From a little known song by Walter Martin……..
“Have you ever been down to Costa Rica / All the monkeys down there dance cheek to cheek-ah…
Have you even been down where the roads are rough / If you get a flat tire it’s kind of tough / If your Spanish never got quite good enough / To ask where to get a spare tire and stuff…
Have you been way down where the stingrays play / You better shuffle through the water so you scare them away / Because the hospital is like 5 hours away / In a big crazy town called San Jose…”.
So we just had to find out if this was true or not –
Day 1 (Saturday 25th November) – Bexleyheath to San Jose, Costa Rica.
The demands of an early wake up signalled the beginning of our third foreign holiday of 2017, this time to Costa Rica, the 12th happiest country in the world according to this year’s survey, and near one of our favourite holiday destination areas South America. After organising ourselves, we eventually left frostily cold Bexleyheath at around 5.45am following an unplanned quick loop back to home to pick up Maggie’s sunglasses, after all, sunshine and warm weather awaited us.
The journey to Gatwick South Terminal with our chauffeur Sophie took around 45minutes and was, as expected, uneventful. The M25 was free flowing with the exception of a few lorries and cars undoubtedly carrying people off to work for the day.
Check in procedures completed online at home meant that we simply dropped our luggage after having completed full and easy to follow automated formalities, you even have to affix your own locally printed luggage labels nowadays, so little if any human interaction required. Seamlessly through security and into the departure lounge where we killed some time browsing the shops and having an early morning cuppa.
Our flight was soon called to Gate 19 where we waited for a short while and then boarded it at around 7.35am and finally took off only 12 minutes late at precisely 8.17am.
Our aircraft today was a British Airways Boeing 777 in which we occupied 2 seats in the very rear of the cabin, our preferred seating position.
Our flight in continuous daylight this time and of approximately 5,000 miles to The Rich Coast, named Costa Rica by the Spanish invaders who anticipated finding a lot of gold in this area, in Central America would be non stop and take 10 hours and 50 minutes.
Breakfast was soon served and we settled down to relax in our surprisingly comfortable seats.
As was inevitable for anyone who has experienced a long haul flight, time passed slowly interspersed liberally with drinks, reading, toilet visits, more drinks, snacks and chatting in whichever order suited. This flight was particularly bumpy with constant turbulence shaking the aircraft meaning that for the most part, passengers remained seated obeying the seat belt signs and orders of the pilot, there were some however for whom the call of nature was too strong.
Flying forever in a south westerly direction it wasn’t until 8 hours had passed that we had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made landfall across the South Eastern tip of The Dominican Republic into the Caribbean Sea flying direct to Costa Rica and our final destination Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose the capital.
Yet another meal was served on this, I have to say, what felt a very easy and relaxing flight.
By the way we are now 6 hours behind GMT.
We landed at 1.11pm and upon entering the apparently empty airport building were immediately lulled into a false sense of security for what awaited us at the bottom of the escalator, which by the way was not working, was what turned out to be one of the longest queues for passport control that we had ever seen and been involved in.
2 hours, yes 2 hours later we presented our passports at the desk for stamping to allow us entry to this small country (4.8 times smaller than the U.K.).
We met our tour leader Leo in the busy airport concourse and waited with 5 others for our transport to the Hotel, the Real Quality. As per usual, our luggage was loaded through the window onto the back seats of the smallish bus and we were on our way. Our hotel was large and fairly modern and after a short introduction which included what we should do in the case of an earthquake, we went to our room and switched on the A/C. It really wasn’t long before we had nodded off, there’s something about flying backwards timewise, it certainly seems to make you feel more tired. We woke up at intervals and finally gave in and simply decided to call it a day. We slept well until around 4.30am and then drifted in and out of sleep.
Day 2 (Sunday 26th November) in and around San Jose
We woke early for obvious reasons and prepared ourselves for the first full day in Costa Rica (one of the few countries in the world without an army). Breakfast was the usual buffet affair as served in most Latin American countries and was excellent.
At 7.30am, as instructed by Leo the previous night, we gathered together with our daysacks and cameras in the hotel lobby and soon were on the bus driving through the Sunday traffic, of which there was very little, to our first port of call, The Doka coffee plantation.
Now let me teach you a little about coffee plants:
• The coffee bean/seed is planted by itself in a small pot being barely covered in soil.
• After 2 weeks the seed germinates and is called a soldier because the small plant rises with part of the bean still attached at the top looking like a soldier’s helmet.
• The first 2 leaves appear and look just like the wings of a butterfly, hence the the name of this stage, Mariposa – Spanish for butterfly.
• The seedling continues to grow for a few months and is then repotted into a larger pot along with a second coffee plant. This allows these 2 plants to grow closely together so that when they are eventually planted in the field they take up less room than if they were planted singularly. This is because land is at a premium in CR unlike other countries closeby, Brazil, Colombia.
• The plants then grow happily for a number of years until they start to bear fruit aka coffee berries.
• During their mature growth they undergo pruning every 4-5 years as the berries only grow on new shoots and not the woody older branches.
• After about 25 years the plants need to be dug up and new ones put in their place.
And next let me explain how the coffee is produced:
• As the berries grow they turn red when they are ready to be picked.
• They are picked by hand, each worker picking enough to fill a basket carried around their waist 28lbs at a time. Pickers are able to pick around 8 baskets a day in a 10 hour shift. For this they are paid US$16.
• Coffee berries usually contain 2 beans, however, some have mutated and contain only 1 bean, these are referred to as pea berries and because of their rarity and higher sugar content are of a premium quality.
• The beans are first taken to a washing facility where the good beans, the sinkers, are separated from the poorer quality beans, the floaters.
• The beans go their separate ways to the next process which is skinning and sorting by size. This is completed using 100 year old machines originally from the U.K.
• The beans are then dried artificially and finally are laid outside in rows to air dry under the sun, being turned manually using a rake.
• After drying the shells/husks are removed and the beans are sent for roasting. The old trunks and roots of the coffee bushes and husks of the beans being used as fuel in the initial stages of the drying process. Nothing goes to waste here.
• Depending upon the length of the roast and quality of the bean determines the eventual taste and caffeine content of the coffee
Didn’t I listen well!
Of course we tasted the coffee both at the start and at the end of this extremely interesting visit but by far the best tasting was the coffee liqueur. We preferred the one without cream, it was silky smooth and called Export, must remember that name.
