Costa Rica 2nd time around
I spent the first week cleaning
everything out of my RV. I went through all my clothes and boxed up what
I wanted to keep, but the majority I donated to a woman's shelter. I went
through the rest of the RV and donated about 6 more boxes to the
thrift store. I lined up a carpet cleaner and an RV detailer before
heading over to Kissimmee to re-organize my storage unit. Not a good
start, it was pouring rain and my key didn't work. I tried several times,
but it just wouldn't open the lock. I went to Home Depot and rented a
bolt cutter for an hour. I got back, it was still raining. I tried
the key one last time and wouldn't you know it, it worked. So
back to Home Depot to return the unused tool. At least when I got
back for the 3rd time, it was only sprinkling. I quickly sorted out
what I needed to put back in the RV to sell it. I had taken out the
bedroom door because it was in the way and I took out the two recliners to make
room for the nicer ones I had. I unloaded the chairs in my mom's
garage for the night and she noticed thry seemed very low to the ground.
OMG, I had to take off the swivel base to get them out the door of my RV 2
years ago. Last year I was sorting everything and saw them. I
thought they went to the bigger chairs (I put custom rockers on them) and I
didn't need them anymore, so I threw them away. Guess I'll have to
figure something out.
Finally it was time to head to Costa
Rica with my 2 best friends - Stephanie and Sylvia. I had been to
San Jose 2 years before and had a great time. The condo is a 3 bedroom
apartment so we had plenty of room to spread out. The big
attraction wasn't the condo or the location, but the tour company they
partner with. http://soltropical.com/ They came over Monday morning and served
breakfast while describing the different tour packages. There were only 6
of us; my friends and I and another group with a granddaughter Hannah,
grandmother Pat and grandmother's friend Joyce. We lucked out,
they were awesome to tour with.
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Our tour guide was Christian and the
driver was Hopper, the same pair as my last
trip. Christian’s knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for
all things Costa Rican, and nature specifically, is what put this company over
the top. We started the week with a quick city tour around San
Jose. The city is in the middle of the country and the perfect location
to do day trips from. We visited the National Theater where we
learned about the history of the theater and some interesting facts about
its construction and the politics of the late 1800. Basically a coffee
tax was used to raise the money to build it. As you walk up the stairs,
you see Costa Rica’s most famous mural on the ceiling. The Allegory of Coffee and Bananas was painted
by Milanese artist Aleardo Villa. The Costa Rican people were
(and still are) pretty upset when they saw the painting, as
it contained so many errors. Coffee does not grow at sea level as
depicted in the mural. The people are all white except a black
man holding a stalk of bananas upside down. The baskets used
for picking coffee beans are portrayed wrong as well. Despite its many flaws,
the mural graced the 5 colón bank note. The best part was the amazing
art work on the ceiling of the top floor called Allegory to
Music . If you look at the faces of some of the cherubs, they
follow you no matter where you are in the room. What makes this so
spectacular is that it's not just eyes that follow you; their body seems to
rotate as well. In one corner there are 5 women
standing behind a fence. As you walk around the room, the entire corner,
including a fence, seems to magically turn to face you. Google
linear perspective if you want to know how this works. We were going to
walk around down town, but the rains hit. Seems we picked the rainy
season to visit and it rained every afternoon.
On Tue we headed north to Arenal
Volcano National Park. On the way we stopped in Sarchi. This small
town is famous for its hand painted ox carts, including the largest ox cart
in the world. We took a factory tour to see how they were made.
Surprisingly, the small shop built in the 1920's, still had no electricity.
The entire operation was run using power generated by a water wheel. Each
cart wheel was hand crafted. The wheels consisted of 16 hand cut wedges
bound by a hot steel band. As the steel cooled, it contracted around
the wooded wedges, binding them together so no nails or glue are needed.
The wheels and cart are then hand painted on site. Ox carts are actually
used in every day life; we saw several being pulled by white oxen in
the smaller villages. Of course they were not as elaborately
painted. We also visited a beautiful wedding cake style church. As
we walked inside to look and take pictures, they wheeled a casket in.
Apparently a funeral was in progress, so we quickly stepped outside. The
Will Smith movie After Earth was filmed in the area. We passed by a giant
egg used in the movie. Looking back at clips, you can see Arenal Volcano
and the surrounding area.
