Perfecting Nothingness

Sunset Costa Rica Style!

Yesterday (Wednesday) we moved from the mountainous village of Monteverde to the coastal village of Manuel Antonio.  It was around a five hour trip.  The first three hours were over mountain passes on winding unpaved roads.  The last couple of hours were along the Pacific coastline on nicely paved, modern roads.  If you come to Costa Rica, and I highly recommend it, consider dividing your time between the lush green mountains and of course some time on the beach.  There are plenty of options of places to choose from, we chose La Fortuna, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio.  We've met a number of people who are doing the same route as us.  We've certainly been pleased with our choices.

Also, if you come, you have options of renting a car or arranging transportation.  This is our second visit to Costa Rica and both times we have arranged transportation.  There doesn't really seem to be much of a cost difference and it certainly takes the hassle out of driving, especially since some of the roads down here are not the best.  If you do rent a car, one word of caution,  some agencies require you to purchase their supplemental liability insurance.  This cost is typically "hidden" when you get the quote for the rental.  From what I have learned this isn't true of all companies so do your homework ahead of time, otherwise the rate for the car rental may actually be close to twice as much as you planned.
The arranged transportation has worked perfectly for us on both this trip as well as our previous visit.  We have one more coming up Monday so hopefully it will work like the others.  If not, of course I'll let you know.  Another advantage of the arranged transportation is that you get to meet some other really nice travelers and share some information with each other.  There were seven of us, along with our driver who spoke very, very little English yesterday.  Beth and I could have easily been the parents of the other five passengers.  They were all very nice, especially the young man from Canada who was the most bilingual amongst us and the couple, also from Canada, who thought what we are doing (being gypsies) sounded pretty cool to them.

Just a couple of the huge crocodiles in a river we crossed on our way from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio

Manuel Antonio is a very small coastal village on the central Pacific coast.  There is a small city (Quepos) nearby that is a hub for offshore sportfishing charters.  There is also a national park nearby which is appropriately named Manuel Antonio National Park.  The park is listed as one of the smallest of Costa Rica's national parks (7.5 square miles), but also one of the countries most popular. We're planning on checking the park out tomorrow morning.  But since we arrived in Manuel Antonio we've dedicated ourselves to perfecting the fine art of doing nothing.  I think we've got it down to a science!  It's about 15 steps from our room to the hotels outdoor restaurant.  It's about another twenty steps to a lounge chair under some huge shade trees that overlooks the ocean.  Sure, we've done a couple of walks along the sandy mile long beach, a little reading, a little music and a bit of conversation.  But mainly it's been sitting silently and taking in the sounds of the waves.

A few steps to food and a few more to the beach

Here's a few pictures of some of the neighbors we've been sharing the beach with...…..colorful birds

White Faced Monkeys

and this handsome fella

Nothingness is a very nice thing!

Here are a few pictures of the beach and the incredible sunsets we've had both nights...…..

Hiking the Cloud Forest.........on a mostly cloudless day!

Beth in deep thought while amongst the clouds and trees

One of the main attractions of Monteverde is the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve.  This preserve is over 26,000 acres in size.  It is rated as "extremely high" in it's biodiversity.  Over 2.500 plant species, 100 species of mammals, 400 bird species, 120 reptilian and amphibian species and thousands of types of insects have been documented living in the preserve.  It is also considered to have more types of orchids than any other single place on the planet (unfortunately they are not in bloom right now).  That's some pretty impressive numbers of both plants and animals.  We quickly discovered that it was well worth the visit, especially since the entrance to the preserve was only a mile or so from our hotel.

These Hydrangeas weren't in the preserve.  They are actually growing just outside our hotel room.  They're about the size of a soccer ball.

