Costa Rica Day 7 - Parting Thoughts

Well...never did get that sloth sighting. This one will have to do. You can't tell, but Ian posed with this QUITE reluctantly. 

From the plane, we actually passed over Guatemala, and the pilot started describing sights to us. Not sure which lake this is, but I have considered Guatemala as a trip in the future! Maybe it's a sign!

There were even some active volcanos visible!

Final thoughts: I really liked that this trip was the kickoff to my 40s. Having done so much travel in my 20s, we stayed pretty land-bound for the past decade (unless you count Disney cruises), so maybe 40s is when we return to passport filling?

Costa Rica is a way more pleasing vacation destination than Mexico, in my opinion.  So much less touristy. And Boena Wilderness Lodges in particular gets an A+ from the Pacuare experience. I am already looking into a return visit where we can check out one of their other lodges -- Lapa Rios and Tortuguero both look pretty good! 

Costa Rica Day 6 - Beach Day

It is our last full vacation day, so even though I was sorely tempted to book a jungle cruise to get that sloth sighting, Ian convinced me that we would be better off just having a rest day and leaving the sloths for the return trip. The fact that the hotel offered a free coffee demonstration/tasting and kayak rentals also helped. 😊

No photos of the kayaks, we were scared we'd flip the kayaks and lose the phones. At least I was. My track record with water boats isn't the best.  Also, it was SUPER hot, so even though we were allowed to keep the kayaks for an hour, I'm pretty sure we were out and back within 15 min or so. 

No worries -- time for our coffee tasting anyhow! Ian was super psyched. Doesn't he look super psyched?

Our tasting included three different coffee varietals prepared in three different ways. As a non-coffee drinker, I got a sense of how folks who don't like wine must feel at wine tastings. After two sips of the first one I was feeling a bit woozy!

Here is the classic "sock" Costa Rican preparation method. (I bought one of these to take home because it seemed pretty fast. Not quite Keurig fast but it must taste better, right?). It was actually invented by the Spanish soldiers but has become popularized by Costa Ricans. 

Here's the second Japanese/German siphon method. Again, apparently invited by the Germans but popularized in Japan. It seemed way too involved/scientific for everyday coffee, but certainly was cool to watch. 

More coffee in an hour than I've had all year probably! 

Fitting that this is basically the only day we are fully catching the sunset. Sunsetting the trip. 😢

Have to say we've been to better beaches elsewhere, at least from the "palm trees, blue water, white sand" perspective, but this was still a lovely end to the vacation!

There was actually a wedding happening at the resort tonight, which meant we got to enjoy some tasteful guitar covers (for those who were at our wedding, Ian commented "MUCH better than DJ Redbeard") as we lounged through the sunset. 

And after the sun fully set, we continued the lounging indoors. Hammocks were big in Costa Rica. I realized I prefer the ones that are hooked to trees. Less swaying. Ian isn't so picky. 

And for the last meal, we went off in search of more steak. Lots of folks had warned us that the food in Costa Rica was decent, but not amazing and to keep our expectations low. I think compared to say, Italy or China, that was accurate, but I think we ate just as well as did in say, Mexico, Australia, Sri Lanka, etc. We had a lot of cerviche and steak -- tonight is no exception: Peninsula CR Steak & Seafood. 

Fun fact: this is the first time I've had a restaurant charge a corkage fee literally for uncorking. He said if we brought the bottle pre-opened, no fee.  Done! We also discovered on this trip that South American cabs are much more mellow than their Napa counterparts and also, surprisingly, that Chilean Malbecs are more complex than their Argentinian counterparts! (Well, at least the two we tried). 

And with that, back to pack our bags...back home tomorrow! 😭

Costa Rica Day 5 - Lake Arenal Drive

Today we pick up our rental car to make the trip out to Papagayo (the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica). You might ask why we are doing so much traveling within the country when we have so few days in total. I planned the trip around Pacuare, because I knew I wanted to experience that, but then we also wanted some beach time at the end, which in Costa Rica at this time of year, sun is only guaranteed over on the west coast. So we went ahead booked our departing flight out of Liberia. Arenal was more a stopover point between Pacuare and Papagayo. 

