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TravelHaven Journal – Costa Rica Adventure Final

Jolynn Haven — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:30:36 +0000

Departing Costa Rica

We found out yesterday that Eddie, our friend from Costa Rican Trails, will be able to pick us up this morning to take us back to San Jose. This is great news because, of all our excellent guides, Eddie was the one we liked best, the one who first introduced us to this lovely country.

Each morning, around dawn, I have gotten up and gone out on my balcony to write in my journal. And every morning, I have been greeted by the beautiful sounds of birds and the howler monkeys saying hello. And just as early every morning, I have seen the landscapers and hotel personnel making sure the resort is beautiful for us. The surroundings at Casitas Eclipse are beautiful!

Random Thoughts

I’m so glad I planned this trip the way I did! We had some incredible experiences and I feel like we have seen so much that Costa Rica has to offer. I think my next trip to Costa Rica will start with a return to the Arenal Volcano, then to Monteverde cloud forest, then up to Guanacaste, another beautiful beach area.

The only major disappointment on this trip was the Manuel Antonio National Park hike. Maybe that’s because we got to see white faced monkeys (up close and personal), howler monkeys, etc. during the earlier part of our trip. Also, the forest at Manuel Antonio wasn’t nearly as dense as the one in Tortuguero. I just didn’t see much there. Of course we cut it short because of the heat and the dual-language issue. The 3-toed sloth was cool though.

The Costa Rican people (Ticos) we met were all very friendly and helpful. They seem to appreciate it so much if you try to say a few words in Spanish, which we always did. I recently read that, according to an international survey, Ticos were “the happiest people in the world.” When we asked Eddie about this, he said they were mostly happy with their health care and social services, which is paid for by the cost savings from not having an army. We asked what would happen if they were ever attacked and he replied that they were a neutral country so the USA would surely come to their aid.

Almost every village in Costa Rica has these five elements: a Catholic church, a school, a soccer field, a bar, and a police station – religion, education, recreation, and security.

Our trip back to San Jose was uneventful. We had planned to tour a coffee plantation, but it was rainy so we decided to just go back to San Jose and do a little more souvenir shopping at a store Eddie had told us about. The remainder of the day and our last night passed uneventfully. The next morning we were up early and off to the airport for our trip home to Orlando.

Pura Vida will linger in our hearts and in our memories for years to come.

TravelHaven Journal – Costa Rica Adventure 12

Jolynn Haven — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:53:09 +0000

Deep Sea Fishing

On our third day at Manuel Antonio we go out to fish for blue marlin!

We take a cab at 7:00 a.m. to the muella (pier), where we buy fishing licenses (44,500 colones for 3) and board the Blue Marlin II, operated by Captain Dave and his mate, Garden. We were supposed to go with Dale Weir, one of the charter company owners, but his boat wouldn’t start.

Getting under way around 7:45 we speed out over the blue Pacific waters for about an hour or an hour and a half. After about a half hour, my shipmates (not the crew) are lulled to sleep by the motion of the boat. But I was enjoying the wind through my hair and the sparkling water and sunshine. How exhilarating!

We heave to at last and throw in our lines. Then we sit for almost two hours with not even a nibble . Then Alisa gets a strike and hauls in a yellowfin tuna! It goes into the bucket hopefully to be joined by many more fish very soon! About 15 minutes later, Mike catches a needlefish—interesting, but a throwback, too bony. Five minutes later, I get a beautiful rainbow; unfortunately rainbows are not “eating fish” either, so over the side it goes. Another half hour with some nibbles but no real strikes, then Alisa brings in a nice mahi-mahi—another fish for dinner. After a while, we set out for another area where we catch a lot of little fish, but nothing decent and we decide to call it a day. We head in and get back to the pier, dinner in hand, around 3:45. Our quest for a huge tuna or marlin didn’t materialize, but what a fun day we had! And scored dinner too!

We take the tuna and mahi-mahi to El Avion where they grill them with lemon and butter and flambé them at our table, a ritual they always perform when guests provide their own catch. What a nice touch! We had the same server every night, Luis Lopez, so he is now like an old friend. The fish was delicious (and plenty for Mike, Alisa and I, since Kaley and Torrey don’t eat fish). And Alisa feels like a great fisherwoman, having provided dinner for her family. We have three sauces on the side—soy, pineapple soy, and another that I didn’t try. The pineapple soy was my favorite!

