Melissa5

Just flew home last night from beautiful Costa Rica after a 12-night trip with our family of 5. I feel more ALIVE than ever before, invigorated by the rainforests and cloud forests teeming with life.

Thank you for all your fantastic help! I hope I can help someone else.

PLACES VISITED:
Alajuela
Arenal
Manuel Antonio
San Pablo de Turrubares
Monteverde
Heredia

HOTELS:

Hotel Villa Bonita, Alajuela:
Inexpensive and recommended!

Lost Iguana Resort, Arenal:
Luxury suite with lava rock shower recommended!

Hotel Si Como No, Manuel Antonio: Recommended and expensive!

Hotel La Finca Que Ama: (San Pablo de Turrubares):
Recommended and Unforgettable experience!

Hotel El Sapo Dorado, Monteverde: We had some problems here. More details later. Staff did try to resolve problems.

Hotel Bougainvillea, Heredia:
Recommended and has unique, lovingly attended garden and outstanding staff! (Heredia)

More details later on hotels!

HIGHLIGHTS:
Hubby the biologist loved Monteverde Cloud forest reserve and finding dozens of fruit bats feeding at humming bird feeders at night; he put his face close to the bats and felt their wings beeting around his face!!!

Young adult "kids" loved Arenal Sky Tram/Sky Trek zip-line (fast!) and Puretrek waterfall canyoning rapelling, Arenal area.

Whole family loved finding our first howler monkeys, on our own, at the Arenal Hanging Bridges. More details on this later!

I will continue this trip report as soon as possible.

CaliNurse

Welcome home, Melissa!
great timing: a friend just wrote and asked about possible CR in April 2006.
Looking forward to hearing more.
Glad you liked SCN. (saw in previous post), though bookoo $$$.
Am planning my own trip now ...including Rome. Leave July 6 for Paris.
A LONG and complicated answer no doubt, but how did your KIDS (and YOU) feel about CR vs Rome, if they could pick ONLY ONE.

shillmac

Hey Melissa! Welcome home! So glad all of you had a wonderful time--that's just great! We are leaving Saturday. Now you have me nervous about El Sapo Dorado! Still feeling the Pura Vida?

marleyzoemom

Welcome home Melissa!
We leave monday- can't wait to read you report- especillly on Si Como No where we spend 4 nights....but all will be interesting!We need to hear about your expeditions!
Sandy

Melissa5

EL SAPO DORADO, MONTEVERDE:
Here's my report on our classic mountain cabin at El Sapo Dorado (just for you, shillmac!)

The good news: Our cabin #5, classic mountain cabin, was clean and basic. The grounds were pleasant. There were windows, and it was nice to open the curtains in the morning and see the birds.

The great news: El Sapo Dorado restaurant has excellent food and a nice view on one side! You will also see nice nature paintings there by relatives of the owners.

The problems: Our classic mountain cabin came with a fireplace. But...we couldn't use it, because the smokey smell in the room (from previous guests) was so strong it was making me wheezy. The smokey smell was in the curtains, on the bedspreads, and even on the walls. The chimney possibly neeeded cleaning is my guess.

All of the other cabins were full so we couldn't change cabins. But Rosalie, a friendly and kind employee at the front desk, had new freshly washed bedspreads sent to our cabin and this did help me sleep at night without wheezing. It seems I had an allergic reaction.

The Classic Mountain cabin has 2 queen beds, one bathroom with a toilet, shower, and sink with NO counter. No stopper for our sink either. There is only enough hot water in cabin #5 for 2 or 3 showers, NOT for 4 people. (We had 4 people in 1 cabin at this point.)

There is a table and 4 chairs. There is 1 suitcase holder and a small nightstand. If you want to put your suitcase up on something, there is only enough furniture for 2 or 3 people.

4 is a crowd in the classic mountain cabin!

Cabin lighting is very dim. Fine in daylight of course, you just open the curtains.

There was a problem in adding up our bill at the end of the stay, so it took a while and I'm afraid they had to charge our card a couple of times and cancel the charges. They did try to work hard to correct the problem. Hopefully it will all be fine when our credit card bill comes.

The biggest problem for me was that, not being able to light the fireplace because of my allergic reaction to the smokiness, we were cold at night. There isn't any other heat in the cabin.

