A taste of Pura Vida in Costa Rica... and the end of the line.

In Liberia, Costa Rica after picking up the rental SUV we stopped for a greasy hangover cure at McDonald’s, which was packed crowded with Costa Ricans. Surprising how popular Mickey D’s seemed to be there - super crowded… we could barely walk in the place. People were very friendly and smiled when looking at us... quite a contrast to the stern faces of the Nicas in Nicaragua.

Liberia is modern and very clean compared to everything we saw in Nicaragua. In some respects it is disappointing to see McDonald's (as well as Burger King, KFC, and Little Ceaser's pizza) in Central America... in other respects it is comforting, and when one is hungry (and hungover and hungry!), grabbing a familiar bite to eat in a foreign country is not a bad thing.

After our greasy hangover cure we drove for a couple of hours into the mountains across beautiful, lush country. The roads turned twisty, rough, and non-paved as we reached higher and higher toward our destination at Monteverde (5,600 feet elevation - very close to Denver’s elevation) in the high Costa Rica mountain rain forests.

Monteverde is a nice town but quite pricey for food and drinks - probably because it is so remote. It has modern amenities and is very clean. After all the heat of Nicaragua it was nice to get into the cooler, mountain air. We had EXPENSIVE afternoon snacks and drinks at a place called The Tree House, in which a mammoth tree grows right in the middle of the building and up through the second story balcony.

We took it easy that night and crashed out early. The shower at the place we stayed at in Monteverde was "suicide shower" style - I admit we were glad to have hot water for the first time on the trip rather than slightly lukewarm water... the exposed wires connected to a bunsen burner flame (which heats the shower water as it runs) seemed comical, considering they had electrical twist caps at the junctions and were not completely exposed... still, the whole concept is a bit nervewracking!

Our shuttle to the zip line picked us up at 8:00 AM the next morning. We and about 10 others “zip lined” the canopy of a lush rainforest that day in Selvatura park: http://www.selvatura.com/canopy.html

Wow!!! What an experience and a wild ride! (especially the "Tarzan Swing" at the end, in which you stand up on a platform, get attached to a huge rope, leap, and swing way out and up over the forest and back several times... can you say ADRENALAIN RUSH!!!!"????)

After the zip line tour we hit the road for a 3 hour drive to see the Arenal volcano, which is very active. Kevin had been to the town near the volcano (La Fortuna) a few years before and had been able to see in the night darkness the orange glow of lava flying from the crater at the peak.

We drove on windey, unpaved mountain roads for many miles - the scenery was amazing, and eventually we were in a dense jungle. That’s when it began to rain… tropical rain… it was raining cats and dogs… it was raining pitchforks and babies… you name any homespun expression for a downpour and it would apply.

By the time we reached near the Arenal Volcano the top half of the peak was clouded in and we couldn’t see it. When we arrived in La Fortuna it was raining even heavier and the streets and sidewalks were flowing with rain runoff. Jon and I ran through the rain to check out a very popular hostel there. By the check-in desk (near the pool, which was getting flooded with rain) there were about 20 fellow travelers (guys and girls) that looked to be our kind of people… hanging out in bathing suits, drinking beer, kicked back, sharing a lot of laughter and listening to reggae.

Unfortunately they didn’t have a room available for us that would do, and it was pouring rain, so we decided to head on out to San Jose, as we had to catch our flights out the next afternoon. That was another 3 hours on the road... long day in the car. We were pretty stir crazy when we arrived in San Jose. It's amazing how much classic US and English rock they play on the radio in Costa Rica, by the way.

The adventure winds down about this point… the end of the line... in San Jose the next day Jon caught a flight to Tamirindo (on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica) to spend a couple more weeks before heading back to the US. Kevin and I spent a night on South Beach in Miami (which did not feel like being back in the US - that place is a TRIP and could likely have it’s own travelblog entry!!!) before heading back to Denver today.

Nicaragua was an experience and a grand adventure for certain… however after getting just a taste of “Pura Vida” in Costa Rica, I’ll be going back to Costa Rica again one day. I think seeing Nicaragua once is enough… and not quite certain they’d let any of our travel crew back in that place again anyway.

So... until my next trip in August... heading to Eastern Europe (Poland, Germany, Czech Republic) to follow Radiohead around...

Cheers!

- Drew

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Part of trip: Nicaragua and Costa Rica

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