Tired from our day at sea under the strong sun with the constant motion of the water, we head to our rooms right after dinner. Big partiers, huh?

TravelHaven Journal – Costa Rica Adventure 11

Jolynn Haven — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:34:52 +0000

Another Day at Manuel Antonio

My second morning at Manuel Antonio National Park starts with a toucan in the tree next to my porch. It isn’t as large or colorful as I expected (thanks, Froot Loops), but that beak is just as I knew it would be—long and curved.

We’re picked up from the lobby at 7:45 by an Iguana Tours bus again for a 2 ½ hour nature hike in the National Park. We plan to devote the afternoon to the beach.

We’re paired with a Spanish-speaking couple, which means our guide has to give his remarks twice—once in Spanish and then in English. Of course, this slows us down considerably and after about 45 minutes, we’ve only seen a three-toed sloth, a spider and a grasshopper. We were very hot and the slow pace was very frustrating, so we decide to peel off from the tour and head for the beach.

We spend about three hours at the National Park beach. The bottom Is very stony near the shore with some very large rocks submerged a little past that, but once you get by those, it’s wonderful! The Pacific water is surprisingly warm with a soft sandy bottom.

Around 1:00, we walk to the nearby village for lunch. After eating, we go to the bus stop to head back to the beach and, after standing there a while, we figure that a bus surely should have come by now. About that time, an American guy comes over and tells us the police have blocked off the road, which means the bus can’t get to us. We have to hike a little way up the road to catch the bus back to the hotel.

It turns out that the vendors who usually line the beach selling their wares mostly don’t have permits. Today, the police are cracking down on them. This explains the strong police presence we noticed earlier in the day (probably they expected protests or trouble due to the crackdown). Standing at the bus stop we can see just a couple of policemen still on the beach.

The rest of the day we spend just relaxing at the hotel – napping, reading, talking. It was a nice change of pace from our activities and the constant sunshine.

In the evening, we take the local bus into Quepos, about a 15 minute ride. Not sure where to get off, we ride all the way to the end of the line. Then we walk around a little, looking at shops and decide on El Gran Escape (The Great Escape) for dinner. It was a wonderful meal, especially their signature drink with cacique, rum, orange juice and something else. It tasted like a creamsicle—Yum! The food was also delicious. We leave the restaurant, grab a cab for home, and retire for the night.

TravelHaven Journal – Costa Rica Adventure 10

Jolynn Haven — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:59:30 +0000

Whitewater Adventure

Lisa isn’t feeling well (darn it!), so the party consists of Mike, Kaley, Torrey and me. We’re up and at breakfast at 7:30 to be ready for our pickup at 8:10 and the Iguana Tours bus is right on time. We stop at the Iguana Tours office to transfer to a mini bus to take us to the Savegre (Savage) River and the adventure begins!

The ride to the Savegre takes about 90 minutes, much of it very bumpy (but not as bad as that road to Cana Blanca). This gives us a chance to see some of the non-touristy parts of the area, as we pass homes, industrial areas, processing plants, road construction, and more ordinary life.

We stop in Silencio to place our order for lunch, which we’ll get on our way back from the rafting trip. They are developing a small resort at the restaurant that sits right on the side of a mountain and has a great view! Mike and I ordered the tipical pork lunch and the girls order chicken. We get some water and soft drinks and then back on the bus to continue our ride to the river.

Along the way, Eduardo, our guide describes what is going past in decent English with a very heavy Spanish accent. He periodically whistles to the driver (in a cab separate from the rest of the bus) and the driver stops while Eduardo jumps out to get some “nature” for us.

We smell cilantro, the small round berries of which are coriander; ylang ylang leaves, which they use to make Chanel Number 5 perfume; lemongrass; and cinnamon—ok, so I never knew cinnamon was the bark of a tree, did you? All of these grow abundantly in Costa Rica! Eduardo even made us a grasshopper out of a leaf! We tasted lychee, a fruit with flavor like a grape, encased in a skin with soft spikes that you peel. After eating the grapelike portion, you are left with a large hard seed.

We make it to Rio Savegre and get into our life vests, followed by our very impressive safety presentation. Then it’s onto the rafts for our white water rafting experience! Amazing!

The rapids were Class II and III, which was perfect for our group. An exhilarating run through a rapid is followed by a “high five” with our paddles and then we’re treated to calmer waters, perfect for a swim. Getting out of the raft is perfectly easy. Floating feet first down the river, is pretty, peaceful and calm, although occasionally my rear end bounces on the rocks. But no harm done!

