Costa Rica
March 18-28 2019
Flight: United non-stop EWR-SJO (Newark to San Jose, Costa Rica), 5 hour flight. 2 hours time change. Arrive about 10 AMCar: Sixt Car Rental, off airport via shuttle. I believe all car rentals are off airport. Rented a 4-wheel drive jeep in anticipation of poor roads. Good, prompt service.
Phone: SIM card purchased at the airport for Kolbi. $2 for 30 days of WhatsApp and 2 days of data. Nationwhide Kolbi was down, so only used WiFi at hotels.
Itinerary:
3/18 Drove 1 1/4 hours to Villa Blanca, a Cloud Forest Hotel and Nature Reserve. Originally owned by a president of Costa Rica, his hotel has extensive grounds spread over a hilltop, which, when not covered in clouds, offers views over the surrounding hills. Very green, surrounded by jungle. Handsome, colonial style buildings with lots of exposed beams and white walls, yet very modern baths. We had a Casita Deluxe which included a whirlpool bath and a private terrace with views out to the jungle. $140/night and included a buffet breakfast.
We did a morning self-guided nature walk and saw many hummingbirds at their feeding station, Blue Morpho butterflies, orchids and other beautiful tropical plants. Dinner was disappointing, breakfast was fine. We would definitely stay here again, the remote and removed location felt a world away from the airport and the casitas offer lots of privacy.
3/19 After leaving Villa Blanca, we made a stop at
Los Lagos is a fun place. We stayed here with the family in 2006 and enjoyed it then and the grounds have been substantially upgraded since then. The property is on the lower slopes of the volcano, the summit of which is usually swathed in clouds, but occasionally breaks through. It is no longer an active, but still the dominant focus of the landscape. The grounds are handsomely landscaped with lots of palm trees, flowering ginger and other flowering shrubs, all of which harbor abundant bird life. It is common to see Keel-billed Toucans flying in the mornings, hummingbirds and a myriad of other colorful small birds darting from flower to branch.The hot pools are arranged within the lush landscaped grounds and include about a half a dozen water slides, small, cave-like nooks with jacuzzi jets, mini-waterfalls and plenty of places to relax in and out of the water. We did not find it crowded or noisy, there was plenty of room for running children and snoozing adults. Of course there is a swim-up bar, where in 2006 our then 10-year-old son Jamie enoyed his first tropical drink: coca-cola in a coconut.
3/20, 3/21
Drove ½ hour eventually to our hotel for the next 2 nights, La Mansion, on Lake Arenal. Our activity for the day was to visit the nature reserve called Mistico Hanging Bridges ( $29 p/p self guided). Mystico is a large reserve with well maintained paths and a number of hanging bridges. You can go self-guided or you can go with one of their guides and it takes a couple of hours to walk the loop path, all under the jungle canopy so out of the sun. They do limit numbers so it is a good idea to call and reserve a spot. We have always gone self-guided, but you would probably see more with a guide. We were in search of the spider monkeys, which we had seen here on a prior visit. On this visit we saw an Agouti, a beaver-like mammal, and a family of White-nosed Coati just as we were entering. Later we saw a venomous coral snake, lines of leaf-cutter ants, sleeping bats and heard the distinctive bark of the Howler monkeys as they climbed in the treetops. The hanging bridges are not only fun to cross, but they give you a glimpse of the forest from the canopy rather than the ground, so you really feel a part of the jungle.
We checked in to the hotel at dusk and were settled into our Casita #1 just as the sun set over the lake. The setting for this hotel cannot be overstated. It nestles just above the shoreline of the beautiful Lake Arenal, with views down over pastures where horses graze and out over the lake to the green hills beyond. Each casita is private and again surrounded with flowering tropical plants and bamboo and from your terrace you can see the birds flit in and out and hear their lovely songs. There is an attractive small swimming pool and a large hot-tub both of which look out over the lake as does the airy restaurant where you can take your meals. Peggy, the owner, is usually on hand to book excursions and they offer many. We did two, both including riding, as that is what we enjoy, but there were zip-lining or fishing or trips to Mystico all easily arranged. You can read about the choices on their website in advance.