Just prior to leaving we were lucky enough to have time and visit the on site Butterfly House and it was amazing. Butterflies everywhere, landing on people, feeding from fruit laid out in bowls, mating together, emerging from chrysalids, fantastic. The only problem was that they would not settle long enough for a good look.
Soon we were off again. Our next stop was a visit to one of only 3 metal buildings in the country, the church at Grecia.
This red building, originally a gift from Belgium to the people of Punta Arenas in Chile, was mistakenly delivered by boat to CR for erection in Punta Arenas Costa Rica and only after a number of years laying unpacked and idle on the harbour side was discovered and after discussion with the Chilean authorities was donated by its Government to Punta Arenas province in CR. It was an imposing building which today, Sunday, was being put to good use. The singing both inside and outside the church was pretty good. Inside there was a Mass with accompanying hymns and outside there was a Christmas charity bash with dancers, a disco and people dressed in all forms of Christmas costumes.
There was also a large Nativity Scene in the square – they start Christmas early here too.
Next it was time for lunch in a town called Sarchi where we first stopped to look at the largest decorated ox cart in CR which stood in front of an equally beautifully decorated very large church/cathedral. This was obviously a frequently visited stopping point for tourists given the number of souvenir sellers in the surrounding streets.
A few minutes down the road and we were at our lunch stop above a large craft shop with its adjoining workshops. They do like their acrylics and old belt driven machines here. There were carvings, cart wheels painted in bright colours, painted feathers in frames, all sorts, sizes and colours of rocking chairs, wooden bowls, masks and unfortunately the usual assortment of tourist tat on display and for sale between some of these really lovely things.
After a look around the ground floor shop we went upstairs for lunch where we chose from an assortment of food from behind the counter and then were charged accordingly. We were assured by Leo that this would be the cheapest meal of the holiday. He was right and it was good!
Our last stop was in San Jose city at the Museum of Costa Rica. We entered the museum by walking through another Butterfly House which was equally as magnificent as the one we had visited in the morning and after 20 minutes found ourselves smoothly transiting into the museum proper.
It was surprisingly interesting, I’m not usually a museum person but this place felt different, for a start it occupied a building which was once the Police Headquarters so we saw the original cells and other rooms before visiting the displays about the history of Costa Rica. I was impressed by the pottery, gold artefacts and jewellery and tables carved from lava.
After around 1 hour we met in the gardens for a briefing about the following day and after taking some photos of San Jose from this good viewpoint took the bus home. San Jose is in a bowl and appears to be surrounded by hills and ridges and like many other cities has its good and bad areas. Leo advised us not to venture far from the hotel but rather to eat at one of the 3 local restaurants close by the hotel.
When we reached the hotel a number of us accompanied Leo to the supermarket across the, by now much busier main road, to buy water and snacks as tomorrow would be a busy day of travelling.
When we finally got back to our hotel, Maggie and I went for a lovely refreshing and relaxing swim in the hotel pool and after a quick shower and change walked 50 metres down the road to Pizza Hut along with its Christmas Muzak in both English and Spanish, where we shared a pizza before returning to our room for an early night as tomorrow, we had been reliably informed, would require an early start.
Day 3 (Monday 27th November) San Jose to Turrialba
After being lulled into a false sense of security by the first few hours of the day under an early morning of white clouds, blue sky and sunshine we spent the rest of it, when out of the mini bus of course, dressed in waterproofs, not really what we were expecting. Fairly obvious though when you think of those important words associated with this part of Central America: altitude, cloudforest and rainforest.
After leaving the hotel and driving through the extremely busy Monday morning rush hour traffic in San Jose we called into a supermarket on the outskirts of the city to buy some snacks for what would be a picnic lunch today. The supermarket had a good selection of food and drink and all at a reasonable price. We soon found ourselves on the open road and heading to our first stop of the day in the town of Cartago where we would be visiting the wonderful basilica church of The Virgin Mary of Los Angeles.
After a short while and armed with some appropriate background information about the history of this church concerning some quite remarkable religious happenings all closely associated with a small statue of the Virgin Mary which in the past, according to the story, kept appearing and reappearing, we stopped to pay a visit. The architecture of this imposing building was spectacular both inside and out and the whole place certainly had an air of serenity about it. Worth a visit and half an hour of anyone’s time I’d say.
We were soon on the bus again and this time followed a road which just seemed to keep going upwards towards the sky and as it did so we entered the clouds which were thick and grey and unsurprisingly started to produce a very heavy amount of drizzle. The land round about was well farmed and obviously very fertile due to the rich volcanic soil and the varying climate. We were making our way to the top of the Irazu volcano. Upon our arrival, this turned out, at least today, to be a bit of a bleak place but like the hardy type we are we donned waterproofs and walked to the laughably named viewing point where, you guessed it, we could see absolutely, zero. It was cold and now raining quite heavily.
We retraced our steps and veered optimistically towards the beckoning café beside the car park where we were immediately met by some very bad news – the coffee machine was broken, no hot drinks here today! Upon hearing this we quickly climbed aboard the mini bus and set off back down the hill only to spot on our descent the numerous cyclists who we had previously passed on our uphill journey and who were still grinding their way to the top of this long climb undoubtedly looking forward to the warming cup of coffee to thaw out their cold, wet and tired bodies, oh dear!
We drove for a while and then stopped at a roadside café where, I am pleased to say, we did manage to get a hot drink, a delicious hot chocolate, and very welcomed it was too. As an added bonus, the Gardens here were really beautiful and the plants very healthy, a lovely spot despite the miserable weather.
We drove for another hour until we reached Guayabo National Park where we stopped and ate our lunch sitting in the picnic area under cover from the intermittent rain showers and then went for a good long walk in the rain in the rainforest. Not wanting to state the obvious but everywhere here was both green and lush.
Unfortunately due to the weather there was little wildlife to see apart from a few birds and insects braving the rain. The plantlife on the other hand was rich and varied, the leaves and stems and trunks of plants creating fabulous patterns beside the paths. Amidst all this vegetation lay the remains of a village and burial ground from times long past which today could really not be viewed at their best.
Once again and for the last time today we boarded our bus, removed our soggy outer layers and completed our drive to Turrialba and The Villa Florencio Hotel stopping in the smallish but busy town to book our white water rafting adventure for tomorrow. This hotel lay some way away from the town by itself in an agricultural area.
