Why Costa Rica? While in Big Island, Hawaii, I fell in love with the rain forest, and wanted to explore more. There is nothing like the rain forest; the huge green trees full of life and energy, the amazing colorful plants and last but not least, the birds. Hundreds of them at a time and to our surprise cicadas and more wild life in Costa Rica than in Big Island.
We were there in July-August their green, rainy season or as they called it, their winter. End of July is supposed to be their “Indian summer,” which is when there is a break in the rain, but we still got rained on often. Coming from dry California we didn’t mind, especially that the rain was happy, warm rain.
This is what we did in 10 days of vacation. We chose to fly during the day so two days were lost with the flights. We flew San Jose, California to San Jose, Costa Rica. No direct flight San Jose to San Jose but still neat!
The first part of the trip was exploring the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica more exactly Manuel Antonio National Park. Even though it is a very famous National Park we never made it there. This is why: we chose to stay in the beautiful Tulemar Resort. The resort is built on a hillside, preserving as much as possible of the initial jungle. There are still parts in the resort where you can see the original rain forest.
All accommodations offer great views of the ocean and jungle. We stayed in one of their bungalows. While I liked the bungalows for their “old plantation style feeling,” I would recommend renting one of their villas if your budget accommodates it. This is our bungalow and the huge banyan tree from nearby.
There was a cafe/restaurant just near the bungalow but we mostly preferred to eat outside the resort for more local cuisine and atmosphere. The best part of the restaurant was the view.
The resort has a private beach; a little bay with a lot of shade and warm, strong waves. Sometimes we were almost the only people there. We spent all our 3 days at the beach in the morning.
Another highlight of this resort was the family pool. The kids enjoyed the pool, I enjoyed the view.
There is a lot of wild life in the resort. It is built in such way that people coexist with the animals. We saw iguanas on the beach, cute Capuchin monkeys, fascinating Howler monkeys, one right by our window, and lazy sloths cuddled up in the trees. There were also caotis aka coatimundis, a member of the raccoon family strolling between villas.
Our next destination was La Fortuna town area, famous for the cone shaped and still active Arenal Volcano.
On our way there we had to stop at Tarcoles Bridge or the Crocodiles Bridge a touristic attraction but definitely new and interesting for us. The river was very muddy since it was the rainy season, making the crocodiles look like brown stiff logs.
Tip: if you are in the mood for a good smoothie stop at the shack on the right side of the bridge. The business flourishes here since this is a popular stop for tourists.
Since I had to try the seasonal fruits from the locals not the supermarket, we shortly stopped to a roadside fruit shack. This is where I had my closest encounter with a sloth. A huge, wild almond tree was covering the shack and that’s where the sloth and the toucans where having their lunch. Many thanks to the granny who without any English words showed me the sloth and the toucans in the tree. The hanging orange fruit is peach palm. They eat it boiled and it’s quite tasty. The other shack by the truck is where we got the freshest rambutan possible. They also sold fresh sugar cane and coconut juice very cold or bienfrio.
We chose not to stay in the busy and touristy La Fortuna town, but on the other side of Arenal Volcano in the small village of Monterey .
More exactly at Leaves and Lizards Cabin Retreat. The retreat was one of the highlights of our trip. A few reasons that made us choose this retreat; the beautiful horses and the horseback ride to a private waterfall, the fascinating view of the Arenal Volcano from every cabin, the originality of the cabins with the painted wall murals by the owner himself, the road to get there that was unpaved at that time and of course the great reviews. The reality was more than we hoped for; relaxation, warm and hospitable people, tasty farm to table food, magnificent views of the volcano and last but not least the adventure. Here is a little bit of the landscape in the retreat; bamboo forest, banana tree orchard, and colorful tropical flowers everywhere.
These are some snapshots of the retreat including our Toucan cabin with painted toucans on the walls.