We were very excited about our first excursion, it was an all-day outing, beginning with a boat trip across the lake. Our boatman, Carlos, took us close to the shore for close-ups of herons, egrets and kingfishers. On the far side of the lake our guide, Nixon, met the boat and after a short jeep transfer we arrived at his rancho, a humble farm, where we saddled up and were joined by his wife Carmen and their 2 year old daughter for our adventure. We rode high up into the hills, about 1000’ up, with a couple of nice canters and some beautiful views. Eventually we reached his mountain retreat, a rough and ready gazebo with a tiny kitchen and bathroom and Carmen laid a fire for cooking our lunch as we went off on our waterfall hike. We had been promised a 3.5 hour hike, but after maybe 30 minutes of switchbacks downhill we arrived at a small waterfall with a pool. The water was very refreshing, and after a cool-down and dry-off we put our gear back on and headed uphill to lunch. Honestly, the hike was fine but Nixon had limited English and even more limited knowledge of the plants and bird life around us. We really needed a biologist along to fully enjoy this experience. All too soon we were back for lunch- we were getting way ahead of the schedule- so had quite a wait for Carmen to finish cooking our chicken tostadas and plantains. Can’t say the food was good, but it was local and cooked with love! We rode back to the ranch and back to the boat and after a long long wait, the boat took us back. There seemed to be real communication problems, Nixon seems a bit of a wheeler-dealer, promising things and then trying to make them happen, not always successfully. Also, if any of you have traveled with us, you know we like to move, hike fast, ride fast, and so I think we also got him way ahead of schedule! Maybe that will teach us to slow down (not likely). Peggy was very responsive to our review of the excursion.
Late afternoon and we were home with time for a dip, a rest, a sip of rum on our porch as the sun set and another early dinner at the restaurant. Last seating was 7pm, but truly with our active days we found we were happy to be in bed with our books by 9pm as the sunrise was around 6am and we enjoyed early coffee when the birds were active.
The next morning we had a great ride, organized by the hotel, on their horses, up into the hills overlooking the lake. About 2 hours for $55 p/p.
The Restaurant
Our Casita
3/22 Drove around the end of Lake Arenal over the hills, studded with wind farms, down to the top of the gulf of Nicoya and out to the dry forest and wetlands region adjoining Palo Verde National Park where we arrived after 25 km on dirt roads at the Rancho Humo Estancia. The Rancho is not only a large working cattle ranch, but the lands are also a wetlands preserve and they offer a morning jeep safari out along dikes built through the wetlands for birdwatching. The tour left at 6 am, but we had been up even earlier as the deck off our room was positioned to catch the sunrise. We had our morning coffee watching the sun come up over the hills inside the Palo Verde reserve across the Rio Tempisque.
The morning safari was fun, we enjoyed the company of a Costa Rican couple who, like us, were exploring their own country. Being alert looking for birds energized us even more, so on our return and after a lovely breakfast, we went out on a horseback ride ($35 p/p for an hour or so). The horses here are used on the cattle ranch, they are nimble and eager and the roads we rode along were hard packed dirt, excellent for some quick canters.
The hotel deserves special mention. One might imagine some rustic rough ranch, but Rancho Humo was a boutique hotel set down in the middle of this quite removed and dry landscape. The hotel has only a few rooms, but they are all huge, high-ceilinged with large walk-in showers in the bathrooms, and private terraces. The meals are all included, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and their presentation was artistic and right out of a fancy hotel anywhere in the world. Our tab for a Junior Suite was $240, the only extra being drinks of course. The hotel has a pretty swimming pool and deck area, and a modest but handsome lobby. If we had stayed more than one night we would have arranged to visit Palo Verde National Park, which offers trails and more birding opportunities such as the opportunity to see a roseate spoonbill.
3/23-24
From Rancho Humo, we drove across the middle of the Nicoya Peninsula, and here we encountered our roughest roads of the trip, but they only lasted a few kilometers. The hills were rough and gravely so the four-wheel drive was useful. We came out onto the Pacific Coast near our destination, Playa Coyote. Playa Coyote is a village right on the beach. There are some large gated homes, possibly weekend places for Costa Ricans or possibly rental villas. We saw one restaurant on the beach,El Barco, pen for both lunch and dinner, and a cluster of businesses up the hillside about 15 minutes away by car, but no true village center. Our hotel, the Zen Spirit Yoga Retreat, was the last property along that particular strip of beach. Built with a large private home above landscaped grounds with 5 duplex beach casitas below, there is an open-air bar/restaurant, a pool with lounge area and then a few steps further and you are under the swaying palms lining the beach and hung with hammocks and lounge chairs. The attention to detail in the architecture and design is wonderful with dovetailed joints and hardwood exposed beams, comfortable bench seating and fresh flowers on the tables. The casitas have large bathrooms that open onto private patios which incorporate the outdoor shower. While there is no air conditioning, there are great ceiling fans and louvered windows all around to catch the ocean breezes and we slept well. I highly recommend this venue. The owner, Sabine, is French Canadian and a good cook so the meals taken there were great. One night she fried us each a whole red snapper, the other night it was Mahi Mahi with capers and lemon. Both nights I opted for dessert- a mango mousse and then a chocolate mousse- both delicious. On our visit only one or two other rooms were occupied so there was a dreamy-sleepy quality to the warm idle days. We did nothing more than walk the beach, sleep in the hammocks and read and the days passed easily. Rooms were $135 a night and meals were $20-$25 a person for dinner.
