Monkeying Around

As I mentioned, Quepos is well know for their park- Manuel Antonio. It's a beautiful nature reserve with an easy trail through the jungle that heads to the pristine beaches. On our last day Dayne and I took a cab to the entrance of the park and hired a private guide for a 3 hour walk. Without these guides that we hired we would have never seen even half of the wildlife we had throughout the country. It's really my number one piece of advice when traveling in Costa Rica, hire a wildlife guide!

The guides that work for the park wait until they have about 8 to 12 people total, I'm sure you could hire a private guide, and it costs about $30 cash only. Note that there is no ATM in the area around Manuel Antonio. Besides spotting and informing, the guides also carry a scope and set it up each time they spot things, giving everyone a chance to see their finds.

Banana flowers

We had seen a lot of wildlife on this trip so this day we were really hoping to glimpse more monkeys and a sloth or two. We entered the park with our guide and pretty much immediately saw a group of white faced monkeys swinging from tree to tree across the path! Success!

Sometimes we followed the main trail alongside families on their way to the beach, towing children and floaties. Other times our guide took us off on little used side paths, warning us to watch for snakes camouflaged by the underbrush. All in all it was a leisurely walk towards the beach past interesting flora and fauna.

Along the way we spotted some species we had seen before like helmut iguanas, hummingbirds, bats and even a random deer.

But we also saw a different species of toucan, which are generally not found here so the guide was very excited!  Mangrove crabs with bright blue bodies and red claws hanging out on the forest floor seemed weird and out of place.

In the area known as Sloth Ally we did finally catch a glimpse of a few shy sloths but unfortunately they were fast asleep way up in the shade of the tree leaves, making it very hard to see even with the scope.

As we ended our walk on the beautiful beaches we were rewarded with more white faced monkeys. Quite a few of them in fact. They are very interested in the picnic'ers lunches and sadly some people feed them. They were putting on a show, just as interested in us as we were in them, and swinging around having a good time. Adorable!

As Dayne and I made our way back to the main area of town on our own, there was one point where the beach we were on ended and you had to try to time the sea in order to make it to the other side. Dayne got wet, I however allowed this gentleman to transport me via his boat.

A casual lunch at Marlin's and some time hanging out on the beach rounded out a fantastic afternoon.

That evening when we got back to Quepos we found a farmer's market going on near the waterfront. Vendors had all sorts of beautiful tropical fruits on display. We bought a coconut water which in this case is a fresh coconut kept in ice water until you buy it and then a straw punched through its eye giving you access to the delicious liquid. Yum.

We also spotted a vendor with a big cauldron of chicarrone frying up. Perfect to go with our evening cocktails!

We finished up our day and our trip with a really delicious dinner at Kapi Kapi. A pretty, open air restaurant, by far the fanciest of the places we had been. The food and service were very good and it was a nice romantic way to end our travels.

We had time in the morning for a lounge by the pool before grabbing lunch, again at El Grand Escape. Then the van transfer that we hired picked us up for the 3 hour drive to the airport. Costa Rica may be small but with only one major airport, you have to plan your timing pretty well.

We flew home via Miami where we had to spend the night. We chose the close to the airport Regent which I would not recommend nor would I stay there again.

We loved Costa Rica and totally see why so many people have been traveling here over the last few years. A great first trip to Central America, but not the last!

All photos from the Quepos area are here.

Next up, Iceland!

Last Stop, Quepos!

Our last Costa Rica destination was in the quaint little town of Quepos, just an hour drive south of Jaco. Another 5 street town sitting right on the Pacific Ocean and known for it's pristine National Park- Manuel Antonio.

We thought we'd get to the hotel, return the car, have some lunch and hang by the pool for the day but upon arriving at the Hotel Sirena we found the pool not to have much lounging area and the two chairs it did have were already in use. Additionally the advertised tiki bar was not a bar at all without even a bottle of the national spirit Guaro behind it. 

So we killed some time until we could get into our rooms to unpack, by having lunch at the popular restaurant El Gran Escape. The food and drinks were good but the vibe is "big US theme restaurant" attracting lots of game fisherman, another thing Quepos is known for. After lunch we walked over to Cafe Milagro where delicious coffee is roasted and picked up as many bags as I thought my luggage would hold.

