drive through busy San Jose and see lots of bars on the windows, razor wire, and fast food joints. Even Denny's and Wal-Mart - the pinnacles of American culture! I ask our driver if he likes Denny's and he says yes, but that it is very expensive. There are people standing at busy intersections selling things, everything from towels to plastic containers full of goodies. It's very congested. As we leave San Jose and get closer to Arenal, we pass through the cloud forest and can barely see because the fog here is so dense. It's literally like driving inside a cloud. Our driver zooms along confidently, but we come to a long line of cars barely moving in front of us. We joke that they must be tourists. Hugo nods in agreement.

Eventually the clouds break, and we come to the road that leads to AOL. This road will be the worst one yet he tells us. And it is! Terrible, bumpy, long, rutted. People drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid the bumps. We drive over a small river; Hugo tells us that the water feels warm because it's actually heated by the nearby volcano. This area is known for having beautiful natural hot springs. After about 20 minutes and our "free butt massage" as they call it in CR, we reach the front desk of AOL. Hugo leaves, and we check in and are given a list of available tours and spa services. Seems like every hotel in Costa Rica offers spa services now, even the rustic ones.

We drag our luggage to our room. We're very close to the reception area which is nice because it's started raining quite hard. When we enter our Smithsonian room, we're rewarded with a great view of the volcano and loads of pretty tropical flowers. We're close to the jungle and the fruit feeders put up by the hotel, so we're hoping to see some wildlife. We collapse on our king sized bed and enjoy taking in the view. I can already tell that we're going to really like it here.

Dinner time comes, and we head up to the lodge's restaurant. There's a huge observation deck there and an expansive view of Lake Arenal that's stunning. Dinner is buffet for $20 each, or there's a very limited menu that we can order off of. The restaurant is packed full of people with almost no empty seats available. We opt for the menu option, and I order pasta Alfredo, while my husband gets fajitas. The pasta Alfredo arrives covered in ham, which seems kind of weird. A huge pile of noodles in goopy sauce with chunks of ham in it. I remember RAC's warning of "never order anything with a sauce" too late! My husband's fajitas are good but cold. He offers me some of his peppers and onions to add to my pasta, and it's not terrible. Oh well, we didn't really come here for the food. We're looking forward to the free guided hike that the hotel gives every morning. And with that, we go to bed ready to be awakened in the morning by the howler alarm clock.

I tried to warn you . . . lol.

The setting, as you are telling us, makes up for the food.

The howler alarm clock goes off at 5:20 a.m. - they're roaring like lions and sound like they're fairly close. I love our room, right on the edge of the jungle. From our little patio we can see a flock of oropendolas already chowing down at the fruit feeder. As we're watching them, two big birds that look like turkeys strut across the green space in front of our room. They're huge - one is black with a big yellow knotted beak and curly black feathers on its head; the other is smaller and brown with stripes. I turn to our "Birds of Costa Rica" book and discover that these are great curassows, birds we've never seen before! I run out front to get some photos, and the big male bird chases me. He emits the strangest call. It's a cross between someone screaming and bombs dropping, starting with a high pitched whine and descending in pitch. Even though they're birds, they look more like small dinosaurs. Our book says that they are noted for their aggressive temperament. Good to know! It also says that they mate for life.

We go to the lodge for breakfast, and it's a fantastic buffet, a big improvement over dinner. There are scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, pancakes, terrific fresh fruit like pineapple and carambola, and some good juices.

After breakfast we meet at reception for our 8:30 a.m. guided hike. Everyone is wearing rain ponchos because it's started sprinkling. The front desk even has some for sale for those that don't have any. Someone asks our guide if it always rains this much, and he replies, "Only 366 days a year!" He tells us complaining about the rain is "like going to Colorado and complaining about the snow." True enough. Our trek begins with our crossing a hanging bridge, but only five people can cross at a time. The bridge bounces and sways as we go across.

