On arriving in San Jose, we found our transfer and got in to a rickety mini van to travel to Arenal Volcano. We were very clear that we weren't in a hurry and were happy to enjoy the scenery, but Jesus seemed intent on getting us to our destination as quickly as he possibly could - flying around hairpin bends and over bumps in the road, and there are a lot of these... We were still in Central America after all. The last 10km of road was a track, which we were still merrily bumping along holding on for dear life... Andy was concerned that the van was either going to tip over of lose a wheel at one point, we were driving with two wheels in the gutter at the side of the road - smoother there apparently!
When we got to the Arenal Observatory Lodge we had a real Jurassic Park moment... The volcano is covered in dense vegetation, and the top disappears into a cloud. The view from the lodge is stunning, with the man made lake in the distance, hummingbirds flitting about, huge butterflies, howler monkeys and coati's (like raccoons) wandering the grounds. Very rainy up at Arenal, the volcano has almost its own ecosystem - the rain was like nothing we'd seen for a while - it was like a bucket of water was emptied onto the area. Sitting on the porch wondering if we were going to make it up for dinner and still be dry was doubtful for a while!
There is a crater up there somewhere...
Getting to the lodge from our room involved walking through the grounds in the dark where torches were needed, every time I saw anything I was convinced it was going to eat me... We didn't end up seeing very much - but that didn't stop me jumping at every noise, leaf, twig or basically anything I could see or hear! We'd stayed at the observatory because the volcano is still active, and on clear nights you can see the lava glowing at the top... No luck unfortunately - we only saw the top of the crater an hour before we left.
Our full day in Arenal was spent on the sky trek through the rainforest. This was slightly mis-sold to us... We had expected it to be a gentle stroll along hanging bridges through the tree canopy. Not so much, this was a 3 hour hike up and down the mountain in the mud and torrential rain showers accompanied by wild turkeys and the odd howler monkey... We did find a tiny Costa Rican tree frog which was super cute, and saw some waterfalls. Both knackered by the end of it... So we went up e sky tram to a viewpoint at the top. They haven't quite worked this one out, as the options are either to zip line back down, which we'd already done in Ecuador, or to just get back in the tram and return to the start - we were expecting something slightly more at the top than a platform with some wires travelling from it! We met a group on a SAGA trip who were heading to the zip lines, half of whom were real daredevils and the other half of whom were petrified... We felt slightly ridiculous going back down in the team, as the 60+ year olds zip lined down! As an aside - if you haven't heard a howler monkey before - they are ridiculously loud, and quite indescribable... Worth you-tubing for a listen!!
After another night chilling out on the slopes of the volcano, it was time to move on. We headed to the local town of La Fortuna, and proceeded to get very very drunk on cocktails, celebrating having completed our last bit of sightseeing for the trip as we were heading to the beach the next day.
As we'd gone to bed so early (Andy was asleep at 7.30), we were awake at about 4.30am... Good news as it gave us a few hours to try and get rid of our hangovers before out morning of travelling - another travel day, another hangover - we're just not going to learn... The transportation was a little better this time, the bus had wifi - amazing!!!
Tamarindo was our stop on the beach, where we stayed in a beautiful B&B run by some really lovely people. Tamarindo is often called Tamagringo, which seems a bit unfair. The town is basically one street along the beach, full of hotels, tourist shops, bars and restaurants. Interspersed among them are juice bars and surf shops and schools... It has just enough local surf spot vibe left to redeem it from its nickname of Tamagringo... It's a cool town. We spent a lovely few days relaxing, with the only challenge being deciding where to eat, and dodging the locals asking whether we'd like any drugs as we wandered around the town!
We tried surfing (thanks Claire!), as when in a Costa Rican surf town it really is essential. I spent an hour terrified every time I came off the board that I was going to have a repeat of Byron Bay 2007 (snapped ankle ligaments and 6 months not walking for those that didn't know), but survived, although the waves were not our friends - the instructor said it was a bad day for beginners! Loads of fun, followed by obligatory drinks watching the sunset - life on the beach in Costa Rica is something. We could get used to...
Our last couple of days were spent at an incredible spa hotel up in the hills, where we would happily have never left. We were up there when the earthquake happened in Chile, so well away from the tsunami watch down on the shore. Before we'd been there a night, we were already planning a return trip...
The journey home involved a one night stop in San Jose, instead of the 7 hour bus we decided to fly... The airport was one step up from a dirt track, and the plane was very small. You really do feel every gust of wind when you are in one of those, particularly when it is mostly empty... It was a long 45 minutes! San Jose was a shock to the system, we missed the howler monkeys, iguanas and birds, not to mention the infinity pool and the clear blue skies. We weren't in the best frame of mind to get the most out of the city, as the going home blues had kicked in by this point. Nothing left but to get rid of some of the clothes that really didn't need to come home, and repack our backpacks for the last time.
Although we didn't see a lot of Costa Rica, we really enjoyed it, and will definitely be heading back - there is plenty more to see, and it is a country that is very different at other times of the year - we visited the coast in the dry season where it was very arid and dusty - in a few months time it will be green and jungle like again, more like the Jurassic Park type environment we were expecting!
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