Arenal is Costa Rica’s most active
volcano; since July 1968 its
lava flows have been consistent. In 1968, three craters burst open
along the volcano’s western flank. “Crater A” measured 1,000 meters across and
set off a pyroclastic flow of toxic gas and hot rocks that spread 12 km,
devastating the towns of Pueblo Nuevo and Tabacón. In doing so, it killed
87 people. In September of the same year, “Crater A” began again to emit lava,
and remained the most active crater until 1973.
In 1973, the eruption activity
migrated to “Crater C.” This crater remains active to the present day, and is
characterized by lava that is of an andesite basaltic composition, with explosions that contain pyroclastic materials
and gas emissions. During the day, you can see smoke and cinder billowing from
Arenal’s top, while at night you can watch the fiery-red lava pour down its
steep sides. As luck would have it, there was no lava during our
visit. We took a boat trip on Lake Arenal and got to within a mile of the
volcano. The view was spectacular even without the lava flow.
After lunch we headed to Baldi Hot
Springs Resort. https://baldihotsprings.cr/ The place was fantastic, it had 25 thermo mineral hot
water pools. The water comes from the base of the volcano. The
pools range in temperatures from 68 º, to 152 º F. The best pool had a
moderate temperature of 93º and 3 extreme water
slides. The slides are very long and curvy and you come flying out
the end at a high rate of speed. Which is why this is the best pool
- because you can watch the people shooting out. Last time I lost a
contact lens I hit the water so hard. After an afternoon at the hot
springs, and another great meal, it was time to head home. The ride back
was much longer because the rains triggered a mud slide and the highway was
blocked. We all went to sleep, so it didn't really matter how long it took.
We were all looking forward to
Wednesday, because we were going to learn about chocolate! The day
consisted of the chocolate tour, a walk in the rain forest, a hanging
bridge and boat tour. Let me just take a minute to point out that Sylvia
absolutely hates boats. She has actually been on several with me, after I
promise to hold her hand if needed. Stephanie doesn't like the outdoors
or the woods, especially if there are critters of any kind. Oh and she doesn't
like chocolate. When we were picking the activities, we each decided we
would give in and do something we didn't really want to/were afraid of.
Lucky for me, and I didn't mention it to my brave girls, I'm not afraid of
anything.
We started the chocolate tour with a
short walk in the woods. We came to a cocoa tree with a ripe fruit.
Our guide picked it and lead us to a pavilion deeper in the woods, where the
chef was waiting. He cracked open the cocoa fruit and showed us the beans
inside. The chef explained the process - the beans are dried for a few
weeks and crushed, then ground into a fine powder. It's mixed with
brown sugar and nutmeg then mixed with more cocoa powder that had been
cooked. This makes a very thick liquid. He added some milk and we
tasted it. YUK! It was very bitter. We had a tray of various
spices to add to it, but it was still bitter. It was very interesting
though, and we got to take some dried cocoa beans with us. Apparently
cocoa was one of the most important products for the Mayan and Aztec cultures
and was once used as currency. 1 bean bought fruit, 8 bought a
chicken, 12 a wife. A slave would go for 100 beans, so we see what was
once valued in the old cultures. 
After lunch we went on a boat ride
down the Sarapiqui river. We were on the lookout for the American
Crocodile, and we weren't disappointed. There are several boat tours on
this river and the guides have hand fed the crocs for years, mostly
chicken, to show off for the tourists. The government recently
banned this practice. What that now means is the guides dangle chickens
in front of the crocs but don't feed them. I video taped one such
encounter with a giant named Osama bin Laden. The guide got out of
the boat and walked right up to him, dangling a whole chicken in his
face. The croc opened his mouth and, much like a dog, jumped at the
chicken. I whipped out my camera because I thought I might have something
really cool for YouTube. No such luck though, the guide got back in the
boat before he was eaten. He did gab the crocs tale and all the tourists
got to touch him. When they left, our river guide got the boat close
enough that Christian was able to grab his tail and we too got to pet a
crocodile. We continued up the river and saw many birds and smaller
crocodiles. We were looking for the one named Mike Tyson and we finally
found him. He's the oldest and biggest croc in the area, they think
he's about 25 years old. He let the boat get right up to him and we
got some good pictures.