When it rains in the afternoon, Monteverde feels cold in the evening/night. But if it doesn't rain (when wind blows from a different direction, I think from the Caribbean) evenings/nights feel more mild and warmer at night.

There are 3 levels of walks available on the El Sapo dorado grounds. My daughter and I attempted the "easy" level of walks but found them to be very boring. (Maybe the intermediate and difficult level of walks are terrific at El Sapo dorado, but we went to the Monteverde cloud forest reserve instead.)

Shillmac, hope this helps! I'll e-mail and tell you more about Monteverde.

I would have been happier with a room with a heating source, not a smokey fireplace. We really should have rented 2 rooms anyway, but this was an adventure in family togetherness!

I have been in rooms with fireplaces before without having a problem...that's why I think this fireplace must have not had proper ventilation for the room to have gotten so saturated with smokey smell.

Hope this helps, shillmac. More later...

misha2

Melissa5,

After all the research you did, I am dying to hear everything about your trip! But, I am especially interested in your Arenal/MA excursions, Lost Iguana and Finca experiences. Also, would love to know what restaurants you liked. Can't wait to get more details.

shillmac

Ah Melissa, thanks so much! I wish I had known about the fireplaces being the only heat--we'll have our little Isabelle with us. BUT she can sleep with her mom if necessary and keep warm. We are taking plenty of warm clothes and blankets for her just for Monteverde. Percy has ordered nice weather for all of July at Monteverde, so we won't have any problems with rain. . . .

We'll only be there 2 nights, so it will be okay, I'm sure. Thanks for the info---very helpful! I've changed jobs and will hit the ground running when we return home, but will keep up with you by e-mail and we can visit about CR further! Everyone in your family is still speaking then?

misha2

One more question. What were the temperatures like?

Melissa5

ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS:

MONTEVERDE:
Shillmac, you're funny, yes, we're still speaking after being stuck in a 1-room cabin together at El Sapo Dorado...but there has been some serious mutiny! Soon as we got home daughters took off with their boyfriends.

You can keep baby Isabelle warm indoors with lots of baby fuzzy 'jamies with feet...but make sure she has plenty of changes, because it rains a lot at Monteverde.

June weather in Monteverde: it was sunny every morning for us. We got up as early as possible with the sun, and to beat the crowds. Then it rained almost every day in the afternoon/evening. I heard from others this is common for Monteverde.

Shillmac, the road to Monteverde will jostle the baby a lot...hopefully she will think it's a lullaby! I would actually recommend a minimum of 3 nights in Monteverde because of the drive.

El Sapo Dorado cabin had a phone in room. No TV. Nothing to do in the cold rain, cabin fever. Thin walls, duplex cabin...you can hear your neighbor clearly talking through the walls. Luckily our neighbors were on our schedule mostly.

Are you sure you can't cancel those nights in Monteverde, because of the baby, and put them somewhere else?

Misha2, temperatures are deceptive in Costa Rica. Monteverde feels pleasantly warm in the sunny morning, cool and wet in the rainy afternoon, and cold at night if it's been a rainy day. It's warmer at night if the wind is blowing from the Caribbean, apparently.

WEATHER IN COSTA RICA:
Misha2, Manuel Antonio feels too hot for comfortable hiking. We hiked anyway and it felt sweltering hot...this is because of the high humidity. Beaches and pool were refreshing.

Arenal was warm and humid but more comfortable than Manuel Antonio. Arenal felt more comfortable for hiking. But we found Arenal's humid warmth didn't leave us with much desire for hot springs. (This was in June.) More on hot springs later...

Temperatures at Hotel Bougainvillea in Heredia were pleasant.

CALiNURSE:, you asked how would we choose between Rome and Costa Rica if we could only choose 1? I like my son's answer the best. He's an engineer and a math whiz. He said he'd choose half and half! (1/2 plus 1/2 equals 1 whole!)

Melissa5

MONTEVERDE:
Is Monteverde worth the drive? Yes, oh yes!

MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST BIOLOGICAL PRESERVE:
We arrived around 7:30 am to beat the crowds. Teen daughters, 18 and 19, wearing hastily applied make-up. Biologist hubby was the only guide we needed.

Were dismayed to see tour buses even that early. But it turns out the cloud forest was big enough for all of us.

Very friendly and helpful employee with good English sold us tickets and helped us choose a trail on the map.

Hubby asked where most tourists start out so we could do it in reverse, avoiding most of the tour groups.

