With Jon already in Costa Rica working at Macaw Recovery Network, Donna was on her own to travel to Costa Rica. After a very tight connection in Montreal (with an assist by Jon for looking up gate numbers to expedite her transfer!), it was off to Liberia. With an afternoon arrival, there was just enough time to get a rental car (yes, we really DO need a 4x4...) and check into her Airbnb for the night before it got dark. The next morning, it was time to set off to Islita to pick up Jon! The drive from Liberia is about 2.5 - 3 hours - the first half is easy roads, although busy. The second half has more twisty roads and then gravel and is not well lit, so it was much better to save the drive for the morning. Arriving just before noon, Donna got a tour of the site to see what Jon had been up to for the past couple of months. It had been 5 years since Donna had been there so it was nice to see again and to meet the people Jon had been working and living with.
Soon we were on our way to our Airbnb in Hojancha about an hour away - we took some back roads to get there and found ourselves in a cattle drive traffic jam on the way. We settled into a very cute container house on the outskirts of the small town and spent a few days hanging out, going for drives in the mountains and to Samara and Nicoya. Then it was back to Islita to get together with the MRN folks for Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone contributed something to the dinner and it was quite the feast. The site assistant manager Nisha also made Christmas poppers for everyone with treats and English and Spanish jokes inside. Afterwards everyone opened their Secret Santa gifts - Jon got some swim trunks and a towel from his boss, Rupert, to encourage him to continue his surfing. :)
We came back to Islita again on Christmas Day for some beach and ocean time with Lukas and Brandon - we highly recommend spending Christmas this way! After a few more much needed days of relaxing in Hojancha and area, we were ready to embark on some adventures. Next stop: La Fortuna!
A little traffic jam on the way to our Airbnb
It's been several years since we've been to the Arenal / La Fortuna area, so it was time for another visit! Plus we knew we would be bringing Jon's parents here when they came down to see us and we wanted to pre-scope out the best activities to make the most of their time in the area. We got our first glimpse of Lake Arenal, the largest lake in the country. While it was always a large lake, the original natural lake was tripled in size in 1979 when a dam was built for hydro-electricity, and the area intentionally flooded with the old towns of Arenal and Tronadora now at the bottom of the lake. We passed through Nuevo Arenal (the new town) and stopped for lunch at a German restaurant, a nice little treat.
Afterwards we continued on to our Airbnb near Chachagua, a little outside La Fortuna. It was a little casita set on a few acres right beside a river - so peaceful and beautiful! We enjoyed our quiet time there but also went on some adventures.
Our first adventure was visiting La Fortuna Waterfall, a 70 meter waterfall set within a 200 acre biological reserve. The walk down to the waterfall is nice and easy - 530 steps down. The hike back up is a little harder! When you make it down, you can get up close and personal with the waterfall by plunging into the frigid waters with it. You can also swim and trek further down the river where it is less deep and cold before making the hike back up. We enjoyed our time there but concluded it was likely too many stairs for the parents. Afterwards we drove around and got some good glimpses of the Arenal Volcano (which can often be clouded up).
Our next adventure was going to Sky Adventures which had multiple options for activities and we decided to participate in all of them. We started off with a guided hike through the Arenal Rainforest with a series of hanging bridges and viewpoints that overlook Lake Arenal and the mountainside. The longest bridge was over 200 meters and it was cool to feel like you were right in the middle of everything, surrounded by trees on all sides, above and below. Our guide also pointed out various wildlife along the way, including a sloth rolled up into a ball high up in a tree. Next we rode an aerial tram up to the top of the mountain where the view of Lake Arenal only got better! At the top, we got pictures on the Hand of Arenal sculpture before making our way to the ziplines that were the absolute highlight of the day. We've been on ziplines before, but nothing like this. There were 7 ziplines and you zipped between two mountains with the longest one being 750 meters long. It's hard to know where to look when there are mountains front and back, a gorgeous lush valley below, and Lake Arenal out to one side. It was unbelievable, but also not the right adventure for the parents. :)
We also explored and familiarized ourselves with La Fortuna and area, checking out good hiking areas, a volcano observation area, and natural pools. Because of the volcano, there are also lots of hot springs in the area including free areas where you can park and hike down to the river.