We finally got checked in and were able to spend some time in the refreshing pool. Although the hotel was not bad it was a bit more "budget" than other places we had stayed. It wouldn't be until we drove up the hill towards the park that we realized very few people stay in Quepos proper, most of the hotels are on the road between the town and the park. For this we would have needed to keep our car or rely on cabs as it isn't safe to walk along the busy road- an FYI for others traveling to this area.

That evening Dayne made us aperos, finally giving the bar a chance to really be a bar! And then we went walked all of 1 block and had a very good dinner at a little spot called Monchado's, under the mural of two Latin soap opera stars who resembled Donny and Marie. This place had some of the best Guaro sours of the trip! And then because we arrived back at the hotel to find it completely closed up at 10pm, we made nightcaps in the girl's room. Tiki bar... hardly!

We were all really excited for the next day's adventure- we were going horseback riding for the morning. In this area the jungle meets the ocean and the landscape is very different than the other regions we had been in (so much diversity for such a little country!) and we were looking forward to seeing it by horse. After a little morning mix up regarding reservations we were picked up by one of the partners of Valmy Tours, Valentin. We saddled up and away we went.

The horses were fantastic! Well trained but not following each other blindly, they were strong and well taken care of. The was the first time I've ever rode a horse without a bit in it's mouth, not that I ride that much (or well for that matter). We followed a river through lush forests, most of the land belonging to the family, and after about an hour got off to hike to the first of 2 waterfalls.

At the second waterfall Dayne and I went for a quick dip in the refreshing pool. The water was clear and pure. This country is all about the waterfalls!

On our way back to the farm our small group split up so those of us who wanted to trot, cantor and gallop our horses could. We were back in the river and the horses were giddy to be trotting and splashing water all over everyone. Then we came to this big hill with mud as deep as the horse's knees. Have I mentioned how big and strong these animals were? Our guide told us to just follow him and give a little kick. Holy hell!!! These horses shot up that hill and sliced through that mud with a passion! I held on for dear life while whispering in my horse's ear that we could slow down a bit if she liked. Dayne's stallion carried him up the hill like a child. And I heard a lot of "whoa, whoa, whoa" from Forest! We were covered in red mud from hooves to helmets. At the top of the hill we slowed to a cantor and finished up back at the farm. It was a really great ride!

A small but tasty lunch was provided back at Valentin's casa where we got to taste a local liqueur and gaze at the gorgeous countryside.

That evening we set out to celebrate Forest & Kate's birthdays, we started at El Avion for cocktails inside the big old C-123 cargo plane that was originally purchased during the Reagan Administration's covert Contra aid. The plane was abandoned in the Costa Rica jungle and now is a popular restaurant and bar overlooking the sea.

After a few drinks we grabbed a cab and headed way out on a dirt road, through the hills and towards the ocean for dinner at Ronnie's Place , I don't know quite how we heard about this but it was great! They have a large open air dining room, (I'm sure) fantastic views at sunset, and really nice service.

The food, like whole fried bass, was all delicious and upon hearing it was the girls' birthdays they served dessert with flaming sauce! It was Kate and Forest's last night in Costa Rica and a great way to wrap it up for them. Dayne and I had one more adventure packed day, stay tuned!

Tortuga Island

I'm sure Jaco is a perfectly nice place but we were only staying there in order to enjoy a day on Tortuga Island. We chose, in fact, to not stay in Jaco proper but up in the tranquil hills above the city at Hotel Vista Pacifico which was built and is run by a Canadian family. The drive up the hill to the hotel was steep, narrow, studded with potholes and at one point blocked by two cute dogs. But once we got there we were rewarded with a sweet little pool, lush tropical gardens and a pretty view of the town and the sea below.

After winding down with aperos outside we called a cab (some of the other guests mentioned they come up and down the hill no problem) and headed to Jaco's newest restaurant The Taco Bar (also a suggestion from guests and the owners). Good fish tacos and an all you can eat salad bar while sitting outside in the warm evening was perfect for the night. We headed home after for nightcaps and night swimming.

