Costa Rica Part 1 - Arenal Nayara

Oh my, there is just too much to tell! I will try to keep it as brief as possible since I am sure that we will have the chance to relay all of this to most of you in person (sorry Mike, guess we will have to send you an e-mail with the details!).

So far our trip to Costa Rica has been exactly what we thought it would be - an adventure! Getting here took a while, but since we finally made it we have been having a blast!

The story of getting here goes something like this -

Got up aroun 3am Monday morning in Boston and caught a shuttle to the airport. We then hoped a flight to Miami where we were supposed to have about an hour layover. Well, 1 hour turned into more like 5, most of which was sent IN the plane! Well, three hours in the first plane, and then like 2 hours in the second plane that we had to board after making an emergency landing 1 minute after taking off in the first plane! Yeah, seriously!!

Needless to say we did not arrive in Costa Rica as early as we wanted to! We got our rental car and directions to the Arenal volcano. And then we were off. And HOLY S*#T!!!!! You have no idea until you actually try to make the drive, but did you realize that only about 10% of the roads in Costa Rica have names or any signs telling you where the road might take you? And did you realize that none of the maps are really very accurate at all? And did you realize that in the mountanous rainforest regions it gets really foggy at night? Like REALLY freaking foggy??? Not to mention the fact that the roads are incredibly narrow with steep drop offs and incredible s-curves?? Well, neither did we.

But, we made it to Arenal Nayara finally. We got in pretty late, like 8pm I think. We were greeted with cool towels and papaya juice and after getting checked in we took a short golf cart ride to our casita. Our casita had a king sized bed and a ton of space! We would have had a great view of the volcano from our little porch if it wasn't for the fog! The casita had hot tub and some chairs on the deck, and it also came equiped with an outdoor shower! So cool!

Everything in Costa Rica is very open-air. The lobby of the hotel and all of their restaurants do not have doors, or even really walls in some cases. The ground of the hotel were really beautiful! There was a coy pond and a ton of foliage! And there was even a bar in the pool!

Our first full day we spent mostly just relaxing on the porch and trying to decide which activities to do. There are just so many choices!! We went into La Fortuna for a bit, did some shopping and relaxing. We went to the local grocery store for supplies (sorry Dad, it seems that Seko is illegal, so we will be bringing you back some other kind of rum!!) and ate some incredibly spicy pork on a stick that we bought from a guy on the street. That night we hung out at the pool bar for a few hours and met a few of the other guests (mostly honeymooners!!) before hitting up the restaurant for some paella and sangria! Delish!

Our second day at Arenal, we decided to take an early morning hike to Rio Celeste and then hit up some of the hot springs in the area. We thought that the hike would take about 4 hours, we would have some time to relax, and then we could head to the hot springs. Then the guide tells us that it is a 2 hour drive to where we are going! We still thought that we might be able to make our 5pm hot springs reservations. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and it was interesting to hear information about the various plants and animals. We stopped to see the second oldest tree in Costa Rica, and we got to see a blue jean frog which is teeny tiny!! We also got to see some kind of lizard that the guide said does not come out very often! Very cool! The drive to the beginning of the trail took us by dirt road up and up and up the mountain. We passed by yuka plantations and tons of pineapple fields! I had no idea that pineapples grew from the ground! We stopped at a pineapple processing place and the driver got us a couple of pineapples from the workers - as fresh as you can get!! The hike through the rainforest was amazing! There are really no words to describe the feeling! We didn't get to see very many animals, but we did get to see a water fall (and we crossed the river right in front of the waterfall! Exilerating!) and some natural hot springs. The water in the river and in the lagoon we stopped at is very blue from all of the minerals and gasses escaping from the volcano. It was all very cool! We then had a delicious lunch of casadas before departing.

On the way back we saw a two-toed sloth crossing some power lines! It was very cool! We also stopped at a stand that had been set up by the indigenous people of Costa Rica. We learned a little bit about their culture, saw what their homes look like, and even got to sample some smoked fish that they had going. They are a very hospitable and interesting people.

Our guide had called the hotel for us earlier to see if we could still make our hot springs reservation. We were assured that we could show up any time after our reservation time. We got back to the hotel, changed, and headed to the hot springs. Outside the gate we were supposed to be able to push a little button and someone would come out to let us in - the button was broken! We headed into town to get me some cold medicine (I have had a stupid cold since we first got here!) and then back to the hotel to straighten out the mess. We decided that since we had gotten to sit in a hot spring in the jungle that we were ok with not going to the fancy pants place! Instead we hit the hot tub on our porch and ordered room service!

On our last morning in the Arenal area, we went rappelling down waterfalls! We were picked up around 7:15 with another couple and drove about 10 minutes. There were 4 guides with us the whole time. It was soooo much fun and I got to go first! It was crazy! The first rappel was on a dry wall next to a waterfall! I was the only one of the four of us that had rappelled before (thank you JROTC summer camp!) but I was pretty shaky when I made it to the bottom. We did 5 rappells total, 4 of which were down the middle of different waterfalls! We were in the jungle the whole time and I can't even imagine how they got all those cables out there! Definitely an awesome experience!!!

After lunch it was time for us to pack and start our trek to Punta Islita! We did not want to risk leaving to late and driving in the same conditions we had from San Jose! On the way out we noticed that the sky was clearing out and we could FINALLY see most of the volcano! LOL! Of course we didn't get to see it until the drive out!

Everything at Arenal Nayara was wonderful! The colors of the linens and everything are just so wonderful and vibrant and the atmosphere here is just so laid back! I love it! We had some good food, some great adventures, and of course good company! We got to see some lizards and birds (Tucans!) and frogs, as well as some howler monkeys and a sloth! This is a wonderful country and I can't wait to tell you all about our experience at the secluded beach resort that is Punta Islita! I am sure that I am leaving some things out, but there is just too much to tell! If we decide to come home I will tell you all about it!

More pictures from Arenal: http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm160/arolin1/Costa%20Rica/Part%201%20-%20Arenal%20Nayara/

Love, Sarah and Derrick