We decided that we really wanted to visit a coffee plantation this trip as we have never done that in our past trips and Jon found Hacienda Doka and booked us a tour. It was a few hours away but what a magnificent drive full of mountainous green rainforest! On the way, we had to pull over for the largest band of coatis we have ever seen. When we got to Doka, we had a private tour where we learned all about the coffee making business, from the plants and varieties of coffee to the workers who harvest the cherries to the processes of sorting, drying, grading, and roasting the beans. And then of course the taste testing and gift shop where we loaded up. We overnighted nearby before making our way back towards Liberia.
One last adventure before we picked up our visitors: checking out Catarata Llanos del Cortes (Plains of Cortez Waterfall), a local / not touristy beach and waterfall area. It was an area recommended to us by Brandon at MRN knowing that we liked waterfalls and natural pool areas and what a great tip! It wasn't too busy, nice for getting some sun and swim time without being on the ocean.
Now that we've had some adventure time, we're ready to share this country we love so much with Jon's parents!
Our Airbnb near La Fortuna
This week is a whirlwind adventure! We had just 7 days to show Jon's parents a taste of Costa Rica. Some would choose to go to a resort or a tourist town like Tamarindo or Jaco, but we wanted to show them a different side of this country we love. We picked them up first thing Saturday morning at the airport and brought them back to our Airbnb nearby to relax after their overnight flight, change and freshen up, and have some breakfast. Then it was off to our first destination, La Fortuna. We planned stops at a Lake Arenal viewpoint and the German restaurant in Nuevo Arenal to break up the drive - you can't go falling asleep in the car when the scenery is so great!
When we arrived in La Fortuna, we spent a little time checking out the gardens around the Catholic Church in the center of town (Iglesia de La Fortuna de San Carlos) and even saw a pair of toucans there, great find! We checked into our adorable Airbnb cabin, Butterfly house, so some people could have a little nap before heading out for dinner. We decided our big activity for La Fortuna would be visiting Mistico Park, another park with hanging bridges, and the next day we were out the door first thing. We spent the day exploring the park which had more and longer hanging bridges than Sky Adventures, and easier paths to navigate (perfect for older folks). There was so much to see, from flora and fauna to a waterfall, to wildlife like hummingbirds, frogs, and squirrel monkeys, plus unmatched views of Volcan Arenal. Jon then cooked us all dinner and then Jon and John promptly fell asleep while Donna and Anne Marie got sucked into a Harlan Coben mystery on Netflix.
The next day we were back on the road, pointed in the direction of Islita so they could see where Jon had been working. After a stop for pipas frias (coconut water) and in Samara for burgers, we arrived in Islita mid afternoon and stopped at the beach for their first glimpse of Costa Rica ocean and up at a viewpoint of Punta Islita. Then it was time to visit MRN and join the afternoon tour (plus a little backstage tour with Jon). He showed off his machete skills opening up a coconut for some of the birds and we watched as he fed the coconut and some hibiscus to the macaws there. We had hoped to visit our favourite restaurant in Islita for dinner but it was closed on Monday, so we headed back to Samara for the night. The next day was beach day at Playa Samara where all got some sun, but John got burnt to a crisp!
Then we were off to our next destination, Playa Junquillal and the Guacamaya Lodge, a favourite relaxation spot of ours. We enjoyed pool time, especially Donna and Anne Marie while the boys went off to play some golf at a course nearby one of the days. We were fortunate to see a release of leatherback sea turtles one of the evenings we were there, watching dozens of turtle babies make their way into the ocean. And of course we enjoyed some excellent food prepared by the Guacamaya team, topped off with homemade ice cream and banana splits.
On our final day we stopped off in Tamarindo to walk the beach there before making our way back to Liberia for their early Saturday morning flight back home. We hope you enjoyed your intro to CR!
Overlooking Lake Arenal
After dropping off Jon's parents at the airport, we had big plans for the day as it was Donna's birthday! We made our way to Poza Los Coyotes, another local waterfall area that Brandon had told us about that also had a lazy river. We rented ourselves inner tubes for $5 and spent a few hours on the river, paddling up and down the clear blue waters, watching Ticos cliff jumping. Then it was time to get on the road for our next destination.