The preserve consists of a number of trails that make their way through the dense forest.  The trails are extremely well maintained and clearly marked.  The only word of caution I would give about the trails is that if you're looking for a flat surface for your hike, this isn't it.  Every trail we hiked, and we hiked almost all of them, was a constantly changing elevation.
The clouds did show up for a few minutes but for the most part it was a cloudless day.  Thanks to the thick canopy of tall trees the temperature remained pleasant.  According to the I-phone we covered 8.5 miles and around 100 flights of stairs.  I'm not sure how many different plant species we saw, lets just say it was a bunch.  I'm also not sure how many different members of the animal kingdom we saw, but I'm betting it's safe to say for every one we saw there were at least ten we didn't see that did see us.  I hope we provided as much entertainment for them as the hike through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve provided for us.

It was a Cloud Forest for a few minutes.

A couple of helpful hints if you're thinking of visiting:
As I previously mentioned, the trails are well maintained and marked.  There were one or two places that were a little muddy.  A sturdy pair of walking shoes are all you need.
Guides are available for hire at the entrance.  The entrance fee is currently $22 per person.  The guides are an additional $20 per person.  I'm sure we would have seen and learned a lot more with a guide.  I'm also sure that by the time our heads hit the pillow tonight we would have forgotten practically everything we learned.  We opted not to use a guide and don't really feel as if we missed out.
There is a very nice hanging bridge on one trail and another trail that leads to a small but scenic waterfall.  Make sure to try to hit both of these trails on your visit.

There is only one hanging bridge in the preserve but it's a good one.  There was a sign on a tree as we crossed the bridge that stated that 40 different types of orchids live in that particular tree...…...unfortunately it's not orchid season!

At the end of the Waterfall Trail

There is a small coffee shop just outside the entrance.  With your ticket and receipt you can exit and reenter the park on the same day.  Our advice would be to do a trail or two, take a break and then go back for more.

The coffee shop has outdoor seating with great views.

We were there for approximately 5 hours, break included.

Getting there is part of the adventure!

From an overlook on the road to Monteverde

The getting there part of traveling isn't always glamorous.  There's security, long flights, weather delays, cancellations, crowded conditions and language barriers just to name a few of the less glamorous parts.  We try to always view it as part of the adventure.  Maybe it helps us keep our sanity sometimes.  That assumes we have our sanity in the first place, so who knows.
Today we moved from La Fortuna to Monteverde.  It was short on miles, probably around 80 miles total but somewhat big on adventure.  It was described as a jeep, boat, jeep transfer.  If you consider a van a jeep then technically it was correct.
We were picked up at our hotel around 8:30.  One thing we have learned from our experiences so far in Costa Rica is that the pick ups have all been around 10-15 minutes early.  This is very commendable and not a problem since we tend to always be early.  The vehicle picking us up was a 20-25 passenger van.  Not what I would consider a jeep, but comfortable nonetheless.  We were driven a short distance to Arenal Lake where several other vans loaded with people who were going to Monteverde were gathering.
We got on boats that seated around 50 people for what turned out to be a very pleasant ride across the lake.  As we were leaving we had a final peak at the Arenal Volcano off the rear of the boat.  The top of the volcano, as it had been for all but about 3 seconds of our stay in La Fortuna, was still covered in clouds.

The boat landing where we got on board

Once we reached the shore we were assigned small vans depending on our final destination.
We had a friendly driver from Monteverde, another young man from a small village near Monteverde and three couples.  It was about an hour and a half ride on an unpaved, bumpy and winding road to our hotel.  The scenery was great, as was the conversation along the way.
Monteverde is famous for it's cloud forest reserve.  Not being wise in the ways of cloud forests I had to do a little research to find out what the term actually means.  A cloud forest is an area that is at a high enough elevation that the forest canopy is usually covered by clouds.  So when we arrived...……...not a cloud in the sky!  We're not asking for our money back.  We've got a great view from high up looking westward.  We just witnessed a spectacular sunset while being serenaded by a symphony of different types of birds.

It was a great ending to an adventurous days journey.

Survivors!

This isn't us, it's a stock photo from our rafting company.  We didn't want to take a chance with our phones drowning in the river so we left them on the bus.  We could have paid $30 for pictures but we'd never do such a thing.  We don't have anywhere to display them!

