“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

~Helen Keller

“To see the World in a Grain of Sand

And Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.”

~ William Blake

Want a great trip for you and your family? Last June we had a wonderful adventure in Costa Rica where we fell in love with:

• The people, called Ticos, mostly descended from the Spanish but many people immigrated here from Europe, Central America, United States, even Quakers objecting to the US draft. They are well educated with 94% literacy  rate and have no standing army.

• The landscape is amazing, ranging from mountainous cloud forests to tropical beaches and rain forests.

• The food is from everywhere - Costa Rica  is a melting pot of people!

1. •The coffee - the conditions and weather of CR is just right to grow coffee beans.
   

2. •The “Green Season” where there were less tourists and great deals to be had.
   

We read books, checked out the internet, trip advisor and

VRBO ( vacation rental by owner).  Our trip comprised of

three “mini trips” within our trip.  We wanted to see the

Arenal Volcano, which is constantly spewing rock and

lava; the Monteverde Cloud Forest and lastly a jungly

beach.  We chose the beach at Manual Antonio because

it was more remote and had monkeys to see! From Denver

you can take a direct, overnight red eye flight to San Jose. 

You can also fly into Liberia. 

June 3 - 6:

We got our rental car and drove to Arenal.  The mountains

were green and beautiful; we felt like we were in a tropical

Switzerland. On the way there we saw children going to

school in little small towns with corrugated roofed homes.

It was cloudy and rainy when we arrived at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, the volcano covered with clouds.  The property is the closest you can get to the volcano.  It has wonderful walking paths and a great restaurant.  We knew there was a chance that we might never see the volcano.  We stayed in the rooms that housed vulcanologists at one time.  This is a great deal for families.  In our room there were three sets of bunk beds with a shared bath and breakfast all for $99/night plus taxes during the green season.

                                                                    On the second day, the volcano showed itself and at night the  

                                                                    light show was amazing!!  I couldn’t believe I was seeing the     

                                                                    perfect volcano, the kind you used to draw as a kid.  I fell asleep 

                                                                    watching.

                                                                    I must recommend eating at the Lava Lounge in La Fortuna, the 

                                                                    town closest to our hotel.  We also ate at a Soda, a cafeteria style 

                                                                    eaterie, where we had great Costa Rican food.  One typical food 

                                                                    is in Costa Rica is Gallo Pico, composed of rice and beans fried 

                                                                   together with cilantro, onions and peppers.  We loved swimming   

                                                                   at Baldi Hot Springs in La Fortuna, too.

                                                                    

                                                                  

                                                                            

June 7 & 8:

The drive from Arenal to Monteverde is only 60 miles but it took

nearly 4 hours to get there.  We drove around Lake Arenal.  The

volcano is always in sight.  We passed Swiss farms, German bakeries,

narrow bridges over streams, green fields with skinny India-looking

cows, wild impatiens, ominous clouds, the rockiest road we’ve ever

driven on, torrential rain and then a fabulous lunch as we pulled into

town at the Swiss Miramontes. Another adventure!!

At Monteverde, we had a little cabin at the Arco Iris. We were within

walking distance of the town.  Monteverde is a combination of tourist

stores, restaurants, ice cream and coffee shops.  We had some delicious

meals here.  We especially loved Pizzeria de Johnny’s. I had an amazing

tenderloin with gorgonzola.  The pizza was good, too.

We took a guided hike through the cloud forest with Adrian.  We got

to see the elusive quetzal, insects like the glass wing butterfly and many incredible humming birds.

The next day we were picked up Selvatura Zip lines and experienced the most amazing adventure through the forest. I’m often a chicken when it comes to activities like this.  But the 15 zip lines were exhilarating, the last going just a little less than a kilometer!  There is a hanging bridge path for those who are not sure they want to try the zip line.

June 9 - 13:

We had a wonderful drive down to Manual Antonio. 

Here we stayed in a condo at the Hotel Parque Villas. 

I must admit that I loved the air conditioning the best

at this condo.  It was fun for the kids to see TV again

and we loved having a kitchen.  La Mariposa

is my recommendation for staying in a hotel.

We spent a lot of time here and had many morning

cups of coffee with this incredible view. 

The beach at Manual Antonio is great for the older

kids with surfing and boogie boards.  The town is a

little honky tonk tourist place but we enjoyed it

anyway!                                                                                                Coffee with a view at La Mariposa

The highlight of the trip here is our experience going into the Manual Antonio National Park.  It is a combination of rain forest, beaches and reefs.  Right when we entered we saw a sloth.  La Playa is one of the most beautiful beaches that I’ve ever seen.  After a wonderful time swimming we walked a peninsula called Punta Catedral.  We felt like Indiana Jones going through the forest as we sweat like we never have before.  Then we heard noises and suddenly six or seven monkeys surrounded us.  It was a little frightening as the “Grandpa” of the group came down from the trees to inspect us.  We must have passed muster because he went back up and brought the baby of the group to look at us.  Then as quickly as they came, they left.  Wow!

                 

                    

                  

                      “Grandpa” watched us from a tree                                                            “Baby” came down closer

We just scratched the surface of the adventures within Costa Rica!  There are rivers to raft, other beaches to discover and people to meet.  Oh, and of course, more restaurants and food to discover.  And one more thing...coffee to drink.

We can’t wait to go back someday!