We've long wanted to go to the Osa Peninsula in the south of Costa Rica and it was finally happening. But first, a stop in Quepos for a couple of nights to visit Manuel Antonio Park. We've been to Quepos before but didn't actually visit Manuel Antonio as we were seeing so much wildlife in that area without even going into the park. This time we decided to hire a guide and see what else they might be able to find for us, and Frank definitely delivered. From all sorts of birds (first trogon sighting!) and monkeys, to a hummingbird nest, to multiple sloth sightings, it was a great tour.
After that, we were off to Puerto Jimenez in Osa. We were pleasantly surprised by nice paved roads all the way there as Osa is very remote and not very populated. We found ourselves a hotel right on the beach a little outside of town, a very quiet spot. There would often be scarlet macaws flying overhead and there was even a nest in a tree on one end of the property! We spent our days driving and exploring - finding the ends of roads, checking out different beaches. One day the road we were on started to get pretty sandy to the point we decided we should probably not continue. As we were attempting to turn around, we came across another couple that had gone just a bit further and gotten stuck in the sand so we helped them get out and counted ourselves lucky that we stopped when we did. One night we took a sea kayaking tour with a small group to hopefully see some bio-luminescence in the water (from bio-luminescent plankton). We didn't see much of that but did see plenty of other wildlife, including a very quick glimpse of a tapir when we stopped on shore for a snack! It was nearly dark and came out of nowhere so there was no chance of getting a picture - we were all startled. It was a very rough paddle back to shore in the dark which was a bit scary but we made it back safely.
Our final Osa adventure was driving to the literal end of the road on the peninsula. After Puerto Jimenez, the roads were all gravel but we had spoken with the manager at our hotel and she said our 4x4 should be good to travel it. Gravel roads may not sound like a big deal to us in Canada, but in Costa Rica they are quite often super bumpy, with holes and craters to navigate through and rivers to cross. It was what our little 4x4 had been waiting for! The 40 km journey took a few hours and the second half was single lane gravel road with basically zero traffic. We didn't quite know what we would find, but it turned out to be a miles-long black sand beach and a little airstrip, with several pairs of scarlet macaws overhead. There were a few people camping and some houses, but not much for civilization, no stores or restaurants. It was truly wild. This was what we came for!
One of the main attractions in Osa is the Corcovado National Park and we would love to return one day to check it out. It definitely requires more planning as there are no vehicles allowed and you need to hire a guide to bring you in. Something for next time!
Tubing in Poza Los Coyotes
With our time in Costa Rica winding down, it was time to start heading back north. Our hotel manager told us about an alternate way to get back by taking a mountaintop pass to Sierpe. We had read about it but hadn't been able to find it on maps, so she was able to tell us where to find the turnoff. Costa Rica never fails to surprise us and the drive just gave us one more place to fall in love with, another favourite spot. It is so remote and so beautiful driving along the mountaintops with views every way you look - green, jungle, valleys, sight lines for miles out to the ocean. When we saw land for sale, we thought, "yes, we could live here" even though there is no civilization anywhere close. At the end, we found ourselves at a river and needed to board a small ferry to cross over to Sierpe. There we met and crossed with a couple from Germany who were having troubles with their vehicle and exchanged Osa stories.
Soon we were back to paved roads and had an ice cream break at a service station with some dinosaurs. Our next stop was Uvita, a somewhat touristy town but with smaller crowds. There were a couple of things we wanted to check out here. The first was Uvita Waterfall, where we spent a day swimming, sliding down natural falls, and watching some Tico guides doing stunts while cliff jumping.
The second was visiting Marino Bellana National Park with its famous whale tail beach. We were not lucky enough to spot any whales while there, but did hike our way out to the whale tail just before the tide started coming in. Because of the shape of the shoreline, the tide comes in from two directions and covers up the tail and we were able to wade through the waters as it was happening. We spent the rest of the day swimming, riding our boogie board, and Jon entertaining himself feeding hundreds of hermit crabs who apparently like spicy Takis chips.
We continued our journey north back to Junquillal and Guacamaya Lodge to enjoy a few last days of relax time and sunshine before it was time to head home. One last float in the pool, one last sunset at the ocean, one last banana split. And much sooner than we were ready, it was time to get on a plane back to the great white north. Never enough time in beautiful Costa Rica. Pura vida!
A hint of the view on our mountaintop drive to Sierpe
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