The next morning we were picked up by Calypso Cruises and driven to the port of Puntarenas, about
an hour away. We were fed a typical breakfast of beans and eggs with strong coffee and then we boarded the beautiful catamaran Manta Raya. Sailing out to the island was beautiful, it was hot and sunny and there were cold beers and pina coladas. The staff on board were super friendly, taking photos and passing around fresh pineapple and passion fruit. Ahhhhhhh...

 

As we neared the island the crew explained that Tortuga is a uninhabited island and is part of a natural wildlife preserve. They are packing everything in and everything out. The waters around the island are beautifully clear and the sand on the beach was pure white. We were looking forward to our day on this little rock of paradise.

 Dayne, Forest and I decided to go with the first group for snorkeling before the lunch was served, so we could spend the rest of the day chilling on the beach, while Kate secured us nice beach loungers and umbrellas. We took a small boat out to an outcropping of rock and plunged into the water. It was so warm!! And so clear! Immediately there were fish everywhere. Huge schools of fish no matter where we swam. It was awesome. Dayne found a bright yellow eel hiding out in a rock and Forest and I swam along side a very funny puffer fish. It really was a great snorkeling spot.

 

When we got back to the island we found the lunch area all decorated and set up with white linen table cloths and a live steel drum duo. The food was quite good and there's nothing I like more than eating while my toes play in the sand! Chilled white wine, ceviche,  cold pasta salad, cucumber salad, coconut chicken, rice and veggies and lemon cake for dessert. Honestly this was some of the best food of our trip!

And then there was nothing to do but relax in our lounge chairs with huge margaritas and laze away the day. Well actually you could go on a banana boat ride or rent a jet ski or kayaks but we chose to snooze away the day, enjoying the scenery.

The day ended entirely too soon. We boarded the Manta Raya for our trip back, taking a bit of a different route through some of the pretty islands. More margaritas and beers. More scenery. Ahhhhh...

And then as we neared the port and the sun sank, it lit the sky up like nothing I have ever seen. It was an amazing sunset and truly the cherry on top of a really great day!

We'd been gone just about 12 hours by the time we returned to our hotel and not really up for heading into town so we made some drinks, bought a bottle of wine from the owner and ordered up some really good pizza (with her help speaking Spanish).

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast and a swim before packing up and saying good bye to the pretty gardens and lush surrounding hills. We were heading to our last destinations of Quepos.

All photos of Tamarindo and Tortuga are here.

Tipica Tico

Everyone talks about the roads, or lack there of, in Costa Rica. We'd encountered the "Costa Rican massage" as the locals call their dirt and potholed roads but always with someone else driving. When Dayne drove from Arenal to Tamarindo the roads, although very windy and dotted with potholes, were paved. But on this drive, with me behind the wheel, it was nothing but dusty dirt roads, huge potholes and ruts for a good hour and a half of our four hour drive.

I couldn't pass anyone so I tried to stay back away from the clouds of dust. We watched the car in front's small trailer wheel shred and go flying, leaving him rolling along on the rim! This was the "tipica" Costa Rican road experience.

About half way into our drive we stopped in the small town of Santa Cruz for lunch. We drove each street checking out the assortment of restaurants before choosing Venus de la Diria because of it's open air style and also we could park the fully loaded car right in front of our table (there is a very high rate of vehicles broken into all over the country). There was no English spoken and we had to use our menu readers to figure out all the options for their casado's but we managed just fine.

We knew that casado's are the tipica lunch time meal of rice and beans with meat and salad from our previous lunch in Fortuna. Here in this town, without the tourists and only the "tico's", as the locals call themselves, frequenting the restaurant, the meal was much more authentic. And it was very good.

Back on the road, but this one paved, we headed towards Jaco. There is a bridge spanning the Tárcoles river which is a very well known spot to see crocodiles. We parked just before the bridge and walked out and immediately saw the largest crocodiles I could ever imagine!

The biggest of those crocs are about 16 feet long. Holy hell I'm telling you that these things are monsters!! And there were scads of them! Handbag anyone? There are boat tours of the Rio Tárcoles but we didn't need to pay a peso for our view of the crocodiles. And as an added bonus we passed a tree heading back to the car which had two beautiful scarlet macaws hanging out in it.

Just another tipica day with the ticos!

