Volcanoes & Cloud Forests in Central Costa Rica
The lush green valleys of Central Costa Rica
The next two weeks felt like a holiday within our trip, as we welcomed our good friend Jay to Latin American shores. It was so nice to see a familiar face and have him with us for a part of our journey!
A flying visit to San Jose
We travelled from Quepos back to the capital, where Jay’s flight landed that evening. We decided to spend a day in the capital to help with jet-lag recovery, and after a lazy morning that included Jay’s first taste of Costa Rican coffee, we did the obligatory big city free walking tour. It was a really good one!
Our guide, Jose Pablo, was enthusiastic and funny, and we learnt about the history and culture of the country and its people. A highlight was the sun dial on the wall of the former rum factory, which came with a set of footnotes explaining the dial was not built correctly and set out the calculations needed to deduce the actual time, depending on what time the sun dial read.
At the end of the tour we asked José Pablo for a good place to go and eat, and he spent so long describing a local haunt that dished up traditional small snacks that he made himself hungry and decided to come with us! Thank god he did, because it truly was a locals place - there wasn’t another tourist in sight. Amid the chaos, he handled the ordering of food and drink whilst we chatted to another couple from the tour group who had decided to join us. They were fascinating. An American couple who are professional ice skaters. They had toured the world, living in various countries and on cruise ships performing for a living - they had performed alongside Torvill and Dean! Now, at a later stage in their careers, they produced and choreographed shows instead. Wow. What a life!
When the food came we were not disappointed with Jose Pablo’s recommendation. Between us, we tried the fried yucca with garlic aioli, the patacones with refried beans and salsa and, our favourite, the chifrijo. We probably could have polished off one each of this rice dish layered with beans and pico de gallo. Delicious!
A few cocktails and a good nights sleep later, we were up early and ready to start our tour of central Costa Rica. This is where Jay’s holiday - and our holiJAY - would really begin.
La Fortuna
We managed to get on the one direct bus to La Fortuna per day, although it was a little stressful and definitely necessary for us to have been there an hour early to queue, as not everyone managed get on! After a relatively smooth journey we checked into a cute little Airbnb and planned our activities whilst in the town. As we walked around, we sampled our first set lunch - a casado - at a local canteen known as a soda. It was truly amazing! And we were even treated to an incredible view of Arenal Volcano looming over the town. Had I known at the time that the volcano was usually covered with cloud and it was rare to see it, I would have taken a picture. Although we didn’t see it again, it was nice that it popped out to say hello when we arrived!
The next day we were up early for a hike around the base of Arenal volcano. Climbing on the volcano itself is illegal - the government made it so as it is a dangerous ascent and for the protection of the environment. I asked the guide if people still tried to summit it, and he said yes - but not without risk. If a tourist is caught they probably won’t face any consequences, but the Costa Rican guide faces jail time! This seems insane to me, but guides do take people up for around $200USD per person. We heard a recent story of a visitor who broke his foot on the way down. The guide had to call emergency services, who needed a helicopter to rescue him…. only Costa Rica didn’t have the right kind of helicopter, so it had to be borrowed from Panama. Eek. The guide is now doing 10 years in prison.
Personally, breaking the law in a foreign country and being responsible for someone going to jail is not something I wanted on my conscience, so I’m glad to report our hike stayed firmly within the permitted trails of El Silencio National park, one of the many private parks at the base of the volcano.
The trail followed the lava flow from the 1968 eruption up to a beautiful view point. Or, what would have been a beautiful view point, had Arenal not been hiding being clouds.
We walked through secondary rainforest and saw a sloth - but he was so high up he was only a blur - then stopped for lunch. Our next hike led us down over 400 steps to La Fortuna waterfall. This beautiful fall cascaded down into a crystal clear pool where we had a refreshing dip. I say we… Jay was straight in to the waters, whilst Graeme only dipped his toes on the edge as he found it too cold! I was somewhere in between, having a bit of a swim before sitting on the rocks to admire the view.
Unfortunately for us, the only way out was back up the 400 steps! But we managed it because the part of the day I was looking forward to most was coming. Our next stop was a local Hot Springs resort.