The next day we took another boat
tour, this one in the Carara National Park. We saw a variety of wild life
including tiny bats sleeping on tree trunks, iguanas, and several different
species of birds. We heard 2 types of monkeys, but couldn't really see
them. This was Sylvia’s 3rd boat ride, pretty much against her will, but
she was a trooper and never complained. We took a walk through a
different type of forest. Christian is so enthusiastic about nature
and wildlife that he had us hanging on his every word as he told us all about
leaf cutter ants and other interesting insects. We saw several lines
of leaf cutter ants on this and previous walks. These ants go out
and cut bits of leaves but not to eat. They are actually gardeners.
They carry the leaves back to the nest where other ants clean and chew
them into smaller pieces. They add feces and saliva to make a sticky
substance which they attached to a specific kind of fungus found on the
leaf. This fungus grows and is harvested to feed the colony.
There are millions of ants in a large colony, so the lines bringing fresh
leaves is never ending. They follow a pheromone trail from the tree back to the nest. If you rub out the trail, you
can watch the ants scatter as they try to pick up the scent again, which they do
pretty quickly.
Friday's tour was one of the most
interesting, we went to Poas Volcano National Park in the morning and Peace Waterfall
Gardens in the afternoon. http://costarica.com/attractions/poas-volcano-national-park/ and http://www.waterfallgardens.com/. Last time I was here, the mist/fog was so thick we
couldn't see our hand in front of our face. This time we couldn't have
asked for better weather. It was clear and we had a spectacular view of
the lake. Poás volcano is a powerful symbol of the geothermal forces that
formed Costa Rica. When the mist and clouds part, you'll see the
sulfuric lake at the bottom, surrounded by
smoke and steam rising from fumaroles. Water from the lake is constantly
seeping through cracks in the hot rock, evaporating and building pockets of
steam. When the pressure in these pockets exceeds the weight of the water
above, the steam breaks through in geysers that rocket up to 820
feet high. The crater is 1,050 feet deep. At almost a
mile across it's also the largest active crater in the world. We
stayed on the viewing platform for about 30 min, it was so amazing to see.
Clouds rolled in and obscured everything, but seconds later they moved on and
it was clear again. We didn't see any major geysers, but it was still
very beautiful.
Our next stop was the
waterfall garden, which included a wonderful butterfly garden as well as a
rescued wildlife preserve. All of the animals there are rescues and
include big cats, monkeys and birds. All of the monkeys were donated
by the Costa Rican Ministry of Wildlife and were confiscated from people
who held them illegally. In many cases the animals were abused and in near
death condition. They have been rehabilitated and
combined into sociable groups where they have become families. One of
the monkeys liked to put his hand thru the bars and hold hands, which I
did. We passed a different monkey with a different attitude, I got my
face too close to him and he made a grab for me. We walked into the
butterfly garden, but not all of us enjoyed the experience. Steph was
really, really creeped out and had her hoodie pulled tight around her
face. But she did manage to walk thru the entire exhibit without a
meltdown. I got some amazing photographs of the colorful insects.
It was pretty cool, there were so many different species. They were all
over the floor as well, Christian said they were just drunk from too much
nectar. The last stop of the day were the waterfalls, which were
beautiful. I have a thing for waterfalls, but not
for steps. And there were lots and lots of steps.
Sylvia had to leave on
Saturday and we were so sad to see her go! Stephanie and I had one last
adventure, this one was a zip line and canopy tour at Canopy San Lornzo
http://canopysanlorenzo.com/ The other group decided to take the day off
so it was just us. A different driver picked us up and there was one other
passenger, but he was asleep. When we arrived, Louis woke up
and introduced himself. He's from LA and was in Costa Rica with a
friend. They had been out partying the night before and he may have
overdone it. He was supposed to do this tour the day before with his
friend, but had been out the previous night as well, and just couldn't get
himself up. Ahhhh to be in your 20's. What ever the reason, we
really enjoyed him and he was quickly one of us. We started out the day
with the canopy tour. The canopy is a network of cables, towers and
suspended platforms through the treetops of the cloud forest. The tour
starts at the highest point of a 500 acres cloud forest resort. 10 cables,
10 platforms, 3 trails, 2 hanging bridges, 1 Tarzan swing - total of
1045m. It was so cool flying thru the air and seeing jungle all around
me. It was beautiful! There were about 20 people in the group and
we quickly made friends around us. The people behind us were from Israel
and we became buddies. I'll be sure to look them up if I ever make
it to Israel. Midway thru the canopy tour was a Tarzan swing.
