Random Public Thoughts #11: Costa Rica

We spent a fabulous 8-1/2 days in Costa Rica. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the country is not only beautiful with lots of interesting things to do, but everything (except the roads) works very well!

We were also very lucky in that we were blessed with good weather. It rained, but not at critical times.

My sister sent me a link to a tour that cost about $1000/person, not counting airfare. However, we decided to do it on our own instead. We were very last-minute in pulling the trip together - it would have been better if we'd started 6 months early. However, everything ended up working very well and we had a much nicer & more adventurous trip for less $ than a tour!

We arrived in San Jose late in the evening, March 16 and overnighted at a Hampton Inn near the airport.

The next day, we took an Interbus van (VERY nice system - they have an excellent and easy-to-use website for pre-booking transportation with door-to-door service) from our airport hotel to Monteverde, arriving at our hotel ca. 12:30 p.m. The road from the airport to the Monteverde cutoff is fine - a little narrow, but paved. However, from the cutoff it is all dirt road - very nasty and I was VERY glad not to be driving!?! The Interbus was $29/person and worth every penny with prompt and punctual pickup and dropoff wherever you wish.

Monteverde is all dirt roads, very dusty and many very steep. The traffic is surprisingly heavy, too, so if you walk around you're always getting a cloud of dust in your lungs.

However, our hotel was lovely and the food was excellent and reasonably priced. Our hotels and all the restaurants we ate at were guidebook-recommended. Lesson learned: listen to the guidebooks! Advice was excellent - why not learn from the experience of others?!?

We started our afternoon with a walk up a steep road that was not really recommended by the guidebooks. It was OK, but the lesson was learned: listen to the guidebooks...!

We did a night walk at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. It rained steadily and was interesting tho' the steady rain put a damper on things and we didn't see much besides sleeping birds (including a hummingbird sleeping in its nest!) & tarantulas, bats, a few tiny rain (of course!) frogs, glowworms, fireflies (astonishingly bright!), a tiny phosphorescent mushroom, and a few tiny insects.

The next day we had a guided tour at the Cloud Forest Reserve. We lucked out - we arrived just in time to see a quetzal pair in the trees near the parking lot! The reserve is lovely - such a rich diversity of plants. Not too many animals or insects, though, and the birds are easier to hear than to see since they typically are high up in the canopy. The easiest birds to see are the hummingbirds at the hummingbird garden, and they are quite a sight - usually at least 5-6 different types buzzing around!

It is much cloudier, cooler, and wetter at the Cloud Forest Reserve than in Monteverde or Santa Elena. Monteverde & Santa Elena were sunny and rather warm. There are various hotels tucked away off the road. We stayed at El Sapo Dorado - very nice!

We did a canopy walk the next day, around various trails and across 6 suspension bridges. This was nice but it was surprisingly difficult to spot animals, birds, or insects. However, we lucked out and got nearly perfect views of a tribe of howler monkeys playing, eating, and traveling in the trees right in front of us on the last and longest bridge. It was fascinating and we watched them for more than an hour!

On Day 3 of our trip, we traveled from Monteverde to Arenal by van (over horrid dirt roads but through rich farmland tucked amidst rolling hills - really lovely scenery!), horse, boat, and van. We were in the middle of nowhere but the horses, boat, & vans all showed up! The van picked us up right on time at our hotel and took all our bags. It was a lovely day - we drove through Santa Elena then plunged on through more dirt roads winding past coffee farms, mango trees, grazing areas, and more. We had spectacular views of some volcanoes, then made our way down to Lake Arenal. There was a "soda" in the middle of NOWHERE. Lots of vans and cars, people waiting in line for the toilets, and a modest but clean counter selling food and drinks. We were introduced to our guide who didn't speak any English. Apparently we were the only people going in our direction. Where was everyone else going? Maybe up to Monteverde? On raft trips? I don't know!

The ride was flat but very nice, following a very bad dirt road skirting the lake. The road would have been punishing for a vehicle (one did, indeed, pass us), as it went through streams and was muddy and rutted, but it was a nice path for horses. There were lots of birds, butterflies, and the usual rich plant diversity. In fact, there seemed to be more birds & butterflies than in Monteverde - certainly more visible. It was still a lovely warm, sunny day!

However, although the horses did the hardest work, it wasn't all that easy riding them. I made the big mistake of unzipping my pants (because it was so warm) and riding in shorts. The back of my knees were rubbed raw against the saddle. When my horse trotted - and it did, quite often - I was jolted up and down. VERY hard on the tailbone! However, I asked our guide to shorten my stirrups, and that helped a LOT. When my horse trotted, I would stand up in the stirrups, sparing my tailbone the banging around. It also helped to reduce the rubbing, though I really should have put my pants bottoms back on.