Getting back into the raft, however, is a maneuver I perform looking like Shamu at Sea World, sliding up onto the platform to greet the crowd. Not a pretty sight for sure! The guide grabs the “lapels” of my life vest and hauls me into the raft and I slide along the inflated “seat” on the floor of the raft. Just not graceful at all.

About halfway through the trip, we stop for an energy-boosting snack of sweet, tasty pineapple (so fresh and juicy) and water or fruit juice. We eat at a gorgeous waterfall, sitting on surprisingly comfortable boulders. Our river guides were great fun, telling us interesting facts about what we were seeing, splashing us with their paddles, trying to help us catch the small fish in a cup when we stop. And, all the while, we felt very safe knowing we had an expert guide in the raft with us and another one in a kayak close by in case anyone got in trouble.

The adventure comes to an end all too soon and we clamber aboard the bus, returning to Silencio for lunch, which was excellent. Pork or chicken, black beans, rice, a corn and green vegetable mixture and slaw, as well as blackberry juice to drink, which was a new treat for me. I wish I could find blackberry juice in Florida – it’s delicious!

Juices in Costa Rica are common and fantastic—papaya, raspberry, blackberry, pineapple (nothing like what we get in grocery stores at home), guava, and orange. My favorites are blackberry and raspberry. My least favorite are guava and papaya.

We get back to the hotel around 4:00 p.m. after a ride that included about a 20 minute wait at a one lane bridge under construction. That night, our whole group goes to El Avion for dinner watching the sun set over the Pacific from their cliff-side dining room. It was exquisite.

Then Mike, Kaley, Torrey and I (Lisa was still recovering) went over to the Tutu Bar in our hotel for a drink and some music.

TravelHaven Journal – Costa Rica Adventure 9

Jolynn Haven — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:43:07 +0000

Pacific Sunset and El Avion

Mike, Kaley and I decided to go to the beach, even though it was about 4:00 and would be getting dark soon. Our plan was to take the bus (200 colones each) to the beach because it was about a mile away. Turns out the bus doesn’t really keep a set schedule. When we had asked what time the bus would be at the bus stop by our hotel, we were told that it leaves Quepos every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour. Well, we watched for the bus while we ate lunch to see what time it got to our stop. Oh, It stopped on the quarter hour .

Great! So we decided to get to the stop at 4:40—just in case it came a little early. But, while I’m waiting for Mike and Kaley, the bus goes by at 4:30. Ugh! So much for our plan. When they get to the lobby, determined to go to the beach but not wait another half hour for the bus, we decide to hoof it. After all, it was all downhill so it shouldn’t be too tough. Right?

It was one very long mile. We get to check out some restaurants along the way, but walking downhill isn’t as easy as it sounds—especially a fairly steep and gravelly downhill. We finally get to the beach—just in time for a beautiful sunset! That made our choice worthwhile.

Kaley and I get in the water, which was beautiful and pretty warm, while Mike stays on the beach to watch the backpacks. The bottom was sort of rocky (which probably explains why everyone else was a ways up the beach from us) but it was glorious! We had been waiting the whole trip to go swimming in the Pacific Ocean and it didn’t disappoint us.

I take a turn watching the backpacks and, after a bit, we decide we better go find the bus stop before it’s totally dark since we sure as **** weren’t going to walk up that steep hill!

Well, we found more bars and restaurants, a couple of shops, and, finally, after asking in our very limited Spanish, the bus stop. The bus arrives after about twenty minutes to take us home.

When we get back to the hotel, Mike and Kaley and I decide to go to the place across the street for a light bite and a drink. This is El Avion where you eat under the wings of a real Fairchild C-123 airplane that was involved in the Iran-Contra scandals of the 1980s. When this plane’s twin sister was shot down over Nicaragua, the CIA’s airlift of weapons and supplies to the Contra rebels came to an end. El Avion’s owner bought the abandoned Fairchild for $3,000. The aircraft was disassembled and shipped via ocean ferry from Caldera to Quepos – because it was 10 inches too wide for the antiquated Chiquita Banana railroad bridges. After hauling all seven aircraft sections up the Manuel Antonio hill, the C-123 finally found its current cliff-side resting place. And the food and drinks were great!

Then, it was back to our rooms for another good night of sleep to be ready for white water rafting the next morning.