COSTA RICA – The Full Package & an Adventure of a Lifetime

We are a well-traveled family of 4, evident by hard to find fridge magnet real estate on our kitchen refrigerator. Personally I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited 24 countries up until Dec 2017, on both leisure & business, and we do 2-3 family vacations every year, typically one far flung or overseas destination coupled with a long drive somewhere the eastern region of North America, as we reside in New Jersey. In the recent years, we’ve vacationed in Italy, Switzerland, India, Alaska, Yellowstone, Acadia, French Canada, Utah, England, New Mexico, California, Florida, Mexico and several other short drives.

But eventually, it was a wonderful 10 days in Costa Rica over the holiday season that prompted me & my wife to start chronicling our vacations as a 2018 new year resolution.

Costa Rica is THE FULL PACKAGE, and often misunderstood to be yet another Caribbean “do nothing but soak in the sand & sun” destination. Quite the contrary. In these 10 days, we’ve ziplined over rain forest canopies at heights of 700 ft. and speeds of 70 miles/hr., we’ve hiked around an active volcano, we’ve visited rain & cloud forests (entirely different ecologies), rafted through beautiful forests, swam in pristine beaches, soaked in hot springs heated by volcanic lava and last but not least, marveled at the variety of animal species – from resplendent birds to reptiles that give you goosebumps to mammals that are unknown to any other part of the world. It is only when you experience all this does it sink in when someone says that this relatively small country is blessed with 2% of the entire world’s land species.

Yes, THIS is the real Costa Rica, and that’s not all. The food we’ve had over these days is clearly the best of any vacation, and the cheapest as well (my travel wallet app averages $71/day for the 4 of us, sans breakfast, but including drinks). Fruits like pineapple, guava, papaya never tasted anything like this, and perhaps will never be the same again. I am the sole vegetarian of the lot, and it was a feast for me every day. For the rest, the pollo (chicken) & fish fillets exceeded the expectation of their most discerning Indian palates.

The icing on the cake are the people of Costa Rica – super friendly, very helpful, proud yet humble, very eco-minded, high regard to cleanliness, generally happy epitomized by the hundred times we hear them say everyday PURA VIDA (translates to PURE LIFE and meaning enjoy life to the fullest) and these 2 words will be part of our daily parlance for some time for sure.

Where do I start? Best is to proceed in chronological order

We landed in San Jose, the capital and commercial hub, but just for a night stay. Most of the amazing places we visited are 3-5 hours driving distance from each other, and private transport is typically arranged by the hotel in advance. The roads can range from well paved highways to bumpy mountainside dirt roads, so we opted not to rent, though many overseas tourists rent cars.

Day 1, 2 & 3 – Manuel Antonio National Park, Savagre River & surrounding areas

Day 1 - The drive from San Jose to Manuel Antonio is 4-5 hours depending on how you pace it. We stopped on a bridge on the Tarcoles river to see Crocodiles below (very common to see tourists doing that), and then proceeded to Manuel Antonio (MA), through the party town of Jaco (pronounced Ha-Ko) where we had amazing Tacos & fruit drinks for lunch with our driver. Arrived at a resort just outside MA late afternoon, welcomed by a testy gang of spider monkeys, who made these amazing tree to tree jumps, maybe to show off. The MA region is on the Pacific coast, and our resort (Parador) was a diamond atop a hill with their infinity pool overlooking the pacific, so jumped into the pool to enjoy the sunset. We were soon joined by a Scarlet Macaw in close proximity, who seemed to like posing for pictures. We owe our entire gourmet experience in Costa Rica to TripAdvisor, so we took a Taxi back to the MA town, to a marvelous dinner at a “Top 5 TripAdvisor Cheat Eats” at a local favorite, Sanchos. Most of our meals were under $30, incl. drinks.

Fresh Coconut

Amazing Vegetarian Food

Fruit Drinks Never Tasted Better

Day 2 - We visited the main attraction, the Manuel Antonio National Park. Point to note is that everything starts early in Costa Rica and is done by 4pm (sunset by 5.30), so you need to start your day early as well. Our typical day was 5.30am-9pm, to make most of the day light. We didn’t reserve a guide earlier, but found a guide at the park entrance for $50 for the 4 of us. Most guides in CR are certified, and they carry a telescoping lens, and are amazing at spotting animals as little as a stick inset or a gecko, and they all collaborate very effectively to share information on sightings. We spotted many birds species, insects, reptiles, monkeys (white faced & howlers being the most common) and of course, a few sightings of the fabled sloth (it’s not even remotely the same species as the bear, so the sloth bear is a misnomer). Sloths are just fun to watch, especially as they move slowly over branches, and we also spotted one carrying a baby. The 2 hour guided trail ends at a beautiful isthmus, with beaches on either side, making for a nice swim and a barrage of pictures. Watch out of the sneaky raccoons, who are just so amazingly dexterous at opening zips of backpacks if they smell anything edible. Barring maybe energy bars, carrying any other food means constantly shooing away raccoons, who honestly don’t even get mildly intimidated, let alone scared. They just go about opening your backpacks even when you’re just a couple of feet away and gesticulating your best to ward them off. Back to the town for another sumptuous lunch (thank you, TripAdvisor), and a brief siesta back in the hotel. Later in the evening, a short trek so a wonderful beach where we rented Kayaks and went close enough to see dolphins swimming by some boats anchored to enjoy the sunset.