The hike turns out to be quite good, but we're in a huge group of over 50 people. There's one guide with a scope, and if you aren't towards the front you can easily miss out on the things he's pointing out. He spies something and sets up his scope on a tripod. One by one people look through. We ask what it is, but he refuses to tell us, not wanting to give away the surprise. We're towards the back, but luckily we get to see a great closeup view of a howler monkey family. At the next stop, he sets up the scope again, and this time we see the beady eyes of an eyelash pit viper staring back at us - it's kind of fun not knowing what's at the other end of the scope! We hike some more and come to a tree covered in tiny branches and green leaves. "There's something interesting here," he says and points, but none of us can see anything. "Look closer," he tells us. Then one by one we see it, a small pit viper coiled around one of the branches just inches away from us. It's surprising how well they blend in. Everyone snaps photos, and the snake doesn't budge an inch. He tells us that if anyone gets bitten we have 30 minutes to head to the hospital to get anti-venom. You never know what's out here in the jungle.

We hike for a couple of hours. At one point, I feel like something is stuck to the bottom of my shoe, so I shake my foot, and the sole of my Keen sandal falls completely off. I go a few more steps and the other sole falls off. Weirdest thing. I've worn these on a number of trips without any problems, and now both my rubber soles are completely detached. My husband says, "Look babe, someone lost the sole of their shoe." Luckily there's a very thin layer of rubber left, or this would be a very long hike!

As we stroll along, we come to a pretty waterfall. The guide waits while we all hike down the big steps to take photos. The water is brown and muddy looking, but it's a gorgeous spot. Towards the end of the hike, we come across huge stands of pine trees that look out of place in the jungle. The guide tells us that they were planted because the property was originally used to produce telephone poles. He tells us you can tell the non-native trees because the other vines and plants won't grow on them. For a free hike, we've seen a lot of amazing things. As it ends, we find a big tractor waiting for us - a great surprise that we don't have to walk back to the lodge. We all climb aboard and head back to the restaurant for lunch.

RAC, ha, ha - yes, I should have listened to you!

Enjoying your report, vg. Especially the parts about the AOL as I'll be there in January. I need to keep an eye on those eyelash vipers though. Me and Indiana Jones are not fans of snakes.

Minn, yes, I hope you love it there. The eyelash vipers are particularly weird looking with their horned eyebrows. The look like they're up to no good!

Enjoying your reports! So weird about the Keens - I've traveled in CA with Keens and a pair of flipflops as my only footwear for 12 years and they've been my main work and home shoes, too; I've worn the treads flat on several pairs but haven't heard of soles falling off!

For lunch, we find ourselves in the "order off the menu" scenario, and we play it safe - a cheeseburger and a grilled chicken casado with black beans. Both are excellent and sauce free! I have fresh mango juice - starting to notice I have an obsession with mangoes here. :)

Afterward, we head out to hike the property on our own. The volcano is only two miles away and mostly visible, but the top is always enshrouded in clouds. In all our trips, I don't think we've ever actually seen the top. We explore the Saino and Hormiga trails, and are rewarded with sights of big black howler monkeys with tiny babies on their backs, a keel billed toucan, and some crested guans high in the trees. The toucan's call sounds like a great big croaking frog. The woman behind the reception desk had told us that she had seen lots of toucans down by the spa, so we hike down there and are rewarded with the sight and sounds of two chestnut mandibled toucans. These sound like a battle of creaking gates and bed springs. As we snap photos, a Costa Rican man tells us, "We feel about toucans, the way you feel about pigeons." Shows you how different the perspectives of locals and tourists can be.

As we explore, we meet lots of friendly people along the way, and we share info on what we've seen and where. My Fitbit rewards me for all this hiking by buzzing that I've gotten 10,000 STEPS!!! in bright flashing lights. It's so easy to get your steps in here and doesn't even feel like work on the well manicured trails. Speaking of manicured, on the way back to our room, we see a man actually cleaning the trails with something that looks like a big power washer and buffer. No wonder they're in such great shape!

We get back to our room and go out on our little patio to relax. Then we see spider monkeys swinging in front of our room, Mr. and Mrs. curassow again, and a huge troop of momma coatis with their babies. The coatis are so cute and always seem to have their noses in the ground seeing what they can dig up. I love coatis and snap lots of photos.

Then we see something strange through our side window. Right outside our room, a maintenance worker is setting up a huge wooden trap with some kind of bait inside. It has a big metal door that will slam shut on whatever it is they're trying to catch. Not sure I want this by my room, and what is it that's going to be so close to us?! He waves at us and smiles, and we wave back.