Walking through the misty Monteverde cloud forest is unforgettable. It is primordial...there are some huge trees, hundreds of years old, which look like they will get up and walk away, like in Lord of the Rings...They have vines hanging down from them which can take hundreds of years to grow...

This primary cloud forest is so dense that you won't see much wildlife from the trail. The wildlife is hidden in the dense forest. But you will hear the calls of many birds, hear the howler monkeys, hear the gentle sound of water drops on leaves...

Bring binoculars. If you have a biologist, naturalist, or even an artist in the family, you can do the trails on your own.

Hubby taught me the correct way to use binoculars. First you train your eyes on something, like on a branch that's moving, then you lift the binoculars to your eyes without breaking your gaze. It works!

Slow down and notice the details. Listen for sounds and look in their direction. Look wherever you see movement in the trees. Look at individual leaves.

If you want a guide hire a private guide. Guides leading large groups have to raise their voices to be heard, spoiling the experience of hearing the gentle sounds of the forest.

The Monteverde Cloud forest Preserve is a primary forest, explains my husband, which means it has never been cut down by man. So there are trees growing which are hundreds of years old, with vines hanging down which can take hundreds of years to grow.

(Secondary forest would be what grows when man interferes and cuts down the original forest. A secondary forest is not as diverse, and doesn't have the older, giant trees.)

Just one medium-size tree in the cloud forest supports over 70 species of flowering epiphytes, including more than 40 species of orchids!

So, we were wondering, how can some people report, "I didn't see anything"?! Hubby explains that, to the untrained eye, the cloud forest might look like a green blur.

I guess we're lucky because we have both a biologist and an artist in the family...we can't take 2 steps without my daughter pointing out a fascinating little beetle doing a tiny dance on a leaf, or hubby spotting a bird, a reptile, or a rare plant with unusual features.

My younger daughter (18) and I were inspired to stop and try to write some poetry about the cloud forest as the mist descended. Hers is better than mine! Here are my rough notes and her more polished poem follows below that:

Monteverde cloud forest whispers of mystery and magic..
The misty cloud forest is like a dreamscape. Sounds: flute-like music of bird calls: 6 different bird calls: the tweet, the flute, the "Put out the light" call...

Other sounds: water drops, cicadas chirring like an alarm, rhythmic sound of insects...

Butterflies chasing light...green ferns...bromeliads...

My daughter's poem:
"The delicate mist of the cloud forest danced and swayed
through the tropical greenery,
leaving an imprint on the wild, unabashed scenery,
much like a fingerprint left behind
on the tall branches of the looming giants,
it shrouded and protected the wildlife, a mother wrapping her warm arms
around her child,
causing the brilliant colors to retreat and hide behind the haven of fog.
Just as quickly as it came
it disappeared,
allowing the sticky heat of the landscape to overcome the area,
bringing back the unadulterated youthful laughter of the forest."

Melissa5

BEST FOOD, MONTEVERDE:

El Sapo Dorado restaurant, Monteverde:
Great breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Enjoyed whole wheat w/ banana pancakes for $4. Great chicken with olive and wine sauce for $9.50 for lunch. Dinners around $12 and were tasty.

La Pizzeria De Johnny, Monteverde:
Great food for good prices! Best pizza we had in Costa Rica. Located near Hotel El Sapo Dorado. Always full of people for dinner, including locals. Good for family or couples, great atmosphere. Make dinner reservations. www.johnnysrestaurant.com

Restaurante Morpho's, Monteverde:
Downtown Santa Elena. Food was decent but I thought it was over-rated.

Stella's Bakery/Coffee shop:
Good food, and here's one place you can get it quick! (rare in Costa Rica). Order at the counter by filling out a card with marker. We enjoyed omelettes, warmed Banana Cheese Cake, and turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with avocado and tomato. Opens at 6:00 or 6:30 a.m. making it a convenient stop on the way to the Monteverde Cloud forest preserve.

amlay

Welcome home Melissa can't wait to hear the details We leave next week quick qestion did you book Sky trek /tram before you left and how did you book it and did all of enjoy the experience thanks Ami

rickandpat

I'm looking forward to details on the canyoning in the Arenal area. Sounds sort of scary but invigorating. Are you rapelling through the waterfall (and getting totally soaked) or by it (and getting just wet)? Is it okay for people who haven't rapelled before?

wanatrvl

Welcome back Melissa. Glad you and your family had a wonderful time. We are all anxious to hear all the details as we know what a thorough researcher you were. I have reservations at Last Iguana so I'm hoping you really loved it there. We have the regular rooms though...

greenfieldhunter

I have always found when people who don't usually depend on fireplaces/woodstoves as a primary heat source are responsible for lighting and tending fires, they tend to have very smokey fires.