The jostling up and down made it very difficult to take pictures. However, I enjoyed the novel experience! As we moved along, we got better and better views of Arenal, a very active and spectacular-looking stratovolcano with steep sides.

We finally stopped for a break. I examined my legs and was horrified to find that the back of one knee had been rubbed into a huge red raw sore. The other knee was OK 'cuz the stirrup had been short enough. I put my pants legs back on, but the damage had already been done. We enjoyed a splendid view of the smoking volcano across the lake, with a delish sweet pineapple snack!!!

We went off road a little, on what appeared to be more of a trail, closer to the lake, but then we were back at the road once more, then stopped - in the middle of nowhere. Our guide dismounted and helped us dismount also. I was puzzled, but he showed us a trail going down to the water. Apparently we were at the end of the ride, and we were going to be picked up by a boat. However, the boat hadn't arrived yet. We waited a little while - SF looked at birds, I walked around and took pix.

Boat arrived to our spot by the lake in the middle of nowhere. We entered - lo and behold! There was our luggage!

We enjoyed a splendid ride across the lake, surrounded by lovely green hills and the smoking cone of Arenal!!!

The boat dropped us off by the dam - also in the middle of nowhere, but a van was waiting for us! The van drove us to Arenal Lodge - wow! That was a really lovely place, too!!!

I was REALLY impressed at how well all the connections worked. Here we were, being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, riding our horses to an even more middle-of-nowhere spot, being picked up by a boat (no dock; it just came right up to shore) & driven to another spot w/no dock. My boss said he'd be sweating and worried about horse/boat/van not showing up, or getting robbed!?!

I guess those things don't run through my mind...

Arenal Lodge sits on top of a hill and has a spectacular view of Arenal volcano rising dark and violently out of the green. It has a couple of its own trails which are totally different from each other and very nice. One trail, which is by its tiny informal "zoo" (just pecciaries and deer) and butterfly garden, wends its way through a very rich rainforest. The other trail, called the "Plantation Trail," started right outside our room and goes down a grassy slope, past various pseudo-plantations (coffee, pineapple, bananas, heart-of-palm, etc.) and ending near a lovely gazebo with hammocks and spectacular views of the volcano and the lake. The landscaping was very nice - beautiful torch gingers, lots of Gesneriaceae (relatives of African violets, except that many grew as epiphytes or climbing vines). However, because this "trail" was more open, it was much easier to see birds.

The Arenal Lodge dining room has the same spectacular view of the volcano, and there's a deck outside which overlooks a small but pretty infinity-type pool + 2 jacuzzis as well as the volcano.

We watched the volcano erupt at night - it is far away but you can still see the lava or boulders rolling down. I wish we'd gone on a night tour, but by the time I thought about it, it was too late. It's too bad 'cuz it was a clear night and a tour (I'm sure they bring you much closer to the volcano so you can see the eruption more clearly) would have been spectacular.

The next day, we made arrangements to drop our bags off at Tabacon hotel, and we went on a hike in Arenal Nat'l Park. There's not much to the park. There's an observation point which is little more than a giant pavilion. The taxi driver dropped us off at the trailhead. Actually the trails go in two directions. One, the Heliconia Trail, goes back through tall sugarcane-like grass and trees laden with bromeliads, to the entrance (which has the only toilets in the park). The other goes in the opposite direction and skirts the flank of the volcano.

Since it was lunchtime, we elected to do the shorter Heliconia Trail and eat our leftover dinner which we were carrying around in its styrofoam container (I had the foresight to bring plastic forks and knives from Chicago!). Good call on our part! After eating we tossed the styrofoam, used the toilets, etc. Facilities were quite minimal and all we could do was sit on a low wall, but I was glad to have the toilets.

We then walked back, crossed the road, and went on the other trail. That was a terrific trail! It starts through the tall sugarcane-like grass (there were snakes in there!), and then moves into rainforest with tree ferns & the usual great diversity of plants (but somewhat drier than Arenal Lodge's rainforest). The forest ends abruptly at a 1992 lava flow. The trail goes through the lava flow and then descends back into forest at the other side. We only went as far as the lava flow and didn't continue all the way to the end of the trail due to time limitations (we asked our taxi driver to pick us up at 3 p.m. so we had to watch the clock). I was fascinated to see catleya and epidendrum orchids growing as PRIMARY COLONIZING PLANTS on the lava!?! There were also other species of plants that look very similar to colonizing plants on Hawaiian lava flows. Really, really interesting!!!