Our evening meal taken on an open air covered balcony type dining area was interesting to say the least. Although our meal was booked for 7pm we had to order it at 6.15pm from the main lobby, drinks and all. When seated later and amidst some confusion we were eventually presented with our beers and unfortunately cool, certainly not hot, meals which we nevertheless ate with enthusiasm. The rain then became torrential so after completing our meals and having a chat we said our goodnights, opened our umbrellas and made an orderly dash for it. If it carries on like this we could raft straight from the door tomorrow morning!
Day 4 (Tuesday 28th November) in Turrialba
Torrential and continuos rain all night led to the cancellation of any planned rafting today, the river would have been in spate and therefore too dangerous, perhaps we will have another opportunity later next week? To tell you the truth we weren’t that bothered as sitting in a boat in rain and in cool temperatures quickly lost its appeal as soon as we awoke for breakfast and realised that the rain had not abated and seemed as though it was in for the whole of the day, it was. I have to report that it rained heavily that day, until around 2.15am. even the birds looked damp and bedraggled and rather reluctant to do much and Leo had been into town and bought himself a rather unflattering yet effective pair of Wellingtons surely a sign of things to come.
Even though it was a dull and miserable day weatherwise we were set to enjoy it come what may so we decided to accompany the rest of the group on their planned birding and plant excursion which luckily for us and due to the weather was set to leave later than planned in the, by then, even heavier post breakfast rain.
Breakfast was a very simple affair of scrambled egg, fried banana and bread followed by fresh fruit and we ate it sharing a table with a couple of Canadian tourist who seemed good fun.
At around 9.20am, two and a half hours later than planned, we left the hotel on the mini bus to drive the short distance through the sugar cane fields and past a ruined processing plant to a lake and Botanical area (CATIE) where we spent the day walking aka paddling, bird spotting and learning a lot from Leo about the plants of Costa Rica. The rain continued to fall, thank goodness for good quality waterproofs. Even though our feet were now sopping wet at least every other part of us was dry. We spotted an interesting assortment of birds of all shapes and sizes, Herons, Fly Catchers, Vultures, Jacana, Ducks etc. but photography was made really difficult because of the incessant rain and overcast conditions. After a couple of hours we called into the cafeteria for a welcome cup of coffee and a chance to sit somewhere in the dry. We ventured out again and walked along the unmade tracks and then along concrete paths through the Botanical Gardens where we learned about various trees and shrubs, bananas, palms, henna, cocoa, coffee etc. and spotted some really interesting flowers, leaves and other odd plants. It was great, Leo knew so much and kept us both interested and entertained.
Great Kiskadee (top) Purple Gallinule (bottom)
Natural Geometry
On our way back to the hotel we stopped in town to get our rafting money refunded which we did so but only after Leo managed to locate the owner of the company, and then we took the opportunity to buy from the local bakery 2 coffees and a cake to share, the choice was amazing, everything was so fresh and clean and delivered with a smile and “Gracias.” – yum.
When we arrived back at the hotel we had a quick swim followed by a shower and change of clothes for tonight we were going to have a group meal at Rosa’s Place.
Rosa’s Place, we discovered, was a little off the beaten track and hung on to the side of a hill along with a couple of other buildings. It could be described as a little ramshackle in both design and layout with open sided dining areas, a large kitchen, a small bar area and washing/toilet facilities, which meant, for the men at least, a walk down winding corridors with steps and rickety handrails. Despite all this we felt very welcomed and were soon helping grandma prepare our maize flour and lard tortillas which were cooked on an old cast iron wood burner.
Next the men were asked to help in the kitchen. I peeled some plantains whilst someone else sliced them. These were then deep fried by Leo and when they were ready it was my job to use an interesting piece of machinery to squash each slice flat which made them look like flowers. For my hard work I was rewarded a Cerveza, without Rosa’s knowledge. We ate these plantain flowers hot with a bean dip, oh for some salt or spices! The rest of the meal was the usual fayre of, rice, salad, beans, meat and tortillas accompanied by a second, at least for me, beer and all finished off with ice-cream. We paid our $20, here you can pay in U.S.$ and/or the local currency Colones, said our goodbyes and gracias and were driven back to the hotel. It was still raining as we fell asleep.
Day 5 (Wednesday 29th November) Turrialba to Tortuguero
He calls it liquid sunshine, I call it good old rain!
We were soon on the road after finishing our breakfast and after a while stopped by the roadside to learn a little about the growing, picking, cleaning and boxing of bananas. The bananas grown here are a hybrid variety for size, looks and taste reasons. There were fields and fields of them. The bananas hung in huge bunches within blue plastic bags which helped protect them and with each plant roped to the ground to stop it from tumbling over with the weight of bananas. When ready we watched as the bananas were being cut from the branch upon which they hung and hooked onto an overhead rail system and sent to the processing factories where they were then cut into hands, washed, waxed and boxed up, very labour intensive stuff. Today’s bananas were all bound for Italy.
Back onto the bus again and along bumpy, dirt roads to Parismina, the stepping off point to get to Tortuguero where we left Eric, our driver, and our bus to return to San Jose. After a little while and along with some other tourists we boarded a river boat which took us to our final destination, The Evergreen Lodge within The Tortuguero National Park.
The views of this mini Amazon area along with the bird life on and beside the river were worth the wait and it even stopped raining every now and again.
Great Egret (top) Little Blue Heron (bottom)
Our cabin in this large holiday complex was extremely comfortable although being quite damp. Here, all the buildings were built over water beside walkways and the only way to get around to other local places therefore was by using the local network of rivers and canals. We were in the middle of the rainforest which was immediately apparent wherever you cared to look. The plants, flowers and wildlife were able to grow and roam around freely and we were simply an addition, people passing through, this was a harsh environment in which to thrive and stay dry, thank goodness for corrugated iron for roofing and walls to shelter us from the flooding ‘end of the world’ like rainfall.
After our buffet lunch Maggie and I took a stroll along some of the paths that criss crossed this busy area where we managed to spot a Red Poison Dart Frog lounging in the rain.
Finally we were taken, by boat of course, down and across the river to visit first the Turtle Conservation Centre, next the beach alongside the Caribbean Sea where the turtles lay their eggs and finally to the ‘town’ of Tortuguero.