Today's adventure was white water rafting. We figured the last time we went white water rafting was about ten years ago.  What could possibly go wrong?
That rafting trip was in Alaska with our friends Rob and Pam McNeely.  We survived then and we were certain we'd survive again today in spite of the clock continuing to run for the past decade.  We also felt pretty good about our chances of survival because the water was about 50 degrees warmer than the Nenana Gorge in Alaska, plus we toned it down a bit to a trip that was only Class II and III rapids.
The Sarapiqui River was kind to us today.  We enjoyed about a twelve mile stretch of river where there were plenty of rapids and enough flat water to catch your breath and regroup.  The water level of the river was fairly low because it is now the dry season. This meant we were occasionally bouncing off rocks that were below the surface or along the shore, all at no extra charge.  We booked through a local company called Wild Expeditions.  There were about 35-40 of us in 7-8 different rafts.  Our raft had six people, a couple from the UK, two ladies from Alaska and us, plus a very calm guide named Siviani (probably misspelled). All six of us stayed in the raft the whole time (unlike some of the other rafts).  We made quite a team.   When we were through rafting we were rewarded for our efforts with food and beverages before returning to La Fortuna.

This photo was taken by our new found paddling friends from Alaska.  We stopped about half way along the trip for a break and enjoyed some fresh cut pineapple and watermelon.  

This is a stock photo from the rafting company.  Just pretend that's me and Beth in the front of the raft.

It was a great adventure for our last full day in La Fortuna.  Tomorrow it's on to the Cloud Forest Reserve of Monteverde.  Getting there will be an adventure in and of itself.  Mile wise it's not to far from La Fortuna, but its a three hour journey that involves a jeep, a boat and another jeep.  Should be interesting!

Fifty Shades of Green!

The Traveling Idiots, Martin and the Arenal Volcano

On the drive from San Jose to La Fortuna we crossed the Continental Divide, passing from the Caribbean to the Pacific side.  As we made our way closer to La Fortuna the difference was very evident.  While it's green and tropical on the Caribbean side, it's greener and even more tropical on the Pacific side. "Fifty Shades of Green" seems to be the best description of this lush, rainforest filled country.
Friday we enjoyed relaxing here at the hotel, bouncing from one spring fed hot water pool to another.  The temperatures vary from a high of 104 down to around 80 degrees.  I steered clear of the 80 degree one, although Beth did try it out for a minute or so.  One interesting thing we've learned is that because of the abundance of hot water, no chemicals are used in the pools.  Every pool is drained, cleaned and refilled nightly
Late in the day we walked from the hotel into the small town of La Fortuna.  The walk was around three miles and was along the main road. While there was a decent shoulder most of the way there were a few times we were pretty close to traffic.  The drivers here are very courteous so we never really felt like we were risking life or limb, but it's not a walk for the faint of heart.

Along the walk to La Fortuna we passed a small Cocoa Plantation and restaurant called a Chocloteria………….no way we were going to pass it without stopping!

Beth in one of her "happy places".  This one is among the Cocoa plants

La Fortuna itself is fairly small. There are a couple of very nice blocks of restaurants and shops around a town square that consisted of a large Catholic church and city park.  We were impressed with the cleanliness and the fact that while it had plenty of tourism related businesses it was not overly filled with "tacky tourist shops".   As we often do on our travels, we simply enjoyed finding a couple of benches around the park, sitting back and taking in the sights and sounds.  It was getting near dark when we were ready to make our way back to the hotel.  Walking into town in the light of day was very doable.  As the sun was setting it would not have been a very smart decision so we opted for a cab ride back to the hotel.

The church in the center of town.  

It looked like we were in for a heavy rain but it only sprinkled for a few minutes

There's plenty to do in this area besides sitting in the hot springs.  There are zip lines galore, white water rafting, waterfalls, hiking and ATV adventures just to name a few.  Yesterday we opted for a three activity combination.  All three activities involved hiking, although they were all very different hikes.  Our guide for the day was a young man named Martin.  His partner and driver was Carlos.  They were both very friendly and as it turned out, were also very knowledgeable.  We picked up two other couples at different hotels, who joined us for the first activity, and we were soon on our way to Mistico Hanging Bridges Park.

