Costa Rica is the best country in Central America for my kind of sightseeing - nature and hiking. It is also the most expensive - prices are comparable to the US, depending on the season. January is the best time to visit - right after the torrential rains (200 inches per year) have stopped, everything is lush green and weather is pleasant. We spent ten days (Jan 1 to Jan 10) driving around the country, logging 1000 km / 600 miles. We came within 50 miles of north border to Nicaragua and less in the south to Panama.
- Thu Jan 1, 2015 - But first, we had to get there from Cancun, Mexico (CUN) to San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) - about 800 miles on a 2:20 hour non-stop direct flight. Instead, United insisted on bringing us back to Houston - Gate E16, go through the entire immigration process as a returning international passenger, turn right back to the adjacent gate E15 to catch the next nonstop flight to SJO - 2400 miles and 8 hours later (7 am-3:12 PM). Thankfully, we didn't have any checked in luggage. One way to spend New Year's.
- Luckily, we were upgraded to First Class on both flights to make the 2 1/2 and 3/1/2 hour flights (not to mention the wait at IAH at United Club) much more comfortable. Scone on the first flight, lunch on second. After quick immigration check out, we were at the rental counter at 3:20 PM. Then it took an hour to process the rental paperwork.
- Finally, we left in our Suzuki 4X4 to Poas. Small roads, parked cars, people and potholes on the street took us an hour to go 20 km.
- Because Poas is frequently covered in fog after 10 am, our plan was to spend the first night close to the entrance of Poas Volcano National Park, and get to the park at 8 am when it opens. After that we could stop by our Hotel for breakfast before moving on to Mount Arenal and Monte Verde for the following evening. - The hotel (El Churrasco Hotel y Restaurante) is conveniently located at the turn off to the park off Hwy 120, only 10 km to the top. When we reached the hotel, it was clear around us, but foggy further up. The small restaurant was popular. Hotel had 3 small cabins in the back, and 4 regular - rather large - hotel rooms on the second floor. We had excellent dinner at the restaurant and retired to our room upstairs.
- The entire night howling winds kept us awake. It sounded like pounding rain, but it wasn't - mere drizzle from time to time. It was foggy when we woke up. Web Cam at the Caldera on top of Poas Volcano showed nothing but fog - no caldera. There would be no point in going to the top unless the fog clears.
- Fri Jan 2 - We decided to wait in the hotel, have breakfast when they opened at 8 am and then decide what to do next. Fog was clearing up at the hotel, but the next wave would roll back in. It remained foggy on top. Finally, we decided to move on - and possibly return to Poas on the last day.
- We had quite a drive ahead of us - all on two lane roads passing through local towns. Our GPS maps were lifesavers - we didn't get lost along the way.
- First up, within a few miles, we came up to the lower La Paz waterfalls where they cross Hwy 126 - there are several others in the upper portion if you wish to visit. We continued on to Mt Arenal with high hopes of at least getting close to it, if not hike. Although we were less than 5 km away, we could barely see the base of Mount Arenal. We hoped that we may be able to view it from a distance later - but no luck. Monte Verde is not too far from Arenal Volcano, but on the other side of the rain forest. We had to drive almost the entire length of Lake Arenal on Hwy 142 and then turn south to Monte Verde. This last 36 km from Tileran were the most challenging - the road was in such disrepair that we were barely able to avoid potholes. After a long time (nearly 3 hours), we reached our hotel (Cabinas El Pueblo Bed & breakfast) where we were welcome by a low rainbow over the town.
- We were in Room 2. Chatted with neighbors (from Canada and PA) to get the lay of the land. Had lunch at a nearby restaurant.
- The best part - and the only activity today - was the 2 hour night hike (6-8 PM, $23 pp.) We were picked up from the hotel and taken a few miles north to a private reserve for the hike. In a rather large group, we followed the guide showing mostly asleep wildlife using bright floodlight. Apparently, certain kind of light doesn't disturb the sleeping animals - no matter how bright. We were able to see a sloth, many (rainbow/green) toucans, Eyelash Viper/Green Viper snakes, frogs, hummingbird, bat, white nosed coatis, to name a few. - Next morning (Sat Jan 3), we visited the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest. Naturally, it was cloudy the entire time and fairly quiet. There were many hikes and we selected one to La Ventana view point. No wildlife, no vista point, only waterfall today. After a couple of hours of hiking (7:15 - 9:45), we drove on to San Gerardo de Dota via San Jose. The road was only slightly better than yesterday until we got on the main highway. Then first going south (Hwy 131) and then east to San Jose (Hwy 3), and once again south past San Jose (Hwy 2 - part of the Pan American Highway system), we reached Los Quetzales National Park. A non-descript dirt road just past on the right brought us to Trogon Lodge. The Lodge is about 7000 feet above sea level. There are no mosquitoes this high up, and weather is cool/cold at all times. The highest peak around is Paroma at 10,800 feet.
- This resort had rooms on the hillside - our upgraded room being almost at the top. After checking in, someone helped carry our luggage to the room. WiFi was available in the main lobby but not in the room. We inquired about their guided tours, but nothing worked out to our satisfaction. Nice facility, service, landscaping - a true resort. Had dinner at the hotel. - Sun Jan 4 - Instead, we decided to go on our own. First up, we drove up to Los Quetzales National Park hoping to see the famous Quetzals, but we were told that there are NONE in the park named after them. The park ranger knew someone (her brother?) who could take us someplace where you can see Quetzals for sure. She asked us to come back at 1:30 PM ($17 pp.). Two others were also interested. We then drove further south on Hwy 2 to its highest point - Paramo - for panoramic views of the Chirripo National park and surrounds. Later we returned to the Los Quetzales National Park and followed the guide Michael in our own cars few miles further north (9°40'38.5"N 83°53'14.2"W.) A big tour bus followed us. A short dirt road dead ended in to someone's property, who for a small fee, let tourists like us walk around on his avocado grove where a family of Quetzals live. They were flying around, and giving us a chance to take pictures. Even better through our guide's spotting scope. We returned to the Lodge, drove further down in to town (San Gerardo de Dota) for dinner at a restaurant recommended (and owned?) by the Lodge Cafe Kahawa (Coffee in African.)
