Costa Rica

January 8-23, 2025

As with our trip to Montreal and Quebec, this trip was a non-RV trip. 

Heredia and San Jose

January 8: We Left for the airport early in the morning and took bumpy flight to San Jose. We picked up our rental car where the agent (very thankfully!) convinced us to get a 4x4 upgrade. He also told us to make sure to park only in Parqueo Publico which was great advice. We then drove to our Airbnb which was very nice, with parking in the garage in a new building and a small balcony. We walked down to a local store to pick up some food items for the trip. It turns out that while the markets in Costa Rica are affordable, the grocery stores are expensive. 

Jan. 9: We drove into downtown Heredia, parked a bit out of center city, and walked into town. We Visited the Heredia Central Market and ate our first casado (rice, beans, vegetables, plantains, and salad) which was inexpensive and very good. We also purchased star fruit, papaya, and mango to eat later. One of the fruit vendors gave us a taste of soursop which we also enjoyed. We found Heredia to be a nice little town. After walking around a while, we returned to Airbnb to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. 

Driving in San Jose was not difficult as we had feared but the traffic is insane! We drove 20 miles to our friend’s house which took about 90 minutes. 

Jan. 10: We drove into San Jose, parked on Calle 38 and walked into center town. We walked through the Central Market which we found to be more touristy and less interesting than the Heredia Market. We also walked down Avenue Segunda which has a lot of the main attractions including the church, park, theater, and museum, which are beautiful. Passing by Jade Museum, we decided to enter finding the exhibits to be interesting particularly as they tell the history of Costa Rica through archeology. Then we went to lunch at Café Rojo which was very good. We still needed some fruits and veggies from the market so we decided to go to Mercado Borbón. Walking there, we went down a street with a lot of sex workers and drug addicts which was not very safe. The market was fine and very inexpensive. We purchased a round zucchini-looking vegetable and five avocados for 1000 colones (about $2). Later at the wedding, some local Costa Ricans told us that where we walked was in a very dangerous area. After the market, we went back to the airbnb to get ready for the wedding, which was lovely. 

La Fortuna

Jan. 11:  As we headed out of Heredia and towards Póas Volcano National Park, we were glad to be out of the city. Because the volcano is in the cloud forest, it was enshrined in clouds and we did not see much of it. The walk to the crater was interesting though, as there were many plants that we had never seen before. After walking around the national park, we headed to La Fortuna which was about a 3 hour drive on (mostly) decent roads. Once we arrived and settled into our Airbnb, we walked the few blocks into town. La Fortuna is touristy but a fun little town with lots of shops and restaurants. We ate dinner at the Airbnb, where we could see Arenal Volcano from the patio. At night, the street noise was really loud and a dog barked for over an hour around 2-3 AM, so we didn’t get a lot of sleep. 

Jan. 12: We drove to Arenal Volcano National Park (no reservations needed but pay a fee at the entrance) and spent much of the day there. We hiked around, saw a toucan and other birds, a squirrel, and cutter ants. Then we drove on a VERY rough road (more like a dried river bed) to see the Arenal Lake, a huge human-made lake created for hydroelectric energy and which has two abandoned cities at the bottom. Driving to the lake, we were VERY glad to have a 4x4 car! On the walk to the lake, we saw about 7 coati. And then on the drive back, we saw a small capybara cross the road. We also saw a large lizard. 

We were going to stop at El Choyin hot springs, which are where the locals tend to go, but it was very hot and very crowded. We returned to town and walked around a bit in the afternoon, picked up some items for dinner: homemade tortilla chips, guacamole, sautéed veggies, and salsa. We watched the movie, Twisters, on the big screen TV which was fun. 

Jan. 13: Having made reservations in advance, we drove up to Místico Hanging Bridges for a 9AM start for our self-guided tour. Because there were many guided tours already there, at times the paths felt crowded, so we sought out quiet spaces wherever we could. The scenery was spectacular cloud forest. We saw a coati, a pit viper (thanks to a tour guide pointing it out), and lots of birds. I thought I saw a sloth in a tree but could not be sure. Being really high up in the cloud forest was spectacular but it’s easy to get a bit nauseous on the hanging bridges, particularly if other people are walking and shaking the bridge. The weather was rainy on the drive up and cloudy and hot while there. The drive up had VERY steep ups and downs. 

We came home and walked to lunch at Soda La Hormiga (recommended by the Airbnb) to eat casado vegetariano. For drinks, we tried chan (like chia) and pineapple juice mixed with water. I wanted tamarind juice but they were out. 

Because you cannot really walk anywhere or see anything in the La Fortuna area outside of the town without booking a tour, we signed up for a 3PM coffee/chocolate/cane sugar tour that we found through a Main Street vendor for Arenal Jungle Tours. The tour sounded a bit touristy but it was easy to arrange on the street and they shuttled us out to and from the location. The tour ended up to be really fun! There were only four other people on the tour and the guide, Sergio, was really great. The tour was located at a place where you can also see sloths and I managed to see one in a tree as another tour guide pointed it out. On our tour, we saw how to grow and roast coffee and chocolate. We tasted some really amazing coffee freshly ground through a drip called a chorreador. Then we tasted a bunch of different chocolates, including the fruit from a ripe pod, the roasted beans, and then ground chocolate. It was really amazing tasting! The last stop on the tour was to sugar cane which we ground, drank the juice, and then the guide added some fermented juice (guaro) that was 55% alcohol. 