Surfin' Safari

After leaving Arenal we spent a few days in Tamarindo, which was all sun, sand and surf. It was exactly what we were in the mood for after four days in the jungles up north. As popular as Tamarindo is, we were surprised to find such a small town. It's basically 3 streets, all dirt, and a big long stretch of beautiful beach dotted with hotels and surf camps. There are lots of free spirits providing entertainment, some of it orchestrated like these fire dancers and some just in the random people watching, like Forest knitting a scarf for me on a sweltering evening when there are fire dancers behind her.

I had planned to take a surf lesson, check out the neighboring beaches, maybe do some more hiking. But instead we just chilled.

 

We had some pretty good dinners at the Voodoo Lounge & Copacabana, had a very interesting New Year's Eve, enjoyed a delicious if somewhat slow lunch on the beach at Nibbana...

waded in the ocean which was as warm as a bath, viewed some breathtaking sunsets and had some very good mojitos in the sand...

A great couple of days doing just about nothing. And it was perfect!

Tamarindo photos here.

Adios Arenal

On our last morning, as we walked up that damn hill on the way to breakfast, we passed an agouti next to the sidewalk. Then from the lodge's deck we were able to see quite a few large birds as the grounds crew impale hunks of fruit on a tall stake for the birds to eat. The clouds had not cleared to show us the entire volcano but everything else was on display.

 Dayne and I joined a small group from the lodge for a hike around their extensive grounds which finally gave us a chance to see more of the areas, like the pool and gardens. We found that even the Arenal Observation Lodge had it's own hanging bridges.

We immediately spotted a couple of Toucans, Mot Mots and more Agouti. Farther in we spotted Howler monkeys, about 5 in all but they were so high up in the trees that I couldn't get a good shot of them so here's a great picture of the Toucan!

The property also has a nice waterfall which we hiked down to, not as steep or as far down as the one at La Fortuna, it was still very pretty and with only a few of us deciding to venture to it, it was quite peaceful.

Over 2 1/2 hours we made our way from gardens to jungle to farm lands passing many beautiful plants, flowers and trees. The farthest point from the lodge is a working farm and here we boarded a funny cart which was pulled by a tractor for a "traditional" ride back to the main grounds. If you happen to stay at AOL I highly recommend going on the hike, it's complimentary and takes off each morning at 8:30am.

Back at the Casona we packed up while enjoying the sun and the amazing views of the lake. And we cheered on the volcano to let go of it's cloud cover but it didn't pay any attention to us. We arranged for a taxi to pick us up and take us to the car rental shop in La Fortuna. Here we had a bit of an issue with the folks at AOL who told us their car was being used and it would be $25 cash for the cab and they wouldn't call our cab until they had cash in hand. Geez! So we complied and about 30 minutes later a truck with the AOL logo on the side came and picked us up. The driver didn't speak English so we never got our cash back and when I emailed the company later I was told there was a miscommunication and that was the price for their car, a taxi being more. Hmmmm. We felt a bit jilted for sure.

After grabbing the car we had a pretty good lunch at La Choza de Laurel which is a big open air restaurant known for their casado's - big plates of grilled meat, rice, plantains, beans and vegetables. The food was good and it was cheap but the service was like molasses- don't go here if you are on a schedule. We weren't on a serious time line but it was going to be a very twisty 3.5 hour drive to Tamarindo, which was putting us to arrive after dark- not ideal but still doable.

We loaded up and hit the road, saying goodbye to the cloud forests and volcanoes and headed to the beach. We drove around Lake Arenal to the north and then due west to the coast. We'd have to wait till the morning to see our surroundings but our condo was huge and we were excited to experience another new area!

All photos of Arenal can be seen here
 

It's A Jungle Out There

We left the cloud forest mid afternoon and headed to the jungles surrounding the Arenal Volcano. Even though Costa Rica is tiny it is a mess of mountains, volcanoes and in this case a big ole man made lake turning the relatively short 85 mile distance into a  4+ hour drive. Instead of one long car trip we chose a multi- transportation excursion that I so mysteriously love.

First we were picked up in a 4 wheel drive vehicle and for 1 1/2 hours drove past coffee plantations, up and over crazy steep mud roads, made a quick stop at the drivers' house (so he could grab a snack), and finally were deposited lakeside, the only thing we could see in either direction was a small coffee shack.