The area is obviously well-known for its geothermal activity, including naturally heated water flowing underground. Several businesses have made the most of this, drawing the water into pools of different temperatures. We spent an hour dipping in pools of different temperatures and well and truly warmed up after the waterfall swim! After an hour, our guide told us our transport was ready to take us back to town… only we weren’t ready to go!
We got ourselves a couple more cocktails and watched the sun set from the warm waters - it was a dreamy way to finish the day.
The next morning, Jay woke up early and went off on a wildlife watching tour. As Graeme and I had been lucky to see so much the week before, we skipped this and enjoyed a lie in. We have to admit we were slightly jealous though, as Jay had seen a Toucan - a quite frankly fabulous bird that had eluded us so far!
On his return we walked 2km out of town to a natural swimming pool. The water wasn’t quite as cold as the previous day, so we all managed to get in and enjoy watching locals swing from a rope and drop into the waters. Now, this really isn’t my thing (if you’ve not guessed by now I’m not really a water baby), so I was quite enjoying watching the locals expertly climbing over rocks, ambitious tourists back flipping and nervous visitors dropping in with a scream. After an hour of psyching himself up, Jay climbed up the rocks and had a go himself. Seeing Jay do it boosted Graeme, who then also gave it a go. They seemed to enjoy it and spend the next hour climbing up and dropping in!
After an afternoon of bathing in cold waters, my body wanted one thing: to be back at the hot springs. After an early start, Jay returned to our airbnb for a relax whilst Graeme and I had another warming dip whilst the sun set.
Monteverde
The next morning we packed up ready for our next destination, Monteverde. The most scenic way to reach the town from La Fortuna is by a method known as jeep-boat-jeep, but perhaps is more accurately described as minibus-boat-minibus. Either way, the scenic boat ride across Lake Arenal at the foot of the cloud-shrouded volcano was a gorgeous way to travel. Certainly better than yet another bus!
We arrived in Monteverde to learn that there is a windy season here… and we were right at the height of it! The metal roof and walls of our hostel seemed to rattle under the pressure. Having learnt a lesson from our time in Quepos, we pre-booked our entry for Monteverde Cloud Forest the following morning.
The Cloud Forest Reserve is a stunning biological reserve that gets its name from the frequent mist and clouds that envelop the area. Just two days ago we were cursing the clouds at Arenal, but in Monteverde we were in awe of them. Our early morning start saw them come down between the trees as we walked through the forest, creating the most beautiful, mystical and eerie environment.
The reserve is home to a vast array of plant and animal species. We saw many orchid varieties and some smaller birds like the Costa Rican warbler and a native woodpecker, as well as an inquisitive coati. Elusive mammals and birds such as the jaguar and ocelot, and the resplendent quetzal, also call the park their home, but our eyes weren’t keen enough to spot any. To be honest, the wind and mist made it pretty hard for even guides to spot anything that morning! Even so, we were left utterly awe inspired by just the beauty of the forest itself.
After walking almost every path in the reserve, we went back to town for lunch at a spot we had seen and been amused by on arrival. Taco Taco, it turns out, is an incredible restaurant serving mouth watering Mexican food. Between us we tried a smorgasbord of tacos along with a passion fruit ceviche and churros to finish, of course, and it was all we could do not to order more. With six weeks in Mexico still ahead of us, I am wary that I want to save the best til we are there… but I am so glad we took a chance on Taco Taco!
Our final day in Costa Rica was dedicated to learning all about coffee. I’ve never been a big coffee drinker, and only started regularly drinking when we arrived in South America last June. When I say regularly… I can handle two coffees a week! So it’s fair to say I had a lot to learn.
Cafe de Monteverde gave us a tour of their coffee farm, where we were able to harvest beans, taste them as fruit (surprisingly sweet!) and follow the process of how they are grown, sorted and roasted. At the end, of course, came the tasting of different roasts and blends. In all honesty, I’m not sure my coffee tasting palette became any more sophisticated from the experience, but I did learn a lot and taste some delicious coffees, too!
After another very memorable meal in a local soda, we tucked ourselves in for an early night. The next day would begin at 3.30am. It would be one of the more adventurous travel days of our trip, taking us from central Costa Rica, across the border and all the way to an island within Lake Nicaragua.
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