First Day in Manuel Antonio

Monday was essentially a travel day. We woke up in Arenal, enjoyed the wonderful buffet breakfast at our hotel, and then spent the morning packing. We dodged heavy raindrops as we moved from our casita to the lobby of the hotel, where we met our driver who would take us on the 5 hour journey southwest through the country to the Manuel Antonio region.

The drive was somewhat rough again for anyone with a nervous stomach, with lots of narrow roads switching back and forth, climbing and descending the high hills frequently. Our driver was fantastic and did his best to entertain us (and converse with us in Spanish when we initiated it) during the journey across the country. The views were wonderful, but the only photo I have is of the crocodiles that lived under one of the last bridges we crossed before heading to the ocean coastline. We crossed a river that was infested with crocodiles, and like all good tourists in the area we stopped to view the crazy spectacle. Scott paid a solicitor some money to throw raw chicken down to the riverbanks below (I'll spare showing the video here, but it is quite crazy if you like this sort of thing). The crocodiles dove for that chicken like it was the last meal they would ever eat. I know the picture below is a little gross, but this helps to depict what the scene was like.

Finally we arrived in the Manuel Antonio section of Costa Rica just next to the town of Quepos (see the map here). Our driver was from Quepos and he eagerly pointed out landmarks and the agricultural features of the area on the drive into town. Crazy fact: we requested a 10:00 a.m. pick-up time in Arenal so that we would not arrive in Quepos too late in the day. Our driver drove over 5 hours from Quepos to Arenal that morning to pick us up by 10:00 a.m., and then turned around with us in the van and made it back home around 5:00 p.m. What a long day for him, and he transported us all that way with a smile on his face!

We stayed at the Buenavista Bungelows, where our room was amazing! We had a one bedroom unit perched on the steep hillside overlooking the ocean. Here is a photo of the kids (Amelia is in the hammock) chilling on the balcony after the long ride. The jungle was within our fingertips just off the balcony! The second photo is of the living room and kitchen area, and to the right are the bathroom and bedroom (not pictured). This was plenty of space for our family, and it was perfect for the next five nights that we would spend here. 

The next day, Tuesday, began slowly. The previous evening we had reserved an ATV tour excursion with a scheduled pick-up time of 10:30 a.m., so we got off to a lazy start in the room. The night before we trekked about a quarter mile down the local road to a small supermarket and picked up breakfast items, so our morning began with coffee, cereal (almost $7 for a box of Cheerios (!), but much cheaper than breakfast for two kids in the resort dining room), and fresh fruit, all enjoyed on our terrace with this view. I couldn't stop dazing out towards the ocean, it was just that stunning.

I taught Amelia and John how to play Solitaire (how did they not know how to play this game?) and they loved it.

As we began to get ready for our ATV excursion, I was feeling sad that we hadn't yet spotted any wildlife within the resort grounds. One of the reasons we selected the Buenavista was the claim by so many visitors that the resort was infested with all of the tropical animals native to this part of Costa Rica. For months leading up to our trip, I had imagined daily sightings of animals all across the property, and here we were on a lazy morning almost 18 hours into our stay and we hadn't spotted a single animal.

And then, all of a sudden, as I was applying sunscreen on the balcony I heard the leaves of a nearby tree shake. The noise sounded like someone was banging the leaves with a heavy garden tool, so I looked in that direction to see what was going on. Within a minute or so, I detected movement by dark shapes, and a few minutes later a group of howler monkeys emerged from the trees. How exciting!

One of the monkeys had a baby on its back, and for awhile the baby got off of his mother's back and walked across the branches on his own. Look at the baby below! I took these photos with my zoom lens, but you could clearly see the monkeys from the balcony with naked eyes, they were that close. It was so entertaining to watch the monkeys jump from one tree branch to another and work their way across the jungle. The howler monkey group had about 10 members traveling together. 

