RAC

Days 6-7: Monteverde

Hotel: Arco Iris Lodge. We stayed in the Honeymoon lodge, and loved the heck out of it. The cost was the same as a standard room at the MV lodge, and is a much better deal (private jacuzzi, three story cottage, etc etc)

The drive from Arenal to MV started off beautifully. We wound our way past the begging coatis (why do people feed wild animals?) and around Lake Arenal. Our first stop was Toad Hall, which was less impressive and smaller than we expected (though we did do some shopping, and loved the brownie we bought there). Our next stop was the German bakery/gift shop (there's now an Austrian Bakery in Nuevo Arenal--how cheesy is that?) We picked up some food for the road--a selection of pastries that were incredibly delicious. The rest of the drive was really relaxing and lovely through Tilaran and beyond. Unfortunately, we ran into difficulty in the town (I forget the name) where the road turns from paved and decent to, well, something else. The turnoff for MV/Santa Elena is incredibly easy to miss, and we missed it. We ran into the guy who sells maps, and declined (this turned out to be a big mistake). We wound up going down what we thought was the road to MV, but about a mile down it we realized it was just a cattle path in the middle of ranch country. Don't get me wrong--it was incredibly beautiful there. But, unfortunately, our car got stuck up an impossible incline when we tried to go back. I wound up having to hike back looking for help while vultures circled over our car and my wife. For about a kilometer I walked yelling "HOLA! AYUDANOS!" with no one but cows to listen. At one point, I passed a tree full of parakeets, and took this for a good omen (much better than circling vultures anyways). And, sure enough, I can into a couple of ranch hands who didn't speak any English and had trouble understanding my 100 word Spanish vocabulary. But, within two hours they had called someone to tow our vehicle back into town and we were on our way. We were incredibly grateful and lucky to only be set back two hours and a $100 bucks ($50 each to our rescuer and the tow company).

Once we arrived in Santa Elena, we checked in to our cottage, again noted just how lucky we were, and visited the Ranario after sunset. This was a very cool experience, and we got to see all kinds of cool frogs (though, because of rain/humidity, the red-eyed tree frog display was all fogged up). We had dinner that night at the Blue Morpho--HIGHLY recommended. Loved everything we ate and drank there.

Day 7: Monteverde Reserve/Night hike at Wildlife Refuge. We had a great guide for our morning hike, which was arranged through the hotel. The cloud forest reserve is really a magical place, and we were fortunate to get there just when quetzal breeding season was started. We were able to get some amazing shots--including one of a male eating an avacado.

We ate lunch at the Tree House cafe--we had planned on Pizzeria Johnny, which had either moved or closed. Tree House is a solid place, anyways. We then went for an evening hike, which turned out to be a disappointment. Our hotel recommended the Refugio, but they gave us a bum steer. Much better to do the Finca Ecologico, the MV reserve, or the Bajo Tigre for a night hike, from what we've heard. For dinner, we did Sophia's, which was nice but almost jarringly avant garde given the location. I personally preferred Morpho's.

Days 8-10: Montezuma

Hotel: Ylang-Ylang Beach Resort. Heaven on earth. I mean, betweeen the fact that you're 50 feet away from the ocean, surrounded by lush gardens, have all kinds of wildlife--including two species of monkeys--on the grounds, and the fact that you get two great meals as part of your room fare, it's hard to imagine a more perfect setting. Maybe my favorite place ever.

As bad as the road to Monteverde is from Arenal, it's a lot worse going down to the Pan American Highway. Not only is the road rougher, but it's at a sharp incline down a road with no margin for error--if you go off the road, you fall 1000 feet to your death. Beautiful view, but a little too nerve-wracking and rough for my liking.

From the PA highway, it was a short trip into Puntarenas and the ferry. The kid handing out tickets to buy a car pass wanted an exorbitant tip--$20. We gave him $5 instead and he still complained. Once we got past him and the town of Puntarenas (which is a hellhole) we had a very enjoyable, scenic, and relaxing ferry ride to Paquera. From Paquera it was a relatively smooth drive down to Montezuma. The only hiccough was that the ATM machine in Cobano that you may read about doesn't take foreign cards--you have to go inside to get cash.

Anyways, when we got there we pretty much chilled out in the room and played in the ocean the rest of the day. Not exciting to write about, but great fun anyways.

Day 9: Waterfall and zip-line. We had planned to go visit the Cabo Blanco reserve, but at the urging of several people we booked a tour to Curu instead, and that wasn't available until the next day. So, for this day we took a hike to the waterfall in the morning. Well, I hiked to the waterfall. My wife, suffering from a recently sprained ankle, simply couldn't safely navigage what some guidebooks call the 'path' to the waterfall, which essentially was a nothing but a stream, tree roots, and rocks. The waterfall was pretty and nice to look at, but nowhere near as impressive as what you'd see in a place like La Paz. Also, apparently a German couple got mugged at knifepoint there earlier in the day. The zipline tour--including a chance to swim in the upper pool of the waterfall--was extremely cool on the other hand.

Day 10: Curu. We spent the first half of the day visiting Curu with our excellent guide/driver Eduardo (sp?). Curu had easily the best wildlife/human refuge of any place. TONS of monkeys, coatis, lizards, an occasional otter, and birds like turquoise-browed motmots made it a fun trip--in addition to the gorgeous beach there. This was one of our favorite parts of the whole vacation. We spent the rest of the day playing around in the ocean on a boogieboard.

Day 11: We had an evening flight back to the US, so we had a little time for an additional activity. We decided to swing by the bridge over the river Tarcoles to check out the monster crocs there. I'd never seen a predator that big in the wild before. Truly amazing to see 15-17 footers sunning themselves like that. You can see pictures online, but no picture can do them justice.

After that, we drove back to Alajuela and the airport, and flew back on TACA without any kind of complication.

Dana_M

The honeymoon lodge at Arco Iris. Very nice. Were you on your honeymoon? If so, congratulations.

That’s awful that you got stuck on the way to Monteverde. Now I know why in Part I you mentioned that next time you’ll rent a car with more oomph. Lucky you found somebody to help you. You either learned the correct 100 Spanish words or you’re good at charades.

Monteverde during quetzal mating season – how fabulous. Will you be posting photos? Montezuma and Curu sound amazing as well. Unfortunately neither of those is in our plans for the summer. You fit a lot in a relatively short period of time. Now I can see why you didn’t have room for another night in Arenal.

RAC

Here's a post with photos:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...=RAC&fid=6

Dana_M

Thanks RAC. Magnificent photos. You really were lucky with the Quetzals, weren't you? Lovely photos all the way around. Thanks.

I clicked on the link you posted,and it only brought me to all of your posts. I scrolled through them and easily found the photos, however.

Once you search your name you have to click the post title in order for the proper thread number to show up. I took the liberty of pasting those links here so others could see the photos (I hope you don't mind).

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35123762

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35123790

Thanks again for the great report and the splendid photos, and also for the information about Zoo Ave.

RAC

Thanks!

I must have copied the wrong link. Oops.

Incredibly lucky with the Quetzals--our guide (the excellent Adrian Mendez) heard one before we were more than 100 yards into the reserve.