Jan. 14: Despite a rainy, cloudy day, we decided to go see La Fortuna Waterfall. We were hoping to go swimming at the bottom, but because of all the rain over the past few weeks, the water was coming down fast and it was not safe to swim. So we hiked down to see falls, ate our lunch (PB&J sandwiches) and drove back to La Fortuna. After the rain let up a bit, we walked around town some more, hitting the places we hadn’t yet seen and going into some of the artisan shops. We walked to La Fortuna Pub for beer (something red) and French fries with vegan mayo dip. Then we walked back toward home, stopped at our favorite fruit and veggie store, Frutas Y Verduras Hnos Lazo on Ruta 702/San Ramón, and then went to Rosvil supermarket where we did some additional grocery shopping. When we got home, we ate dinner and hung out for a bit before going to bed. It POURED all night and we lost power a few times. We were worried about the drive the next day, but managed to get some sleep. 

Jan. 15:  We woke up, had breakfast, packed the last few items, and started our drive to Monteverde. Thank goodness the rain stopped for the drive and we finally saw blue sky. But also thank goodness that we had a 4x4 car because one of the roads we were supposed to take was washed out so we were re-routed to a very muddy and steep dirt (mud) road. At one point, we were trying to go up a muddy hill but the road was narrow and curvy and another car was coming down. So we had to back down the hill and wait for other cars to pass. Then we headed back up the hill. For me, it was the worst of the driving thus far! But the rest of the drive was through beautiful hilly farmland with decent-enough roads, despite the dogs running through the streets and the cows walking on the roadside. At one point, we stopped for a snake crossing. The whole drive was 89 km and took 3.5 hours! But we made it to our Airbnb which was a beautiful A-frame house overlooking the mountains. Because it was only early afternoon, we drove into downtown Monteverde (aka Santa Elena) and walked around town. The weather was cooler here than in La Fortuna, and very windy. It also rains in parts but is sunny in others. After returning to the Airbnb, we drank beer and ate peanuts on the upper deck, watching the rain, birds, and admiring the scenery. Then we saw a rainbow. It was really beautiful! 

It is seriously windy in Monteverde. Apparently we were there during the windiest season. There was a large tree next to the house and we thought that the tree was hitting the roof, or part of the roof was coming up, as there was a very loud metal screeching sound every time the wind blew. And as in La Fortuna, there was a dog who barked throughout the night. We seriously wondered if we would ever get a quiet night’s sleep in Costa Rica. 

Jan. 16: Luckily at some point during the night, the wind stopped blowing so we were able to sleep a bit, although we could still hear cows and dogs. We woke up early to leave the house at 6:30AM to arrive at our pre-arranged Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve tour at 7AM. We parked and took a bus to the Reserve where we met our guide for the Natural History Tour. Our guide was named Mariana and there were about 10 people in our group, one of whom was a biologist with a good eye for spotting birds. The weather was cooler (in the 60s) and as soon as we started walking, it started raining. Apparently the water comes from the clouds and is not really rain, but when water is pouring from the sky, the result is the same. It rained for the entire two hour tour and we were pretty cold and wet by the end. After the tour, we walked to the waterfall in the reserve, and then drove back down, stopping at a small art store on the way back. Despite the rain, saw a lot of really interesting fauna and flora, including: 

• Agouti  

• Quetzals 

• Black faced solitaire thrush

• Tarantula

• Tufted flycatcher 

• Hummingbirds

• Toucans

• Tree fern

• Trumpet tree

• Strangler fig tree

• Capuchin monkey (outside the Reserve next to Monteverde Wholefoods, which is not connected at all to the Wholefoods in the USA)

We hung out at the house the rest of the afternoon as we were wet and tired. 

Jan. 17 - We woke up early morning to go ziplining at Treetopia. At the Airbnb, the day started out sunny and we saw a large toucan in a tree outside the house. As soon as we drove up into the mountains, the weather changed to wet, windy, and cold. Despite the weather, the ziplining was super fun! There was just us and three other people (two brothers and their mother) from Barcelona, so we had a very small group. We couldn’t see much around us, but we could see the trees below which were amazing! By the end, we were very cold and wet! 

We returned to the Airbnb, changed clothes, packed up, and headed down to Sámara. As we headed out of Monteverde, within 30 minutes of driving downhill, the weather started heating up, starting at 66 degrees and warming to 90 degrees by the time we reached our destination just 90 KM away. And because of the road conditions and speed limits, that 90 KM trip took about three hours to drive. 

