January 31, 2016 - Tamarindo to Liberia, Costa Rica

This was our last day in Costa Rica so after breakfast we finished sorting and repacking everything up for our flight to Cancun tomorrow. We stowed our bags at the hotel and because we were BOTH FINALLY feeling better, ventured out to explore some of the other beaches in the area.

Our friends had told us about Playa Mina and Playa Conchal which weren’t too far and were close to each other, so off we went.

The last 5km or so was pretty rutted getting to Playa Mina, but it was filled with lots of folks! It is difficult to see, but that entire row of trees had cars parked under them and actually went about twice that length!

Some people bring their hammocks, along with coolers and grills while even others brings their tents.


There weren’t very many people in the water compared to hanging out in the shady areas so walking on the beach was great!


It is a nice long, crescent-shaped beach and there were a few snorkelers out enjoying the warm water. We got in and cooled off before walking some more! When it was time to leave, we encountered a small tree behind the car. Can you spot the impact area? Lucky for us, the rental car company didn’t see any damage either!! Thank goodness for that big tire on the back of the car!!!!
After hanging out at Playa Mina a while, we decided to check out Playa Conchal. Not a far drive, but as we approached the water again, the road got sandier and sandier. I made Tobey turn around before we were stuck and needed a tow truck. We opted to go back to the main road and try Playa Brasilito. There was parking right in town next to the beach and we walked a back toward the Westin Hotel. We found there is a 4x4 road that goes up a hill along the beach which is probably the same one we “might” have come out on. It was interesting to watch several cars attempting the hill. Most of the little sedeans would try, then roll back down the hill, turn around and give up. The bigger, badder 4x4s kept going, but tires were a spinning!

We got ice cream and water then decided to retrieve our suitcases and get on to Liberia. Living in Fort Collins, we are certainly used to seeing micro-breweries, but I think this is the first one we spotted in Costa Rica. This is for our beer-drinking family and friends since we can’t bring any home. You can check your local liquor stores to see if it might be available.

Leaving town we also got a chuckle out of this sign – especially since I just finished my 2-year term on the Nominating Committee!

Another small town we went through was having a sort of political rally. There was a stream of cars coming toward us sporting flags and honking their horns. There were probably 20 cars!

Many of the sugar can fields were being cut and Harvested and we passed one truck taking his load to be processed.

We had dinner at a VERY LOCAL restaurant where no one spoke English about 15km outside of Liberia. I had some unique tacos – 4 of them, rolled and fried, then covered with cabbage, mayonaise and catsup. Tobey had chicken fajitas with onions and red peppers. There were no tortillas, but were served with french fries. They served us a local vegatable beef soup beforehand, also. Everything was good – but the portions were so large, we left more than we consumed.


These are a few of the typical “tico” houses found in Costa Rica. Most are constructed from concrete or wood and have sheet metal roofs. Concrete block construction is NOT used because it is too porous and can mold too easily. There are some that are definitely much poorer and have sheet metal walls, in addition to the roofs. Most of them are quite colorful!

Well, that’s it for today. We have a 4:30 am wake-up call. I have a small write-up on some of the roads and travel times and may get a chance to post at the airport. In the meantime, “Pura Vida!”

January 30, 2016 - Tamarindo, Costa Rica

We had a pretty lazy morning hanging out at the hotel. Around noon, I stayed by the pool with my book while Tobey went into town to walk on the beach and get some lunch. He got back around 3 and it was time for naps!

We went back into town around 5 for dinner and the beach sunset. As we were pulling out of the hotel we spotted this big iguana just relaxing in the road. He wasn’t in any big hurry to move either! It wasn’t until a local came up the hill in his truck that he finally moved.

There were still lots of folks out on the beach enjoying the warm (high 80s) temperatures.

Sunset was again pretty nice!

Tobey asked for a recommendation for ceviche and they gave us four different places along the beach, but said LaPalapa was definitely the best. We looked at 3 of the 4 and went back to LaPalapa. Mistake. He asked if they had “mixto” ceviche because the others didn’t have it on their menu. Our waiter said it wasn’t on the menu, but they had it and it had the fish, shrimp and lobster. Okay, order it up. When the order arrived it looked nothing like any ceviche we had EVER eater. It didn’t taste like it either. It was a huge disappointment. At least the bottled water was good.

After dinner, we stayed to see the entertainer. He “levitated” a table, did a magic trick, they “levitated” himself.

We saw something similar when we were in England last fall and knew how he did it, but it looks pretty impressive. Can you figure it out??

January 29, 2016 - Tamarindo, Costa Rica

We had a pretty quiet day today because neither of us is feeling 100%. Our hotel, Esplendor Tamarindo, sits on a hill overlooking the town and ocean, but doesn’t have beach access. Our hotel does have an agreement with a hotel on the beach that allows us to use their facilities, pool, lounge chairs and towels. We drove down and grabbed chairs and spent a couple hours at the beach. The water was pretty warm, but it seemed like we had to walk half way across the Pacific before it was deeper than our knees!

This afternoon called for naps then lounging down by our pool. We got to talk to Tyler today, so that made the day perfect! He is working in England again and goes to Turkey in a couple weeks.


The sky was pretty cloudy tonight, so the sunset was a bit more muted than last night, but still pretty amazing.We are hoping we both feel better tomorrow so we can get out and explore. Our time in Costa Rica is quickly coming to an end and there is so much to see.