At the Centre we learned a little about the importance of this area which took its name from the Spanish for turtle, Tortuga, in the study of turtles 4 varieties of which lay eggs here on this 15 mile long sandy Caribbean shoreline, The Leather Back, The Green, The Hawksbill and The Loggerhead. The grey sandy, turtle eggshell strewn beach was certainly long and we looked at a couple of nesting areas but as we suspected because of the time of year there was no sign of life, the eggs were well buried at least, or so we were told, those that had not been stolen by unscrupulous locals. Finally we walked into town which consisted of one long straight road with a variety of typical tourist shops and street vendors, mostly coconut sellers. We didn’t dwell here for too long, it was a bit messy, the road was muddy and we weren’t interested in buying anything they had to offer.
Back onto the boat again for the short hop to the other side of the river and we walked from the jetty to have a quick cup of coffee (Luke warm – they really haven’t grasped the concept of boiling water here) and back to our cabin to freshen up.
It rained really, really heavily for about an hour and then eased slightly. Dinner this evening was at 7pm. As there were so many groups here, meals and excursions were all pre planned and had to be taken by the book. We paddled down the path to the dining area but it was worth it. Our meal today was maybe one of the best yet with a good variety of soup, salad, hot vegetables, fish, meat for those who wished and all the accompanying appropriate sauces.
After a good long chat and giggle Maggie and I decided to take a bit of a night walk to see what we could spot amongst all the noises coming from the greenery. We were not disappointed, we found a number of tiny green frogs on leaves singing their hearts out to who knows who, magical and just what I had wanted to find. It then started to pour down even more heavily.
Back to our cabin for a good night’s sleep.
Day 6 (Thursday 30th November) in Tortuguero
Rain last night? No, more like the taps up above had been left on to gush onto the tin roof of our cabin and all the others round about, what a din, where does it all come from?
Following breakfast we boarded our open topped boat for a river trip to see what we could find.
After only a few minutes we spotted an iguana up in a tree top then some very difficult, only really visible through binoculars or a zoom lens on the camera, to spot, tiny bats hanging onto a tree trunk
and then a male and female Green Bailisk or Jesus Christ Lizard so named because when young it appears to have the ability to walk upon water, actually it just runs very fast on its hind legs. At least they seemed to have smiles on their faces regardless of the weather.
Then it happened, the sky suddenly burst open and poured so much rain down upon us we had to motor back into the boat shelter and get under cover and on to dry land. We had never before seen rain quite like it.
We waited, waited, waited for a lull in the rain. After 45minutes or so the rain eased enough for us to once again leave the safety of dry land.
We entered the main river and immediately spotted a sloth in the trees looking extremely sad and wet and hiding its head under both arms.
As we motored down the river the weather continued to improve but always with the threat of rain hanging in the air, we even saw some blue sky and although remaining constantly humid it became warmer. On our boat ride we were lucky enough to see a good variety of wildlife, Macaws, Toucans, Laughing Falcon, Herons, Jacana, Vultures, Hawks, a Caiman, a Terrapin, Howler monkeys, more Iguanas, Osprey, Green Ibis and too many more things to remember. We started to become better and quicker at seeing birds and animals, many so well camouflaged for this environment.
THEN the rain started to come down, slowly at first, you could see it making its way towards us downriver and then it hit us, the Heavens opened like never before. Nothing, I repeat nothing, could keep us from getting extremely wet. We sat in our waterproof jackets covered in a poncho but the rain was so hard and fell in such large drops we just hunkered down whilst the driver of the boat gave it full throttle and headed for home, we were soaked through. With all this rain the river had risen significantly and had put some landing areas out of bounds because they were now within easy reach of crocodiles and caiman.
We made our way soggily back to our cabin, had a quick warm shower and went for lunch, it was delicious and very welcomed.
No sooner had lunch finished and we’d had a little time to unwind than we were off across the river to take a walk and be on the lookout for interesting things once again. We saw green and red macaws playing in the tree canopy and then a 2 toed sloth climbing slowly along a branch, every now again stopping to take a leisurely look around, his hairy coat dripping wet from all the rain. We went through a gap in the vegetation and stepped out onto the beach where the angry rollers from the Caribbean Sea were breaking on the dark grey sand. We walked along the shoreline stopping to look and take photographs whenever we chose. After a while we simply turned around but this time walked past our original entry point to the beach and a little further on so we could walk through Tortuguero Town for one last time. It was hot so I bought from one of the many stall holders, a coconut from which Maggie and I drank the refreshing juice.
As we waited for the ferry back to the hotel the sunset gave us the impression that the weather may have been on the change, how wrong we were. As we crossed the river the rain began to fall steadily but by the time we had finished walking around the hotel gardens unsuccessfully looking for frogs it was unsurprisingly teaming down just as we had become used to, vertically down in knitting needle lengths of water which quickly flooded the paths that we were using.
Yet another change of clothing was required prior to going for our evening meal.
As I write this blog today I’m surrounded by wet/damp clothes which in this humid atmosphere don’t have much of a chance to dry tonight.
Day 7 (Friday 1st December) Tortuguero to Fortuna
Everything here is in a permanent state of dampness. The rain excelled itself during the night, you could hardly hear yourself think because of the crashing of water hitting the roofs, the paths and the vegetation ceaselessly.
When we finally got up this morning it had stopped and there were white bubbly clouds in a blue sky but still an umbrella accompanied us to the breakfast room, we learned that here the weather can change quicker than you can say, ‘look here comes a rainshower.’
After we’d packed, our luggage was collected and we followed it half an hour later to where we boarded our covered boat and then we retraced our route from 2 days ago back to Parismina. Needless to say we passed through a rain storm during the 1 hour trip in which we managed to see 2 large turtles and an extremely large crocodile along with an assortment of birds.
At the end of the boat trip Eric and his bus were waiting for us. No sooner had the bus been loaded than we were on our way to our overnight stop first driving along the same rough track used previously and then on proper roads through good fertile agricultural land full of cows as well as fields of heart of palm, pineapple, banana, cassava and rice plants, to our next hotel in the town of Fortuna ( the Spanish for Fortunate – so named because it lay undamaged in the last volcanic eruption in 1968 when lava flowed down the other side of the volcano) and now a large tourist town originally a stopping point to view the nightly eruptions of the local volcano which unfortunately (no pun intended) now lay dormant.
On our way to Fortuna we stopped first for lunch, which was an excellent buffet and then for an ice-cream which we bought from a souvenir shop which just so happened to be surrounded by some of the largest iguanas we had ever seen. You could get extremely close to them so they were obviously used to human interaction.
