No, I haven’t fallen off the end of the earth, just have been surviving without internet access in the tourist-infested jungles of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is the Disneyland of the tropics with Mickey the Howler Monkey instead of the Mouse. Admittedly we are here during the busiest week in the year- Christmas to New Years when American kids have winter break and families go on vacation. Playa Grande was quiet, a small collection of hotels set back from the beach to protect the turtles. We took long walks on the beach and watched tropical sunsets. It we go again, for we missed the night walk to watch the sea turtles lay their eggs, we would try to stay in either Hotel de las Tortugas or the Rip Jack Inn (they had the best food). Definately don’t miss the Tres Leches at the Rip Jack. Nearby Tamarindo was a madhouse with Burger King and Subway crammed between sovenier shops and tour operators. (Photo left: Playa Grande.)

I expected La Fortuna to be different; the Loney Planet guidebook wrote that it was a quaint village with local culture and flavor despite the overabundance of businesses catering to tourists. Unfortunately we saw nothing but tourist traps lining a lovely city park. Our hotel made up for the brasyness of the town. After our no frills hotel in Playa Grande my only hope was that our new hotel would have hot water for a shower. To my great delight Hotel Arenal Nayara turned out to be a lush garden of Eden with exotic cabins, romantic outdoor showers among pink tropical plants and a private jacuzzi overlooking Vulcan Arenal. It was a beautiful setting. We felt spoiled among the lushous furnatings and colorful pathways. Too bad we had to eat – the food was terrible. (Photo right: view of our jacuzzi with Arenal and gardens.)

The weather gods favored us at the beach, but not so at La Fortuna. Arenal declined to peak her head from behind the clouds, though at least the first day she did not try to drown us. The last two days we were not so lucky. It rained; It poured; It was a deluge, a torrent, a flood. It came down in buckets, thundering on our cottage roof and overflowing the gutters. The path was a stream; the stream was a river; the river was an ocean. Thick droplets of warm water cascaded over my head, collecting in my boots, plastering my clothes to my body. I certainly got the warm shower I had wished for!

We braved a cloudy sky on Friday for a tour-company led “Extreme Hike” up Arenal’s dormant elder brother Cerro Chato to see the lake inside the crater. I doubted the veracity of a tourist hike being very difficult; I was wrong. It was extreme: extremely steep, extremely muddy, and extremely exhausting. Our guide flew up the steep slope like a born mountain goat, leaving me scrambling in the mud. Switchbacks are apparently for sissies; it was straight up. It started pouring as we hit the steep part of the mountain and by halfway up we were soaked through. Rain in my eyelashes, dripping off my nose; mud inching higher and higher up my body ’till I could almost taste it. It brought to mind the scene in “Romancing the Stone” where Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas bushwack through the jungle during a tropical rainstorm and fall down a chute of mud, Douglas landing in Turner’s lap to her discust and his amusement. The crater of the volcano might be beautiful; the rain-fed lake enclosed by steep lush jungle slopes might be a sight not to be missed; but I couldn’t tell you, for I saw nothing but fog, rain, and mud. The scramble left my arms sore and my legs quaking, but I made it. We were rewarded with La Fortuna waterfall and a dip in its cold blue waters.

Monteverde, far up into the mountains and reachable only by long bumpy, unpaved roads, more than makes up for the tourist mecca of the previous two stops. It is lovely here. We are surrounded by private reserves protecting the abundant wildlife. If we should come again we will spend much more time here. Yesterday, our 4-year anniversary, we took a private horse ride down through the valley with vistas of lush mountains and coffee groves surrounding us. Leaving our horses we hiked up to a tall waterfall. In the evening we took a night trek with a naturalist through the Monteverde Reserve, spotting a porcupine, a tarantula (pictured left), bats, and many bugs.

Today we drive a bumpy five hours to San Jose and tomorrow fly back to the States. It has been a lovely second honeymoon. If I could do it again though I would bring more books. Five just wasn’t enough! More photos from our trip can be found on our flickr page (see link at right).
Happy New Year and may you have a fabulous 2008!!!

Tags: Arenal, Costa Rica, La Foruna, Monteverde, Playa Grande, Tamarindo, travel