I just finished up a fun visit with friends and family in my old stomping grounds in Virginia after my 6-month travel adventure and before heading back to California. As I sat in the airport in Charlotte, NC yesterday waiting for my connecting flight home, I realized that I forgot to share my last blog post of the trip. What?! Uh oh! Vacation Brain has set in! I know you were all wondering about my last story….or not….HA!! So, whether you want it or not……here it is…..2 weeks late. Oh well, better late than never!
On Monday of our last week in Costa Rica, our private driver, Carlos….aka “Charlie”, came to our house and picked us up for the 5 hour trek to Arenal, one of the famous Costa Rican volcanos. Jody and I decided that a change of pace from the beach was appropriate by now, so we bid “adieu” to our friends in Quepos and started out. We had covered some of the territory between Quepos and Arenal on our ride from San Jose on one of our first days in Costa Rica. But, about halfway through the drive, after we passed the turnoff to San Jose, we began to see some new terrain, which was quite different from other places we had seen on the trip. We traveled up…. and then down…… some very windy roads lined with lush greenery. The combination of this plus the mountain scenery in the background made me feel like we were a part of a grand scene in a movie. What a spectacular ride!
Charlie was a great host! As we have found with all of the guides, he was very knowledgeable about the area and had some interesting opinions…..about almost everything. We had quite an interesting discussion from time to time about tourists, politics…..and, cooking…….
Turns out, Carlos likes to cook…me, too! As we drove along, we learned about some of the food we have been eating and how it’s prepared….the plantains, in particular. We have had them made in all different ways…fried, sautéed, in chips………. and Charlie is an expert. He shared the techniques with us as we drove along. When I get home, I am going to seek out some of those bad boys and try my hand at making them. I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe the next time you visit there will be plantains on the menu!
On another food note, we had some of the best food of the trip in a touristy, roadside diner where we stopped for lunch on our way. Jody and I both had a fish platter….mine with a delicious garlic sauce and hers with a meuniere sauce.
Who knew we would find something so wonderful in such an unexpected place?! It was really good….and really cheap. We each paid about $10.00 for this treat! I also like that the owner was also the cook and one of the servers. I love getting special attention from the chef!
After our substantial meal, some Peanut M & Ms for dessert (I can’t believe how many Peanut M & Ms I have had on this leg of the trip! Will need some serious gym time after I get back home!) and another few hours on the road, Charlie dropped us off at our hotel in La Fortuna, a nearby town to Arenal with a view of the famed volcano. We picked this particular hotel because it touted spectacular views of the volcano. Really, we just wanted to get a glimpse of this renowned site. And, frankly, that’s about what we got…a glimpse. My room was almost all windows and, as promised, faced the volcano. Jody’s room faced an interior courtyard and had no windows….feast or famine on the views at this hotel! Anyway, I could see Arenal, but only the base. Sadly, on the 2 days we were there, it was quite overcast and cloudy…not too good for spectacular views. On the up side, though, it was much cooler (relatively speaking) than the beach area and it rained every afternoon. This picture was about the best we could do. But, here it is….
We learned from traveler reviews and also from Charlie that this is quite common. In the last months, there have only been 2 or 3 days where one could actually see the volcano. Oh well…..we were happy with what we saw of Arenal and, as usual, we saw some other things that were interesting, too.
We spent the first morning at a private park that has a large number of hanging bridges. We decided on this activity too late for a private tour, which was fine with us. So, we did the self-guided tour through the lush rain forested area.
We did get a glimpse of the volcano from here as well, but, again, only a glimpse.
But, it was a pleasant walk with views of some falls and, of course lots of flora and fauna. I will say that the hanging bridges were lots of fun to traverse, but they were not nearly as death-defying as the one at Los Campesinos. Still fun!
We had some excellent food at one of the local “Soda” shops, as recommended by Charlie. These are small restaurants that are common in Costa Rica. The food is generally good, ample and cheap. The one in Arenal was exceptional!
On our last morning in Costa Rica, we toured through an animal refuge called the “Asis Project”. This compound takes in animals that are injured or endangered and rehabs them in the hopes that they can be returned into the wild. As you might guess, they are successful with some, but not all. I have a love of animals and found this concept to be very interesting and uplifting…..and, I liked visiting with the animals. We saw the illusive macaw (haven’t seen another on the whole trip),
Parrots,
Parakeets,
an Ocelot (reminded me of my kitty, Lucy…only more fierce),
Porcupines,
and even a Boa Constrictor….
and, of course, lots of monkeys.
One of the more compelling stories for me was one about the monkeys. The Costa Ricans have a history of keeping monkeys in their homes as pets. Our tour guide pointed out that this works just fine until the monkeys mature and start to display their actual instinctual animal behaviors. Then, the owners, in their frustration to control the behaviors, often chain them up or abuse them in other ways. As a response to the abuse, the Costa Rica government has now outlawed private ownership of monkeys as pets. The “Asis Project” has received some of these abused monkeys and has tried to rehab them.
We met Jennifer, who on the surface, was a very friendly monkey. At the prompting of our guide, she reached her little hands out of her cage for us to hold and pat….melt my heart…….
The guide said that she loved to be touched, but is unable to build a relationship either with a human or a monkey. Sadly, because of her past situation, she would be unable to adjust to life in the wild. She would not be able to live in a group of monkeys, which is how she would need to dwell in the wild. We were told that she and her “house mate” at the refuge have terrible fights periodically and that she attacks women with long hair. So, Jennifer will have a permanent home at the refuge….a sad story, but not too uncommon.
We finished our tour with a “pitch” from the guide to come back again and volunteer to help care for the animals. They have a program where one can spend the morning at the refuge learning Spanish and the afternoon volunteering. Sounds right down my alley. Might have to do that next year! I’ll keep you posted!
We ended our trip at the Marriott Courtyard near the San Jose airport for one night before leaving Costa Rica. We had a final meal, a couple of glasses of wine and of course a few last rounds of “Bananagrams” before heading to bed to get a good night’s sleep before our return to the states the next day.
I will end with this story about the kindness of the Costa Rican people. After our transport dropped us off at the Marriott and left, I realized that I left my new backpack that was filled with souvenirs of the trip in the transport van. One of the staff members at the Marriott was so kind to call the transport company to see if it could be retrieved. She was persistent, but had a lot of trouble reaching them, so I assumed my backpack was gone. It was only stuff….no big deal. But, when I returned to my room at 9:00 pm, I had a call from the transport company to say that they had my backpack and would bring it to the Marriott before 8:00 am the next morning. At 7:30 the next morning, a young woman was in the lobby with my backpack. This gal had gone out of her way to stop at the Marriott on her way to work to be sure that I had gotten it. How kind.
I have many fond memories of my time in Costa Rica…the beauty of the rainforest, the splendor of the beaches, the wonderful food….I could go on and on. But, the thing I will remember the most is the kindness of the people. We found this everywhere we went. They were truly inspiring! We could all take a lesson from them.
I think this is a great way to end my tales of the last 6 months of travel. I’m home now, and…. glad to be home. I will spend the next days catching up and then plug back into my usual routine. But, I’ll be ready to go somewhere again and it won’t be long. It’s in my blood! Hmmmmm…….How about next week?….or maybe the one after that?! Maybe you will join me again?! I’ll be in touch!
Pura Vida!
Travel With Betsy 
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