Tropical Love in Costa Rica
Alice Stoffel
May, 2005
Arenal Volcano
It doesn’t happen often - maybe once in a lifetime. It had never happened to me before: to fall in love so totally and immediately that you can’t help yourself; to miss something before you’ve even left it; to begin crying before you’ve even boarded the plane. That’s how I fell in love with Costa Rica in May of 2005. I still get teary-eyed just thinking about the beauty of this small country that rose out of the sea to form an isthmus between north and South America.
Costa Rica is a country marked by contrast. It is criss-crossed by terrible roads, yet boasts a gold-gilded opera house. It encompasses both poverty and lavish resorts and is home to active volcanoes, rainforests, fine sand beaches and bountiful flora and fauna that are native to both the North and South American continents.
I participated in a Fam trip May 19-26, hosted by Funjet Vacations to Costa Rica. I flew with 16 other Wisconsin travel agents from Chicago’s O’Hare airport through Miami and into San Jose, Costa Rica. I can now say I know the way to two San Jose’s!
Day 1: Britt Coffee Tour and City Tour.
Our home for the first two nights is the Melia Cariari Hotel - a fabulous resort about 15 minutes from San Jose. Carlos, our tour guide from CAT Tours (Central American Tours), directs us through the city to Heredia, where the Britt Coffee Tour is located. We learned all kinds of things about coffee. For instance, the darker the roast, the less caffeine there is in the coffee. Also, the coffee plant is not native to Costa Rica (see above, isthmus out of the ocean), but to Africa. The Britt Coffee tour is fun. They have a cute skit at the end and samples for us to try. After what seems like hours in the gift shop and lunch, we head for our city tour.
San Jose is bustling. It is a Friday afternoon and there is much traffic. Over a million people live in this city. We ride through residential areas, around large city parks, past government buildings and across the downtown area. We stop for a tour of the beautiful Teatro Nacional opera house. It has grand architecture and flamboyant furnishings - not something one would expect to see in this country. There is a large sitting room with a harpsichord in the corner. One can imagine the elite of San Jose attending the opera here many years ago.
We move on to the Museo Nacional where our guide Carlos tells us about the Costa Rican culture and history. There are numerous artifacts displayed. I’m most impressed by the large round stone spheres - perfect in shape - that are found by the hundreds in the southern part of the country. According to Carlos, no one knows how or why the spheres got there, or how they were made so perfectly round so many thousands of years ago.
In a hurry to get out of town and beat the traffic, we go quickly through the streets and back to the hotel for a fine dinner with the general manager. We all get right to bed because we have to get up early for our ride to the Arenal Volcano.
Day 2: Arenal Volcano.
Back on the bus, we head along the Pan American Highway. Carlos jokes that we can go all the way to Alaska on this very road. We opt not to, and head to the Arenal Volcano area instead. We pass through a town that has a park with hundreds of topiaries. At the end of the park is a church where a couple is being married. It is an amazing sight, this park, with these perfectly pruned topiaries. We move on. Our home for the night will be the Occidental El Tucano, a beautiful and quaint resort. There is a stream running behind it. It is beautiful here as well. We head toward the volcano, which has been active since 1968. Once we get close enough - within 25 miles - we can see that it is spewing ash. We are headed toward the Tabacon Hot Springs.
At the Tabacon Hot Springs, we enjoy soaking in the hot mineral water. Every pool is different, and there are lots of them. Each has a different mineral content and temperature - all fueled by the mighty Arenal volcano. The foliage in this area is beautiful. I am amazed at the sight of a flower that has two different colored (purple and white) petals on it.
We go to the other side of the volcano hoping to see some lava flowing. On the way, we see a white hawk - what Carlos calls the $1000 bird. He is very passionate about his country and all that it has to offer. We head to Lake Arenal, a manmade lake built near the volcano. We are indeed able to see lava flowing. The volcano is very active on today, with pyroclastic blasts every so often. Carlos informs us later that it is so active that they are thinking of evacuating areas close to the volcano.
We eat dinner at a resort in the making: the Arenal Koro Hotel and Mirador. There is a spectacular view of the volcano that is rumbling nearby. There is one room completed at this beautiful hotel; it will be a fine property once completed. Back on the bus, we head for the El Tucano. We must leave early for Monteverde and the Cloud Forest.
Day 3: Monteverde.
It is early. It’ll be a long ride, and Carlos has instructed us to look for wildlife. He has a book of birds and animals, and every time he sees one, he is able to name it. Then he gets the book out to show us. We are looking for monkeys and sloths. One of the agents thinks she sees a monkey, but it really is a “bag” of parasites hanging from a tree; we can see just about anything in the rainforest. Normally, monkeys travel in packs, with an alpha male in the lead. We finally do see a monkey. Carlos explains that this is more than likely an elderly male and an outcast now that a younger alpha male has taken over his duties.