After the howler monkeys made their way through the trees down towards the beach, we all regrouped to get ready for our excursion. But within just a few minutes we heard the trees rustling on the other side of the balcony, and we spotted a group of white-faced capuchin monkeys moving within the area on the other side of our room. Below is a photo of John taking a photo of a monkey that was eating a banana (that the monkey had taken from a palm tree somewhere outside of our room) on a ledge just below our bedroom window.

A momma capuchin monkey with a baby in her back, both eating a banana, on a leaf next to our balcony.

I would say that there were about 10 capuchin monkeys in this group. The monkeys made their way through the trees on the side of our balcony, but then a few of them came onto the balcony! We were stunned by this behavior, though we later learned that it is relatively "normal" in this area of Costa Rica. The table in the photo below is the same table where John and Amelia were playing Solitaire in the photo above.

On our balcony!

By the time we had multiple capuchins on the balcony, and they were swinging in the hammock and crawling more aggressively across the floor, we decided it was probably a good idea to retreat to our room. The monkeys were not aggressive per se, but they seemed to be too comfortable around humans for our comfort.

We really needed to get dressed for our excursion, but we were laughing too hard not to continue to look at the monkeys!

Finally, our ATV excursion tour group picked us up and we went off to the main road that bordered town.

This was the view from the ATV office where we stopped to sign paperwork. Gorgeous!

The ATVs departed from a ranch located about 30 minutes outside of Quepos. Along the way to the ranch we passed through large palm tree fields, which we learned are important to the agricultural development in in the region. The palm trees are planted on huge plantations, where workers harvest fruit from the trees that are used for palm oil, which is an ingredient in food as well as cosmetics and other items. The gentleman below is working to harvest fruit from the tree by way of a long pole with a machete on the end. We learned that the fruit weighs about 125 pounds each, and that in order to earn a living wage each worker much pull down about 200 fruits each day. Amazing!

Once we arrived to the ranch we reviewed a safety briefing from our guides. The tips they gave us about crossing water would come in handy later.

This photo gives you an idea of the landscape we crossed on our trek through the area on the ATVs. The photo is somewhat deceiving though since it is not raining in this picture, which is contrary to our experience on the tour. About 15 minutes after leaving the ranch, the skies opened up with rain and it POURED (!) on us all across our ATV excursion. We had rain pelting us on our backs all across the jungle, as we wove in and out amongst the palm fields, going across dirt paths cluttered with small rivers of rainwash covering the earth. Scott and I each drove one ATV with one of our kids on the back.

Finally we arrived at the Rainmaker Forest, where we took a short hike through the jungle to enjoy the topography. By this time, the rain had slowed to a (welcome!) drizzle.

The river was raging fast, fueled in part by the recent rain but more than that fueled by the continuous rainfall that comes during the rainy season.

See the hanging bridge in the photo below towards the top? We had walked across this path earlier in the walk, and were now perched above on our trek onwards through the forest.

WET (!), on the path through the Rainmaker Forest!

Our turn-around point was a raging waterfall deep in the jungle. Scott and John braved putting their feet in the pool where the waterfall landed. I was worried sick about my camera throughout this entire hike, as it was left exposed (in our bag, but still drenched) during the rainfall while I was driving the ATV. I pulled the camera out to snap a few photos here and there, but was definitely trying to remain cautious during our walk through the Rainmaker Forest.

I was finally able to take a photo of the kids with the ATVs once we arrived back at the ranch. I never took my camera out during the ride because driving was too intense and I was worried about the rain. 

Once we arrived back at the ranch, the guides served us a delicious traditional Costa Rican lunch called a casada plate. A casada plate consists of white rice, seasoned black beans, chicken in a tomato/herb sauce, and salad. The lunch was delicious and tasted extra special since we were soaked to the bone form our ride.

The ranch was outfitted with picnic tables for eating, sofas for relaxing, and foosball and ping-pong tables for playing. The kids enjoyed playing games once we were finished with lunch.

After our excursion ended, the tour guides took us back to our hotel at the end of the day. What a great first full day in Manuel Antonio! Still more excitement to come!