All it takes is one or two "smoke outs" and the room/house will stink for months. Even a three sided shelter will start to stink from too many fires nearby with green or rotten wood.

I also find the smell very unpleasant despite living with wood heat for many years back in the day.

Glad you enjoyed your trip

Percy

Welcome home Melissa5

I loved your description and explantion of Monteverde and could identify with much of what you said.

Great Report waiting for more !!!

Percy

Melissa5

Thanks for the nice comments!
ANSWERS to your questions about ARENAL:

LOST IGUANA resort, ARENAL:
Wanatryl, we loved the Lost Iguana but I must tell you that you HAVE to change to the luxury suite. There's a big difference. The deluxe room, where our kids stayed, is very pleasantly decorated and clean, but a bit on the narrow side. It does have a patio or balcony with volcano view. When we were just there in June, the lava flow could be seen from both our rooms at the Lost Iguana!

The luxury suite is the best thing about the Lost Iguana resort. Someday the Lost Iguana resort is gonna be by far the best hotel in Arenal, but it's still new and just getting its feet wet, still learning. I think it takes some years for a new hotel to really grow roots and be the best at everything.

Luxury suite on 1st floor (Lost Iguana) is big, with bed situated for volcano viewing, with very romantic lava rock shower, open-air but screened at the top, ours had 2 shower heads and plants growing inside, like showering in a jungle sort of. Loved showering by moonlight. In the evening we also used the jacuzzi on the deck of our luxury suite. We liked turning out all the lights (lights attract bugs) and staring out at the volcano by moonlight, with the patio doors to our room open.

Would I stay at the Lost Iguana, ARenal, again? Absolutely, yes. Definitely would get the luxury suite again. I'm certain from what I have seen on-line that it's the best room in Arenal!

But you really should have a car if you are staying at the Lost Iguana. It's not close enough to walk into town. No problem at all with a car. Otherwise you will have to call a taxi to get anywhere else. We had a car and loved the location of the Lost Iguana, we felt sort of like we were isolated in a jungly type location, even though we were minutes from town by car.

Oh, the front desk closes at 10:00 pm at the Lost Iguana, Arenal, so if you need something at night there's only the security guard at the front gate. Many hotels work this way. But there are some other hotels in Costa Rica that do have 24-hour front desks.

SKY TRAM/SKY TREK, Arenal:

I researched this ahead of time and then booked it when we arrived at the Lost Iguana resort, Arenal. Booked at the hotel desk. Price was around $45.

I believe if you research that this is the fastest zip-line as it's newer. www.skytrek.com My young adult kids loved this one. They are snow-boarders and they loved the speed of the fastest zip-line.

The view from the Sky Tram, which you take up to the platform to do the zip-lines, was very nice. I enjoyed the Sky Tram, which was very adventurous of me, because I'm afraid of heights. It was fun! There's a platform at the top with nice view. I took the Sky Tram back down while my family did the zip-line. Hubby enjoyed it too. Hubby and I are around 50.

From the platform (where the sky tram takes you) you can do a guided nature hike but we didn't plan on that one. www.skywalk.co.cr So I can't comment on whether the sky walk is worth it.

The zip-line experience was fun, and very well run. 2 guides accompany your group. They gave careful instructions.

Hubby felt the Sky Tram/sky Trek zip-line experience was definitely worth the money for the family.

I think they run the zip-lines every hour all day so you can wait to book til you arrive at hotel. Try to go in the morning because it often rains in the afternoon.

PURETREK CANYONING WATERFALL RAPELLING, Arenal area:

Hubby felt this activity was over-priced at $80 per person, and the guides were more like "Gear them up, rush them through, shove them off!" Instructions weren't as careful. The equipment smelled...especially the helmets (probably smelled because they are always wet!)

There are only 2 groups per day, one at 7:00 am and one at noon. We booked this one from our hotel and found the 7:00 am ones were already full for our days so we had to book the one for noon the following day.

