Day 7: Manuel Antonio National Park

S was up at 6 this morning to make our morning meeting with the naturalist in Manuel Antonio National Park.  H was still feeling crummy (stuffy, sore throat), so I volunteered to stay back at the bungalow with her.  I caught up on some work email and read some magazines while H texted with her Grandpa and facetimed with cousin O.  

The view from our veranda.

After a few hours, she started to feel better, so we got dressed to start our day. We hadn't eaten anything in over 14 hours, so I was pretty hangry.  We took a cab to the entrance of the park and ate at a little tourist cafe called 'Restaurante Donde Alex.'  It was entirely sufficient, though I suspect the cheez whiz topping on my burrito was meant to add a certain 'American flair' and H dismissed her spaghetti as 'not as good as daddy's.'  The mango smoothie, however, was excellent, and H enjoyed it while texting her Grandpa back in the states.

After breakfast/lunch, we walked into the park and caught up with S, who had a great experience on the naturalist tour and was eager to do some more exploring with us.  We started by walking down to the beaches along an elevated trail system that ran over marches crawling with tiny crabs.

The beaches were crowded with sunbathers of all ages and nationalities.  We hung out for a bit, dipping our feet in the water (bathwater warm!) before heading across a tiny isthmus to Punta Catedral (Cathedral Point), for a fairly strenuous hike that took us to a bunch of look-outs over the water and also let us see some monkeys!

Back on the mainland, we headed back to the car through a mangrove swamp, where this little friend was showing off for us.

We got back to the hotel in a rainstorm, took a quick dip in the pool (in the rainstorm), got cleaned up and then headed to El Avion for dinner.  The restaurant is built around a Reagan-era contra plane, and it has some exquisite views of the water and the sunset.  We were at the best table in the house, as evidenced by the throng of people standing around us with their phones while the sun set.

The main fuselage is now a bar, and the cockpit is open for visitations.

After dinner, we swung by a grocery store for fruit, snacks, water, and beer.  Then, home to bed so that we can rest up for tomorrow's adventure, which is a total surprise for H.  She says that she's feeling much better, and I'm convinced that she wasn't really sick as much as over-tired from a few days of hyper stimulation and not enough sleep.

Day 6: Monteverde and travel

We got up at 5.45 this morning to hit the road for a long day of travel.  From La Fortuna, we drove to Monteverde, the mountaintop district in the center of the country.  The distance wasn't far as the crow flies but the road trip took around 3 hours.  The first half was on twisty roads, and the second half was on twisty roads that were unpaved and full of potholes.  And, it rained almost the whole way there.  

After about 3 hours on the road, we got to Selvatura, one of the outdoor naturalist/adventure companies in the area.  We had signed up for an amazing zipline experience, but the rain was so intense that we decided to change our plans.  We started with a two-hour naturalist walk through the woods and the hanging bridges.  The tour was great, though it rained and was quite chilly.  We made friends with a father/daughter (adult daughter) combo from New Zealand who were also on the tour.  The walk was great, and our guide showed us a lot of cool things that we would have missed had we not had him pointing them out.  We even saw a quetzal, which was a rare treat!

Juan Carlos was our guide.

Visibility was poor.

After the walk, we jumped right in a queue to see the sloth house. Since zoos are illegal in Costa Rica, the only sloths allowed to be kept in captivity are either in research institutions or sanctuaries.  This sanctuary had 12 female sloths, and we were lucky to visit right as they were having their afternoon meal!

After the sloth house, we grabbed a fast lunch of chicken soup and quesadilla and began the drive down to Parque Manuel Antonio and the Hotel Costa Verde, our home for the next few nights.  The drive was scheduled to take 4 hours, and it started in much the same way as the first half of the drive ended - with rain, potholes, sharp corners, and steep terrain.  Very glad we had a 4wd vehicle.

We finally left the potholes behind and descended towards the coast, including a stint on the Inter-American Highway.  We started driving along the coast as the sun set.  We stopped for dinner at a restaurant along the way, finally getting to the hotel at around 8pm.  H was feeling sick (sore through, exhaustion), so we put her right to bed while S and I settled in.  We've got a two room bungalow, so we don't all have to go to sleep at the same time.  

Tomorrow's plans are in flux.  We were supposed to all get up for a naturalist visit to Manuel Antonio tomorrow, but with the late arrival and H feeling crumby, we're playing flexible.  No alarm for her.  S will def meet the naturalist.  I'll stay with H.

Day 5: Animal Hike and a Volcano Wash-Out

Today was a mellower day compared to yesterday.  We started with a sloths-and-birds naturalist tour with our rad guide Jason.  We toured a farm that used to be a dairy cow farm until the owners went into preservation mode and turned it into a tourist/naturalist area.  We were the only folks on the tour, so we had him all to ourselves.  He was great with H, engaging her, listening to her, and asking her lots of questions.  It was grey and misty, but not unpleasant.