- Mon Jan 5 - Woke up early and went for a hike to waterfall and 1 km loop on the property. After breakfast, left at 8:45 am going South. Paramo was all fogged up today. We drove to Sierpe via Playa Dominical and other beaches. After spending an hour at Playa Hermosa, reached our hotel in Sierpe around 1 PM. Had trouble finding the place because the map was wrong.
- Sierpe mangroves on Rio Sierpe are famous for night boat rides. We had a good experience with the night walk in Monteverde, and were expecting the same here. We had reached early though. So after having lunch, we waited until about 4 PM before the guide would agree to take us on a private boat tour (4-7 PM, $50 pp)- Right off the bat, we saw a tree boa slither out of his molten skin (which I have as a souvenir.) We also saw caimans, and lots of birds before sunset (macaws, eagles, herons, egrets, Ibis, hawks, laughing falcons, parakeet, woodpecker, green parrots, and bats - to name a few.) The night part lasted too long without much success.
- For the night, we had dinner at the same restaurant and stayed at Hotel Veragua River House just on the other side of the river, 4 km away. - Tue Jan 6- A six hour including boat ride from Sierpe to Drake Bay and Corcovado National Park ($100 pp) about 50 miles away was another satisfying experience - the day was nice, water calm, and plenty of wildlife. We left at 7:30 am and reached park entrance at 10 am.
- All four types of monkeys of Costa Rica are supposedly found here - we saw squirrel monkeys and capuchin monkeys in Manuel Antonio later. Here, we saw several spider monkeys with babies, as well as howler monkeys.
- A nice hike up to and past the visitor center allowed us to view pigs, tepir, spiders, macaws in flight, owl, butterflies, anteater, chickens, crocodile, red Curaçao birds, Tiger-faced Crabs. After lunch at 1:30 PM, we started back at 2 PM and returned by 4:30 PM. On the way back, we saw mating black turtles with a third one waiting, and also a mother dolphin with a young one. At the splashing water hole, we also saw a brown boobie.
- We had 3 days in Sierpe, but there was nothing to do so we decided to move on to Manuel Antonio a day earlier. - Wed Jan 7 - This morning we drove to Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park and reached at 11 am. Our hotel El Faro Beach Hotel was mere steps away from the park entrance, but we were told that it was sold out for today (our reservation was from tomorrow - 2 nights for $200.). After repeated requests, they "found" one room that was otherwise fine but the sink needed a repair. We accepted it and it worked out fine. Today, we planned to - and did - spend much of the time on the beach during the day and around sunset, walking around in town. Then stayed in the pool until 11 PM. We also arranged for a guide to give us a tour next day of the park. Because of the location of the hotel, the car was parked at the bottom, and we had to climb up to our room.
- Thu Jan 8 - The tour guide arrived on time and we entered the park around 8 am. After giving us a guided tour of Manuel Antonio Park for a couple of hours, we had free time to visit secluded beaches inside the park, hike to the rain forest or whatever we liked until the park closed at 4 PM. We saw plenty of sloths, lots of white faced capuchin monkeys, frogs, spiders, iguanas, many butterflies, grasshoppers, porcupine, coatis, bats, lizards, crabs and squirrel monkeys in town. Each park has been different so far.
- Watched the sunset again, had dinner and swam for an hour to end the day. - Fri Jan 9 - Continuing north on Hwy 34 back towards San Jose, we reached Carara NP about 1 1/2 hours later. This park is less popular, but has well developed trails that can be completed in about 2 hours (9:45-12:15.) We were told to look for Macaws nesting in the tree just past the first metal bridge about a mile away. Sure enough, there were other people already taking pictures as the birds took turns to fly out for food. As they were flying around, their screeching sound resonated throughout the jungle. We had seen them in flight in Corcovado. Other usual suspects - iguana, lizard, green frogs, hummingbirds, ants, spiders - were there too. Northern boundary of the park is River Tarcoles about mile or two north of park entrance. As we drove to the bridge on the river, cars were parked on either side. People were walking on the bridge taking pictures of dozens of caimans lounging around in the sun on the riverbanks.
- We drove a couple of hours north to Paraiso Tropical Inn, Alajuela, Costa Rica just (4 km) north of the SJO airport. Large property with owner's residence in front and row of rooms in the back surrounded by trees. The owner spoke fluent English and was really trying hard for me to invest in a real estate in Costa Rica.
- We saw Poas Volcano from the backyard. It was clear today - hope it stays that way for tomorrow. - Sat Jan 10 - We had a 4 PM flight back to SFO tonight. Our plan was to drive to Poas Volcano early morning about half an hour north. That day, the morning was mostly clear. Just a few miles before the park entrance, the road was closed due to an accident with no estimated time to open. It was around the curve so we couldn't even see where the accident was or how bad it was. After some time, when we saw cars ahead of us turning around and going back, we followed. Poas would have to wait for some other day.
- We drove to SJO airport, returned the rental car and and waited for our flight back to SFO (4:07 PM-11:42 PM) with a short layover in Houston (IAH.) We made it back on time to catch the last BART train at 11:54 PM.
- In case we were to miss the last train, I had booked a rental car for one day - thankfully, it wasn't needed.
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