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Friday 21 march Our fifth trip together and the third one already in the Americas. Went to the airport at 5 am and took off in a Martinair plane at 10 am. Landed at Miami airport 9 hours later and after a 2 hour wait it was another 3 hours to Costa Rica. We were picked up at the airport by a costa rican hotel owner in Alajuela (www. costaricahostel.com, good service). Checked in and went into the city. Not much to do in Alajuela even on a Friday night. Went to a bar and tasted the Costa Rican beers (imperial and pilsen – not outstanding beers but ok). Went to bed at about 10 pm. Saturday 22 march
Woke up early and had our first Costa Rican breakfast at 7 am. Standard breakfast here is huevas and pinto. Pinto is beans with rice, not something very appealing so early in the morning.
After that we took a taxi to Europcar to pickup our rentalcar.
We made a reservation for a Toyota Corolla but they didn’t have any so we were lucky and got an upgrade to a Daihatsu Terios for the same price.
A much better car and 4wd plus that the car was almost new (5000 km).
They gave us a roadmap and at 10 am we were on the road.
Again a good experience with Europcar, same as last year in South Africa.
In San Jose, after 20 km driving we got a flat tire after driving through a pothole.
Fortunately it was the only flat tire the whole vacation, the tire was not good, the previous renters had also complained about that tire.
Sunday 23 march
Today is Chirripo day, a strenuous climb to the top. This turned out to be a very difficult climb for 2 Dutch office guys which were not acclimatized yet and had little experience with long hikes.
  Monday 24 march
Woke up at 3:30 am and continued our climb at 4:00 in subzero temperatures.
Of course it was still dark and we needed a flashlight to find our way on the trail.
After 2 hours of hard climbing and lack of oxygen we reached the top at 3820m, the last part is very steep.
Great stuff, beautiful views and proud to be there after all the hard work.
We made pictures and stayed at the top for 30 minutes.
The walk downhill to the hostel was easy and took us 1,5 hours.
We took a break there to rest and eat before walking back the 14.5 km to the village.
All downhill but of course we underestimated that.
Way too fast we went down the first few km’s and after that we went slower and slower.
The last 4-5 km’s were a nightmare, we both were in a lot of pain and could hardly walk anymore. The last km took almost 1 hour, but at last we were at the car again.
I cannot recommend doing this trip in 2 days unless you’re very fit, 3 days is better because it gives more time to rest and recover.
Tuesday 25 march
As expected the following morning we almost couldn’t standup anymore.
I tried to get up but my legs couldn’t carry me anymore so I fell back in bed.
With a lot of pain we were able to walk around. We were almost like two disabled people.
Had breakfast at the hotel and were on the road again at 8 am.
We drove to the other side of the country to the carribian coast, puerto viejo de talamanca near the border with Panama.
The drive was easy but slow, seems like the roads in Costa Rica are never maintained so they’re full of potholes and the avarage speed is about 50 km/hour. Sometimes the road is not paved and when it is paved you can expect some huge craters in the road.
  Wednesday 26 march Took it easy today, hanging around the hotel and we walked a short trail in the morning. We saw the poison dart frogs and a parrot but no tucans. Walking was getting a little bit better now. In the afternoon we went with the car to a botanical garden which was closed. So we decided to go south with the car, where we saw a few nice deserted beaches and had a drink in Manzanillo. At night there was a party going on in one of the bars so we went there. Lots of backpackers and I was surprised that it was so busy, the town seemed so quiet during the day. Drank a few beers but didn’t make it very late. Thursday 27 march Time to move places again. Heading for the volcanoes so we wanted to stay near the Irazu volcano. First we drove to a sloth refugee where we got a tour from an english volunteer. Nice animals, they’re like koalas. We hiked in the nearby (very small) rainforest but didn’t see any wildlife besides crabs. We drove on to Puerto Limon where we needed an ATM as we were out of cash. We saw a sloth in the park there. No more stops and we went to Paraiso in the Orosi valley to sleep. Nice little town with almost no gringos although its supposed to be very touristic there. Somehow we couldn’t find the cheap hotel so we went to another (more expensive) one. A hotel run by Germans but a very nice hotel with good rooms and internet. We went to a bar for a few beers and had our first Costa Rican steak. Went to bed early because the alarm clock was set very early again. Friday 28 march
Volcano day and this turned out to be an unforgettable day.
