Our Costa Rica Eco Adventure was indeed an adventure. (And I mean that in a good way.) We booked the tour with Trafalgar Tours (using AffordableTours.com which offered a discount on the list price). We can recommend both. In Costa Rica the tour is actually operated by Swiss Travel and Brendan Tours (this is a bit confusing, but they were great so we can't complain). It was a motor coach (big bus) tour which we have previously shied away from. In this case, there was an appreciable price difference over tours that have smaller groups, so we decided to go for it. We had a great group and the guides were quite efficient at "herding" us around. Oddly enough, it turned out to be an early group, and we quickly learned that if we were on time to an event, we were among the last to arrive. We started arriving earlier to ensure good seats. The only real hassle with such a large group was the amount of time it took to load and unload the bus--generally not a big deal, but a bit of a pain when we made a 15-minute rest stop. ;-)

Our trip did have a bit of an inauspicious start when I managed to trip over my suitcase the night before we left and landed on the suitcase and my vanity chair bruising myself pretty badly (but otherwise none the worse for wear--although Brian said I missed hitting my head on the sliding glass door by inches). Nothing broken in the suitcase either. ;-)

Saturday, March 7
Even with a flight that didn't leave until 10 am, we were still up very early to get to the airport the recommended 3 hours in advance. Of course, check-in went smoothly, we had time for breakfast outside security, security was easy and we were still at the gate almost 2 hours before the flight. The flight was uneventful and on time. Immigration in Costa Rica was surprisingly efficient, although it did take a while for our bags to arrive. We hit an ATM in the baggage area to get local money (better exchange rate than at the exchange windows)--it actually gave a choice between colones and dollars (and we found most places did take US dollars). Once we got our bags and money, customs was efficient, too. We were met by our tour guides (Allan & Javier) who explained the plan for the next couple of days and took us to our hotel--a Doubletree nearby (and yes, we did get those yummy chocolate chip cookies at check-in). The hotel was very nice and we had a beautiful room with 2 queen beds. When the bellman brought our bags, he also had gift bags from the tour co. that included coffee, candy & stationery. We were pretty exhausted from the early morning and weren't very near town (San Jose, the capital) so we just walked across the street to a shopping center where we looked around, but only bought water. Back in our room we watched some TV (English movies with Spanish subtitles) and repacked (our next place was accessible only by boat so it was recommended to just bring a small bag with what we'd need for the 2 nights there and the larger bag would be taken directly to the following hotel--we were told this in advance and had planned for it). This first night the dinner was not included in the tour price. We just ate at the poolside restaurant in the hotel which was surprisingly good. Needless to say, between the early start to our day and the time difference (1 hour, changed to 2 hours with DST), we went to bed early.

Sunday, March 8
The alarm on the hotel clock went off at 5:30 am as we had to set the bags out by 6:15 am. Imagine our frustration when we realized the hotel clock (and Brian's Blackberry) had automatically reset to DST even though Costa Rica doesn't observe it (so we'd really been up at 4:30 am!). By this point we were nearly ready so we just watched TV and read until the restaurant opened for breakfast (included--very nice buffet). By 7:30 am, the bags were all separated for the next 2 stops and loaded on the bus (so were we). Since we hadn't arrived really early like some did, we found ourselves sitting toward the back of the bus near a rattling vent (but we learned our lesson and arrived early after that and sat near the front). I have to say our driver, Tino, was amazing, taking that big bus through narrow city streets and around harrowing mountain curves. First thing, the guides gave us 2 gifts: a national park guide, and a poncho. The ponchos were put to very good use over the next couple of days. <G>