Sámara 

Once in Sámara, we went to the next Airbnb, which was beautifully located on a hill, although the apartment itself was a bit tired inside. The view of Sámara Beach is gorgeous though. And it is really hot and humid there! We walked into town along the beach, purchased some food and alcohol, and then went out to dinner at Cos-Ita Pizzeria Romana for pizza and beer, which was really good. We didn’t realize that they only took cash, and we had just enough cash in US dollars and colones for two beers and one pie. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal! Then we walked home in the dark, which was a bit scary as we either had to walk on a very dark, busy road or along the beach and then very dark stairs. Because walking along the road was really unsafe, we walked back along the beach. 

Jan. 18 - I finally had a really good night’s sleep: between 10-11 hours as I was exhausted. We woke up, had a leisurely breakfast (our last Birch Bender vegan pancakes that we had brought with us from the US) and then headed to the saturday market in downtown Sámara. We purchased tamarind juice to drink there as it was very hot, as well as some fruit, veggies, and two vegan tamales to take home for lunch. We also booked a boat tour for the next day to do dolphin and whale watching. 

We ate lunch at home. Both the tamales were very good but we liked the less authentic one better (better crust to filling ratio). 

We met the Airbnb co-host who came by with a coffee maker for the apartment and some beach towels she was willing to lend us. She also share with us her self-guided tour to Playa Carrila which we decided to do on Monday. Then we walked down to spend the afternoon on Sámara Beach. The water was glorious, calm, and warm; the kind you can spend hours just floating in, which we did. We found a little shaded spot to hang out under when not in the water, and we took a nice walk toward Playa Carillo. Then we went swimming again and came home to wash up, enjoy a beer on the deck while watching the sunset, and eat dinner. We tried to watch the Lions game but couldn’t connect to the television. So we hung out and then went to bed. 

Jan. 19 - We woke up early to get an 8:00ish ride to our whale and dolphin watching boat trip. The tour really was for dolphin watching but because we were there during whale migration season, we were hoping to see both. The trip was excellent! We left from Playa Carillo and saw humpback whales, spotted dolphins, two sea turtles, mantaray, and a sunfish. Then we went snorkeling at Carillo Beach which was fun. They served pineapple and watermelon on the boat, and there was a toilet on board which was very useful. The guides were great. The other guests were from Poland, Canada, and Germany/Amsterdam, so it was an interesting crowd. 

Once home, we had lunch and then headed back into town to pick up a few food items. One new item we tried was a chayote for our salad for dinner. Then we headed back to the beach to our wonderful little spot. We swam, hung out, and then came up for drinks on the deck, sunset, and dinner. 

Jan. 20 - Ignoring what was occurring in the USA, we had an amazing day! We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and then followed our co-host’s self-guided tour, starting with a trip past Playa Carillo to find tidal pools we could sit in as tropical fish swam by. Then we headed to a rocky and secluded beach with wonderful views. On the way back, we stopped at a waterfall which turned out to be mostly a trickle because we were there during the dry season. Then we went into Carillo town for lunch at the Soda de Plaza which was recommended by the Octopus bus tour person. The food was okay but a bit expensive given the portion size. Then we spent the afternoon under coconut trees at Playa Carillo, taking a nice walk to the end where we had snorkeled the day before. On the way home, we saw people on the side looking up only to find a bunch of monkeys climbing across the power lines into the palm trees. We even saw a mother carrying a baby which was really cool! We think the were mantled howler monkeys. Then we came home, took showers, watched the sunset, had dinner (the chayote was really yummy), and packed up in preparation for our travel the next day. 

Alajeula

Jan. 21 - We woke up early and headed to the beach for one last swim and walk on the beach. We were reluctant to leave such a warm and beautiful spot, but needed to check out by 11AM and head up to Alajeula, near the SJO airport. Before leaving Sámara, we drove back to see if the monkeys were still there but they weren’t visible to us. So we headed north, about a 4.5 hour drive to our final Airbnb. We checked in around 4:30 PM, walked to a nearby grocery store, picked up some supplies, came home and had dinner, and then watched the Netflix show, The Six Triple Eight. The area we are in had some noise from the airport and road, but overall, it was very nice and fine for our last two nights in Costa Rica. 

Jan. 22 - After breakfast, we headed over to see our friend (the bride) for a day with her and her father. The 18 mile drive over took about 75 minutes, but was not too bad. Our friends drove us to the Irazú Volcano National Park. It was cold and we were not dressed for walking or the weather, but after a coffee from the gift shop, we walked out to see the two craters. We saw the smaller one but then the clouds set in and we couldn’t see anything. As we got back into the car, our friend noticed the clouds clearing so we hurried back to get a great view all around. Then we drove the car to the top to get the highest view. After that, we drove down for lunch, our last casado of the trip, which was really good. Then we headed back home. We packed up because we needed to drop the car off at 6AM for our 9AM flight back to the cold northeast. Having very little food left, we used some guava jelly candy our friend gave us to make drinks with the leftover cacique and lime to make drinks. And we spread some of the guave jelly on bread for dinner. 

Jan. 23 - We left early and our flight home was uneventful. Overall, an amazing and memorable trip!