But most fascinating of all was Arenal. From this trail, we could actually see the boulders tumbling down the mountain!?! As they fell, they kicked up little puffs of dust. At one point there was a whole swarm of 'em - maybe 30 or so - tumbling down together! It was absolutely fascinating to watch. From time to time a huge puff of smoke would emerge from the top of Arenal - quite a sight, like a mini Mt. St. Helens.

On the way back, when I redescended into the forest, I saw a beautiful giant damselfly. Its wings were transparent except for the very tips, so it looked like a helicopter rotating. Its body was about 8 inches long, very slender. Really gorgeous. It alighted on a tree, but a little too high for me to get a picture - too bad. But I got a nice look, both of it in flight (which was fascinating), and then at rest (when I could see clearly that it was indeed a giant damselfly!).

We made it out at 2:45 p.m. (arranged pickup time was 3 p.m.), but happily, our taxi drove up just as we emerged from the tall grass! Perfect timing!

When we got back to Tabacon hotel, SF was upset that our rooms still weren't ready, but they suggested that we go to the hot springs while we waited.

The hot springs were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Wow, that was one of the nicest things I've ever done in my life! One guidebook says that you stay at Tabacon at your own peril, since one volcano flow stopped only 500 m away, but you can die happy. So true! The hot water comes out of the volcano, but what is so amazing is the landscaping. It is a wonderland of waterfalls and criss-crossing streams in the most incredibly lush tropical gardens. Since I'm from Hawaii, I have high standards for tropical landscaping, but I was REALLY impressed by these gardens. The various pools are varied, from tiled to completely natural, and some are exquisite with little bowls of colorful flowers floating in the middle. There's a lovely restaurant, excellent showers - I cannot put into words how amazing that place was. When you stay at the hotel, you can go there for two days so it pretty much pays for the cost of the hotel room, along with the fab breakfast buffet that is also included in the room price. I must bring my 81-year-0ld mother there - she will love it! My late uncle would have loved this, too. I feel so lucky to have been able to experience this in my lifetime!

Another amazing thing, besides its sheer beauty and the hot water, is the lack of mosquitoes! I guess the insectivorous bats must eat most of them, and I suppose they can't breed in the hot water, either (although the bromeliads certainly provide lots of breeding water).

We went back in the evening but I was disappointed not to see the volcano erupting. However, what I didn't realize was that I was looking in the WRONG DIRECTION!?! Not too smart!?!

The lighted tiled pool was fine, and I had fun going down the water slide into the warm H2O, but it is a bit spooky wading in the black waters of the unlit "natural" pools. Not as spooky as, say, swimming in the ocean at night, and the water (and air) was nice and warm, but I think daytime is definitely better.

I wandered around the hotel in the next morning and went for a swim in the hotel's pool, too, while my hubby & college-age son slept. It was raining, but the hotel's pool was warm (heated by the same volcanic heat at the hot springs, but a little cooler), the air was warm, and in a bathing suit, who cares? There were some large interesting lizards lounging by the pool, and there was also a large drowned insect about the size of my hand, that looked like a black wasp, but which was probably a wasp-mimicking butterfly.

We enjoyed the fab buffet breakfast which included beet juice (took me awhile to figure that one out), rice with beans, and local fruits (mangoes, pineapple, papaya) as well as more standard breakfast fare.

Then it was back to the hot springs! It is REALLY nice at the hot springs in the morning, and the weather doesn't matter. In the morning, it is mostly hotel guests, and not too many. It felt as though we had the place to ourselves. This time, my hubby & I wandered all over the place, trying out all kinds of "soaking" and "hydraulic massage" spots and the different temperatured pools.

We had lunch at the hot springs. There's a nice buffet there, but after the huge b'fast, we didn't have enough room for another buffet, so we opted for the a la carte lunch. It was reasonable, given the setting and the quality of the food.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel for our next Interbus transfer.

Interbus apparently contracts out some of its driving. We were picked up by another type of van around 2 p.m., and we were the only passengers.

We left the lush tropical rainforest of the Tabacon area, and skirted the base of Arenal, traveling around the opposite side of the volcano. It was a lovely & interesting ride, past fields w/grazing cattle & horses, and small towns. I remember crossing a bridge w/holes in it - I'm glad I wasn't driving. The bridge crossed a spectacular wide rushing river. The road wound up & down through a varied and interesting terrain. However, we seemed to have some mechanical (transmission) problems: from time to time our driver (a young, nice-looking guy) would stop and crawl under the car, and he looked a bit worried.

