Day 6 in Costa Rica

Monteverde to Arenal

By Taxi / Boat / Taxi

The road between Monteverde and Arenal is a bumpy road with pot holes and not in good condition. Due to the mountainous terrain, there is no direct route. Drive on this road needs a 4×4 vehicle and It takes more than 5 hours to reach if you go via Tiloran.  We took the option of Taxi/Boat/Taxi between Monteverde and La Fortuna. This mode of transportation involves taking two taxi rides and one boat trip across Lake Arenal. This is a quick and scenic three-hour trip that can go either way between the destinations.

The first leg of the journey — from Monteverde to Lake Arenal — is a 1.5-hour drive. Then board a comfortably equipped boat and cross the lake in 40 minutes. Finally, will be taxied to La Fortuna, which takes about 30 minutes.

There are kids that help carry your bags to the boat for small tips. If you want to carry your self,  it is a down hill muddy walk to the boat and then up hill to the road near La Fortuna.

One of the top hot springs resort that I heard good is “Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort”. Most crowd seems to go to Baldi Hot Springs as well.

We booked our stay at Los Lagos in La Fortuna. Los Lagos Hotel spa and resort  has Natural Hot springs, Horse riding, Zip lining lot of birds, hike to Arenal Volcano vantage point (observatory) , Crocodile farm and view to Arenal Volcano. You can book the food inclusive option as well here. But we went to down town one evening and we picked up some sand witches one day and explored out side food.

I am in love with heliconia in Costa Rica. So colorful and attractive.

There is Crocodile farm, Rainforest Ants, Frog farm, and Butterfly Garden right next to our room.

We at least order one Casado on every meal..

Hike to Arenal Volcano vantage point (observatory) and relaxing in hot springs after the hike.

Dinner at down town La Fortuna Pizza place.

Day 7 in Costa Rica

Right outside the room we have so many variety of birds in the morning.

We booked day trip today with 4 in 1  – Mistico Hanging Bridges , La Fortuna Water Fall , Arenal Volcano Hike, and Baldi hot Springs

First stop at Hanging bridges.

Right at the entrance there was sloth sitting on a tree. A few mins stop to take pictures and then walk on the hanging bridges inside the tropical rain forest. There are 16 Bridges and Waterfall to walk. Total of 3.2 kn walk on those bridges and around. Each bridge has a unique name like, Keel-billed toucon bridge, Pilon Tree bridge, waterfall bridge and etc.,

Second stop to La Fortuna Water fall

La Fortuna Waterfall is about 70 meters high water fall, which reflect the magnificent power of Mother Nature. You will have to go down and back up 480 natural steps to the water fall. It’s about 2 hours going back and fourth and spending time there. La Fortuna waterfall entrance fee is $15 for adult foreigners, $5 for children. Hours of operation are 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, open every day. They have a big parking lot and there are bathrooms, a small cafe and souvenir store at the entrance. You can swim in the. small area little away from the falls.

Our guided tour was good in the rain forest and during the drive. They know very well where the birds, sloths and animals are there. He stopped the vehicles along the side of the road and started seeing one tree and there was sloth sitting in there. Not sure how they know, experience.

3rd stop Lunch

Lunch stop at authentic Costa Rican restaurant with tour members..

4th stop at the Valcano Hike :

No trip to Costa Rica would be complete without a visit to the Arenal Volcano. This Volcano is active since 1968, but now it is dormant. We were lucky for few mins as the clouds cleared up and able to see the top of the volcano.

Exploring hike to Volcano with different types flora and rocks along the way.

5th stop Baldi hot springs

By evening we are tired and waiting to relax. This is the perfect way to relax. There are so many pools with different temperatures. It was refreshing and relaxing to sit in hot water springs. We even had buffet dinner at the restaurant there.

Very active, energetic, relaxing and refreshing day.

Day 8 in Costa Rica

It’s our free day in Arenal. We decided to do Zip lining and Horse back riding in the resort we are staying (Los Lagos). After completing zip line we picked up sand witches from the restaurant and went to horse back ride. In the middle of the ride there was big rain. They were well prepared with rain covers for each person on the horse. Fun riding in the rain up and down the mountain.

Day 9 in Costa Rica

Drive from Arenal to SJO – 8AM to 11:30AM

Back to home from San Jose, Costa Rica to San Jose , California.