Basically they hook you to a rope swing and you swing like a pendulum. It
was so much fun, the kids in the group went twice. Next came the zip
line portion. Now we had to climb fire towers that were at least 5-6
stories tall. It was hot, we were thirsty and it was a LONG way to the
top. But once there, we were sent soaring over the landscape and you
could see forever. The best was yet to come though. The climb was a
little too much for some and they turned back. Poor Louis was really
struggling; I know he was glad to have Stephanie and I in front of him.
That way he could pretend we were holding him up. In truth, the days
of partying were evident, I thought we were going to have to carry him a
few times. The last platform nearly killed us getting up there but it was well
worth it. This time we were strapped in, laying down, on a line
called Superman because you flew through the air like, well, Superman. I
held the phone out in front of me and hit record as they pushed me off.
For 51 seconds I felt like a bird. I was actually flying and I have
proof! It was the most amazing experience and something I'll never
forget.
The days were fun
filled, but long. When we got back to the condo, we didn't do much but
sit outside on our porch. I absolutely loved being on vacation with these
2 girls! Usually I like to travel alone, but we are all so close and get along
so well, I would go any where, anytime with them. It seems like all we
did was laugh. One night we walked over to a little shopping
center. We found a toy store and bought a card game. It wasn't
until we got home that we discovered it was in Spanish. DUH! No problem
for Sylvia who is Mexican, but big problem for Stephanie and I. We
stopped by a bakery and basically got one of each pastry since we didn't know
which one we might like. That was breakfast for several days.
Another night we had some excitement when one of the other residents locked
their key in the condo. There is someone at the complex at all times
but after 5 pm its just a security guard. He didn't have keys and
apparently couldn't get a hold of anyone. After trying unsuccessfully to
break into the maids room, they had about given up. We watched all this
for about 30 min when Hannah went over to offer assistance. Her condo was
next door and she thought she could crawl from one balcony to the other.
Her grandmother of course was not a fan of this plan. After discussing it
for another 10 min we asked if they had a ladder. One was found, but the
security guard was apparently afraid of heights and didn't want to climb
up. Eventually he did and was able to open a window. Another night
Stephanie was making us a mac and cheese dinner. She somehow managed to
spill boiling water on her hand. It didn't look bad enough to find and
ER, but it obviously hurt pretty bad. She went to bed with her hand
dangling off the bed in a pan of ice water. Luckily it was fine and
didn't slow her down.
Sunday morning came all
too quick and it was time to leave. Stephanie had an early flight and was
the first to go. The tour company offers a free airport shuttle and I
waited with Stephanie at the appointed pickup time, which came and went.
Stephanie is a super organized person and likes for everything to go off
without a hitch. If she's involved in the planning, that is exactly what
happens. But this morning, 30 min later, no shuttle and she was
getting more and more upset. We asked the security guard to call Mark,
the owner of the tour company. He did, but wouldn't give the phone to
Stephanie. Instead he talked to Mark, in Spanish, then hung up and
motioned that it was OK. By now Steph was working herself up to be really
mad because she was in danger of missing her flight. 15 minutes later we
were just about ready to call a cab when Mark himself showed up. I would not
wanted to have been him! Stephanie texted me from the airport, she barely
made it in time, but she made it. She said as they passed the tour
company, Hopper was outside washing the van and gave them a perplexed
wave. Apparently no one told him he had pickups that morning. Mark
came back and took Hanna to another hotel. She was staying in Costa Rica
on an internship for 3 months. She's studying to be a biologist.
Mark then came back for me, Pat and Joyce. We had about an hour to wait
so we all sat outside and chatted. I served the rest of the pastries and
juice and we had a very nice last breakfast. Mark is very
interesting; he's an American whose parents moved to Costa Rica years
ago. He came to visit and never left. There are a
lot of expats in the country, it was interesting to hear stories from his
perspective. He's a really nice guy and we all talked about what a great
time we had and how much we enjoyed him, Christian and Hopper.
So, now I have about 4
weeks till I move, its time to get busy...
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