Well, finally as we approached a fairly large town, but while we were still out in a very rural area by a large hacienda, he pulled over and killed the engine. Apparently it was now a pretty major problem.

Thank goodness we weren't on our way to the airport!?! It was now late afternoon and everything was golden-green. Our driver talked to a couple of people who apparently worked on the hacienda, and made some calls on his cell phone (these Costa Rican cell phones are amazing - they seem to work everywhere). Our driver and one of these helpful strangers gerry-mandered a fix - they used a machete to whittle a piece of wood to plug a hole in the transmission. Someone drove up and brought some transmission fluid. It took quite awhile - maybe an hour or so - but eventually we got going again (amazingly) and we limped into the next town.

We waited quite awhile there while our driver bought a part and attempted to fix whatever it was that was wrong with the transmission. I walked down the road a bit and admired (and then bought) some beautiful mangoes that someone was selling by the roadside. Smart move (those mangoes were absolutely delish, as we found out when we ate them the next day)! The golden-green gave way to dusk before we were finally on our way again.

It grew dark quickly. We were supposed to be in Manuel Antonio by 6 or 7 p.m., but we didn't leave the town until past 6 p.m. and we weren't even halfway there! I was worried about the car but our driver said it should be OK. And then, as we drove in the dark, we came to a virtual standstill. There was an accident somewhere far, far ahead. The roads are two-lane only, and narrow. There are LOTS of large trucks on the road: they drive mainly at night. In fact, most of the traffic = huge trucks.

This was bad - really bad. We were out there for hours. Luckily, I had saved part of our breakfast, and I had some fruit-and-nut TJ mix, because there was no way to get any food. Se Fok called ahead to our hotel (Villas Mymosas). I was worried about the car breaking down again, but in the dark, with no way to get to a town. In fact, sometimes our driver would climb under the car again...!?!

Finally, at about 9 or 10 p.m., we got past the accident and were on our way. There was a half moon and lots of stars. But we were all worried about the car and the leaking transmission fluid. In fact, when we got to another town, our driver stopped and refilled the transmission fluid. I felt SOOO sorry for the guy, and I was impressed because he never gave up! After dropping us off, he was still going to have to drive home!?!

Anyway, we got to our hotel at 11 p.m.+ I gave our driver a $20 tip - I felt so sorry for him. He thought we were paying our fare and that we were thus short-paying, but when he understood at last that we had already pre-paid and that this was only a tip, he was VERY happy.

Our hotel was OK - nice, very pretty pool and very large rooms. However, we had a view of barbed wire, and there weren't many services. But at this point, all we wanted to do was collapse in bed!

A.m. dawned bright & beautiful & hot. We had a very nice breakfast by the pool. I enjoyed mine: rice & beans with chopped mango and scrambled eggs. I talked to the guy at the desk about getting a guide for Manuel Antonio, and he said he knew a very good guide, so we set up for the tour that morning. At 1 p.m., I had signed up for a "Sunset Catamaran Ride," and Randall made arrangements for us to be picked up at a restaurant by the National Park.

We noted the iguanas lounging around, and I saw a Mon Titi monkey scurrying between trees. Our taxi came to pick us up right on time, and met up with our guide, who was also taking around 2 Northwestern students!

Our guide was absolutely terrific - I couldn't believe how good he was at spotting things!!! He had a really nice spotting telescope which was great for taking pix. We saw a couple of different kinds of bats, different lizards, several birds, and a couple of different kinds of sloths. Fascinating!!!

The beach at Manuel Antonio is very nice. The water is warm, too, and thus very pleasant to swim in! They even have makeshift showers there!

We loved it in there but we had to leave so we could eat lunch before our getting picked up for our boat ride. We went to the restaurant that was recommended by Randall (person at the desk at our hotel). Food was good but bathrooms were not! I wandered around taking pix & buying a towel & sarong for Anela & Keala.

Bus came to pick us up. It was surprisingly packed, and it turned out that a LOT of people sign up for this boat ride.

The boat ride was OK - it is a party atmosphere, with booze (included in tour) and lots of young people out to have a good time. However, there's really not all that much to see, and SF & Alex felt out of place and uncomfortable. As for me, I always enjoy chatting with random people so I had a nice conversation w/someone from Boston. Most of the time, it is just ocean. We saw some dolphins once, and then we went to a place to snorkel. It was a rock in deep water. The fish hang out by the rock. It was interesting, but not exactly spectacular snorkeling. As Alex said, Hanauma is better. Turned out that dinner was also included, but I came out of the water a little too late and thus didn't get too much to eat.