So, picking up the rental car was a little interesting. The Avis agent immediately claimed we needed to purchase mandatory loss/collision insurance. I was like, my friend, this is not my first international trip, no thank you. He then proceeded to tell me I could only use the credit card insurance if I could produce a letter from Amex saying my specific card was covered for Costa Rica. I'm pretty sure many folks would have given in at this point, but I viewed this as a challenge. 🧐 I got on the phone, Ian immediately went to go find a seat as he assumed we'd be in for the long haul...but surprisingly a mere 5 minutes or so later, I found the self service website and Amex emailed me a waiver letter. Apparently this is a well known rental company money-making scheme, a couple we ran into told us their insurance ended up being three times as much as their rental! If anyone else rents a car in Costa Rica, don't get taken in! 

Fantastic weather today, almost a waste since we'd be in the car all afternoon, but I suppose we avoid driving those curvy roads in the rain. The clouds even parted so we could get a parting shot of the Arenal volcano.

Pretty cool. Would be a great hike! (Ian doesn't agree).

A lot of the drive was basically just going around Lake Arenal. Here's the very tip by La Fortuna.

Halfway though we stopped for lunch at the Lake Arenal Brewery. Ian opted for the full flight of craft brews. Review: decent. 

Nice views! Something about the lake made it feel European to me. Like we were in Switzerland or Austria. 

We also passed right under a bunch of windmills. 

As an aside, the lake (which is quite large, took us an hour to drive just around a third or so of it) is entirely manmade for power producing purposes. Apparently 1/3 of all power consumed in Costa Rica comes from Lake Arenal!

Because I made us stop for more souvenir shopping in Liberia, we didn't arrive at El Mangroove, our last hotel, until after sunset.  Good thing we have no plans for tomorrow! 

Costa Rica Day 4 - Arenal/Hanging Bridges

I again woke up early -- sadly, this is my new middle aged reality -- no more sleeping in possible! I dragged Ian out of bed for breakfast (surprisingly extensive, great mangos, juices and some decent quesadillas and other "seems awfully like lunch to me" items) and then it was off for our La Fortuna waterfall hike. Booking this tour with a guide would have meant a 7:30AM pick up, so we opted for the "call and Uber and do it on your own" option. Uber came surprisingly fast, and super cheap!

The waterfall is accessible through a series of stairs they've built into the rainforest -- I wish I had taken some photos of the cute signs they put up throughout the hike, every 100 steps or so, they'd have an encouraging quote - 550 steps in all! Here's the first glimpse from the very top:

Going down was of course quite speedy. Probably just 10 minutes or so. And it stayed sunny the entire way down!

We wore swimsuits because you're allowed to swim at the bottom...but it was a bit too cold for my taste. 

About 5 minutes after we got to the bottom...it started raining. Hard. Even with a poncho on, turns out pelting rain is apparently a good motivator to climb up quickly. Fortunately, they had a covered bench halfway up for us to wait for the rain to let up a bit.

By the time we got back to the top, we had just a little time for some shopping (sloth themed gifts for L&R!), snap some pretty orchids, and then Uber time back to the hotel for our hanging bridges tour.

The tour was arranged through the hotel, there were 7 of us in all, and the rain, while not so hard, was still coming, so ponchos it was. Not expecting to sneak up on much wildlife in the park...

Spoiler: no sloths were spotted. I think the rain made seeing animals hard, and also time of day. But there were some pretty amazing trees growing in the rainforest. Like this one. So cool! The leaves were so perfectly spread that it looked almost fake!

There were a total of 5 hanging bridges. Here's the first one!

I was surprised by how bouncy they were. I guess it makes sense given they're "hanging" and all. But it was actually really hard to walk straight without getting jostled from side to side. Glad there were no bullet ants in this forest...(there were lots of those in Pacuare, to the point where the guides recommended you NOT hold on to any of the railings, getting bitten by a bullet ant apparently hurts as much as getting shot by a bullet, thus the name).

I must admit, after a couple bridges, they start seeming a bit "same old, same old." But the scenery off to the side was always impressive:

This was the highest bridge - 

Okay, I guess we did see ONE animal. Ian's favorite!

It was so big!!

Last bridge.