After our two nights we were off for more adventuring. We needed to head south down the peninsula and then turn east to reach our next hotel, Tango Mar, on the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula. These roads are reputed to be the worst in Costa Rica, but we were ready with our 4-wheel drive! Trusting in Google Maps, we ended up on rough unmarked farm tracks, crossed two or three rivers which were luckily reduced to trickles at the tail end of the dry season. Fording a river always feels adventurous and a little risky, especially in a rental car. In this highly remote setting we discovered an equestrian ranch with riders heading out, a destination we need to investigate. Shortly after that the road ended in a parking area at the beach, and we were flummoxed till we saw a couple of jeeps drive by on the sand. We had heard the hard packed beach is sometimes used as a road, so we pulled out onto the sand and as it was low tide we made good time with waves to the right and palms to the left.
Seemingly out of the blue civilization appeared, in the form of surfer shacks, juice bars, cutely painted wooden signs and other indications of tourism. We had arrived at Santa Teresa, a beach much lauded. We found a beachfront lunch spot and enjoyed the fancy salads and pina coladas but realized that we both preferred the empty lassitude found at Zen Spirit up in Playa Coyote. We had made the right choice back home when we rather randomly chose a beach hotel. After a swim we finished our drive and the roads improved so that we made good time .
Tango Mar Beachfront Boutique Hotel and Villas is billed as a golf resort, though I never saw anyone on the dry brown links. It hugs the steep rugged shore, and has several different room categories, over which we had anguished. We landed a corner room ($143/night with breakfast) which was nice for catching the evening breezes at Happy Hour. Tango Mar has its own restaurant for dinner (a la carte) and breakfast buffet, and poolside there is a swim-up bar and grill restaurant for lunch. Both have magnificent ocean views and the surf crashes right on the beach 20 ‘ away which is mesmerizing if a bit loud. There is a walk to a waterfall just at the edge of the property, where the water tumbles off a cliff and into the ocean. In our season it wasn’t much to see, but the trail continued on to a secluded beach, accessible only at low tide, and we had it to ourselves for an hour or so that afternoon. Double bonus points for private beach!
Tango also has its own stables, so surprise surprise, we went for a ride, $110 p/p for half-day ride. And what a great ride. It was just the two of us and our guide Michael, and we rode all the way to Tambor Beach where we were able to have a cooling swim. On any number of smaller beaches along the route we were able to let the horses run, they really flew, I nearly lost my hat! Riding in Latin America is usually a good deal. The price is right, the horses always seem healthy and our guides have sharp eyes for local flora and fauna, for example here we sawScarlet Macaws flying overhead, something I would have missed on my own.Tango Mar was definitely a ‘resort’ which often means over-developed and lacking in character. In this case the location was so stellar, the open air restaurant so appealing and the opportunity to ride on site the cincher. I am glad we stayed here.
Last full day of vacation we left Tango and took a stop at the Curu Wildlife Refuge down the road. We were hoping to see more scarlet macaws and spider monkeys but neither appeared though we did have a good little walk/hike on their well-marked trails and saw lots of racoons, white capuchin monkeys, coati and so on.The Refuge appears to offer kayaking and boat excursions, and there is also a beach there and a small nature center.
We ferried back across from the peninsula out of Paquera to Punta Arenas and in a couple more hours were at our hotel outside of San Jose, the Villa San Ignacio, $70, in Aljuela. The hotel has great charm, a little bar and restaurant and a pool but it is also rather noisy as a major truck route passes close by. I would not choose it as a vacation destination, but for a night near the airport it worked perfectly.
Costa Rica was a great trip. Bo and I wanted to see if we could go back to a place we had been to before and keep the itinerary mostly the same. Would the places we enjoyed with the kids be as fun for us on our own? Would the nice hotels hold up to a second visit? Yes and yes. The nature is still abundant, the opportunities to go from the jungle and rain forsest to the beach are there and the roads are a lot better than they were a decade ago. And, as always, we returned with a new list of places to go to next time.
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