We enjoy watching all the wildlife and eventually make our way to the lodge for dinner. Tonight I order an Imperial, the official beer of Costa Rica, and my first of the trip. I ask for some limes, and the waiter brings me a martini glass full of a red liquidy syrup with an array or limes rimming the top. I ask what the red liquid is and am told that it is sugar. "Just decoration," he says. Seems pretty fancy. I order a Caesar salad to start, and it's very good - yay, a successful dinner item!, and also grilled chicken with rice and veggies. The veggies consist of one teeny carrot, one broccoli floret, and a tiny wheel of corn, but all of it is surprisingly good. The no sauce philosophy is a winner! The waiter also brings us a basket full of tasty garlic knots that are irresistible. As we finish eating, another waiter comes by wheeling a cart full of liqueurs and offers us complimentary shots of things like anise and lemoncello. We pass, but think it's quite nice of them to do that. I ask the waiter if he knows what they're trapping outside of our room. He tells me sternly that we are not allowed to trap the animals or bring them into our room. Somehow he thinks we're wanting to trap something which seems kind of funny! He tells us again firmly, "No trapping is allowed." Okay. We won't trap any huge animals and bring them into our room, but curiosity has the better of us. Since we're so close to the front desk, we swing by and ask the man behind the desk what the trap is for. He tells us it's for coatis, that they're terrible and they get into the trash and make a mess. The same with raccoons he says. They just had raccoons break into the kitchen and make a huge mess, so they've installed an electric fence to keep them out. He tells us, "All the tourists love coatis. Oh, you're so cute, you're so cute, I want to hug you and kiss you mwah, mwah, mwah!" We're enjoying his impression of tourists hugging the coatis. I guess they really are a problem here, but I only know their cute side. After dinner we relax and eventually fall asleep. We're excited that tomorrow we'll be doing a safari float on the Penas Blancas River.

hopeful, I know I couldn't believe it happened to both almost simultaneously. Someone on tripadvisor told me the locals say that the volcano emits gasses that can destroy adhesive. It was pretty weird.

I've heard of sole delamination issues with Keens before.

That's funny the waiter thought you wanted to trap something. Is there more wildlife on the AOL property vs other lodges around Arenal?

Patty, yes definitely. Some of the lodges closer to town have almost none at all. The further out you go, the more likely you are to see wildlife. AOL is way out by the lake. We've also seen some nice wildlife at the Lost Iguana which is also out by the lake and has the same jungly feel to it, but we saw almost none at Nayara or The Springs, hotels that are closer in.

The AOL has more wildlife than anywhere else in the area--its rainforest reserve is contiguous with the mountain slopes that separate Arenal from Monterverde--so it's part of a wildlife stronghold. Not unusal to see cats like ocelot (or in our case, jaguarundi) there. There isn't a paved road within 10KM of the main lodge building there.

Sounds like our kind of place. I had looked at Lost Iguana before too.

The Lost Iguana is nice; it's a little more upscale than AOL, a little more romantic. I think AOL is more family friendly. One thing about AOL is you can't flush your t.p. there, not a big deal, but just a heads up. I was three for three for non-flushable spots this trip. It is very comfortable though.

Glad you enjoyed AOL. I wish we had nice weather and could have even gone outside! It was cold! Our Smithsonian room did not have a patio. Just a big window. Where from reception was it? Our was just down from reception in a cinder block building.

Because we're staying at AOL, we have the earliest pickup time for the Penas Blancas river float. We're going with Desafio, and the driver picks us up promptly at 6:00 a.m. It's already very sunny, and we see the coatis digging around with their long noses, and the oropendolas feasting at the fruit feeder.

Since we're missing the complimentary breakfast buffet, AOL has offered to pack us breakfast to go, and we're curious about what's inside the big brown paper bags they have given us. This day it takes us 30 minutes to drive down the bumpy AOL road that leads back to the main road, so we dig into our bags before the suspense kills us. The first thing I pull out is a foil wrapped package containing two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Score, I love PB&J and have never seen it in CR before. My husband also has two sandwiches of his own. I also have an apple, a very ripe banana, and several little packages of Pozuela brand cookies - chocolate and vanilla cream, a juice box, and saltine crackers! My husband who is gluten free digs into his apple while I eat my PB&J. This breakast is huge!