Finally, after travelling along one of the most modern and recently built roads in CR we could see in the distance The Arenal Volcano at the base of which stood Fortuna.
Our hotel, the Casa Luna, a modern busy hotel complex with its own spa, swimming pool, bar and restaurant would be our base for the next 2 nights.
After settling in we strolled down first to the bar and then to the restaurant which served up some of the most delicious food we had eaten so far on our trip (for me – Tuna and for Maggie – Tilapia in Avocado).
Day 8 (Saturday 2nd December) in Fortuna
What magnificent weather now we are away from the coast, warm sunshine all day, it certainly didn’t feel like December, this is the life.
After a leisurely breakfast, shared alongside a great variety of birds feeding on fruit beside the dining area,
Crimson Collared Tanager (top left), Red Throated Ant Tanager (top right), Blue Grey Tanager (bottom left), American Robin (bottom right)
we were to spend the first part of our morning visiting an Ecocentre, a little area of rainforest left natural in the centre of this area of agricultural excellence. We boarded the bus planning to arrive after a short ride of around 15 minutes.
BUT first, even before the morning had really begun, a real close up and clear view of a 3 toed sloth in a tree beside the road along which we were travelling, spotted by the eagle eyes of Eric our driver. What a brilliant creature, it moved through the tree whilst checking all around at every pause in its painfully slow progress from one branch to another whilst maintaining that grin which all sloths seem to possess – magical moments don’t come any better.
Upon arrival at the Ecocentre we all became immediately mesmerised by the bird life there, every colour, shape and size you could imagine and all within easy reach of our camera lenses as well as squirrels and agoutis on the ground below just to keep them company.
We could have stayed there for ages but we had to move on. We followed the path system through the rainforest, passing through a Butterfly House, around a large pond complex, under the tree canopy and stepping over the lines of leaf cutter ants who kept stoically toiling away ignoring what was happening closeby. We were always on the look out for whatever we could find and with so many eyes scanning the plants and leaf litter we spotted a good assortment of wildlife, frogs, birds, mammals, insects and butterflies whilst at the same time being shown and told about interesting plant life and fungi.
The hour and a half passed too quickly but we unfortunately had to move on to finish off our morning. Next we visited a waterfall in the Reserva Catarata Rio Fortuna, one which dropped from a significant height vertically down into a river flowing in a deep gorge below.
On our way down the many flights of steps and across a number of bridges we stopped to watch zip liners crossing the gorge at speed to our left, we can’t wait to have a go! No sooner had we reached the bottom of the gorge than we were changed and enjoying swimming in the river trying to swim across and against the strong current which forever tried to carry us downstream no matter how hard we tried. The water was clear and we soon found out it was full of fish when they began being fed by a local. We had great fun and really enjoyed this experience along with a few other tourists who also took the plunge. Soon it was time to make the lung busting climb back to the top of the gorge and we did so still dressed in our bathing costumes to help us keep cool – brilliant.
We changed and waited for a few of our group to have a drink then were driven all together into town, the centre of which was built around an open square with grass, trees and flower beds, to have a snack, it was lunchtime. Maggie and I had coffee and cakes at the local bakery then bought some water, cold drinks and nuts in the supermarket. We managed to visit one shop where we bought a hand carved stone mask (Haggled down from $40 to $35) before it was time to leave and return to our hotel for a lazy afternoon relaxing in the warm sunshine.
In the evening we chose, along with some others, to go to town for our evening meal. Unfortunately, due to a little poor communication, we ended up not going into town to look around and choose where to eat. Instead we were taken to a restaurant of Leo’s choosing just outside town where for some the menu was rather restrictive. Nevertheless we did have a very tasty meal, Maggie chose a huge Tuna Steak and I had Red Snapper which was delicious.
Finally back home to a rather welcoming bed after a long day.
Day 9 (Sunday 3rd December) Arenal to Santa Elena in Monteverde National Park
You won’t believe it, it rained heavily during the night and was still raining as we made our way to breakfast. Following breakfast we paid our bill, our luggage was put onto the bus and by 8am we were on our way, in the pouring rain.
Our first stop today was at the Arunal National Park for a walk at the base of the volcano of the same name. On stopping in the car park Leo immediately spotted 2 yellow eyelash pit vipers resting on the trunks of 2 trees. These snakes were highly venomous even though only being quite small, needless to say, we kept a safe distance from them when taking our photographs.
We walked following the flattish muddy track and noticed a couple of interesting spiders along the way.
Soon the path forked and we decided to take the harder rougher route to a lookout point whilst others chose the easier option. Regardless, both ended up at viewing points over a huge lake, Lake Arunal. This was a man made Lake supplying 33% of the country’s electricity requires via HEP. The flooding of this valley, we were reliably informed, led to the submergance of a settlement which had unfortunately been destroyed during the last volcanic eruption resulting in the death of 100 people. The remnants of this town could only now be seen when the water level significantly dropped as in times of drought – infrequently then, according to the downpours which we had been experiencing.
As the weather began to improve and the sun came out in a blue sky with white bubbly clouds our drive took us rather circuitously alongside the lake for quite a while until after about an hour we stopped for a lunch break at the Café Macadamia where Maggie and I had coffee and shared 2 lovely slices of cake, yum. We left after having bought some Christmas Tree decorations, an ocarina and a set of coasters.
On the bus again, we headed to our final destination Santa Elena high up into the Monteverde National Park sitting at an altitude of over 4,000 feet. Most of this leg of the journey was on unmade roads which showed the signs of numerous and sometimes devastating landslides that had destroyed buildings and original roadways. The scenery became completely different from what we had previously seen, broad leafed trees, green pastures with rolling hills and farm land supporting cattle and various crops. The settlements we passed were small and the isolated houses varied from quite smart and modern to poor and ramshackle. Interestingly enough, this area was first commercially developed in the 1950s when settled by Quakers from Alabama trying to avoid the U.S. draft because of the Korean War. They developed dairy products, particularly cheese and opened the area up to tourism hence the development of the famous Monteverde National Park as it is today.
Eventually after many twists, turns, ups and downs we arrived in the small but busy town of Santa Elena and our hotel for 3 nights, The Ficus Hotel, from where we caught at sunset, our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.