Manuel Antonio Beach

Kayak at Biesanz Beach

Day 3 – We had booked a full day whitewater rafting expedition (class II & III, since we are all novices), and were ready at 7am for pick-up at the hotel. Make sure to dress in swimsuits or dry fit, and one “totally worth it purchase” which helped me throughout the trip was a pair of $20 water shoes from Amazon, saving the agony of wet socks and sneakers. The river we were rafting was Savagre, and the adventure company was ADR (Amigos Del Rio), highly recommended on TripAdvisor. The 1.5 hour ride to the starting point was through some rough dirt roads, but spectacular views as we were climbing uphill. Very professional and safe – helmet, life vests, and a 15 minute instructions with Q&A on DOs and DONTs. My wife was very apprehensive of rafting, so it was comforting that we had the lead punter on our raft controlling it at the rear. Some amazing rapids over a 2-hour adventure down the Savagre river through beautiful forests. A snack break on a beach with a trail to a waterfall was the yummiest freshly cut Pineapple we’ve ever tasted. The trip concluded with a typical Costa Rican late lunch. Exhausting but an unforgettable day.

Whitewater Rafting on Savagre River

Day 4, 5 & 6 – The Monteverde Cloud Forest & surrounding areas

Day 4 – checked out late morning followed by a 4-hour drive to the hilly, windy Monteverde region. Rough terrain, and I couldn’t have done this drive by myself. Monteverde is famed for its Cloud Forests, which are a completely different ecology to the tropical forests of Manuel Antonio. It gets very windy, and the temperature is in the 60s to low 70s, so dress appropriately with light jackets for most of the day & night. Monteverde is also more rustic in its establishments, so we went from a 5-star tropical resort to a basic, somewhat rustic, mountain cabin with excellent views of the valley at the Rainbow Valley Lodge run by the very enterprising Christian, who along with his wonderful dogs, welcomed us to his “home”.

Rainbow Valley Lodge Chalet 

Day 5 - The highlight is the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which really should be only done with an experienced guide. Fortunately, I had contacted Oscar Castillo a month earlier and booked a private day tour of the reserve. Oscar is highly rated on TripAdvisor, so it was a smart move to lock him down a month in advance, especially given the crowded holiday period. Oscar is clearly the best. Period. He has an amazing eye for animals, very passionate about the forest, very knowledgeable on everything from birds to insects to reptiles to mammals. To top it, he has terrific equipment, and was able to use it to capture amazing close-ups on my iPhone (viewed through his telescopic lens). We spotted at least a dozen species of birds, including the spectacular Quetzal. He also spotted sloths, a baby viper, explained the inner workings of one of the largest leaf cutter ant colonies (quite amazing to hear how organized and efficient they operate their colonies with millions of inhabitants with everyone playing some role – from cleaning to getting food to guarding the colony & its most important citizen, the Queen. The 3 hours whizzed by and it was a “Oscar-encyclopedia”. We also walked on the famous “hanging bridges” with some spectacular views of the forest canopy.

Monteverde Cloud Forest with Oscar

The resplendent Quetzal

Toucanet

Yellow Throat Euphonia

Baltimore Oreo

A sumptuous lunch at Taco Taco (thank you again, TripAdvisor), and back to a short energy siesta at the lodge.

The evening thrill was the night walk of the jungle, at the Santa Maria Cloud Forest Reserve. They don’t allow you at night into the jungle (Duh! of course) without an experienced, certified guide, and once again, a pat on my back for advanced planning. I had booked Esteban, highly rated on TripAdvisor, a month in advance for a private tour of the jungle. We later had a debate on Oscar vs. Esteban and it was a toss-up. Esteban had the right equipment, incl. powerful flashlights for all of us, and he just had a keen eye for the nocturnal creatures – spotting dozens of bird species sleeping (amazing to hear & see how birds sleep at night), Tarantulas and even up close to a full grown Viper in an attack positon (they hunt rodents at night). Initially it was scary venturing into the jungle at night, especially when he tells you that while you eye one animal, a hundred animals eye you in the jungle, but we eventually felt very safe and savored every bit of it. It is so different at night, and it’s almost as if the forest comes alive at night transforming into something else.