Jason and H

Jason had eagle eyes and spotted sloths and iguanas hundreds of feet away in the trees.

Can you find the iguana?

Of course, there were lots of other critters and beautiful flowers in the preserve too!

A huddle of bats hanging out under a big leaf.

After the naturalist park, Jason drove us to a local place where we had a snack (black bean empanada, papaya, and pineapple) and watched dozens of birds come in for their own papaya snack.

The site was a small cooking school that was also building a restaurant, and one of the workers had found this docile-yet-deadly snake.  He put it in a construction bucket and we all got to see it.  No idea what became of the snake after we left - I'm curious about the rules about this sort of thing...

After Jason dropped us back at the resort, we tried to book a last-minute horseback ride, but they were filled up. Then, we tried to book a last-minute coffee-and-chocolate tour, but they too were booked up.  So, we headed into town for lunch at Organico Fortuna, which was delightful and a nice healthy break from fried empanadas.  S and I each had protein bowls, and H had a chicken-and-bean quesadilla.  By the time we were sitting down to lunch, the sun was finally out and it was actually pretty warm.  I was afraid that my pants would be too warm for the hike that we were planning for after lunch.

We drove to the Arenal 1968 park for a hike on the lava flows that formed after the Arenal volcano last erupted in 1968.  The hike climaxed in a pretty scenic viewpoint, but as we pulled into the parking lot, the clouds were rolling in over the volcano.  

Undeterred, we started our hike. We didn't even blink an eye when we had to stop 45 seconds into our hike to put on ponchos.

The rain got very intense, and by the time we were at the scenic viewpoint, visibility was 20'.  We were in thick pea-soup fog.  But, we didn't hike this dang trail for nothing, so we took an ussie (hoping we were facing the right direction) and just put the volcano in behind us.

Yes, I know it's a hack job.  Don't judge.

By the time we finished the hike, we were wet, but the rain had stopped.  We dove back to the resort and H and I got in the pool for an hour.  Then, back to the bungalow to clean up before a quick dinner and packing.  We leave La Fortuna tomorrow!

I asked H what her favorite parts of the trip were.  Her answers: rappelling down waterfalls and zip lines.  

More zip lines tomorrow!

Day 4: Adventures

We had a 6am wake-up today to grab dinner in time to start our big adventure day.  At 7.15, the van picked us up from reception and drove us deep into the rain forest, where we put our dry goods in a locker and then got in a 4WD-towed trailer for another journey up into the hills.  When we got out, we put on harnesses and helmets before walking to the start of our first adventure: waterfall rapelling with PureTrek.  

All three of us went (along with two other families) on this amazing adventure, where we repelled down the faces of waterfalls, often IN the waterfall itself.  The first waterfall was the longest, and we were soaked by the end of it.  The canyon rang with screams and giggles.  Then, we did a 'monkey drop,' where the guides quickly lowered us (it felt like a free-fall) about 80 feet before dropping us into a pit of water.  I was the only one of our trio to get the full positive experience of this (S went into the pool nose-first, which did not feel good, and H ended up getting off center, so she missed the plunge and landed safely next to it).  Then there were three more drops of varying lengths and terrains, one of which was directly down (no footholds) and the last of which took us straight through a waterfall.  We couldn't bring cameras on this wet adventure, but the guides took photos, and I'll update this post later with some photos.

After that, we took a van to another area and got into a different set of harnesses and helmets and rode a different 4WD-pulled trailer to do a zipline adventure with Arenal Mundo Aventura.  We rode with another family and did about 7 ziplines, including a few that went right over La Fortuna Falls and one that was over 1km long.  While we were out, a rainstorm blew overhead, so about half of our zips were in rain.  One (the long one) was in such heavy rain that our faces felt like they were getting sandblasted.  We had a great time, but one of the people in the other family we were with got a cable burn and had to bail out.  She'll be fine, but she had some abrasions on her back, some hair was ripped out, and the cable burned a hole through her shirt.  

I brought my iphone but didn't take it out while I was on the line.  H brought her camera and took lots of videos from the lines.

H getting clipped in.

The first descent required climbing this tower.

Kitted up!

After the ziplining was done, we grabbed lunch at the tour operation and then hitched a ride back to the resort with one of the staffers.  I'm astounded at how enthusiastic and friendly most Costa Ricans are.  I've lived in quite a few tourist places and have never encountered enthusiasm like this.  The energy is that they are proud of their home and are happy to share it with responsible stewards (who can pay dough to help maintain the natural wonders, of course).  

Back to the hotel to soak in the heated pool (the jacuzzi is broken).  Another rainstorm came through while we were in the pool, so we had cold rain above the surface and warm water below.

Got cleaned up and headed into La Fortuna to grab a snack and do some shopping.  We grabbed dinner in the early evening and headed back to the resort for bed.  Tomorrow's activities are a little later in the day and a lot less adrenaline-filled, but we need to catch up on our sleep!