After settling in we strolled into town or should I say walked down the steep hill from our hotel to get to the town centre. By this time the wind had really picked up and the temperature had dropped but it was DRY, who’s complaining!
Of all the eating places in town we dropped into the Tree House Restaurant, as its name suggested, a restaurant literally built around a huge tree. There was no roof save for the canopy of leaves above, the stairs bent around to accommodate the boughs of the tree and we had to duck as me moved around to our table.
The meal was great and we certainly enjoyed our surroundings. After dinner we bought a highly coloured hand made mask from one of the largest shops in town and then walked back up the steep ‘lung busting’ hill and back to our hotel, even the drive was on a slope.
What a lovely end to another interesting and busy day.
Day 10 (Monday 4th December) In and around Monteverde
The day began with an early morning full breakfast including some fried yucca which was a first for us, it completed the cooked course very well as did the yogurt with the fruit.
Following breakfast with rucksacks prepared full of clothes for all possible weather conditions we took the bus to the Reserva Biologica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde (National Park) to take to the trails to spot anything interesting as now we were in one of the prime areas in the world for wildlife, particularly birds, and plants, particularly orchids. Our must see today was the Resplendent Quetzal.
Upon starting the walk we immediately, with the help of Leo, began to identify the birds we were seeing, an Emerald Toucanet, a Redstart, a Black Guan, a Nightingale, a Collared Trogon and then a female Resplendent Quetzal (rather dull in colour) and a few minutes later, a male Resplendent Quetzal (all shimmering blue) with 2 of the longest tail feathers imaginable. It was high up in the canopy but still easily identifiable. We continued on our way following different trails as we came to various junctions. One of the most beautiful spots of the day came thanks to a teacher leading a group of children. She pointed out to them a Humming Bird sitting on its nest in a low bush right beside the track!
We wended our way back to the entrance to the park and then found ourselves next to the shop/café where numerous Humming Birds of different varieties were feeding on the sugary solutions specifically left out hanging in order to attract them. They were magnificent, hovering, their feathers changing colours as they moved in the sunlight, first bright blue then shining green. We stood and/or sat there for ages marvelling as this spectacle of nature. Boy was it hard to get a half decent photograph of these miniature flying machines.
A quick cup of hot chocolate and we were on the move again walking down the road where Eric met us but not before spotting a Coatimundi standing near the bank.
We freshened up on our return to the hotel and then decided to venture to town for lunch, not that we were very hungry after such a large breakfast. Soon we found ourselves sitting in The Orchid Café where we ordered 2 cakes and coffees (mine was particularly enormous with chocolate, cream, nuts, coffee and ice). We followed all this with a bit of shopping in the supermarket and adjoining craft shops.
After a familiarly strenuous walk back up to the hotel which sat atop an apparently increasingly steep hill, we spent the next couple of hours just taking it easy.
Our final trip for today was optional and only taken up by the 2 of us and another couple, it was the night walk. We were picked up at 5.40pm just as it began to get dark, and then were driven the short distance, about 10 minutes to The Monteverde Wildlife Refuge where we met our expert guide for the next 2 extremely dark, windy and rather damp hours. We were not disappointed in what he showed us, we would never have spotted any of it left to our own devices. We saw, amongst other things, stick insects, a Pygmy Rain Frog, katydids, sleeping birds: a Brown Jay, a Toucan and a Humming Bird, a Red Kneed Tarantula, a Side Stripe Edged Pit Viper, a Margay, a Kinkajou, an Olingu and more before finishing by watching a 2 toed Sloth swaying precariously in the strong wind whilst eating leaves on the end of a branch which could just about hold its weight. A fantastic trip and well worth the $25 each.
On the way back we were dropped off in town and completely unplanned decided to have a beer and pizza in the Tree House restaurant where tonight there was live music. We sat and drank and ate listening to a trio who sang in both Spanish and English and who ended their set with one of our favourites, Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here,’ which of course we were. What a great end to a fabulous day.
Click to listen:-
Wish You Were Here (Costa Rican Style)
Day 11 (Tuesday 5th December) the Sky Walk and Zip Lines in Selvatura Park
Yet another early start this morning following a really high quality breakfast at this hotel.
Today we were off to be a little more active. We drove the short distance to the Selvatura Visitors’ Centre where the options proved to be both numerous and varied. We chose to do 2 activities, the combined cost was $80 for each person. First we walked around the cloud forest using the short trails which linked a series of 8 bridges, the longest being 157m, all suspended above the canopy of the forest and referred to as the ‘Sky Walk.’ Needless to say but it was drizzling and large drops of rainwater dripped from the trees but mostly only when we were using the trails which meant it was a full waterproofs day. The forest was spectacular. All the shades of green you could imagine combined with the mist made for some very atmospheric photos.
We took our time to look around and really enjoyed this experience. By 10.15am we were back at the Centre having a sit down and cool drink.
At 10.45am we made our way to the Zip Wire ticket counter where we signed a waiver before being fitted with our helmets, gloves and harnesses and all the metalwork necessary to keep up safe, karabiners and pulley wheels. When everyone was ready we assembled in the car park climbed aboard a bus for a ride uphill to around 5,000m where we next walked along a path to the start of the zip wire route. There was a group of 14 of us with 5 young male guides and here on a platform we were shown how and where to hold our gear and how to steady ourselves whilst sliding and then how to brake if signalled to do so by one of the guides. No sooner had he finished this short briefing than we climbed the ladder to the top of the first platform where a short introductory line lay waiting for us. We each were attached to the line when it was safe to do so and one by one we zipped along to the other end where an automatic brake slowed us until we could stand once again on the platform high in the tree that we had arrived at. This continued with sometimes a short distance to walk between platforms until we came to line 6 (900m) where here to had to buddy up for the purposes of weight to reach the end and thus avoid stopping halfway down. Maggie sat in front and I went behind and although attached by gear my legs were tucked under her arms and when all was ready the guide let us go and we zipped through the rain and cloud to the other end although not being able to see the next platform until we had nearly arrived at it. It was great, we were high over the canopy and sometimes ‘flying’ through it at what seemed to be a very fast speed, the wire sang with the sound of metal rollers on steel hausers until the final clank of the automatic braking system operated to slow our descent. There was no time to wait, we tackled 6 more individual wires and then reached the biggy.