No trip to La Fortuna area should be complete without a trip to the Mistico Hanging Bridges . The oldest rain forest in the area; it has 15 bridges, 6 of them hanging. It is wonderful if you are not afraid of heights and you can stop on the middle of the bridge and look down in the deep ravine. It should be a marvelous view but I couldn’t do it. I just crossed the bridge looking straight ahead at the other end of the bridge so to overcome my fear of heights. It was still a great experience. There are three possible loops you can do, so you can choose the one suitable to your abilities. And yes, the bridges are safe even if it rains, after all you are in the rain forest!
Tip: If you are afraid of heights but still want to try crossing a hanging bridge without paying the high entrance fee for Mistico park head over to Arenal Observatory Lodge , where with a cheaper day pass you can cross a smaller hanging bridge. If you feel brave after that, you can go to Mistico Park.
Just outside of the town of La Fortuna there is the 200-ft tall majestic La Fortuna waterfall. You can see the waterfall from the look out point (pictured on the banner) but you have to go down to the river to fully enjoy the majesty of the waterfall. There are only 480 steps 🙂 down and up but it’s definitely worth it. Supposedly, you can swim in the river near the waterfall but since it was rainy season the water was high and not advisable for swimming. Also be sure to check out the small waterfall right before the La Fortuna waterfall.
Tip: Most of the trail is in the shade but if you are there in dry season go visit in the morning when it is not that hot.
To learn more about the rain forest, we had a half a day trip to Arenal Volcano National Park with a private guide. First, he took us to the least explored Peninsula, Sector of Arenal Volcano National Park. Glad we started there since there were very few people and we could spot a few playful Spider monkeys. There is also an observation tower with a nice view of Lake Arenal and the Vocano.
Tip: you will definitely need bug spray here.
The trails at Arenal Volcano National Park are pretty much flat, with some incline at the base of the volcano where you are stepping over big boulders of lava. The last big eruption of the volcano was in 1968, when the lava destroyed two nearby towns. The volcano was still active till 2010, but it quieted after that. On the Lava Trail, you can see in one part of the trail the original rain forest, and on the other part, the tall grass that grew after the eruption.
Tips: the same ticket will take you to the Peninsula and Arenal Volcano Park. Start with the Peninsula; get there as early as possible, the wild life is more active in the early morning. The road to the park and the Peninsula has big pot holes. A 4 x 4 car would make your driving more pleasant, but it’s not a must.
Hot springs are one of the must try activities while in the area. There are quite a lot of places where you can enjoy them, starting with the very fancy and expensive Tabacon Resort , to the free one in the Tabacon river. We chose something between a place where the locals go; Los Lagos Resort and Spa. While this is actually a lodging place, you can buy the one day pass to enjoy the pools. There are different temperature natural hot pools and also regular pools, all kinds of slides, and even a small zip line over the resort. I don’t have any pictures from there, but a nice view of the volcano. The lava flow was on the other side of the volcano.
The most treasured part of the trip for me is our horse back riding trip to a private waterfall. It turned out to be more of an adventure than I thought. It started out with Debbie, giving us a lecture about Eponicity , and teaching us how to bond with our horses. Here is Clara bonding with Spartacus.
Due to the previous rainy days, the trails were very muddy and made the ride an adventure. Fortunately, everyone in our small group of six people was fine. We rode for around three hours over the hills of Monterey village, crossing a few streams and one river. We had a lunch stop at the waterfall. Some in our group enjoyed a brief swim in the river. Enrique, one of the guides spotted two bright colored, but poisonous frogs. Interesting fact: the frogs are not poisonous for the locals, just for the foreigners. On the way back it started raining, quite pouring at the beginning. Glad we had the rain jackets with us as we enjoyed the warm and refreshing rain. Lots of admiration for the strong horses that managed to bring us back safe. The rain made the already muddy hills even more precarious to travel. On our way back, Enrique pointed out some Howler monkeys and toucans.
