Manual Antonio and Monkeys

Our last stop on the trip was Manual Antonio National Park on the Pacific Coast.  We had a lovely drive here, first crossing a bridge above tons of
 alligators, and then cruising down the coast.  Our hotel is the Costa Verde, and we've got an AMAZING view of the Pacific coastline from high up on the hill.  In the morning we saw monkeys right outside our hotel room window.

The first night we grabbed dinner at a barbecue pirate place.  You can tell this is much more touristy than the other locations, sort of honky-tonk beach town.

One day 2, we did a Mangrove tour by boat, something my parents had done on a cruise stop that promised a lot of wildlife.  It didn't disappoint.  There were SO MANY MONKEYS.  This was definitely my highlight of the trip. The guide was a local who seemed to know the animals well having grown up around them.  We also saw Jesus lizards and a scary looking snake.  We stopped for lunch on the way back and had the most amazing fried plantains.

We went to the beach that afternoon- I've never seen such beautiful water.  It was even purer than the turquoise of Cancun, even clearer than the stillest pond.  It was also incredibly rough surf!  We read and sunbathed in between swims and then caught a cab ride back up to the hotel (the walk down was a lot further than expected and flipflops were a poor choice).

On the last day we switched to a penthouse suite, which was just amazing.  The views were 360, even from the bathroom!  We did a guided hike and saw a few new things, including bright red and blue land crabs and a gorgeous blue morpho butterfly.  It feels like we could give the guided walk ourselves though by this point.


For the afternoon we went back into the park and hiked on our own up to a lookout (nothing special, our hotel room had a better view!) but then saw more lizards and got to stop off at the beach for some pretty scenery on the way home.  Overall it was a great last day.  There are lizards everywhere here.  By the end of the week, this was the conversation:

Do not want him in my bathroom!

"Hey, there's a lizard in the bathroom?"
"Big or little?"
"Little."
"Ok.  He'll find his way out then"

In the morning we packed it up and drove back to the airport in San Jose.  I definitely recommend Costa Rica for an ecovacation, especially to anyone looking to travel with kids.  It was affordable, adventurous, with good food and great people.  Pura Vida!

Cloud Forests and Rainy Days

The Monteverde Cloud Forest in Central Costa Rica is one of the most tranquil places I've been.  We didn't see much sun during our trip but the lushness of this place was uncomparable.

We stayed at the Hotel Belmar, which by far exceeded our expectations.  It was dark when we arrived, and pouring rain, but we got checked into our beautiful room and had a luxury meal at the hotel's restaurant.  It was one of the best I've ever had, honestly.  The room is all done in wood, with a private balcony.  It's an ecoresort but you'd never know it from the amenities.  Breakfast was included and had everything you could want, including some of the best blackberry syrup I've ever had.

We did a hike from our hotel the first day.  It was a private guided walk.  We went way up into the hills looking for a Quetzal, but didn't find one.  We did see some bell birds and a really scary eyelash viper.  It was a little too close to my bare legs for comfort.  Orchids grow everywhere here.

It rained as we finished the hike, so we had lunch in town and then went to some of the local art galleries.  Everything is so colorful here- maybe because the days are so grey and cloudy.  The sun started to come out as we drove out to the National Park to buy tickets for tomorrow and see the hummingbirds.

It rained more in the afternoon so we crashed at the hotel, hoping it would stop before our night hike.  It sort of did.  We were picked up in a cab, and I had the nicest conversation with our cab driver.  In Spanish!  I love getting to practice speaking, since I'm so very bad at it.

The night hike was pretty cool.  We saw a lot of bugs, and a very lazy sloth.  Leafcutter ants are weird, like something out of little Disney cartoons.  We also found a dink frog.  After hiking we ate at a tapas place- this is definitely not a country with a night life, everything was closing up at 8 PM.

Our final day we did a guided hike in the National Park and found the Quetzal!  It was a young one without the long tail feathers, but it still counts.  The rest of the hike was getting a little repetitive, but still beautiful.

As we pulled into the parking lot before the hike, we realized we had a flat tire.  (Mi coche esta pinchado!) A few efforts trying to change it ourselves led to the assistance of several guys from the park- good to know chivalry isn't dead.  We got it patched at the gas station by the hotel, then were on our way to the coast for the last part of our trip.

Costa Rica, Pura Vida-- San Jose and Arenal

A completely different type of trip this year- nothing historical about it.  My friend and I headed to Costa Rica for a bit a eco-tourism.

The trip was full of firsts for me: first time driving in a foreign country, first time seeing monkeys in real life, first time repelling.  There were some pretty scary moments but overall it was an AMAZING trip.

We started in San Jose, the capital, staying at the aLoft hotel.  It was a little remote, but having a car made it do-able.  We drove up into the hills for dinner at a great roadside restaurant.  I had some amazing chincharon, and some chips and salsa.  The place was totally local, which made it the perfect first meal. 

Downtown San Jose

Huge oxcart art

The first day we explored downtown San Jose- the cathedral and the museum, which was full of gold.  We had lunch at a little diner-style restaurant that was pretty good, and then hit the road for Arenal.  It was a long drive.  We stopped off in a local crafts Mecca for some shopping and to stretch our legs, and again to see some waterfalls at the side of the road.  By the time we got into the town of Arenal it was already dark.  We had dinner at a rather touristy restaurant, but the pollo alla plancha was delicious.  Then it was up the mountain, on a very long dirt road in the dark to the hotel.  We just made it before the office closed for the night!

Me, being brave

The next day was probably the best of the trip.  We went repelling in the
morning.  It was actually canyoning, which meant jumping down waterfalls.  It was the scariest thing I've ever done.  Jumping off high things is the one fear that I have.  But I did it!  I really thought I wouldn't be able to hold myself up on the ropes, but once I took that first tentative jump off of the top and realized I wasn't going straight to the bottom, it was all good.  I loved it- could have kept going for many more cliffs.  Afterwards there was a lunch, which was fine. 

One of the waterfalls in Tabacon

We spent the afternoon at Tabacon Hot Springs, the MOST luxurious place I've ever been.  The river has been diverted through a tropical paradise, where the volcanic waters tumble over rocks and falls creating an unearthly haven.  Some of the waterfalls act as natural massages.  Others were just lazy pools.  There were beautiful flowers everywhere, and delicious cocktails.  We spent a lot of time on the loungers in the adult area called ShangriLa.

It was another long dark drive back to the hotel.  The next morning we did a hike around the Arenal National Park with a guide from the hotel.  We saw monkeys and many different birds high up in the trees, as well as tons of exotic plants.  Then it was on the road again, the scenic route to Monteverde.  The ride was fine, lots of cows.