Again we partnered up and by using the same system flew the 1000m 45 second ride to the end of the final cable and back almost into the car park of the Centre where we were met by a sign saying ‘now look in the mirror and clean your face,’ as, unbeknown to us, all the time we were zipping along the cable, the wheel rolling along the wire was spraying a fine covering of rusty water onto our clothes and faces, we were covered with brown stained water. We gladly took a wet wipe from the box below and cleaned ourselves down as best we could. It was amazing, we wanted to do it all again. We thanked our guides, returned our kit and waited for our bus ride back to the hotel, wet and with mud splattered faces and jackets from our rides above the trees, something not to be missed should you venture out this way.
Day 12 (Wednesday 6th December) Santa Elena to Punta Quepos, Manuel Antonio
It was another early morning start today. We left the hotel at 7.30am following breakfast. The road at the beginning of our journey was unmade and allowed us to drop in height quite significantly. The landscape changed to undulating hills with open spaces and in the distance what appeared to be very distinctive cone shaped hills obviously formed by volcanoes. The skyline to our right was dotted with numerous wind turbines which produced electricity to add to the geo thermal energy also generated in this area. Of course we noticed the birds along the way and were now becoming much better at naming them as they were pointed out by one of our group. Eric however remains the master at spotting birds whilst we are on the move. Birding whilst driving? I’m sure that must be against the law, a little like using your mobile whilst driving!
We soon reached the junction of our road with Route 1 and apart from a couple of hold ups, broken down cars and lorries etc. sped along at a reasonable pace. Coffee time was called by Leo (the man who seemed to know everyone in Costa Rica by name) so we stopped at yet another ‘Macadamia Café’ very similar in style to the one on the way to Arenal. Maggie and I were still full of breakfast so spent our time looking at the orchids, this place was an orchid farm and processing plant so we even sneaked a visit inside to look at the bunches of orchids ready for sending to the U.S.
We drove on and as we began to enter a more built up area Leo informed us that we would be stopping near a bridge across which we could walk and photograph some really large crocodiles in the river below but with one proviso, that we agree not to cross the very busy road under any circumstances. I’m pleased to report that everyone kept to this agreement and that we saw, as promised, some really large crocodiles really close up.
After half an hour or so we were on the bus again and driving to our next stopping place, the Carara National Park, named after a former president of CR. It was here that Leo had planned a walk in the Transition Forest formed in this particular location of tertiary plants and trees. It was quite different from anything we had previously seen with some different plants and much more leaf litter and was very hot and humid.
Our walk took us by singletrack into the forest and would have meant us retracing our steps had it not been for the downpour which began meaning we took a short cut which led us out of the forest onto the side of the road some distance from our original entry point where Eric and his bus met us.
It was now time for lunch and as we drove along the Pacific coast road we soon arrived at what appeared to be a rather run down restaurant. How wrong can first impressions be? The drinks and food were excellent, I only had one complaint. When you pay in dollars then any change given back sometimes is given to you in a mixture of dollars and colones (the colones part always being given at a very low exchange rate) a bit naughty and unnecessary I think!
Time to be on the move again passing through a port area with ships in the sea nearby. We noticed 3 Japanese Tuna Fishing vessels each with their own helicopter to help spot the shoals of tuna when out in the Pacific Ocean, very hi tech stuff.
We were now reaching a really busy built up area and getting close to our final destination for the day, the Hotel Parador but there was still time for one last stop and a chance to call in at the supermarket for some drinks and snacks to take with us on our visit the next morning. Provisions bought we drove the last few kilometres to the Hotel but not before stopping to watch some scarlet macaws performing for us in a tree at the roadside.
This hotel was more of a huge hotel complex rather grander than what we had become used to, Swimming Pools, jacuzzi, spa, bars, dining areas (lots of plurals here).
We were welcomed with our drinks and were soon settling into our rooms, by the way it was still raining.
Maggie and I went for a swim and tried each of the 3 pools on offer finishing off with a dip in the adjacent jacuzzi.
At around 7.30pm we strolled along to the bar area where we ordered a jug of Sangria, a wrap and a panini and ate and drank in the comfort of 2 large soft cushioned armchairs as a raccoon sauntered by seemingly without a care in the world. By the time we’d paid and set off back through the gardens to our room the rain had stopped.
Day 13 (Thursday 7th December) in the region of Manuel Antonio
This 5 star hotel is the best yet by far with everything you could wish for and more besides and the breakfast was to die for with the widest possible choice to cater for the needs of absolutely anyone, you mention it and I guarantee it was there for you to help yourself from one of the many tables.
Anyway, enough of that. Today was a very busy one with a 7.30am start, why so early I can hear you say? It was to beat the other groups who would, like us, be visiting the Parque National Manuel Antonio.
This park strictly controls the number of people to whom it allows entry because of the plants and animals it helps to conserve hence the rather strict rules which accompany visitors, a limit on the types of food which you can carry and careful sensitive use of bags and rucksacks mainly because of the monkeys, raccoons and coatimundi who have all grown very smart at staking out and then stealing from visitors, in fact, we saw a raccoon doing just that.
After being counted into the park we followed the trail looking for interesting plants,
birds, insects and mammals. We saw howler monkeys, a sloth, a large grasshopper, birds too numerous to mention and whilst some people turned off in the direction of the beach we chose to take the upward route to the lookout point where we met some particularly aggressive Capuchin monkeys.
It was a very sticky, hot and humid walk so we were pleased to retrace our steps downhill and head to the beach for a well earned swim in the Pacific Ocean. This was the quieter, less busy sandy beach of the two beaches which straddled this narrow peninsula. The breakers were coming in hard and the sea was a sandy light brown colour. The water was warm but still refreshing after having taken our walk through the steamy forest. It was so humid that even our cameras lenses became fogged and we found ourselves waiting for them to clear before being able to take any sort of reasonable photograph.
After relaxing on the beach for a while we met up with Leo and the group once again and walked back to the park entrance using this time a boardwalk built above a swamp area. We looked down and spotted numerous red and blue crabs, the ones famous for walking to the beach at egg laying time, they walk across roads, through restaurants etc. and become a real nuisance and quite sadly many of them are accidentally killed by cars, buses and trucks. The locals even have to sweep them off roads and out of hotels and restaurants when they are on the move.
Upon returning to the hotel and after taking photographs of a squirrel monkey and a scarlet macaw in the hotel gardens we had 1 hour to get ready for this afternoon’s optional excursion, which of course we chose to take.