We knew that we had to be very early to see something from a volcano, usually clouds roll in mid-morning and take away the view.
We drove to Irazu and were at the gate before 8 am at 3400m height.
The park wasn’t even open yet and we were the first visitors that day. Not very warm at that height so early but it wasn’t too bad.
We walked to the crater and it was clear. We had a beautiful view and saw a green lake in the crater. Its like walking on the moon there.
We went even higher (with the car because walking was still a problem after Chirripo).
Beautiful viewpoint on the windswept mountain.
Definitely recommended this volcano, although its not very active.
At 10 am we moved on to the next volcano, somehow we went through the centre of San Jose and after that drove a really beautiful road with great scenery and made it to the next volcano, which is Poas.
This one is a real touristic one, unlike Irazu. Had to pay a $8 entrance fee (like all national parks in Costa Rica) .
At the entrance they told us it was cloudy and unlikely that we would see anything.
We took our chances and fortunately the clouds moved away.
Again a great view into the crater and we could see smoke coming out of it next to the lake. This one is certainly active.
We hiked a short trail but only saw a few birds. Not very interesting.
Poas crater is beautiful but all in all its too touristic and commercial.
We were on a roll with the weather so we drove to the 3rd volcano, Arenal.
This one is incredible. Most people don’t see this one because its always cloudy. We were also lucky with this one and what a spectacular sight !!!
We took a hotel in Fortuna, a small village, not very interesting but with a very good view on the volcano.
Just before sunset we drove to a viewpoint to see the lava.
We couldn’t keep our eyes off the volcano when driving, what a sight !!!
When we arrived at the viewpoint we had to pay $2.50 each to enter. Ridiculous because it was only a road. Expensive country.
Anyway, the view was perfect and we watched sunset. We could hear the volcano rumbling and when it was dark we could clearly see the lava coming down at every eruption (once every 5-10 minutes).
First time ever we saw lava.
    Saturday 29 march Yesterday was the first day in Costa Rica that we partied. So of course we had a hangover when we got up. Had breakfast at 11 and checked out. Marvel gave us a good deal for the hotel behind the restaurant, $45 instead of $70. Now we had a much nicer room with airco and a patio, a great view and a pool. Later that day we saw 2 parrots in the palmtrees. In the afternoon we drove to a waterfall. Glad we had a car because most people were walking in the terrible heat. The last part was a trail so we walked to the waterfall. According to the book a strenuous trail but after Chirripo everything is a walk in the park. The waterfall is very nice and we stayed there for 1 hour orso. After that we went to Arenal national park. A ripoff, don’t go there. $8 entry and its really only a viewpoint, albeit a good one. This is as close to the volcano as you can get. In the evening we saw football in a bar and after dinner we went to the disco with Marvel and some other people from the hotel. Disco’s in Costa Rica are great. Beautiful girls and everybody dances the Salsa. The disco was full of Costa Ricans and besides us almost no gringo’s. Something I already knew was acknowledged; Latin American girls are the most beautiful girls in the world.  