January 28, 2016 - Nuevo Arenal to Tamarindo, Costa Rica

We left Nuevo Arenal this morning for Tamarindo. The road was pretty good, but it is surprising that most of the bridges in Costa Rica are one lane.
We wanted to go to Lleno de Cortez waterfall and programmed it into Googlemaps. Well, you can’t always trust googlemaps! We saw a sign for a waterfall, but it was not Lleno de Cortez and our GPS had us going another 3km. We followed the gravel road and ended up in a small housing area when Google told us we had arrived – but we hadn’t! We went back to the earlier road and paid our “donation” of $1000 Colones to support the local school then $2000 Colones for a guy to watch our car in the parking lot.

We hiked down about 5 minutes and arrived at Llenos de Cortez. It was a pretty area and there were several people swimming and enjoying the water. We didn’t plan well, or we would have gone swimming, too!

We arrived in Tamarindo this afternoon and again followed Googlemaps directions to our hotel … and FINALLY found the hotel!

I had a sinus headache, so I slept for a few hours while Tobey caught up on some emails. Our room is on the 7th floor and we have nice views from our balcony. We look down on the pool and out to the Pacific.

The sunset was beautiful.
Tobey went into town and walked on the beach before getting some dinner.

After his stroll on the beach and dinner,he brought back food for me.Tomorrow we hope to check out several beaches in the area.

Jan. 27, 2016 - Arenal Vocano

The sky was mostly clear this morning so we got an early start to LaFortuna to see Arenal Volcano. We bypassed the park and went to the Observatory Lodge Arenal which has great trails and a observation deck to see the volcano. The Lodge charges $5000 Colones ($10USD) for a day pass to the property. http://www.arenalobservatorylodge.com/

Within ten minutes of walking up the trail to the overservation tower, we spotted two toucans in a tree. There were so beautiful!
The vocano was still behind the clouds when we got to the top of the oberservation tower so we walked some of the trails to the waterfalls. There were several guans in the trees, but we got to see some on the ground much closer to us.

The crested-guan is a large, brown turkeylike bird. This bird is native to Costa Rica.

The waterfalls was really prettty. Back down the trail we loved seeing all the different flowers and trees. It is so amazing how vibrant the colors are!

Lipstick bamboo

Hibiscus

The “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” plant is really interesting. When the flower opens it is a violet color, then turns to light violet, then white – ALL IN 3 DAYS!

We spotted several juvenile Baltimore orioles – they were so bright!

Back by the restaurant, there is a viewing deck so we arrived and waited for the clouds to clear. We were treated to seeing the top of the volcano and it was beautiful. The clear view lasted only a few minutes before the clouds rolled back in and covered the top. It’s all about the timing!

It was also a great spot to see lots of birds. There is a feeder set up and it attracts several different varieties. There was a group of “serious” birders there with giant cameras taking pictures of the different birds. I felt a little embarrassed with my little 35mm point and shoot camera, but at least I don’t have to tote around 50 pounds of equipment!


Oropendola

Blue-Gray Tanager

We spent more than three hours at the Lodge before heading back into LaFortuna for lunch and grocery shopping. This is the soda we ate at. The food was good and very reasonable priced.
We also went back to Eco Termales to get some pictures of the hot springs during the day. http://ecotermalesfortuna.cr/ It was just as beautiful during the day as it was at night.

We also spotted a Jesus Christ lizard lounging by one of the pools. He was so bright green compared to the others we have seen it was pretty cool.

After our sightseeing, we stopped back in LaFortuna to do some grocery shopping before heading back to Mary and Steve’s house.
Along the road we passed two bands of coati – each with at least 10 in them. These must all be females because the males only come around when it is time to mate.

We have had an incredible time in Nuevo Arenal and catching up with good friends. They have certainly assimilated into their community in the last 2-1/2 years they have been in Costa Rica. Tomorrow we head toward Tamarindo on the beach for our last few days in Costa Rica!

January 26, 2016 - Nuevo Arenal, Costa Rica

Today Steve and Mary had Spanish lessons so Tobey and I hung out in the morning. I was repacking our suitcase when I noticed a huge tear along one of the seams. Great. When they got back they were pretty sure one of the seamstresses in town could fix it. After lunch Mary went to teach English, so Tobey, Steve and I went off to the repair shop and sightseeing.

We dropped the bag off and the woman was sure she could repair it. We stopped back a couple hours later and she was finished. It cost $1000 Colones ($2.USD) for the repair!

We went on to Lake Cote. It was a pretty drive and when we arrived at the lake it was shrouded in clouds. It is an area that is supposed to have several UFO sightings, and many documented by the government! We didn’t see any, but the area did have a Jurassic Park kind of feel, so we could really imagine sightings there!

We also toured several neighborhoods in the area. It was fun to see the different developments and see where several of their friends live. The clouds started to break up and we had glimpses of blue sky. We had a great view of the Lake Arenal.

We went to dinner at one of Steve and Mary’s favorite restaurants that overlooks Lake Arenal so we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Dinner was delicious!

After dinner we went to EcoTermales hot springs in La Fortuna. It was $36USD per person to use the pools, but was lots of fun. We enjoyed checking out all the pools with varying temperatures. We really liked that there was no sulfur smell to the water. We spent almost 2 hours relaxing in the pools and it was all I could do to stay awake until we got back to the house and got to bed!