La Fortuna Waterfall & Hanging Bridges Tour

It was a beautiful morning on Sunday, our first full day in Costa Rica. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast buffet, which was included with our room at Arenal Springs,  before heading out for the day (more on the food we enjoyed in Costa Rica later). It was really fun to see a half dozen toucans hanging out in a tree just outside our room when we returned from breakfast!

We decided to spend the morning exploring the park around the La Fortuna waterfall. The kids were clearly ready for the hike as we waited for a taxi to pick us up from the hotel. In the distance beyond the  kids in the photo below is Arenal volcano, which is covered by clouds.

After a short 15 minute drive through town and out to the park, we arrived at the park entrance. John found a friend in the parking lot. "Catarata" = waterfall.

The walk out to the waterfall started with a mostly descending path through the rainforest. The trail was a mix of dirt and wooden pathways. We walked down this path for about 20 minutes before we got to the bottom where we could view the waterfalls.

The first waterfall we spotted was a slow trickle of water over what looked like granite rock. The geometric shapes in the rock behind the water were pretty.

And just beyond this was La Fortuna Waterfall, which made a thundering noise as the water splashed over the edge and dropped into the pool below. We all enjoyed exploring the rocky area along the edge of the pool near the base of the waterfall.

Just before we left the waterfall area for the hike back to the top, we spotted an anteater that was quickly climbing up through the trees. This was just the beginning of daily wildlife sightings during our time in Costa Rica.

We had a planned excursion scheduled for Sunday afternoon to the Hanging Bridges park near Lake Arenal. The tour bus picked us up at our hotel at 2:00 and we were off for another adventure in the rainforest. During the short drive to the park entrance, our guide provided information about the geography of the valley and the types of animals that are most common to the area. He also warned us that it would likely rain during our visit (makes sense given that we were visiting a rainforest during the rainy season!). And just like that, it started pouring (!) just as we arrived to the park.

Our group of 8 walked along the paths in the rainforest for almost two hours, covering almost 3 miles and passing over 18 hanging bridges. It poured for the first hour. Despite the rain being uncomfortable, after we got used to it the rain actually made the experience feel quite authentic. I didn't take many photos during this time, but we saw a coral snake (very dangerous!) and a red poison dart frog before the rain let up. 

This is the view looking out to the rainforest below from one of the hanging bridges. The foggy mist depicts the aftermath of the rain well. The views were really amazing and the setting was peaceful yet exotic.

I was glad the rain let up enough that I could take some photos of the bridges since they were spectacular. I never would have guessed that I would be scared of the height of the bridges, but my stomach actually dropped a little when I looked down to the rainforest below on this one. Amelia is ahead in the photo in the bright rain jacket.

Looking down on Scott and John as they walk on the path below, as taken from the bridge above.

The photo below was also taken from the highest hanging bridge. You can faintly see one of the hanging bridges we had previously crossed just to the right of the photo center below. This gives you an idea of the elevation gain we achieved (and then lost) during our walk through the rainforest.

And finally, just before we exited the park we came across a spider monkey! This was very exciting as it was our first monkey sighting in Costa Rica.

We were lucky we had a guide to find all of the animals for us, because with the darkness of the rainforest and not really knowing what to look for, we would have been pretty much lost on our own. Our guide told us that sider monkey sightings are relatively rare, and this was the only spider monkey we saw during our trip.

Arrival in Costa Rica & Travel to Arenal

Our family recently returned from a fabulous one week vacation to Costa Rica. Each summer Scott and I plan several vacations for our family. Often these trips include visits to extended family or vacations with grandparents, but the trip to Costa Rica was one for just the four of us. Given that we have little quality family time on a day-to-day basis in Dallas because of Scott's work schedule, the fact that we had a whole week together (in a place with more limited communication for Scott) was a huge treat. Now that Amelia and John are getting older, we wanted to experience traveling with them to a place that was a little more exotic than a domestic destination, but without the expense or time expenditure to a place that was very far away. The combination of the climate, relatively close location, and variety of activities available for our family made Costa Rica an easy choice.