Sunday 30 march Time to leave Arenal, a place I will never forget. It was also raining that morning so then it’s time to leave. The volcano was invisible because of the clouds and now we could only hear it. Said goodbye to the restaurant and hotel employees we partied with and were on our way to Monteverde. Marvel told us to which hotel to go to because he has a friend there. We drove around lake Arenal and this was the worst road in Costa Rica we would drive this holiday. It was paved but full of potholes, canyons would be a better word. 30 kph is the average speed here. A nightmare and I guess a lot of cars break down here. Fortunately we had a 4wd and because you’re higher on the road you can see the potholes better and earlier. On the way we saw coati’s and many big lizards. After the lake we drove the unfamous unpaved road to Monteverde. This one is a dirt road and it’s a long way up to 1500m. We had no problems and arrived in Monteverde at the end of the afternoon. Marvin friend wasn’t there so we drove around Monteverde and Santa Elena. Went to the entrance of the national park and saw a lot of hummingbirds. Very photogenetic birds. At 6 pm Marvin friend was still not there. According to the barman he had been drinking this afternoon and was probably asleep. We went to the hotel anyway, expensive ($65) but a beautiful room. We checked out town by foot but it’s not very interesting and it’s cold here. Went to bed early after all the partying in Fortuna. No need for airco here as its cold.  
Monday 31 march Got up at 6:45 and had breakfast at the hotel. At 8 o’clock we were at the park entrance and took a guided tour. The Monteverde forest is beautiful but expensive ($12 to get in). The group was small, only 5 people so that’s good. The guide showed us monkeys, tucans, a lot of other birds, tarantula’s, multipedes and told a few stories about the history of the park. We heard the howler monkeys for the first time. They were far away but they are so loud that we could hear them clearly. After an hour we saw the bird that everybody wants to see but is hard to spot; the Quetzal. Supposedly the most beautiful bird in the world. The bird is hard to see and you have to listen to the sound it makes to spot it. Fortunately the tour guide was very good. We walked around with the guide for 3 hours, good that we hired a guide otherwise we wouldn’t have seen a thing. In the afternoon we went into the park by ourselves. We walked around for 2 hours. Besides one strange bird we didn’t see any wildlife, but walking through such a beautiful forest makes it all worthwhile. Later in the afternoon we went to the butterfly garden, recommended by everyone. Again we had to pay $12 pp to get in. We joined a tour and saw a lot of insects and butterflies. Some of the butterflies are very nice but this is definitely too expensive for what you get. Not worth it. The only good thing about it was that the tour guide was a good looking American girl. So, next on the list was the frog pond, we asked about the entrance fee, $12 again so we didn’t do that. The prices here are ridiculous, we’re not that crazy. At the end of the afternoon it started raining and that didn’t stop for the rest of the day. Went to bed after dinner.  
Tuesday 1 april Still raining. It was cold and miserable and time to leave the place as we hate rain. Monteverde was nice but hardly worth all the money we spent here. The road down was slippery with all the rain and very glad we had a 4wd, we saw a few normal cars struggling. We drove to the Nicoya peninsula and soon we had a blue sky again and it became very hot. We went to El Coco first but it was too quiet there. A very small village, good for diving. We went on to Playa Tamarindo, a real party place as we had read. Tamarindo is indeed a lot busier that El Coco. We found a hotel and walked around in the afternoon. Nice beach and a lot of bars here. Luc tried to book a dive trip but there was too much wind so the boats hadn’t gone out the last couple of days. We watched sunset at a bar and had a few beers. At night we went out but all the bars were deserted. Probably low season we thought. When we went back to the hotel we heard music from a hotel across the street and went there. A lot of people and partying going on there. One bar full of people and the rest of the bars empty. Strange place this Tamarindo.  
Wednesday 2 april In the early afternoon we wanted to go to a national park to see crocs. Turned out that the national park was a beach 30 km away. Turtles lay their eggs on this beach. We drove to the beach, didn’t see anything besides a beautiful beach and went back to Tamarindo. Rest of the day was quiet, played cards, watched sunset again. The ususal stuff. In the evening we walked around and all the bars were empty again. We searched the town and found the party place that night. This time in a cantina, again close to the hotel. Supposedly the party is in a different spot each night. I’ve also read that on the internet and didn’t believe it but it’s true. Reggae music and 4 chicks behind the bar. We stayed until closing time. Thursday 3 april Time to move on, Montezuma is next. The roads in the Nicoya peninsula are unpaved but generally in good condition. We had no problems at all getting to Montezuma. According to the book one of the worst roads in the country but actually quite good. We found a cheap hotel and walked around in the afternoon. Montezuma is very small and very hot. We walked to a nearby waterfall and were soon our shirts were soaking from sweat. And it’s only a short easy hike. But it’s a beautiful hike through the junglelike forest. We didn’t see much wildlife but you could just feel that it was swarming with animals. The waterfall is a beauty, surrounded by high cliffs it plunges about 30 meters into a pool. A special note that the hike was free, not many things in Costa Rica are. They will probably soon put up a gate here and ask $5 entrance. After dinner (here you have to pay 23% taxes on top of the quoted price) we went to the bar/disco. As the town is so small this is the only one and everybody goes here at night. It’s a nice place with a gringo part (the bar) and a Costa Rican part (the other bar/disco). We went to the gringo part first and later to the Tica part.  