We started with a driving tour through San Jose with our guides pointing out places of interest and explaining the address system there--no street names on many streets or house numbers. Addresses are given something like: 3 doors down from the yellow church (how confusing is that??!!?). Once we were out of the city we were fairly quickly into a rainforest as we drove over the mountains toward the northern Caribbean coast. There was a beautiful double rainbow, then overcast and drizzly. At the higher elevations we were in a cloud forest. We learned a lot of facts about the area from the guides. Braulio Carillo National Park (which we drove through) is a primary forest with just 1 road and a ranger station, but otherwise untouched. Costa Rica has about 5% of the world's biodiversity, a large amount of which is in that park. We stopped at a restaurant along the way for a 2nd breakfast (I guess not everyone ate at the hotel), plus frankly we needed a break by then. Out front there is a huge kapok tree with tiny "blue jean" frogs around the base. The frog is about the size of a dime and is orange-red in color with bright blue legs (thus the "blue jean" name). This frog is unique to Costa Rica (if I remember correctly--the guides gave us so much information about the wildlife and eco-tourism that it's hard to remember all the details). We also saw a sloth in a tree just outside the entrance to the restaurant.

Shortly after this stop we left the highway and took a bumpy road to the Cano Blanco boat dock (still raining--well, we were in a rain forest <G>). We had a brief rest stop there while they loaded the bags for the next 2 days onto one boat (other bags stayed on the bus) and then we loaded onto another for a wet hour-and-a-quarter ride to Tortuguero National Park and our Lodge (just outside the park). In spite of the rain, we did see a lot of water birds (spoonbill, egrets) and a crocodile resting on shore. Brian got some amazing video, especially when the croc decided to get in the water.

On arrival at Pachira Lodge, we were greeted with tropical fruit punch and a local band playing Caribbean music. This region of Costa Rica fronting the Caribbean has a lot of immigrants from the Caribbean islands and has much more of a Caribbean feel than the rest of the country. We had a buffet lunch there (all meals included now) which was OK (the food at this lodge was not as good as other locations, but it was decent). After lunch we went to our rooms. This was definitely more rustic than the hotel the previous night--no TV or A/C; no glass, just screens, in the windows. There was a nice breeze, but it was a bit muggy with all the rain. There was a small fridge which was a nice touch to keep our water cold. Each building had about 4 rooms (single story) and were spread out through the very lush, swampy forest.That afternoon we went out on a boat tour to the "town" (very small, just a handful of shops). First, we walked down to the black-sand beach right on the Caribbean, where Allan gave a talk about the history of the park and the turtle nesting that happens on this beach (in the fall, so we weren't there at the right season for that--that is the rainy season which must be really wet considering the amount of rain we got during the "dry" season). The Caribbean was really rough with big waves, and it was very overcast with intermittent rain. From there we walked back into the "town". Supposedly there was a turtle museum there too, but we couldn't find it (although once the rain started really beating down we didn't really try <G>). Brian did pick up a couple of Costa Rican music CDs to use when he edits his video. Back at the hotel we dried off and met the group for dinner. By this point we were starting to get to know people and had a very lively conversation with our table mates (we were the last to leave the dining room). We tried to read in the room, but the lighting was terrible. We went to bed early, listening to the rain.

Monday, March 9
Another interesting wake up: About 6 am Brian's cell phone rang. It was our alarm company saying our alarm had gone off and there was no answer on the home phone so they were sending the police. We tried calling our house sitter, but got her voice mail. We called our neighbor who was only home because one of his kids was home sick. He went out and met the police and stayed on the line while they checked everything out and said there was no sign of attempted entry. (Later we got a voice mail from the house sitter that she may have accidentally set it off in her rush to get to work.) By the time we'd dealt with that, it was almost time to get up anyway (not like we could have gotten back to sleep at that point). Met the group at breakfast. I'm getting used to beans & rice for breakfast. The national dish is gallo pinto (a lightly spiced dry rice & beans mixture) which they eat for breakfast. Since I'm not big on eggs (and don't eat meat), it was my best option. Luckily they also had lots of nice fresh fruit (usually pineapple and papaya).