We left Dallas on Saturday morning and arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica early in the afternoon. We opted to take a connecting flight through Miami (rather than the direct flight from Dallas) in order to arrive relatively early in the day because we knew we had a three hour drive from San Jose to our final destination. The flight travel and connections were smooth, and before we knew it we were meeting our driver around 2:00 p.m. local time for the journey from the airport to the Arenal region of Costa Rica. You can see San Jose near the middle of the map below, with Arenal to the northwest (about 10:00 if the area around San Jose is situated like a clock).

We opted to hire private transportation for our trips from one place to another within the country based on the advice I received from the travel company I used to arrange our trip. While Scott and I are relatively adventurous travelers, we had heard the road conditions in Costa Rica are worse than what we are typically accustomed to and that signage on most of the roadways is nearly non-existent. We decided that since we were traveling with the kids, hiring drivers seemed to be much easier, especially since we were not planning to move much around the country. I don't know about the price difference between renting a car and hiring transportation, but hiring drivers definitely seemed to be common from what we saw when arriving/leaving our different destinations. All of our drivers were personable and friendly, and Scott and I used the travel time to chat (mostly in Spanish) about Costa Rica as much as possible.

I did not take many photos on the drive to Arenal so this don't do justice to the landscape. As is common in the area during this time of year, there was a slight drizzle with much cloud cover obscuring the mountains.

After an hour of John's begging, I relented and let him play electronic games. As much as I wanted the kids to scream with excitement, "Wow, this is amazing! We are traveling through a foreign country for the first time and it's so fun to experience the view!", that just didn't happen during the longer car rides.

Despite the research I had done before our trip, I was not expecting the extent of elevation in the mountains and hills of the country during our drive to Arenal. Parts of the ride from San Jose to Arenal were very twisting and turning, along narrow two-lane roads that left me feeling a little sick. The terrain outside was beautiful, but I was glad to arrive in Arenal by the end of the afternoon. 

Quick stop at a convenience store with clean bathrooms half way through the journey. The shirts hanging from the roof on the left are all soccer jerseys. We quickly learned that the World Cup was VERY important when we were in Costa Rica (more on that later).

A rest stop at a non-designated area. Haha, boys!

Our driver stopped along the side of the road to give us our first glimpse of wildlife up close in Costa Rica. This is a two-toed sloth hanging upside down in a tree just alongside of the road.

From the road, you never would have known that the sloth was in the tree. So I asked our driver, Alejandro, how he found him. He said that this sloth lives in this area, and we later learned that sloths spend a week in a tree before moving down to land to go to a different tree. So I imagine that the sloth was here on multiple occasions that our driver passed by earlier in the week, so it was easy to predict he would be here when we passed by on our journey.

Finally, our arrival at Arenal Springs, our home for the next two nights!

The Arenal region is home to the country's famous (active) volcano and luscious hot springs. It is an area known for providing visitors with many opportunities to enjoy Costa Rica's natural beauty. While we never got to see a view of the top of the volcano due to cloud cover (it was the rainy season in Costa Rica when we visited), we could see enough of it to know it was there. The photo below shows the main restaurant on the grounds of the property overlooking the pools. I loved how all of the main buildings were open-aired on one or more sides to let in the natural air. This reminded me of the way main buildings are constructed in Hawaii and allowed us to have a more natural experience in the restaurant and hotel lobby.

After unpacking that afternoon, we headed to the pool for some relaxation. Our resort featured a cool pool, a warmer pool, and also two small hot springs pools (they felt like hot tubs but were naturally hot springs). I didn't take any pictures there, but here is a shot of John and Scott walking back towards our room on the grounds of the property.

I loved how the grounds were so beautifully landscaped with tropical plants. All of the rooms were like little casitas, with two rooms per structure. Our room featured two queen beds with an adjoining bathroom. We also had a patio with two chairs and a view of the volcano (supposedly, as we never saw much above what I would guess is the half way point).

Much more to come from our family's adventures in Costa Rica!