Extensive & Adventurous Week in Costa Rica

From the powerful Arenal Volcano to the lush rainforests of Monteverde and the beaches at Manuel Antonios, Costa Rica is a country packed with adventure and unlimited scenery! We began in the Arenal area at a quaint lodge, and hiked near the active volcano, explored the town and swam in the hot springs. From there, we took a bus to the Arenal Lake, which we crossed by boat and then trekked the countryside by horseback for 4 hours until we reached the town of Santa Elena. This town is in the heart of the Monteverde rainforest area which offers many outdoor activities to participate in—the most popular being the zip-line tours through the treetops! We stayed at a lovely B&B and had fun walking through the town, enjoying the local food (many plates of cascados), meeting locals, and watching wildlife.

Our next stop was the ever-crowded San Jose to rent a car and head down the Pacific coast. We stopped along the way at several beaches including Quepos, Manuel Antonios, and Domenical on our way inland to La Florida. This small town houses an organic farm stay establishment that housed us for a night. It was interesting to see how the land was being used and to explore the raw (un-tourist) landscape of the countryside, including the largest waterfall in the country. For our last night in Costa, we drove back to Manuel Antonios National Park area, (a monkey preserve), and stayed at a nice inn while enjoying a wonderful sunset over the Pacific that seemed to say, "Come back to our country soon..."—which we hope to do!

Quick Tips:

Eat as many "casados" as you can—the Costa Rican "typical plate." Most cafes, road side stands, upscale and low-scale restaurants all serve some type of casado, which tend to be a great bang-for-your-buck! We lived on these cheap plates our entire week, which normally include rice & beans, potatoes (prepared many ways), steamed vegetables, cheese, fried plantain, cold salad, fresh juice, and a meat (unless you opt for the vegetarian plate). It's a wonderful way to taste the many fresh local flavors of the country.

When we travel, we like to brush up on the language before we go to be respectful of the new culture (and because we love languages), and then practice speaking as much as we can while we are there. Costa Ricans in general are VERY polite and friendly people and didn't mind us practicing Spanish (quite slowly at times) with them while conversing. Several times, when we told a waitress/driver/etc that we were trying to learn better, they would ask if they could practice their English with us! It was a great experience meeting the wonderful people of this country.

Best Way To Get Around:

One of the unique features of our trip was the various transportation options that we participated in. There was four of us traveling together and we (economically) hired a private van to drive us from the San Jose airport to Arenal. From Arenal, we reserved a boat-horse-van transport to Monteverde. It was quite an experience to boat across Lake Arenal with the volcano looming overhead and then to meet our horseback guide at the far shore. We traveled through fields, streams and hill sides for four hours by horseback (picking guava and wild berries for snacks along the way). We stopped at a small cafe where a van took us to our b&b in Santa Elena. We did end up renting a 4x4 jeep in Jaco to drive the coastal road down to Domenical—be sure to get a 4wheel drive (and extra insurance)!! The roads in the south are some of the worst we've ever seen (you should also bring extra padding for your seat:))

Just outside the main town center of Santa Elena in the Monteverde region of Costa Rica, lies a unique B&B with some of the friendliest owners and staff you'll ever meet. Los Cipreces is named after the large hard-wood trees in the area, and after some fell over the original structure on the lot, the owners used the wood from the enormous tree to rebuild the complex. You'll notice the decorative wood on almost all surfaces of the building, including floors, walls, ceilings, and even the "stump" stools and tables in the courtyard area.

We spent about $80 per night for 4 adults in a spacious, 2-room suite with a private bathroom. There are only 18 rooms in this quaint resort, all with private baths and separate entrances surrounding a lovely open-air courtyard. A tasty, local breakfast is served each morning, and we enjoyed delightful conversation with the main "manager", Ana. The staff helped us out each day with restaurant recommendations and walking directions into town (about 10min). We opted to have a private dinner at the B&B for the last night, which was fun getting to help in the kitchen while Ana taught us some recipes and cooking techniques to prepare the "tipico casado" plate!

A great place to stay for your money!

A quaint lodge at the base of the active Arenal Volcano, Lavas Tacotal is one of the closest lodges you can reserve next to the looming mountain, and is a beautiful getaway among the Costa Rican fields. The lodge offers cabins on either side of a fully landscaped walkway with each cabin angled to face the volcano from the rocking chairs on the front porches. There are also new, more hotel-style rooms with upgrades. I stayed at Lavas with 3 other adults and we booked a spacious standard cabin which was more than suitable with 2 doubles, a sitting table, cable TV, and private bathroom—and all for around $80/night! The lodge also has a pool and tasty restaurant that we ate at several times. The small staff is friendly and always willing to help with transportation, reservations, or sight recommendations.

We spent hours walking the long trails around the lodge and also took a somewhat long hike to the hot spring down the main road. If you stay at Lavas, don't expect too much flair, but do expect a simple, relaxing time next to the rumblings of a massive volcano!