So much fun in these 9 days in Costa Rica. We loved it. No wonder it is in the top vacation spots. Costa Rica has beaches, volcanoes, rain forests and biodiversity. Plenty of animals and natural habitats to explore.  Food is tasty and awesome. I would recommend if you are a food lover, you will love the fresh smoothies, plenty of variety of Raw banana dishes (Breakfast, Lunch and dinner),  a typical Costa Rica Food in Banana leaf (Casado) , Fried rice with Chicken, sea food and vegetables and tasty fish.

Very nice people. Well organized tours and trips.

Travel Date : 12/23/16 to 12/26/16

¡Pura Vida!

Day 4 in Costa Rica

Drake bay to San Jose, Costa Rica

Fun ride in a small flight and small run away, where the pilot puts his hand outside the window…Adventure ride…

San Jose (SJO) to Monteverde

Right outside the airport we had our Taxi driver waiting to take us to Monteverde. Travel communication and arrangements were wonderful and perfect. People in Costa Rica were very nice.

We stopped for Lunch at the Butterfly restaurant. We sat outside where butterflies were flying freely.

Drive through the mountains…

We reached Monteverde and checked in to Hotel Ficus. From hotel room we can see the ocean. It was raining almost the whole time. We put on our rain jackets and started walking. It felt like a hilly station with clouds around us. We enjoy eating and delicious local food. So we went to a restaurant called Morpho’s. There also they have butterfly garden. But in the night it was closed.  Banana trees and Coffee plants every where along the road side while walking.

Day 5 in Costa Rica

Rainy day in Monteverde. Even though it was raining, it was not that cold.

We reserved the tour for Selvatura Suspension bridges, Butterfly garden and humming bird garden from 8:30 to 11:30AM. Selvatura has bus ride from the hotel. We took that bus and went to that place.

First stop at Humming bird garden…

Rain forest walk through hanging bridges.

Finally Butterfly garden…

They had zip lining through rain forest. It was raining right at the moment we finished our tour and huge wait time for zip lining. We planned our zip lining in Arenal. So we took the bus back to hotel after we are done.

Walked to town for lunch at cafe.

Booked El Trapiche Coffee tour for the afternoon. Kids loved this tour. They enjoyed seeing how coffee is made from beans. How chocolates are made from Cocoa. A ride on the Bullock cart, Plucking the coffee beans , preparing chocolate and at the kids even prepared sweet candy from the sugar cane.

Dinner time at the down town restaurant. Now we are fans of Casada and chicken rice.

Day 6 in Costa Rica

There is no day with out fresh fruits in the breakfast. Sweetened raw Banana is a special costa rican food that is present in every meal we had.

Here we go from Monteverde to Arenal…

Our First Day , Day 1

We reached San Jose, Costa Rica from San Jose , California. When we came out of the airport, so many people waiting for their pick ups outside. Our pick up was from anywhere.com. Looking out of the flight the first impressions were so good. We can see so many water bodies flowing across the land with so much greenery.

We started from San Jose airport to Manuel Antonio. Driver stopped near the bridge and we walked on the bridge to see the crocodiles lying under the bridge. We were excited to see so many of them in their natural habitats. There was fruit shop there and we tasted Passion fruit for the first time. The shop owner showed us how to eat that fruit. Fruit juices were so refreshing.

Next stop for late lunch at Bowie’s Pointe restaurant, Jaco. Order took long time to be done, but food was tasty. Kids enjoyed it. It was a beach side restaurant. So we walked around while we were waiting for food.

There were few Surfers doing surfing and kids playing in the beach. Seems like this is a good spot for surf lessons and surfing. This beach has a stack of surf boards as icon. Beautiful views of sun set and heliconias.

Drive from SJO to San Bada hotel in Manuel Antonio was 3 hr and 45 mins. With couple of stops and food stop, we reached in the evening and checked in to hotel. Hotel lobbies were decorated with Christmas lights. This hotel is right next to Manuel Antonio national park. There were Papaya plants and monkeys right in front of the hotel room. There was birds sounds in the night and morning. Nature at it’s best.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Already kids were fans of the Chicken fried rice (Arroz con Pollo) and fresh fruits. We noticed every one orders fresh fruit smoothies along with the food.

Very refreshing, and welcoming day for us.

Day 2

Good morning. Breakfast at the hotel and some exploring around Manuel Antonio.

Morning views

Drive from Sierpe to Águila de Osa

We were supposed to go to Palmar sur airport, but the air port was under construction or the date we were going was not open. So we went to Sierpe and an hour long boat ride to hotel. On the way back we booked flight from Drake bay air port to SJO. Drake bay air port is 15 min taxi drive and another 15 min boat ride from Aguila de Osa.