Viper at Night Walk of the Jungle

Day 6 - Since our pickup to our next destination was at 2pm, we opted for a coffee tour in the AM. Costa Rica is famous for its coffee which is abundantly grown in the Monteverde region. There are many but we opted for the Cafe Monteverde coffee tour based on TripAdvisor reviews, which is a co-op of 20+ plantations. Their highlighting is not just that you experience picking coffee beans and understand how coffee is processed, but their focus on sustainability and maintaining ecological balance. If there is one thing that uniquely differentiates the people of Costa Rica, it’s their deep rooted appreciation for ecological balance and harmony with the environment. You see this in everyone, from tourism entrepreneurs to bus drivers to travel guides. Every house in every remote village in Costa Rica we traversed had recycle bins. 

Coffee Tour at Cafe Monteverde Plantations

Following a sumptuous lunch at Sabor Ticos, where we drank a local favorite (coconut based drink), we set off to our next leg, the Arenal Volcano region via a unique road-boat-road experience where we went on a ferry on the Arenal lake for part of the 3-hour trip.

Day 7, 8, 9 & 10 - The Arenal Volcano, Thermal Springs and Rainforest Region

View of Arenal Volcano from Arenal Lake Ferry

Day 7 - Everything in this region revolves around the Arenal Volcano, an active volcano with its last major eruption in 2010. The region is mostly a rainforest, so the guides say there are 2 seasons - wet and wetter. Here is where our ponchos and rain gear were put to good use. We started the morning with a hike up the 1968 lava trail (the largest eruption that resulted in over a hundred deaths and razed the village of Tabacon). Candidly, this can be done without a guide saving $200, though we booked one through the hotel. The ecology is again very different from Monteverde and Manuel Antonio, mostly around the richness of the rainforest vegetation. Post the 2-hour hike, lunch at La Fortuna town (a bustling tourist town) at the highly rated Red Frog Roaster restaurant. The highlight was the fruit drinks.

By stroke of luck we witnessed a Mamma sloth carrying a baby crossing the road, pretty much causing gridlock (yes, sloths move very slowly!). We managed to capture a short video. Try noticing the baby on her underbelly.

Relaxed evening at the Arenal Manoa Resort thermal pool with a nice swim up bar.

Day 8 -  We had booked a “day access + dinner buffet” at the acclaimed Tabacon Thermal Springs Resort, the only natural river thermal experience that flows directly from the volcano. Again, several weeks’ advance booking is highly recommended and it is quite an expensive affair but totally worth it. 

We also wanted to visit the La Fortuna waterfall, a tourist favorite, so we started early. The hike to the waterfall is 500+ steps, and you know that when you climb back up. But they are well paced with nice resting sitouts after every few flight of steps, so very doable if you allow time for the climb up. A spectacular waterfall where you can swim at the base, though it’s rocky with sometimes strong currents, so not to venture too far away from the “safe zones”

La Fortuna Waterfall

Following a $20 lunch at a local favorite (Soda La Hormigas) the highlight of the day was the Tabacon Thermal Springs, which is a very well organized Resort type setting with dozens of spots on the flowing river to soak it in. A truly fun family experience and well worth the high price. Dinner buffet was fabulous.

Tabacon Thermal River

Day 9 - SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST - ZIPLINE

When you mention Costa Rica, the top of mind recall defaults to Ziplines. Yes, this is the country that invented the Zipline for botanists to effectively study the forest canopy. There are hundreds of Ziplining experiences but the best one of all is Sky Trek@Arenal. Sold out several weeks in advance, so plan to book months in advance especially if you are traveling in the holiday season. We opted for the Trek, Tram and Zipline combo, which starts with a rainy hike through the rainforest (don’t complain about the incessant rain, after all it’s a rainforest!) over some of the highest hanging bridges (and they swing when you walk on them). Good hiking shoes and rain gear highly recommended as you will get wet and muddy. 

Then a tram-ride up the side of the volcano (it just keeps going higher and higher). Then the real fun begins. Following a short “training” run, you experience the thrill of a lifetime ziplining on 7 segments, including one called Big Mamma (700 ft. high, well above the forest canopy), and another called the Big Daddy (half mile long and reaching speeds of 70miles/hr.), and at one point, zipping through a “tree tunnel” at maximum velocity. What a thrill! Words cannot describe so I’ll say no more! 

Here is a video I captured with GoPro on my helmet.

https://youtu.be/yewrKc16MnU

Zipline

Day 10 - Depart Arenal for a 3-hour drive to Liberia Airport Hilton to spend the night before the flight back to Newark. Liberia is the main city in the Guanacaste region in the Pacific Northwest which is relatively dryer than Arenal. It’s amazing how the climate is so vastly different between locations just a couple dozen miles from each other. Since we had the afternoon and evening on New Year’s Eve, we headed for the touristy Coco beach for food and some heavy duty souvenir shopping. Since we were way over budget, we traveled the local buses which are comfortable and clean ($2 for a 30min drive from Liberia to Coco Beach, otherwise $50 by Taxi)

We departed from Liberia Airport the next day to Newark with wonderful memories to savor for a lifetime.