A sunset cruise on a trimaran with snorkelling, drinks and a meal all included in the price. We were driven to the port, paid for our tickets, $65 each, and were soon aboard a very large and well equipped boat along with around 12 other people excluding the crew. We were given an introductory briefing and introduced to the captain and crew as we left port. We sailed along the coast towards the area we had visited this morning and were then provided with huge portions of fresh pineapple, they tasted so much better here. We moved around the coast looking at our hotel, various birds skimming over the ocean and uninhabited islands left strictly for the seabirds. After an hour and as we started to make our way back we tied up against a buoy and were given the chance to do some snorkelling around a rocky stack which lay just below the surface, it was high tide. The water really wasn’t very clear and although there were quite a few fish, we only managed to see 3 different types, it was rather tame for us.
But what came next after returning to the boat was much more fun. The boat had its own water slide attached to the stern. This was quite a long one which started high up at the top of a ladder. From here you could either jump straight in or use the slide, it was great fun and we did both a number of times. After a while we boarded the boat by climbing in from the sea up a short semi submerged ladder, showered on deck in fresh water, lovely, and got changed. No sooner had we done this than our meal was served. Mahe mahe or Dorado or Dolphin Fish (3 names for the same fish), beautifully grilled and very tasty served with rice, vegetables and salad, the drinks kept on coming and with alcohol added if you so wished.
The captain set a course for home and as Frigate birds, Brown Boobies and Brown Pelicans flew around us we sat back and enjoyed a reasonable sunset although nothing really to write home about.
Click here for Sunset Cruise Route
We eventually entered port, tied up, collected our belongings and said our thanks and goodbyes.
The port area was already beautifully decorated with lights for Christmas and as we waited for Eric and Leo we spent the time soaking up the Christmas atmosphere.
We took the short ride back to the hotel and had time to relax and reflect upon yet another full day. A shower, bar snack and 2 Margueritas each later we were ready for bed.
Day 14 (Friday 8th December) Manuel Antonio to San Jose
Today was a day of travelling. It began with the customary early morning downpour and by the time we had risen from our beds, later than usual, the hazy sun had begun to dry the wet ground. It was still warm and humid as we walked along to the dining area. Once again, the choice of food and drink available at breakfast was amazing. We took our time and enjoyed chatting to Kath who joined us at or table.
We returned to our room to complete our packing and passed the time away relaxing, chatting and reading.
Finally as 11.00am started to loom we put our cases outside our door ready for collection and strolled down to the main hotel lobby where we shared email addresses with the rest of our group and organised the tip collection for Leo. Eric’s tip was taken from what was left from the original tips kitty.
At around 12 noon we boarded the bus to take the 100 or so miles back to San Jose. On the way we stopped at a small shopping and restaurant complex to have a snack and a drink and to make some final local purchases. We bought some wooden bowls, coasters, a Costa Rican wood sampler and the thing that Maggie had been looking for during the past week, a small glass sloth on a necklace identical to the one which Leo wore, she was pleased at finding it here.
Onto the bus again and into the heavy San Jose traffic when we eventually entered the city.
We had arrived back at our starting point some 2 weeks earlier, The Quality Real Hotel.
Addendum:
For our last evening meal a number of us, 9 in total, chose to visit the restaurant across from the hotel. We were greeted courteously by the manager, who appeared somewhat agitated and stressed and were given the seating of our choice all with smiles and laughter. Our menus were in Spanish so, after being rushed to order drinks, we had the menu translated for us by one of the waiters. As a number of us had opted for seafood paella the manager suggested he make a paella big enough for the 6 people who had settled on this, it was agreed. As we drank, the meals were served and the paella eaters were presented their meal from what appeared to be a surprisingly small paella platter. When it was time to pay the waiter produced one single bill for the whole table. This was not what we wanted, anyway, it seemed far too much for the small amount of food we had eaten nor did it include the agreed 10% discount. After the manager had recalculated individual or paired bills our total still seemed very high, equivalent to approximately $80. Confusion still reigned, the manager walked off so I simply put down $60 and we left. Not a good final experience we all agreed.
On a much happier note – when we returned to the hotel we asked reception to phone Leo to come to the hotel lobby where Kath said a few words and then presented Leo with his tip which he graciously accepted. What a pleasure to have had such a good tour leader, it made all the difference.
Day 15 (Saturday 9th to Sunday 10th December) San Jose to Bexleyheath
We had a bit of a lie in today thank goodness, followed by a leisurely breakfast and then completed our packing for the trip home for today we were flying at 3.05pm.
We didn’t leave the hotel until around 11.30am for the half hour journey to the airport, the roads busy with traffic today what with it being Saturday and 2 weeks before Christmas.
After unloading all our luggage from the bus, there were only 8 of us leaving at this time, the others had gone earlier, we said our farewells to Leo and Eric and made our way into the Terminal.
Our first job was to check whether we had to pay any exit tax, thank goodness our names were not on the list so no payment required which meant we had saved $58. We checked in our luggage at the BA desk and collected our boarding passes. Next we passed through passport check and finally through security where Maggie’s rucksack was thoroughly checked, and we were in the departure lounge and very clean and modern it was too.
We bought a few last things, coffee liqueur, a wooden bead selection (a Christmas present), 2 novelty pencils, a scarf and 3 Costa Rica Frog travel mirrors. All this wasted some time until finally we made our way to Gate 3.
We boarded the plane which was nearly full and settled in for our long flight home. We were in the company of the famous, 5 rows in front of us sat Lewis Moody, once Captain of the England Rugby Union Team.
Soon after take off, drinks were served and not long after that we were presented with dinner which was surprisingly good.
Our route today took us this time first over Cuba the Florida and up the eastern seaboard of the U.S.A. until we reached Nova Scotia where we began our crossing of the Atlantic.
There was the usual turbulence which lasted quite a while which was not surprising considering the strong tail wind of over 200 mph. At least this meant a quicker journey time.
At 7.10am local time we touched down at Gatwick in the rain. We waited a short while for the mobile gangway to be attached and then hotfooted it through automated passport control and picked up our luggage at the baggage reclaim but not before spotting another famous face, Eddie Jordan of F1 fame.
Sophie was in the car park ready to meet us and as we drove back along the M25 the rain changed to snow and began to settle making driving a little difficult. What a change to what we had been experiencing – WOW!
At last we arrived home in Bexleyheath.
What a holiday.
Pura Vida
COSTA RICA