We watched the hummingbirds dart around while we waited and once a few more vans arrived with more passengers we boarded a boat and took off across the lake. It was cloudy and a tad stormy so we were not rewarded with views of the volcano as we had hoped, but it was still a pretty 40 minute ride.

Once we landed on the opposite shore we were picked up in a van and taken to the Arenal Observation Lodge. It was about a 20 minute ride on a very bumpy dirt road and we ended up arriving after dark, always a surprise for the next morning! The other surprise, as we checked in, was that we were told that our rooms in the Casona was 500 meters downhill from the main lodge. Did I mention that it was dark? And that we were in a jungle? Luckily one of their crew members had just dropped some guests off from a day trip and offered us and our luggage a ride down. He even waited for Dayne to grab a bucket of ice, it was past happy hour after all!

The Casona was a large building with 5 rooms and 2 shared bathrooms. It also had a great big outdoor porch which was perfect for relaxing. We did have quite a hike up to the restaurant for dinner that night (and each morning for breakfast) but the views of the volcano and the grounds were lovely.

The next morning after breakfast we were picked up for a full day of excursions. We scored by having just one other couple with us and also with our super knowledgeable and passionate guide Marcos! For our first adventure of the day we headed to Arenal Hanging Bridges. But before we even got into the reserve Marcos spotted Howler Monkeys so we stopped on the road and watched this momma and her baby hang around!

Shortly after that we were queuing up to pass over the first bridge that led into the park. There were huge parrots right by the parking lot!

This was the beginning of 3 hours of Marcos spotting an incredible amount of wildlife, birds and flowers. The jungle was amazing, it was hot and steamy just like you think of. The bridges were all lengths and heights and even though there was quite a line up when we first entered we soon were on our own for much of the morning.

Eyelash Viper, only about 3" long

We spotted Helmet Iguanas, an Eyelash Viper, a Tarantula, lots of birds like Macaws, Parrots, Hummingbirds, Motmots, Vultures, Woodcreepers, Warblers, other various snakes and lizards. And these crazy Leafcutter Ants which are quite amazing to watch!

The variety of plants, trees and flowers was stunning! The hike covered paths and 16 hanging bridges including this one that was over 70 feet up!

We finished our hike and piled into the van to head to our next destination- La Fortuna Waterfall. Again, beautiful lush surroundings and as we started down the 500 steps to the bottom we immediately spotted a tree with about 5 Toucans in it!

We hiked down to the gorgeous falls and relaxed by the banks, being misted with water for a while before heading back up... 500 steps!

After a wonderful lunch at Don Rufino in La Fortuna we set out again, this time with an additional 4 adults and 2 kids (groan). We headed to the slopes of Arenal Volcano to walk along the lava flows. Marcos is studying to be a vulcanologist so along the way we learned about the eruption of Arenal and witnessed the regrowth of sugar cane and other plants. We spotted a very rare orchid that only blooms once a year for 24 hours and another huge crazy spider!

Our final treat of the day (now evening) was a trip to The Springs (fans of the show The Bachelor might recognize this as the hotel/hot springs featured on the show). With all that volcanic activity hot springs are a big thing and it was just the thing we needed after a day trekking through jungles and volcanoes.

With over 35 various sized hot pools we had no problem finding one all to ourselves. We relaxed in the hot water, full of healing minerals, with guara sours! We only saw The Springs at night but it looked really nice and was on a huge estate. After an hour or so of soaking we had dinner at their buffet (this was all included in our full day booking) outside on a pretty terrace. When Marcos came to pick us up we invited him to share a bottle of wine with us and got a chance to hear more of his amazing knowledge of wildlife and the area. He knows 150 bird calls and can spot over 500 birds. Throughout the day he recorded everything we saw in his guides, next to their photo with notes about the area we were in. There is no way we would have seen everything that we did without him and I can't emphasize enough the need to hire a guide while hiking in Costa Rica. People would come up on us and see us looking at something but without a trained eye telling you exactly where to look and what to look for everything is camouflaged!

Our long day was finished up with nightcaps on our porch (after we finagled a ride to get ice at the bar and then a drop off back at the Casona from Marcos)!

All photos of the Monteverde and the Arenal areas can be seen here

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad