April 11, 2012
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Pura Vida! We are back from an 8 day vacation to Costa Rica! It was SO much fun, and I was impressed by how well the kids travelled. We went as a late celebration for James’ 40th birthday (in January) so we focused the activities on what we wanted to do rather than the kids. My sister Alice and her friend Kathryn joined us, which was great. They are super flexible travellers and really good at entertaining the kids. It was all of our first time visiting Central America.
Day 1: Travel day … a 3 leg flight, followed by 1 piece of lost luggage, and some trouble finding our transfer to the hotel. My cough attacks were pretty bad in San Jose due to the pollution. Vacation started off a little rough, but it was all uphill from there! We stayed at Trapp Family Country Inn in Alajuena, a few minutes from San Jose airport. Alice and Katheryn got there earlier and had time for a swim and dinner before we arrived. As we got there late, we pretty much went straight to bed. The next morning, we had a breakfast of traditional rice/beans/cilantro, fruit, scrambled eggs, and toast. The pineapple in Costa Rica is SO good! All the hotels we stayed at included breakfast, which was nice.
Day 2: To La Fortuna! After breakfast, we got into the Desafio (tour company I used to plan this trip) van and headed to La Fortuna, about a 3 hour trip through winding streets. (Note: If you are prone to motion sickness, you may want to take a Dramamine) Since the piece of lost luggage was my/Calie’s clothes … I borrowed from Alice, and Calie borrowed from Zachary. In terms of having to lose 1 out of 3 suitcases, we lost the right one. It would have been a much bigger issue if James or Zach’s luggage went missing. We stayed at Hotel Los Lagos, which was a great resort at the base of the Arenal volcano.
The Los Lagos resort had a butterfly farm, an enclosed area with turtles and a few crocodiles, a greenhouse with frogs, and an area where you could see leaf cutter ants at work (which sounds kind of boring but was actually the most fascinating.) Lizards were everywhere, but often camouflaged, and the kids had fun trying to spot them.
The resort also had multiple pools, 3 slides (recklessly fast = more fun), and a few hot springs which were heated by the volcano. I noticed that there were no signs/warnings about who could use the hot springs, and there was no one at the top of the water slide monitoring when the next person could go. You had to use common sense, rather than follow rules.
In the late afternoon, we went on a guided hike near the base of the volcano and got to experience walking through a rainforest. It was very green and lush, and we spotted a parrot eating guava on a tree. Since we didn’t have a car, we had dinner at the resort, which ran us around $15 per entree. Typical Costa Rican food isn’t my favorite … rice, beans, salad, fried plantains. Meh. And poor Alice, who can’t stand cilantro – it was in almost everything!
Day 3:Bright and early, after a hotel breakfast buffet at 6:30am, we took a van to the Arenal Hanging Bridges (Arenal Volcano National Park). We had a private guide take us on a 2 mile hike through the rainforest across hanging bridges. You definitely can’t be afraid of heights! We saw howler monkeys, spider monkeys (including a baby), lots of coatis, a pit viper, and a blue jean frog. After the hike, Desafio tour company laid out an impressive spread of drinks (water, juice, Imperial beer) and fruit (mango, pineapple, watermelon) for us.
Then we headed to Tabacon Hot Springs (day pass for $60pp), which was amazing. I was bracing for crowds, but with their sheer number of pools and waterfalls, it actually felt empty at times. Based on reviews I’ve read, we opted to skip their pricey buffet and eat at the pool bar. There were scattered tropical showers late afternoon, which made it very hard to leave the warm water. We spent ~6 hours at the resort!
Day 4: James, Alice, and Kathryn went canyoneering, where they rappelled down 4 tropical waterfalls and hiked to a canyon. It was one of the best adventures (according to them, as I was watching the kids back at the resort).
Back at the hotel, I took the kids to see the animals again and spent the day at the pools. Los Lagos also had some thermal pools – not as nice as Tabacon, but no complaints here! After lunch, James, Alice, and Kathryn joined us poolside.
In the evening, we took a hike up towards the volcano, where there was a small version of hanging bridges to a tree top platform. We hiked until it got dark and then ran back down the hill – it was actually kind of scary since it was so dark And sadly, I was OOS (out of shape) since my legs were sore afterwards.
Day 5: It was time to leave La Fortuna and head to Monteverde! It was James’ turn to take the kids … Alice, Kathryn, and I took a short boat ride across Lake Arenal for horseback riding. It all seemed very suspicious, as we had to get on a boat with some guy we didn’t know and didn’t have any tour company shirt on. And then we were delivered to another random guy who took us through some brush. I thought,”If we don’t see horses in 5 minutes, I’m going to run.” But we did.
I was expecting a slow, single file horseback ride like the tours I’ve had in the States. Nope, these horses would break out in trots and try to lead the pack. Alice’s horse went off the trail a few times. We all seriously thought there was a chance of falling off, and were laughing like crazy when the horses started “stampeding”. So much fun! We took a break halfway through the ride at a farm for fresh pineapple. Pineapples in Costa Rica are the best I’ve ever tasted … so sweet and juicy. Yum!
After 3 hours of horseback riding (butt = ouch!), we met James and the kids in a van and were driven the rest of the way to Monteverde. Monteverde is a VERY small town. We stayed at the Rustic Lodge and walked into town … literally a 10 min walk on part sidewalk, part street, and dirt road … for groceries and meals. The day we arrived, we ate at The Treehouse restaurant. The food was really good – highly recommend their salads, and James thought their chicken sandwich was pretty terrific too. Only complaint would be the excess of mayonnaise, which seems very popular in Costa Rica. The owner of Rustic Lodge (Jose) was super nice … he made fresh squeezed lemonade for us when we checked in. We spotted a sloth (!) right outside Alice and Kathryn’s room.
There were tables outside and in the common dining area, so we ended the day playing games.
Day 6: HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY ZACHARY! For his birthday, James, Alice, Kathryn, and Zach went zip lining. This was the highlight of Zachary’s trip. He’s not a very expressive kid, but James said he had a smile on his face the whole time … and was laughing during the Tarzan swing. As a parent, there’s not much more joy than seeing your child so happy. The zip line adventure was crowded, so it felt a bit impersonal, but it was still a neat experience. If you can do both, obviously do both … but in case you’re limited in time or money, Alice, Kathryn, and James all agreed canyoneering was more fun.
Back at the lodge, I took Calie into town (dodging stray dogs) for ice cream. We walked around and bought some snacks. After the rest of the group got back from zip lining, we headed to Morphos for an early dinner. Morphos was recommended by the receptionist at Rustic Lodge and also Frommer’s. While Kathryn thought her sea bass dish was one of the best entrees in Costa Rica, I was pretty disappointed in the salad and vegetables. I prefered The Treehouse. We were a bit rushed, as Kathryn and Alice scheduled massages back at the Lodge ($45/hr). After they left, James and I took the kids to Orchids coffee house for cookies, cake, 2 brownies, and coffee to celebrate Zachary’s birthday. On the way there, we saw a parade since it was Holy Week. We ended the day playing games in the common area, eating snacks, and sipping on mint tea and hot chocolate that Jose made for us – such hospitality!
Day 7: Our last full day was our free day … so of course, we had to fill it with activities, right? I started the day off right with a 7am massage. We went on the El Trapiche Coffee Tour. It exceeded expectations, and I felt totally worth the $23pp. Transportation was provided, and was a very short ride from our lodge. We saw how coffee was planted and got to taste the raw beans from the plant (sweet). The guide was quite knowledgable and explained the different qualities of coffee beans. We then headed to see how machines peeled, sorted, and roasted the beans. For such simple, crude machines, they were surprisingly effective.
We also saw a sloth, and the kids rode in an ox cart! The tour also included a stop at a tilapia pond, and we saw banana, plantain, papaya, pineapple, arracache (root vegetable) and sugar cane plants. We tried pure sugar cane, and saw how the sugar water was extracted. There were also mimosa pudica (the “shy plant” that closes up when touched) along the side of the trail. On a previous hike, some older kids closed all the plants’ leaves and Calie didnt’ get a chance. As soon as Zach saw the same plant, he quickly said to the rest of us,”Don’t touch anymore”, yelled “Come here Calie, hurry!”, and ran to bring her to the plants. I don’t know why, but that was endearing to me.
The kids got to make candy using the sugar cane water that was extracted. It was boiled until it was a tan color and mixed with your choice of coconut, chocolate, and/or peanuts. They also demo’d how brown sugar was made – it tasted like pumpkin pie! We ended the tour in a big clean kitchen with picnic tables. We enjoyed a cup of their coffee and lemonade sweetened with brown sugar, as well as a delicious minced arracache wrapped in fresh corn tortilla. The tour ran about 2 hours and was definitely both educational and fun.
For late lunch/dinner (we tend to eat 2 meals in Costa Rica since the breakfasts are so big), we had pizza, spaghetti, and fruit smoothies. It was quite a good meal, as I love super thin pizza … and the fruit smoothies were pure fruit with no sugar or juice, for under $2!
In the evening, we went on a night hike through Hidden Valley Trail. We followed a guide in the pitch black with flashlights. We did see a porcupine in a tree and a sloth, but otherwise it was just bugs. There were a few night hike companies, and I wonder if there would have been more to see if we went with a different tour. Oh well. At least we saw a tarantula up close! ~shudder!~
Day 8: Time to head home! What a long day. We got up late (8am is late for us now, as we were used to ~7am tour pick ups), and took a 3.5 hour van ride back to San Jose airport. And then it was 2 legs (including a stop at customs) back home. By the time we got home from the airport, it was close to 1am. And then? Rise and shine the next morning to run a department meeting … followed by Happy Hour at Chicago Fire, and a grocery run. Next time, I’m going to take a day off from work to get the household in order (and sleep in) after vacation! I have no idea what I was thinking planning a department meeting the day after getting back – I even ran 20 minutes over because I was so delirious, I think I was talking in circles. That said, for as long as I am able, I plan to work hard and play hard. There are just so many places I want to go and things I want to do/accomplish.
Comments (1)
That’s a lot for one post.