If you'd like a nice evening-out in Santa Elena, Morhpos is your place. It is still a casual atmosphere, although you could dress up a little if you'd like. This restaurant was the first recommendation we received from several locals, as it is the most upscale restaurant in the small town. Located across from the supermarket and above several small offices, this restaurant which is named after the beautiful blue butterfly of the region, offers a quaint dining room with butterfly decor and rustic wooden tables. We sat near the front of the room with full windows to view the on-goings of the street below!

The staff was friendly, as usual with the Costa Ricans, and the pride of ownership in the dining room shows through with thoughtful decor, cleanliness, and popularity among the locals.

There are many plates to choose from at a reasonable price—from vegetarian options, meat and fish dishes, local fare (casados) and tasty coffee drinks and desserts. We enjoyed a large cascado plate with the typical ingredients (rice, beans, plantain, potato, veggies and salad). The hot toddies were tasty and unique; and along with the desserts of fruit and chocolate concoctions were the tasty finale to a wonderful meal!

Located in the heart of downtown Santa Elena (a small town in the Monteverde region), the Treehouse Cafe was a quick lunch stop for us, and reeled us in with the unique atmosphere. The cafe is next to the Treehouse Hotel and is on the 2nd floor of a building of shops that was built around a large, mature tree in the interior courtyard. The seating for the cafe winds around the branches and we enjoyed sitting on the bar area overlooking the street below. There is Internet access available as well and a cute gift shop next to the restaurant is a great place to find local, handmade souvenirs.

We ended up ordering a couple vegetable sandwiches as well as a hummus-type dip for an appetizer. The food was okay, but nothing special, although the drinks (smoothies and unique coffees) were pretty good. Overall, I recommend stopping by to see the atmosphere and a seat near the top of the inside tree is a treat!

One evening while we stayed in the Arenal volcano region, we walked several miles from our lodge to the Baldi Termae Hot Springs resort for a night of soaking, swimming, and sipping! This resort is a nice and slightly cheaper alternative to the popular Tabacon Hot Springs in the area. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening in the 10 pools of varied temperatures and 2 swim-up bars. The pools are fed by individual springs along the land near the heated lava from the neighboring volcano. There was some construction during our visit to expand and improve the facility, and overall the cleanliness and beauty of the resort is highly rated.

We paid about $25 per person for entrance and several more dollars for use of towels, changing rooms, and a private locker. After touring the resort and pool area, we sampled several pools and enjoyed lounging in a private area of the front bar pool. A couple of pools were a little too hot for our taste, but to cool down, we'd take a break on the nearby hammocks or lounge chairs. Since it was after dinner when we visited, we didn't try the on-site restaurant, which seemed to have a limited selection and high prices, but we did have a couple unique cocktails at the back pool bar. Don't leave without trying the tasty "Mono Loco" (Crazy Monkey) drink, which mixes banana, caramel, condensed milk, liqueur, and more!

A hot spring visit is a must for the Arenal/La Fortuna region, and the Baldi Termae is a beautiful option with the colorful tiled pools, relaxing palms, and not-so-crowded atmosphere!

Some of the most fun we had while visiting Costa Rica was participating in the Sky Trek Zip Line Tours in the heart of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We researched several zip tours before deciding on Sky Trek, which offers some record-breaking zips in in the country. Sky Trek boasts the longest, fastest, and highest cables of all the other tours in Monteverde. There are 11 cables with the beginning being more gentle, "practice" zips and the more exciting cables toward the end. The price was around $40 per adult which included all the needed equipment, and we opted for a combination ticket for several more dollars which includes the Sky Walk tour as well (several suspension bridges over the forest).

We we in a group of about 8 adults and had 2 guides who clearly explained the tour and were very entertaining along the trails. Each person has to safety cables and we felt completely safe throughout the zips. The "longest" cable goes over this huge expanse of a wooded ravine that gives you more time to actually look around while you're flying by and get a glimpse of the beautiful green rainforest. While we hiked up to the "highest" zip (over 2500 feet), the term of the region "Cloud Forest" became a reality. We literally couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of us because of the dense fog, and as we zipped through the cloud, it became like you were in a different world!

I highly recommend this 2-3hr-long zip line tour to everyone (over 8 yrs old) who visits Costa Rica! Keep your eyes peeling for monkeys and exotic birds while you trek through the forest. What an experience...

We enjoyed this unique SkyWalk walking tour through the Monteverde Cloud forest, along with our SkyTrek Zip Line tour. The SkyWalk is a series of large suspension bridges and platforms that traverse the cloud forest from the ground to a canopy at the top of the trees. It really is a unique way to see the forest from different perspectives and go at your own pace to explore the flora.

The normal ticket price is only around $15 per person but there is a discount if you book it with the zip line tour offered at the same complex. We did the zip tour first and then had a fun, "cool-down" walking session afterwards to really see, up close, the plants that we had zoomed by earlier.

There are a handful of bridges, all with different specs that you can read about in the brochure that you are given, which explains the length, elevation, and construction of each. Keep a look-out for monkeys swinging in the trees and colorful birds and butterflies. We also enjoyed looking at the many exotic plants along the paths. Even if you're scared of heights, this tour would still be fun, because the bridges feel very sturdy and safe, and have railings up to chest-level. This is a great way to spend 1-2 hours, and be sure to explore the hummingbird garden at the end of the trail - what a treat!