Next day, we were scheduled to go on a kayaking excursion in a mangrove swamp. Our guide was a lady from Switzerland. This was a morning excursion which ended with a lunch, and it was quite interesting! The swamp was beautiful, and we had some very good views of monkeys and other animals, including a baby crocodile. We saw something rare - but I forgot what it was! At any rate, I really enjoyed this trip, and the lunch afterwards was also quite good!

We were dropped off by our hotel, and after catching our breath, we decided to walk to town by a side road, and catch the bus back. I wanted to buy some coffee. The walk was interesting, and the town was also interesting. Our Swiss guide told us that there would be a farmer's market the next day, but that they might be starting to set up that afternoon. Sure enough, they were starting to set up, and it was fascinating to see the stuff they were going to sell (I wasn't sure what all the fruits/veggies were!). The setting was nice, too - by the water and sandbars. Because of the sandbars, the water was very still & quiet & peaceful.

We caught the bus back, and then we headed went to the Hotel Costa Verde for our last evening's dinner. That proved to be a fortuitous choice! The hotel was lovely and has LOTS of Mon Titi monkeys. Our restaurant had a splendid view, and great entertainment: before dinner, the monkeys were playing right next to us, rolling around and tussling on a corrugated iron roof. Then after it got darker, the bats came out and kept the mosquitoes away!!! The dinner was excellent and reasonably priced, given the setting & ambience!

We were worried about getting a bus - apparently they don't run too often at night. But finally, one came along, and we got back to our hotel, packed, and went to bed.

Our final day was STILL action packed. We left ca. 6:30 a.m. without incident. Through Iguana Tours, I hired a van to take us to drive us to the airport, with stops at Carrara Nat'l Park and also a bridge that was supposed to have lots of crocodiles, and also photo stops as desired. Smart choice!!! It was great!!! There really aren't many places to stop for pix - the landscape is interesting, but there aren't, say, scenic pullouts. However, it was nice to have the option to stop, and it was REALLY nice to stop at Carrara and at the bridge. We took a quick hike into Carrara, and we saw a trocan and toucans!!! I also saw a Jesus Christ lizard. Carrara is a drier park, but it has a stream running through it, and going early in the morning is great - not too many people and enough wildlife if you look for it (wildlife is never obvious!). We went all the way to the end of the main path, ending at a bridge, where we were thrilled to see a toucan pair high in the trees!

Then - the Tarcoles Bridge - WOW!!! We had splendid weather, and all these monster crocodiles were lounging around in that splendid setting!!! What a sight!!!

That was the last sightseeing stop, and now it was back to business: getting to the airport. I was worried, because our flight left in around 2:30, and we needed to get to the airport by 11:30 a.m. I wanted to leave our hotel at 8 a.m., but the Iguana people recommended leaving at 6:30 a.m. I'm glad I listened to them!?! Although the drive looked fairly short on the map, I think it is at least 2-3 hours with no problems (winding, narrow 2-lane roads are the norm), and I was very worried about running into another accident!!! Our drive from Tabacon was supposed to be 4-5 hours, and it took us 9 hours!?!

However, we were very lucky and although there were some slow spots (we'd get stuck behind a slow-moving truck chugging up a hill), there were no major accidents. Weather was beautiful & the landscape was very interesting. We made good time and thus we stopped at a souvenir shop. I suppose our driver got a cut of the sale, but I was happy 'cuz I found a coffee that someone told me about, and I was also pleased to buy some beautiful wood bowls. It really was a very nice shop and I was happy we had the stop!

We made it to the airport at 11:15 a.m. - right in the nick of time, just 10 minutes before a huge crush of people arrived!

Checking in at the San Jose airport is REALLY slow. Security checks all bags by hand, and it is a VERY slow process. If we'd arrived just 10 minutes later, we probably would have been in line for well over an hour.

It's good to arrive early: there's lots of shopping (the ubiquitous "Cafe Britt") at this airport. So, if you are early (as we were), the wait will pass quickly.

The splendid weather held and I was fascinated to watch the landscape unfold beneath me as we headed back to Miami. It was very lush, level, & green in Nicaragua. Carribean was lovely & blue with some islands surrounded by cornflower blue. Even the tip of Florida (Everglades) was interesting! Florida is so incredibly flat. I wonder how it formed - is it a giant sandbar, or what?

Miami airport & immigrations is a really cruddy place/setup. It took us over an hour to get through immigrations!?! You have to allow 2 hrs+ for layovers. A 1 hour layover would be impossible. It turned out that our flight to Chicago was delayed until midnight. I don't recommend American Airlines!?! And the Miami Airport has lousy, unhealthy food.

But the bad experience in Miami was just a blip in what was otherwise a perfect vacation!!!