Friday 4 april Today we went to the blanca national park at the tip of the Nicoya peninsula close to Montezuma. As we didn’t see signs we just took a road we thought was the right one. Well, that wasn’t the right one. The road we took was very small and unpaved. We didn’t see any traffic and suddenly is was only a bushroad and we had to go through small rivers. Not a road we expected but awesome to drive. This is the true 4wd experience. After 1 hour we arrived at the entrance of the national park. Very few visitors here but again a hefty $8 entrance fee. As the park closes at 4pm we had no time to walk all the way to the beach so we went halfway. Again an absolutely beautiful forest and, as there’s not much elevation difference, a real treat to walk. There were only about 10 people in the whole park that afternoon so it was very quiet. Without guides you don’t see much wildlife in Costa Rica but this trail was different. We saw some strange birds and a lot raccoon type animals. The moment we were about halfway and wanted to go back we saw monkeys very close on a tree. The white faced monkeys. When we were close at the entrance again we heard howler monkeys and we also saw a whole troop very high up in the trees. You need a binocular to see them clearly. The sound they make is incredibly loud. Very impressive to be so close to the animals. As far as I’m concerned the absolute wildlife highlight on the whole Costa Rican trip. We took the right road back to Montezuma which was only 10 minutes driving. In the evening we drank a few beers in the bar and played table soccer which is very popular in this country. Almost every bar has a table. Later that night we met the German girls from Munchen. They also were here for 3 weeks but took public transportation and turned out that they had seen only a fraction of what we’d seen of the country. A rental car is expensive but a good investment in most countries when you don’t have a lot of time.  
Saturday 5 april - Harko in Haco Got up at 10 and on our way to Playa Jaco. We took the ferry to Puntarenas and were there at about 1. Once you get off the peninsula the roads are paved again and soon we arrived in Jaco. On the way we stopped at the bridge across the river to see crocodiles. There were many in the river. Not a very good place to swim. In Jaco we went to a hotel with a Dutch owner. $45 but a real nice hotel with airco rooms a patio and 3 pools. Airco is really nice here as the temperature in the afternoon comes close to 40C and at night its still above 30C. Jaco is the most busy beachresort in Costa Rica, we wanted to be here on Saturday for the nightlife. So far this has been quiet apart from Fortuna. After dinner we went to the Beatles bar which was very busy. As soon as we got in we saw that it is a girlie bar. Packed with Americans and prostitutes (mostly Columbians as we heard later). The bar is full of tv’s showing those stupid American sports like baseball and football. Beer is expensive here, 700 colones or €1.75, almost Dutch prices. We stayed here for some time and watched the scene. Pretty funny, old Americans accompanied by 1 or 2 girls. After that we went to the next bar which was packed with people. We couldn’t get in as we didn’t bring an id. Do we really look younger than 21 ? well, its just like the States here, unless you look 70 you have to show your id. Went back to the hotel for our drivers license and we got in, they didn’t even look at it. Anyway, this is the party place you may expect from such a town. Very very busy and bartenders dancing on the bar. Mostly Costa Ricans but also a lot of gringo’s. At 2 am the place closed and we went to the neaby disco. I met a Tica on the way there and Luc met another Tica in the disco and it became very late. Sunday 6 april Woke up late but just in time before checkout at 12:30. On the way to Quepos we found out that Manuel Antonio is closed every Monday. Shit ! We went to another attraction about halfway. A rainforest with suspension bridges (rainmaker). We arrived there at 2 pm and were not allowed to go without a guide. We had to come back