We hiked through (and above) the rainforest, rafted class 4 rapids on the Rio Toro, saw an active volcano and spent three beautiful days on the Pacific Coast. Hope you enjoy these photos from our trip.
March 5: Bumpy ride
Thirty-mile-per-hour winds shook the plane as we headed over the mountains and into the Liberia Guanacaste airport. Little did we know how much bumpier it would get. We caught our shuttle (after getting our first lesson in Central American timeliness) and headed toward the rainforest.
We had already been told how bumpy the roads were there. But as we left the city, it wasn’t too bad. At least not worse than the roads Jason grew up on in Louisiana. As we got closer to the mountains, the roads even started improving. But we spoke too soon. Not too long after a tourist trap rest stop, the roads got BUMPY. Let’s just say that two and a half hours of gravel, dirt and rocky roads felt more like four. But finally, 17 hours after we left our house, we arrived at our hotel in Santa Elena.
March 6: Into the rainforest
You won’t believe it, but we woke up at 6 a.m. Had breakfast at the same place we ate the night before, La Maravillosa Cafe (The Marvelous Cafe). We hopped on an early bus to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. A few Quaker kids and others rode to school on the bus with us. (We assume they were Quakers. They spoke English, and there’s a pretty big population of Quakers from the U.S. that settled there in the early 1950s.)
When we arrived, we set off on a four-hour hike. We saw plenty of cool flowers, and some amazing views, but to our surprise (and disappointment), no wildlife. Except for the strange possum looking creature right at the start.
We stopped at the Continental Divide, which is the line that runs all the way though North America at which all water on one-side flows toward the Pacific and all water on the other flows toward the Atlantic. The wind nearly blew us both into the Gulf of Nicoya, which we could see to the west.
The hike though the reserve also took us across a short, creaky suspension bridge, but it didn’t quite prepare Jason for the heights to come.
We headed to Selvatura Park, home to some of the longest (and they say) sturdiest suspension bridges through the rainforest canopy. The longest was 510 feet long and more than 150 feet high. (Are you kidding me?) But the views were incredible.
March 7: To Arenal
Got up early again so we could hit a local bakery (delicious pastries in Costa Rica) for breakfast before heading off to Arenal. The first part of the ride we were rewarded with amazing views of the mountains and valleys… so maybe the potholes were worth it.
After an hour or so of driving, we were at Lake Arenal, where we caught our water taxi. The lake is the largest in the country, and a dam there produces most of the country’s electricity. There’s also good diving, since two villages were flooded when the dam was built.
The shores of the lake and 150 yards inland is all park land, so there’s no development. Just grassy hills reminiscent of Switzerland. And of Jurassic Park; part of the movie was filmed there.
Back on dry land, we encountered something strange: paved roads. We stayed in the little town of La Fortuna at Arenal Jireh, where we had a great view of the volcano from our room’s porch. But we weren’t on the active side, so no hope of seeing lava while lying in bed!
We made a quick stop at a huge waterfall on Rio Fortuna, then headed out for our first chance to see lava. Took a nice hike up to a viewing spot, but as would be the case our entire time in Arenal, it was too cloudy to see any action from the volcano. And we struck out on wildlife again too. Except for one quetzal bird from very far away and a huge hive of termites.
From there, we headed to Baldi Hot Springs. Now, that’s the life… 16 pools of varying temperatures (80 degrees to 150 degrees), a couple of bars (everyone warned us that the beer was too expensive there – $3; if only that were really expensive!) and some good food too. So we spent the next five hours soaking in hot water, sitting under water falls and swimming up to the bar. Wish we could end every night at the hot springs!
March 8: The raging bull
Beautiful weather for a day on the river! Drove about an hour to the Rio Toro, which has category 3-4 rapids. We were in a raft with four other people (a father and son; Jessica, an American who’s a tour guide throughout Central and South America; and Rocky, our guide). After a 10 minute lesson about how to follow Rocky’s commands, we were off.
The water was great and the rapids were big. Of the three rafts in our group, ours was the only one that didn’t flip. But we were close a couple times. When one of the other rafts crashed into us and pinned us against a rock, Kari was almost a goner. But we were able to finagle our way out, right after the other raft flipped. One of the girls on that raft was floating toward us and got caught under our raft for what felt like a long time! But we were eventually able to pull her aboard our boat. A couple of the others on their raft got pretty banged up on the rocks, but everyone made it out in one piece! At the end, we had some of the best fresh fruit we’ve ever had, and we headed off for a home-cooked tico meal.
Then we hit a little traffic. Most bridges we came across in Costa Rica were only one lane, so traffic tended to back up a little bit around them. But something else was going on. Good news, though, our guides told us, we were very close, let’s walk. So we walked across the bridge. The one with two gaping holes in it. The one with two loose pieces of plywood that the ever-resourceful Central Americans were using to span the holes allowing cars and light trucks to pass. Only one little truck fell through. Well, it was just its front left tire, and a dozen friendly ticos quickly lifted it back onto the bridge. Beep beep, gracias, the driver said as he sped off.
March 9: The long ride
Nothing moves fast in Costa Rica. Especially our bus to Playa Hermosa. We left at 6:45 a.m., and expected to be at the beach by noon. Who knows what time we actually arrived, but after two lengthy rest stops and a bit of confusion by the drivers when we switched buses, we were ready. Let’s call it a day.
March 10-13: La hueva
That’s Mexican slang for, more or less, laziness. And that is, more or less, an apt description of our last four days in Costa Rica. We sat in the sun. We swam in the (at times) chilly Pacific water. We watched some incredible sunsets. We lived la vida pura; that’s pure life, and it’s the country’s ubiquitous motto. (The motto is actually Pura Vida.)
On Saturday night, our hotel, El Velero, had its famous B-B-Q night, which is noted in almost all the travel books we read and attracts hungry people from all over town. The grilled mahi-mahi and pork tenderloin were delicious. Easily the best meal we’ve had in a long time.
And easily the best vacation we’ve had in a very, very long time.
If you read all that, you deserve to see our photos.