After hours and hours of dirt roads, we make it to Santa Elena and the Cloud Forest. Our new home is the Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge. This is not like the luxury resorts we have visited. The accommodations are simple with private baths; porches and a main dining room; a TV area and a bar. It is very rainy on this day. It’s raining buckets - like movie rain. It subsides and we head to the Sky Walk where we walk on suspension bridges above the forest. The highest one is 150 feet and the longest is 984 feet. I am no longer afraid of heights. It’s interesting to see the forest from a different perspective.
Day 4: Guanacoste.
Up early again, we face dirt roads and then, finally, they are paved on the way to the Guanacoste area. Costa Rica has a horrible infrastructure, and most roads are in disrepair - if not impassible. We’re now heading to the beach. We can see the terrain change as we get closer to this area, and it is hotter and more humid in Guanacoste. We get to the Occidental Grand Papagayo - another beautiful resort - where we will spend the night.
Most of us spend a few hours by the pool or exploring the resort and the beach, which is on the Pacific Ocean. There is free Internet here, so most of us are able to email home to tell our loved ones how beautiful Costa Rica is and how much fun we are having on our Funjet Fam. For dinner, we have Japanese delicacies. I enjoy the Sushi. It’s fun watching everyone learning to eat with chopsticks.
Day 5: Hotels, Hotels, Hotels.
Today is hotel site inspection day. It is already hot at 8 a.m. as we head to the first hotel.
Sol Playa Hermosa Hotel. There is a beautiful view from this property that boasts the best on-site dive operators in Costa Rica. The steps to the beach below are a concern. There are hundreds of them as the resort is built on a hillside.
Fiesta Premier. This is considered a first-class all-inclusive resort and spa. There is sport fishing and a PGA golf course nearby. All rooms have an ocean view, and there is an adult only area with a honeymoon and spa section. They have carts that transport guests anywhere they need to go on the property. CAT Tours has a representative on site here as well.
Ocotal Beach Resort. This resort is all about the view. It has small villas that have their own private pools and deep-sea fishing. They’ll cook your own catch. There are 2 restaurants with international cuisine where often the Four Seasons will send its guests to the Ocotal for dinner. Spectacular sunsets are included.
Occidental Allegro Papagayo. A sister to the Occidental Allegro Papagayo, there are 14 buildings - all with spectacular views. The pools, the view and the beach are spectacular. It is here where we eat lunch, which is fabulous. We stop in nearby Coco Beach to shop. It is known for its shops and for the nightlife as well.
Barcelo Playa Longosta. This is located in Tamarindo and near the affluent Flamingo Beach area, which reminds me of the beach cities in California in the 1960’s. There is much to do at this resort, and there is surfing nearby. It is a smaller resort with only 134 rooms; it seems that it would be good for younger and more active guests. CAT Tours also has a representative on-site at this property.
Paradisus Playa Conchal. This is an all-suites resort and is considered one of Costa Rica’s most “luxurious and unique” resorts. It is close to Flamingo Beach, Coco Beach and Tamarindo. The airport at Liberia is only about 60 km away. There is much to do at this resort, including zip lines and horseback riding. We spend 2 nights.
Day 6: Free day.
After the “Day of Hotels,” we are all ready for time by the pool and a day of rest. Some of us do the zip line - where we sit in a harness and “zip” along a wire over the pool. Some of us also go horseback riding, while others go to the spa for a massage or to the Monkey Park. We finally see a group of monkeys in a Guanacoste tree - about 7 or 8 of them - hanging from the limbs and having fun. I opt to ride the zip line, go horseback riding and to spend the day at the pool working on a massive sunburn. My horse, Baby Doll, knows her way along the trail and along the beach. It’s a fun way to wind up our wonderful time in Costa Rica. Please note that Costa Rica is only about 10 degrees from the equator, and that the sun is hotter than it looks. It does not take long to get very, very red and sunburned.
Day 7: Going home.
We depart the Paradisus Playa Conchal (in the rain, of course) for the International Airport of Liberia. This airport is much different than the one in San Jose –there is no air conditioning and it is largely outdoors. After we all pay our $26 departure tax, we sit and wait. To me it is bittersweet: I am glad to be heading home, but am sad to leave a place that is so beautiful and full of wonder. I expect I will be going back someday, to see the other coast on the Caribbean side, and to explore the areas south of San Jose. I am intrigued with this small country, and can understand why so many want to not only visit Costa Rica, but to retire there.
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