Advertisement
Published: June 15th 2009
Hola chicos y chicas
Long time no blog. Yeah, we have been completely chilling out in Costa Rica and these two weeks have gone so quickly! Taruna is now headed back to Houston as I type. I guess I will have to change the name of the blog, but that will involve sending you all new links, which might be a bit of a pain! So I have taken the executive decision to retain the title as is, although I will be joined at some point by two other fellow travellers. For the time being, I am on my own and have a few more days to spend here in Costa Rica before I head back South to Chile. Hence, the time to update you on what we have been doing.
So, what did we get up to in these two weeks? Before I go on writing I should say that TJ has the best small camera in the world, with a 12x zoom. So, she did capture all the pictures of the wildlife up close and personal. My little 3x zoom is pathetic next to hers, so when she adds her photos, they will be awesome!
As
I said in the early blog, neither TJ or I were overwhelmed by San Jose. The rest of the country, however, is absolutely brilliant. There is so much to see, and these two weeks we have spent here have barely scratched the surface.
White water rafting on Pacuare River The day started very early at 6.45 am when our tour guide came to pick us up from the hotel. We drove to a lodge overlooking the Orosi Valley where we had the traditional Tico breakfast- egg, rice and beans and fruits. We then took the long drive down to the Pacuare river where our boat awaited us. After some instruction, we set off down the river. This was my first time whitewater rafting and TJ´s second. It was exciting, exhilarating and a bit extreme. Very cool indeed. We had some Class IV rapids, a bit scary but with the adrenaline pumping, who´s to notice that we were rafting between rock and mountain. There were four of us plus the guide, Dias, on the boat and we did a pretty good job navigating all the rapids. Until that is, the last one, which was a Class Zero, and yours truly
managed to fall in! "Swimmers", that´s what the people falling in are called, and it only tool one moment of not paying attention. During the trip, we rafted through some really picturesque areas, saw a lot of wild life and generally felt that we had a really good workout. We returned back to the hotel very happy but a bit sore!
TJ has the CD containing the photos as we were going downriver. We had a safety guide who was in a kayak ahead of us, who also happened to be the tour photographer. Definitely recommended! The photos from the trip will be uploaded at another time.
Irazú Volcano Another early start to catch the bus to Irazú, which cost us less than $2. A tour would probably have set us back $30! After a long drive, we arrived at the volcanp. There was a faint smell of rotten eggs in the air (hydrogen sulphide) and it was akin to being in a lunar landscape. OK, I have not yet been to the moon, but I am imagining that is what it would feel like.
I was fascinated by the vegetation, which seemed to thrive despite the
harsh conditions. TJ was fascinated by the birds, which seemed to thrive despite the harsh conditions. We timed it well as after a few hours, the clouds started coming in and one could barely make out the volcano. It was a pretty sight, with the acid lake at the bottom of one of the craters. Did you know that:
1. this is the tallest volcano Costa Rica and one of the only places in Central America that on a clear day you can see both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at once. I should emphasise the "clear day", which does not really happen during the rainy (or green as the Ticos call it) season.
2. there are three main craters. The main active crater is 1000 meters wide and 180 meters deep.
3. The acid lake is rich in minerals and changes colour and size.
La Fortuna We left San Jose behind and went to La Fortuna, to see the Arenal volcano and the wildlife. We stayed in a very nice hotel called Las Colinas, which had a view of the volcano. Very cool. After we got there, the clouds lifed a bit and we could see all the
way to the top. Before Irazú, I had never been so close to live volcanoes before.
The first trip we did was over a lava flow from the 1968 explosion, which killed a few people and buried a couple of villages. Before that, noone realised that it was a dormant volcano, which could blow at any time. Since 1968, it has been erupting daily and gives an amazing display of pyrotechnics every night. It was a nice hike up the hill, and it offered some amazing views of the surrounding country side. After that, we went back to the viewpoint to wait for the sun to set and watch the show. It was disappointing, the clouds rolled in and we could not see anything. Apparently if we had waited, we would have seen the eruption, but it was not meant to be. (Our hotel was on the non erupting side of the volcano!). We then went to some thermal springs to chillax, muy bueno!
The second day was far the most difficult physical day I ever had in my entire life. We climbed up Cerro Chato which is an extinct volcano, 1140 metres above sea level. The book
said it was a steep climb, but it was hard. I needed a few breaks, which was good as we spotted humingbirds, toucanets and orchids and heard howler monkeys and the lava rocks falling down Arenal next door. I felt quite a sense of achievement at the top, again our view was obscured by clouds. But it was worth it. It took us three hours to get up and one to get down. And then it started raining, actually pouring would be a better word. We were supposed to take a swim below the La Fortuna waterfall. By the time we got there, it had turned into a raging torrent, and there was one other waterfall which had just appeared next to it from the volume of the rain coming down. We watched from afar, in awe of Mother Nature.
Monte Verde/Santa Elena I was in agony the next day, all my unused muscles were hurting, especially my quadriceps and my gluts. But it was good pain, although going down stairs was quite painful. The first day in Monte Verde was chilled out, I made use of the heated pool facility to stretch my muscles.
The second
day, we went hiking again, on the hanging bridges and ziplining. I should say that TJ went ziplining and I watched. I am very scared of heights, the hanging bridges were probably my limit although I do regret being such a chicken. TJ had a really good time!
The third morning, we went hiking again in MonteVerde cloudforest. Again we heard and saw amazing wildlife, but the clouds were not playing ball. We did manage to see the elusive quetzal!
Playa Tamarindo After all this exercise, TJ and I headed to the beach for some much needed R&R. We boogie boarded (and I managed to get a few bruises and scratches along the way) almost twice daily and it was much fun. Most of the time, we chilled out on the beach. We are now both very dark, I cannot remember the last time I was so dark! It felt good to be in the sun. We did take a Catamaran tour and went snorkling.
The food in Tamarindo was exceptional. I don´t believe that we had a bad meal during our stay. We had sushi a couple of nights and it was delicious. So fresh. We
were supposed to be there for three nights, but stayed for a week. It was very relaxing, just what the doctor ordered!!!
We saw a lot of wildlife as well (crested blue jays, woodpeckers, raccoons, squirrels) and we had two resident iguanas in our hotel..
So, this is a quick overview of what we did. I might head off to Tortuguero for a couple of days. Enjoy the photos!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.132s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 9; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0422s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