Once we reach the main road we travel to Los Lagos to pick up James and Anthony, the couple that will be doing the river float with us. They're from L.A., tan, tall, muscular, and probably the most well groomed men I've ever seen. Both have perfect five o'clock shadows. They look like they've stepped right off the pages of a catalog. We all ride to the Desafio office where we meet our guide, Andres. After checking in, we pile back into the van to travel the 25 minutes it takes to reach our drop in point. The van actually has free WIFI in it which is pretty sweet. It's a beautiful drive past agricultural fields, and before we know it, we've arrived at the river. We also love the Cano Negro tour, but this is so much easier to get to and only lasts half a day.

Andres drags the boat down to the river, and we all walk down the dirt steps that are carved into the bank. Andres says to my husband and me, "Let's let the big guys row us. They can be in front." So we get to be lazy, sit in the middle, and not do any paddling. They're really fun guys and love seeing all the wildlife - we see tiger herons, kingfishers, sandpipers and other water birds. Then we see a single howler monkey. Andres tells us that he's the lookout, that there's always a guard keeping an eye on things, and that more monkeys will be coming up. He's right; soon, we come upon a big troop of monkeys moving through the trees. Several of them have small babies on their backs. They come quite low to the ground so we get a nice view. Andres tells us that they won't drink out of the river because they're afraid of crocs, so they'll quickly dip their tails into the river and back out so they can sip the water right from their tails. Pretty amazing. As we float further down the river, we see another troop on the opposite side. Andres says that when the two troops meet, we'll definitely hear it because they'll want to defend their territories. Five minutes later, we hear the lion-like roars of the howlers as the two troops duke it out. They're really loud, and the sound echoes down the river.

The water is beautiful with a slight greenish tint to it. Andres says it's one of the cleanest rivers in Costa Rica. We pass a few small houses high along the banks, and he tells us that these families are completely self-sufficient. They have orange tree, avocado trees, gardens, and they get fish from the river. He also tells us that kids swim here, which is surprising given that there are crocs in the water. The water is calm for the most part, but we reach a few small rapids that require everyone (but us!) to paddle. Towards the end of our float, we see a capuchin monkey, the lookout, and then come upon a big troop of them. These too will battle with the howlers for territory Andres tells us. Eventually we reach the end of our trek, and we come out at a family-owned farm. It's pretty interesting because the family has several daughters who are rodeo stars! They have an entire arena with barrels right on their property and a nice garden with cilantro, guanabana, lychee, lemons, oranges, carambola, and avocado. There's also a strange looking fruit we've never seen before. The tree is covered with big knobby green fruits, and underneath are piles of the same fruit but in a ripened state. They almost look like big white strawberries. Andres asks us if we know what they are, and why it's the only tree with fruit underneath it. I've never seen this fruit before. We ask if it's poisonous, and he says that no, it's actually known to be very good for you and a cancer preventative. We're perplexed as to why no one would eat it until he takes his knife, cuts one open, and asks us all to inhale the scent. It smells like blue cheese! He tells us it's a noni fruit and that it's becoming popular to take for health benefits, but it's definitely not known for its great taste. Funny that we've never seen it before in all our trips.

As we all relax at the farm, Andres and the driver pull out a cooler full of chilled Tropical Mango - my fave! - and some bottles of Imperial beer. The guides use the Tropical bottles to pop the tops off the beers. I think they've done this before! Finally it's time to head back to our respective hotels, but we've really enjoyed our time on the river.

When we get back to AOL, we see that the volcano barely has any cloud cover at all, just the very tip of it is covered in wispy clouds. People are all gathered on the observation deck, and then it happens... the last wisp of a cloud blows away, and there is Arenal Volcano in all her glory, the best view we've ever seen. People actually clap and high five each other! There's also a gorgeous view of the sun shining on the lake. We hang out there for the rest of the day and get to enjoy a beautiful sunset with no clouds whatsoever. We're very glad we've chose to stay at AOL. It's a special place.

Enjoying your report! How long was the rough part of the road to AOL?