Tip: I heartily recommend the horse back riding trip if you are staying at Leaves and Lizards Retreat. I’m not sure if you can book the ride if you are not a guest.
In my willingness to explore all that a tropical climate has to offer, I planned a visit to a cacao tree plantation that offers chocolate tours. I chose Don Olivo Chocolate Tour , a farm a little out of La Fortuna town. We went there on a rainy morning and had the chance to tour the farm in a small group of eight people. We got to sample fresh banana, a variety that it is not commercialized, papaya and pineapple; all grown there on the plantation. We got to see huge avocado, papaya, and rambutan trees, taro plants, ginger, vanilla orchids, different types of sugar canes, and sampled freshly squeezed sugar cane juice.
Besides of seeing all these plants and trees, some of them new for us, we learned about the processing of cacao beans starting from picking up a cacao pod, tasting the fresh cacao fruit (tastes a little like passion fruit), tasting the roasted and ground cacao beans and the final product, a fudge like chocolate with 90% cacao and 10% sugar cane. Everything we tasted was amazing and so yummy.
Our trip is getting to the end. On our last evening, we were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow at sunset.
Since we had an early morning flight back to the States, the last day we traveled to our hotel near San Jose airport to stay for the night. On the way to San Jose, we stopped shortly at Zarcero, a small town out of the beaten path of tourists. The town is famous for the topiary gardens in the Central Park. We also visited Iglesia de San Rafael, the church located right in the park.
Tip: If you feel like tasting some fresh made cheese as you get out of Zarcero, there are road stands that sell locally produced cheese, local honey, and other sweets.
Since we had some time in our hands before getting to our hotel by the airport, we stopped at Sarchi, an artisan town in Costa Rica. Sarchi is known for their vibrant hand painted oxcarts. The oxcart is a national symbol of Costa Rica, being used to transport coffee beans and other goods. Also, this is the best place to shop for wood souvenirs, since there is a plethora of wood furniture shops in town. We stopped at Fabricas de Carretas Eloy Alfaro , where we enjoyed all the brightly hand painted murals, and browsed the souvenir shop with local made products. The restaurant upstairs is also very good.
We drove back through the winding narrow mountain roads, enjoying the mesmerizing green hills, and sometime the fog and rain. Here are some snapshots:
Enjoy visiting Costa Rica! It’s a special country.
Useful Info:
- Driving is a little of an adventure in Costa Rica; the roads are narrow, two lanes most of the time, and winding especially in the mountains. We decided to use local drivers between our main destinations. I highly recommend Christian and his team from Costa Rica Drivers .
- In La Fortuna we rented a 4×4 car from Adobe Rent A Car . I highly recommend them. If you are not staying outside of La Fortuna, you don’t really need a 4×4 car.
- Sites that I used and found them very informative: My Tan Feet and Two Weeks in Costa Rica. My thanks to them for putting together their helpful sites and to Yeison from My Tan Feet for helping with the process of renting a car in La Fortuna.
- Don’t forget bug spray. You will need it. Both sites from above have info about bug sprays. We mostly used Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Natural Insect Repellent and found it efficient. Sunscreen is a must too.
- Our favorite restaurant in Manuel Antonio: El Patio De Cafe Milagro
- Our favorite restaurant in La Fortuna: Organico Fortuna
- Souvenir shops I recommend: Maravillas Souvenir Shop in Quebrada Ganado and Mot Mot Gallery in Manuel Antonio
Things I want to do:
- Rio Celeste in Tenorio Volcano National Park – this is a must if you are in La Fortuna in dry season. Since we were there in the rainy season I wasn’t sure if it would be worth the trip there. The river is famous for the exceptional blue color but the color gets washed with the torrential rain in the green season.
- Villa Vanilla Rainforest Spices this farm is full of interesting spices . I highly regret I didn’t get to visit it. But there is always next time!
Here is the map of our Costa Rica trip.
Explore the world little by little 