Mistico is a 600 acre private reserve in a rainforest.  There is a two mile walking trail through the forest that crosses sixteen different bridges, six of which were "swinging bridges".  Along the way Martin provided some great information on both the plants and animals in the area, especially the numerous colorful birds that call the rainforest home.

Getting ready to cross the first of six hanging bridges

Floating over the rainforest canopy. 

Roots of the Walking Palm Tree which is appropriately enough often referred to as the penis tree

One of the many colorful birds in the rainforest.  Of course we've forgotten all of their names.

After completing the hike through Mistico, we dropped the other two couples off and we were quickly off to our next adventure.  This hike was to the La Fortuna River and Waterfall.  According to Martin, because of the rainforests there is always water flowing in the river and over the approximately 100 yard waterfall.  To reach the base of the falls was a hike that wasn't very long but included 486 stairs.  Once we were at the bottom there were two natural pools of water for swimming.  One right at the base of the falls and another around 20 yards downstream.  Beth hopped right in the second pool and called it refreshing.  I got in up to my ankles and called it cold.  She frolicked around for 10 minutes or so while I took pictures and cheered her on from the frigid ankle deep water.  There's one catch about hiking down something with 486 stairs, and of course that is a hike up 486 stairs.  We were motivated on our return hike because lunch was next on the agenda.  It was at a small restaurant that we had actually passed the day before on our walk into town.  The food was excellent and gave us a lift for our third and final hike of the day.

Martin was an expert at taking pictures through his binoculars using our I-phones

Arenal Waterfall

Bats sleeping under a palm frond

Beth chilling out in the water below Arenal Falls

Lunch was what Martin described as "traditional"  Meat, Red Beans & Rice, Salad, Plantains and Mashed Potatoes...….all of it was excellent!

We finished the day hiking up a rocky trail in the Mirador El Silencio Reserve.  According to Martin that would take us as close to where the 1968 eruption of the Arenal Volcano occurred as possible. Like the waterfall trail, it wasn't particularly long but it was somewhat challenging because of the elevation change.  This time it was hiking uphill first and downhill on the return.  The views from the top overlooked the volcano and lava fields and by turning around we had a great view of Aernal Lake, which is a manmade lake that was built after the volcano erupted.  One interesting thing we learned about this volcano was that the initial eruption did not occur at the top.  It actually started at the base, by blowing out a huge crater known as Crater A.  Over several years rockslides filled the hole made by the eruption, gases and lava built up and the next eruption was higher up the mountain, which appropriately enough was named Crater B. This process happened two more times giving us Crater C and D.  The side of Crater D is actually the highest point on the volcano.
As volcanos go, the Arenal Volcano is a mere child, at around 7500 years of age.  Between 1500 and 1968 it sat silently and was considered to be extinct.  It's unexpected eruption in 1968 was a complete surprise, destroying two villages and killing 87 people. In addition to being young, from 1968-2010 it was considered one of the ten most active volcanos in the world.  There has been no activity since 2010.

At the beginning of our final hike.

A type of orchid growing wild along the trail

We were dropped off back at the hotel with tired legs and way too much information to remember for too long.  A good soaking in the hot springs was a great way to end the day after roaming through some of Costa Rica's fifty shades of green!
If you're in the La Fortuna area the combination package is a great way to see this amazing area and it's equally amazing wildlife.  Here are a few things about this package that you might find helpful:
It's pretty much an all day affair.  We were picked up at 7:10 AM and didn't get back to the hotel until around 4:00 PM.
All three places had excellent restroom facilities.
Changing rooms and showers are available at the waterfall.
Our tour operator provided water throughout the day.
Lunch was included with our tour.
We walked in our regular walking shoes.  Hiking boots aren't necessary  We did see some folks in flip flops but I wouldn't recommend it.

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