tomorrow. We drove on to Quepos and were dissapointed with the place. It stinks and is very unattractive. This town needs to be cleaned up. Well, it’s just a base for Manuel Antonio and in that respect it’s good enough. Walked around and didn’t do anything special that day. Recovering from yesterday and went to bed very early for a change. Monday 7 april At 8:30 we were at Rainmaker again and took a tour ($45 each). We went together with 2 Belgians and a tourguide. The rainforest is nice but not nearly as nice as Monteverde or Canos Blancos. The tourguide gave us an informative tour and we saw a few snakes, strange insects, bats and a walking palm tree. The suspension bridges are the prime attraction here and they are indeed spectacular. Long bridges high above the forest (50m). Very photogenetic these bridges in the jungle. At 12 we had lunch there and talked to the Belgians. They were also on public transport but decided to rent a car for the last week. They were in Fortuna the day we left so they didn’t see the volcano. In the afternoon we went to the Manuel Antonio entrance. Manuel Antonio is a much better place to stay than Quepos. A really nice beach and a real tropical hideout feeling. We stayed here the rest of the afternoon and regretted that we choose Quepos to stay before checking out Manuel Antionio which is so much nicer. Went to bed early again, not much going on in Quepos.  
 
Tuesday 8 april Today the park is open and we were at the entrance at 8:30. We had to wait in line. Yes, this is the most touristic park in Costa Rica, but also one of the nicest. Soon we saw big lizards, they’re everywhere here. Also coati’s and again a sloth. After about 1 hour we saw monkeys; white faced and squirrel monkeys. They were very close and didn’t seem to be afraid of people. The white faced were very aggressive towards the squirrel monkeys and we were in the middle of the hostilities. We walked almost all the trails in the park and saw many monkeys and a few other animals. Also a few beautiful beaches in the park and some tourists are really crazy. Lying on the beach with their very white skin in the 40C temperature and blue sky. Wonder how they felt at night. We took one more trail and left the park at 3 pm, shirt soaking wet from the sweat. We drove back to Jaco and went to the same hotel. Saw Ajax-Milan on tv and relaxed at the hotel. In the evening we went to the same bars again. Luc met his Tica grilfriend again in the 2nd bar and it became very late again.  
Wednesday 9 april Car rental return today. We drove to San Jose, a short drive but through the mountains a time consuming one. We were at the airport just after 6 pm and returned the car. Everything was ok and they forgot the extra driver insurance so we had to pay $95 less. Went to a hotel in the center of San Jose. Not a very attractive city. Hardly worth visiting. One long pedestrian street which is nice so the heavy traffic doesn’t bother you. The center is dead in the evening and went to bed early. Thursday 10 april Not much to do this day. Slept late and went into the city in the afternoon. Luc’s tica grilfriend left late in the afternoon and we went to El Pueblo at night. This is a big area loaded with restaurants, pubs and disco’s a few km north of the centre. You need an ID to get in but fortunately we didn’t have to show it. El Pueblo is a huge party center and highly recommended. We went to a disco and its great to see all those beautiful girls dancing the Salsa. We stayed there until late, El Pueblo is like a busy Saturday night in Groningen. Friday 11 april Last day in Costa Rica, so it’s the usual stuff. Sleep until checkout, eat in the city and head for the airport. Had to wait a couple of hours and we met the German girls again, they were on the same flight. Played our last game of cards which we finished in Miami. Luc finally won a game but the final score was a devastating 7-1. From Miami it took 8 hours to Amsterdam and we landed 1 hour before schedule, first time that happened to me, usually planes arrive too late. Back home again… |
Costa Rica travel report march/april 2003