7.11.2008

Costa Rica and It's beauty

Best. Trip. Ever

Alrighty, I have been avoiding posting about our trip to Costa Rica because I so badly wish I was back there there and start plotting ways I can get back there every time I talk about that lovely country. I have issues, this I know. I am working through them. So, Are you ready? No? Well, suck it up cause here we go!


We started the trip out by flying into San Jose Airport and taking a car to Arenal. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge and had a great time combing the grounds. We saw coti, toucans, lava, parrots and the scariest spiders I have ever seen in my life. EVER. The lodge used to be a Smithsonian research institute and now it is a hotel. How that works, I have no idea. I just assumed that the scientists were smart enough to get the hell out of the area and leave it to the tourists to stay so close to the volcano. No matter, it was a wonderful hotel. It was about 25-30 minutes via a rocky dirt road from town.

That is how close us dumbass tourists were from the volcano. This picture was taken from the pool.


And from our balcony at night .

We did all the touristy stuff like going horseback ridding to the La Fortuna waterfall, hiking, drinking beer and of course.....
We went ziplining. I fought the urge to run, harnessed up, got into position and.....shut my eyes the whole way across. It was either that or poop my pants. Which would you have chosen?

After having our fun in La Fortuna we took interbus over to Aviarios del Caribe in Cahuita, a sloth sanctuary, and let's just say that within hours we were secluded to our musty smelling room trying to find ways to escape the place. Going into this we knew that the sanctuary was a Bed & Breakfast and we expected to be a little bored seeing as how, oh, I don't know...we are not two 73 year old women! But this place was bad, must smelling rooms, filthy windows, rusty bathtubs not to mention the hosts didn't know what the hell was going on. The good thing though? The hosts might not know how to run a B&B but they do know how to lovingly care for these little guys

Before the trip I might have considered eating a sloth, now I have nothing but mad sloth love for them yo. Sorry, I don't know where that came from.

We eventually stopped stomping our feet and gnashing our teeth and decided to make the best of it and opened our eyes to the beauty around the area and we were able to find all sorts of good things like...




The wildlife around the area was amazing and slightly scary. We lived and got to see some sloths. This may come as a shock, but I do not recommend the B&B.

After Cahuita we went south about 45 min to Puerto Viejo for our most relaxing part of the trip. In PV we stayed at Banana Azul . Everything about this place was amazing, the location (right on the beach) the service (friendly, welcoming and willing to help you with anything) the rooms (big, airy, lots of french doors) and the food (delicious, great price, lots of it). We spent our days swimming in the perfectly clear, bath water temp. Caribbean waters

wandering along the miles of pristine beaches where you hardly ever saw anyone else


and napping in the hammocks strung up between coconut trees on the beach. Don't worry I don't have any pictures of that, you lucked out.

It was an amazing trip, I am very thankful that we were able to go on it and have the experience under our belt. I am glad that I didn't listen to the review sites online that try to scare the life out of you by detailing how dangerous Costa Rica is. This country seems far from dangerous as long as your are respectful, polite, be aware of your situation and don't act like an asshat. We were not raped, swept up in a drug deal, mugged, held at knife point or anything of the like. While I am sure this happens in the country, it happens in every country. Never once did I feel as though I was in any danger. The beauty of the country quickly washes away any worry you might have about the safety reports you read while planning your trip.

One word to sum up our trip?

GO!

2 comments:

Jan said...

I love Costa Rica too. I've been 4 times and stay with friends (Ticos) and love it. The people, the places, the pace, ...I tell my friends that the two things that make me think of CR are the smell of diesel (from standing in a lot of 'paradas' i.e. bus stops) and the smell of cilantro. I'm so glad you had a great time. I stayed there once for 4 months and was reading the book "Donde No Hay Doctor" (Where there is no doctor) written for Peace Corp and missionary types. I thought the snake bite section was hysterical. They want you to notice the shape of the snake's eyes. Can you see me going "Here snakey, snakey....come here snakey, snakey. Let me see your eyes again." Or then if you can't do that you're supposed to notice the pattern of colors on the snake's body. Like is it red, yellow, black or is it ....you get the idea. Like I'm going to go chase it through the brush after it's bitten me so I can take detailed note of it's color pattern.

But I absolutely love the country. Me encantan el paiz y la gente.

japri19 said...

Hey Jan Im so glad to heard that from you definitely my beautiful country is amazing here you can find a lot of things like beaches, mountains, volcanes and so on.

4x4 Costa Rica