TORTUGUERO TAMARINDO ARENAL MONTEZUMA JACO ZANCUDO
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Sandra and I visited Costa Rica in 2011 from January 28 - March 25 and this is what we did and what we thought of it. We had reservations for all accommodations for the first month, but did not reserve anything for the second month. We left March wide open so we could revisit places we went to in February if we wanted, or to explore new places we might have heard about during our February travels. This isn't everyone's style of travel, but it worked out great for us. This was my fourth time to CR, and my second time to CR with Sandra, so we were both experienced CR travellers. Sandra has virtually no Spanish and I have very limited Espanol malo but this was never a barrier and we always got what we needed using my terrible Spanish and a Tico's limited English. Driving directions were not needed this time round because we had a Garmin Nuvi GPS with CR map from navsatcr.com which performed flawlessly.
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This was our second, third and fourth time to Arenal. We came here after Tortuguero. It's a beautiful drive from Alajuela/San Jose to La Fortuna. Watching modern life slowly giving way to a more rural lifestyle, until you get to San Ramon then it gets all modern again, then you leave San Ramon for a drive through the mountains in farm country. This is one of the roads that you don't drive at night. Some people say it gets foggy on this road, but you are actually driving through a CLOUD! Amazing to me since I was born and raised in Bermuda, at sea level. There are plenty of opportunities for a gringo driving at night to miss a sharp turn and plunge off the hillside into a deep valley. Even more opportunity for this to happen if it's nighttime and cloudy. We stay at Vista Del Cerro because the price is right and the location is right. It isn't sold as a B&B, but it is one. Breakfast at the soda next door is included and everything we've had there has been excellent. Every room at the hotel has a view of Volcan Arenal. When we were here in '10, the volcano was rumbling nearly constantly, we even got a glimpse of a faint glow of lava from the bridge on the way to AOL. This year the volcano was silent and shrouded in cloud the entire time we were there. The weather wasn't all that special either. It rained most mornings, but it wasn't an issue because the afternoons were clear and sunny. The good thing about the rain is it livens up the many streams and rivers in the area. When we first arrived on February 1 all the rivers were barely a trickle. By the third, all streams were very much alive. You could've thrown someone you don't like in one of them and probably never seen them again! On our second day we drove to the La Fortuna Waterfall. This was amazing. Down all the steps on the side of a cliff covered in trees to get to the bottom of the waterfall. This has to be the most amazing natural sight I've seen. Once you pick your jaw up off the floor you can swim in the pool under the fall. Too cold for me. Bermudians require water temperature of at least 78 degrees. Also you can walk down a little further, just around the corner from the pool and believe it or not there's a beach. With fish. It won't be there during rainy season, but it was there when we were there. This same river has a bridge over it just past the main entrance to the Falls area. You can swim here with the locals and there's also a Tarzan rope for the adventurous members in your group. Don't miss this little freebie. Back at the waterfall you can cross the river and pick up a nature trail that seems endless and full of noisy nature. Awesome. 461 steps to the top. 461. Travel light. We did a lot of driving around the Arenal/La Fortuna area and saw a lot of interesting things. On days when we didn't have any plans we would pick a road and drive it, randomly choosing left and right turns at any crossroads or forks. Saw so much everyday Tico life like this. As far as activities go, we did a zipline next to Arenal. We did it with Skytrek and it was awesome! The highest cable was just over 650 feet high but it feels twice as high as that! I had ziplined twice before in CR, but those were kindergarten ziplines compared to this! Well worth the price. We would return to Arenal two more times in the coming weeks, for two nights and for one night. On our second visit we decided to try out white water rafting. We went with Desafio and had a great time. Sandra was looking at class 2-3 rapids. I won and we went on the 3-4 rapids. I'm glad I won! This isn't for people with bad backs or old hearts or new hearts. It is physically demanding and is a near constant adrenaline rush! It is entirely possible that you will fall out of the raft, two people in our raft did on separate occasions, and I came close myself a couple of times. During the smooth parts of the river you'll spot many exotic birds. maybe next time we'll do the class 2-3 so we can spot more wildlife as we cruise down the river. Would I do this again? Hell yeah! We still ain't finished with Arenal yet. we'll be back soon. I highly recommend renting a car in Arenal/La Fortuna. Although taxis arrive quickly and are cheap, things here are quite spread out and there is so much to see in the surrounding areas. On to Tamarindo.
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