We took Taxi from Manuel Antonio to Sierpe, was estimated to be 2 hours. We reached an hour early to the Sierpe boat dock area. This is where we get pick up to Aguila de Osa. Drive from Manuel Antonio was along the farms and trees.

During the boat ride we passed through Mangrove Trees, some birds and we even saw Crocodiles . Boat passed through ocean for some portion to reach the hotel.

Birds

Águila de Osa

Aguila de Osa located in Osa peninsula. It’s an Rainforest & Marine Adventure Lodge in Osa. An amazing eco lodge set in a beautiful location, reachable by boat. Beautiful views from the rooms and dinning room.  Plenty of natural plants and animals with in the lodge. Very tasty food served per your order. Most of the vegetables are grown at the lodge. Knowledgeable guides that gave us day tours and night tours. They even packed us food for our tours. For the stay in Aguila de Osa, we booked all inclusive breakfast, lunch , snack and dinner.

Every day evening there is gathering with snack time. We get to try different food.

One observation in the lodge they use bats as mosquito repellents in the lodge…:)

Photographers paradise for taking pictures. So many variety of plants and flowers with in the hotel surroundings.

Spent evening with Kayaking, walking on the hanging bridge, swim in the private beach and fun time in beach.

4 Course dinner served at the table in Great room with all the guests.

Sleep with natural sounds from Bats and birds.

Day 3

We reserved Corcovado National Park tour and hike today. Tour starts at 6:30AM in the morning. We had fresh breakfast at the hotel before starting.

Corcovado National Park

Map of the Osa Penninsula – trails shown as dashed tan lines

Courtesy of the map : costa-rica-guide.com

The Osa conservation area administrative headquarters just east of Puerto Jiménez next to the landing strip. Park contact information – Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to noon, and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., phone 2735-5036 -or- 2735-5580, fax 2735-5276).

From Drake Bay  11 miles (18 km) to the north there is an entry to the park at San Pedrillo Ranger station. During the morning it was high tide, boat stopped  very close to San Pedrillo ranger station. By afternoon, it was low tide and we had to walk towards to the deeper water to get in to boat. There was crocodile in the beach while we were at the ranger station in the afternoon. Another ranger station is at the Sirena along the beach side.

We got to explore the rain forest adjacent to San Pedrillo, Corcovado National Park’s northernmost ranger station. From the hotel, it took about 25-minute boat ride along the west coast of the Osa. After the wet landing at the station (boats go in stern first and dropped us a few feet from the beach), we hiked inside the deep rain forest.  We were expected to see some white-faced, spider and howler monkeys, white-lipped peccaries, scarlet macaws, coati, and countless other birds and insects. We were luckily to see the Tapir, White-nosed coaties, Spider Monkey, Eagle egg , birds and some insects.

There were coconuts plants coming out of the coconuts on floor. Monkeys drank the coconut water and throw then on the ground and eventually plants are coming out of those.

Our guide showed some plant which we can eat inside.

Picnic Lunch at the ranger station. Our guide setup this lunch after a long hike in the morning.

“There are numerous river crossings on the hikes in Corcovado. Inland, the greatest danger is losing the trail on the other side, or during the rainy season being upended and bruised on the rocks (the water can be waist deep). Along the coast most fords must be at low tide (tide tables are posted at the ranger stations and most lodgings in Puerto Jiménez). Both crocodiles and hammerhead sharks patrol the waters of the estuaries of the Ríos Claro and Sirena. Cross at the shallowest point, as far upstream as possible.”

We went to an afternoon hike to a beautiful waterfall. Along the way to the falls our guide pointed out more diverse flora and fauna. The waterfalls were perfect to relax. We spent some time to swim in the cool fresh water.

Long day hike ended with a relaxing swim in the fresh water falls. We came back to the hotel in the boat after our trip.

Evening fun near the room

Kids want to do one more round of kayaking. There were so much fun near our room when we get back. Monkeys stealing fruits and jumping on the roof.

After that we had a nice walk around the area.

Refreshing dinner in the lodge after all the walking today.

Night Crawlers

We took a guided tour of the Night crawlers. We walked with head lights and it was really creepy and dangerous. Some places we were very close to cliff. Thank God it was a guided tour.

Day 4

Good morning  and fresh start of the day.

Travel Dates : 12/18/16 to 12/21/16