I didn't go on this one and am reporting family's experience. My young adult kids, ages 23, 18, and 19, really enjoyed this one too. They enjoyed it because it was a unique experience. You really do go rapelling through a waterfall and when else can you ever do this?! They returned happy, wet, muddy, and exhilarated.

But they did agree that the guides could have been better.

Hubby would have liked to be allowed time to stop and see what's around him (he's a biologist) but they really rushed everyone through. He said they practically shoved people off!

So overall the reviews for this one are mixed. Yes, it's a unique experience. None of the family had ever done anything like it before, although my son does some rock-climbing but not through a waterfall.

But overall from my family's feedback I'd say the Puretrek waterfall canyon rapelling gets a grade of "B", while the Sky Tram/Sky Trek, Arenal, activity gets an "A".

More on Arenal later...

Melissa5

MONTEVERDE ACTIVITIES:

Monteverde was all about nature for us. We had already done our adventure sports in Arenal.

SENDERO TRANQUILO, Monteverde:

Hubby the biologist and my artistic daughter did the guided walk through Sendero Tranquilo together one morning. It is available strictly with a private tour guide and lasts 3 to 4 hours. Owned by El Sapo Dorado hotel.

Hubby says it was worth it, even though it is secondary forest. Secondary forest is less dense and therefore you can see more wildlife. (But secondary forest flora has less variety and isn't as old.)

Size of tour group is limited to 6 at Sendero Tranquilo, but hubby and daughter were the only ones in their group with guide! They got lucky!

At Sendero Tranquilo they saw a howler monkey, some rare woodpeckers that look like Woody Woodpecker, with ivory bills, lizards, frogs, and 2 kinds of toucans.

Hubby the biologist and his nature guide at Sendero Tranquilo enjoyed exchanging knowledge and information! The guide was good. I will hunt up his name if anyone asks.

Contact Hotel El Sapo Dorado to book this tour.

NIGHT HIKE, MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST PRESERVE:

Hubby and daughters took the guided night hike at Monteverde Cloud forest. (I wasn't feeling well and dropped out at the last minute.)

They saw fuzzy caterpillars, birds, insects, spiders, a mouse, giant beetles, tiny frogs.

My artistic daughter loved the moment when they all turned off their flashlights and the guide asked for quiet. They experienced the atmosphere of the cloud forest at night. It was "really cool" says my daughter.

My other daughter, the poet, said it was "interesting" and she enjoyed the unique insects but said if you're wanting to see animals you'll be disappointed. She loved all the insects.

Hubby's favorite moment was the fruit bats! Daughters said it was cool too. The night tour ends at the feeders where hummingbirds congregate in the daytime. Fruit bats congregate there at night!

Both with the hummingbirds in the daytime, and with the fruit bats at night, hubby put his face close to the hummingbird feeder and felt the wings brush by his face. I think he's batty! But he said neither the hummingbirds or the fruit bats will hurt you.

wanatrvl

Thanks for the info about Lost Iguana. Unfortunately, we got the only available rooms left so the luxury suite is not an option. I'm just happy that we may be able to see the lava flow. I know you said it was so humid you weren't interested in the hot springs but I was wondering if any of you checked them out anyway. I'm still trying to decide which ones to go to. I'm hoping that in the evening it will not seem too hot to enjoy them.

Melissa5

ECOTERMALES, Arenal:
Wanatryl, we did try out Ecotermales hot springs, Arenal, and had a dinner reservation there. We enjoyed it but got a late start...we barely had time there for a dip in the hot springs and dinner. Dinner was good, family style.

Ecotermales is much more low key than Tabacon, is the impression I gathered. We skipped Tabacon hot springs because the weather seemed too warm and humid, espcially after hiking, for expensive hot springs to seem very appealing.

We did enjoy a brief dip in the cooler part of the Ecotermales hot springs.

If you are wanting to try the much more elaborate Tabacon hot springs (which we decided to skip), I would definitely go after 7:00 pm when it's a bit cooler and also cheaper.

Unless you are in Arenal when the weather is cooler...

Also according to The New Key to Costa Rica guidebook, Tabacon hot springs is actually in a danger zone...it did bother me that tourists are paying a lot to be soaking in hot springs in a danger zone. Apparently Ecotermales is in a safer location, according to the same book.

The Arenal volcano is the most active volcano in Central America, and it spews out large rocks as well as lava!