By now, it was actually starting to get dark. The rain had mostly stopped but the mists were still pretty low. Made for some cool "I'm in the clouds" type views. Very San Francisco. 

Sun trying to peek out through the rain on the bus ride home.

Tomorrow, it's off to Papagayo, last stop of the trip!

Costa Rica Day 3 - Rafting!

Today is the second of our transfer days, this time moving from Pacuare, in the jungle, to the Arenal volcano area. While it was sad for us to say goodbye to the Lodge, like the transfer in, transfer out is also by white water rafting, and this time, Class III and IV rapids!

The weather for this raft trip was MUCH more cooperative (good thing, because the trip was not only more challenging but also much longer). 

 Ian demonstrating how NOT to paddle.

We were told that the Pacuare River was ranked fourth most beautiful white-water river in the world by National Geographic (#1 is Grand Canyon). It was indeed quite picturesque.

It was a nice mix of rough rapids and calmer stretches to enjoy the scenary (we actually had some parts where the guide called an "get down" and we actually sat in the raft and then paddled from there, never done that one before!) 

After about 2 hours, we stopped for lunch on a small beach. Apparently the 3.5 hours included an hour or so lunch. Good thing, because I had blisters on my hands by then and was thinking I didn't think I'd make it through another hour. Have more respect for those who do the multi-day Class III/IV rafting tours! Maybe on a Class I or II, but for the harder ones I think 2.5 hours might be my max!

After we arrived, Boena had showers, towels, and all of our luggage waiting for us. They were definitely pricey but I highly recommend Boena Wilderness Lodges from a service/experience perspective! If/when we come back to Costa Rica, I look forward to trying out one of their other lodges around the country. 

Our private car was waiting for us to begin the 3 hour drive out to La Fortuna, for the next part of our vacation. Pretty uneventful drive (I watched some downloaded videos to drown out the snoring). Awaiting us at Royal Corin, welcome cocktail, cool towels and...

Yes, R - you would appreciate the service level at this hotel. 

Not really sure what it's supposed to be though...monkey? Bunny? Dog?

After the long rafting trip, we immediately headed to the thermal mineral springs on the property. There were at least 7 different pools that we tried and I decided that my ideal temperature is 98-100°.

Sadly, we never took any photos at the pools. But they were quite relaxing! I particularly liked the water beds where you got to lay down submerged in the water. 

Tomorrow -- hanging bridges and hopefully a sloth sighting!

Costa Rica Day 2 - Adventure Time!

 Thanks to the lack of internet and the 9PM bedtime, I woke up at 5AM raring to go. Ian....not so much. So, I decided to go off on the morning waterfall hike without him. It was mainly just a hike through the rainforest, but it did have a decent waterfall at the end. Our guide showed us how some of the stones were compacted natural chalk, which led me to some graffiti action...

He assured me it would wash off by tomorrow!

We saw an assortment of spiders and frogs again, but the animal highlight was....drumroll:

Yep, boa constrictor.  I tried to get the ubiquitous "pointing at the snake" tourist photo, the aim was a little off from my photographer, but ended up being a nice example of how the snake camouflages in with the branches!

After I came back from the hike, Ian was ready for some adventure, so off to the ziplines we went. 

I've done zipline-ing before, but not of this kind where you hike up the forest a half hour to the first platform and then keep hiking in between all of the lines. Makes you feel like you earn the zips. 

But the real highlights for me were the monkey drops. (Video proof that Ian enjoyed them too).

It started pouring rain towards the end, but we still finished with smiles!

In the afternoon, we went canyoning (or canyoneering), which we were told was even more adrenaline packed. The ropes portions were super fun, but the actual canyoneering parts left us with boots filled with water and me with a sore bum from a fall coming down the waterfall. I need more practice with my rappelling...

To close out the day, we had a very tasty dinner. Top marks to Pacuare Lodge's culinary and bar offerings throughout these two days -- I couldn't stop stealing sips of Ian's Don Juan cocktail. I kept digging in before I remembered to take a photo of their impressive platings, even this shot of our final dessert is one fried banana bite down. 😆

They even surprised me with a celebratory tres leches birthday cake. 

Tomorrow, sadly, we say goodbye to Pacuare. Maybe someday we will be back!