After breakfast we headed out for our morning boat tour. It had started raining again so we took a large covered boat (similar to the one we'd come in the day before). It limited some of where we could go, but at least we were dry. We saw a lot of monkeys and birds, including a very active bunch of white-faced Capuchin monkeys. We had a brief period of sun and then the rain started again. After lunch we went out again. This time it wasn't raining, so we divided into 3 small open boats so we were able to go down some smaller canals. Our 2 guides were in the other 2 boats, so we had a local guide whose accent sounded more like a Jamaican accent. He was very knowledgeable and did an excellent job piloting the boat. He took off fast with a lot of spray (as did the other boats, so I was able to get a photo), but slowed down once we got into the park so we could look for wildlife. We saw lizards, birds, turtles and monkeys, as well as some interesting flowers. Among the birds we saw were 2 green macaws. Heading back, we passed a group of kayakers. Dinner was particularly disappointing this evening (food-wise--we enjoyed the conversation with an older couple from New Hampshire).

Tuesday, March 10
Woke up to more rain, but it stopped by the time we went to breakfast.We packed up and headed out to the boat to head to our next location. This time we had a dry boat ride back to Cano Blanco dock, with a few stops when the guide spotted some interesting wildlife (birds). Sky cleared quite a bit along the way. After a brief rest stop there, we loaded back on the bus and back up the same bumpy road we'd come in on. Made a brief stop for photos when we spotted a sloth.

Then we made a longer stop at a banana processing plant (Del Monte) which was really interesting (and yes, they do wash the bananas before packaging). The coolest part was watching the banana bunches come in from the grove on a cable pulled by one guy. After that the road smoothed out and we stopped for lunch at the same restaurant where we'd had breakfast on the way out (very good, especially the coconut flan for dessert--best dessert of the trip; overall, the desserts this trip weren't that great which was probably good for our waistlines <G>).

Then on to our next location in the small town of Sarapiqui. The bus dropped us at a suspension bridge we had to walk across (a few at a time) to get to the hotel (the luggage was loaded onto a small truck and taken around a back way). Sueno Azul was a beautiful property with covered walkways (nice when the rains came later). We had the afternoon free here, although there were optional tours offered. We had planned to take a white water rafting tour here, but the guides told us that due to the earthquake in January (which wasn't far from here) the water was very silty and they weren't running the tours. One of our guides said he would be conducting a short nature hike later in the afternoon if anyone was interested. After settling in our room which was quite large and air-conditioned with a beautiful view, we checked out the spa and booked a couple of massages for after the hike. It rained briefly, but cleared in time for the hike. The hike was largely bird watching which was interesting although most of the birds were small and somewhat hard to spot (and definitely hard to photograph <G>). I did shoot a lot of pretty flowers and was thrilled to get a shot of a hummingbird (hope it came out good, haven't had a chance to start editing the photos yet). Our massages were incredible with hot stones and chocolate-scented oil. Most places charge a lot more for those extras, but these were actually quite reasonably priced.

Dinner that evening was a special rodeo with a BBQ buffet. Coming in after our massages, we were among the last to arrive and had seats in the top row (of 3), which wasn't great for trying to get photos or video. Brian ended up going down at the end of the arena (seats were on 2 sides; there was a raised stage at one end, but the other end was open with just a railing and ledge). Our waiter took his chair down to him there and I brought him a plate of food so he could sit down there and shoot video of the entire event (oddly enough in our entire group of 44, he was the only one shooting video). The food was just so-so, but the rodeo was actually pretty good (no calf-tying or other cruelty to animals--mostly just fancy horse riding, with folkloric dances on the elevated stage between the horse acts).

Wednesday, March 11
Up early again to have bags out by 7 am. After breakfast, we headed out early to be sure we got a good seat on the bus. It was a short ride to the Alma Ata Archeological Site that showed how the indigenous people had lived. The guide was interesting (claimed he'd only been speaking English a year, but we figured it was probably a ploy to impress us and garner better tips). The site itself was rather lame with a few petroglyphs and a couple of replicas of tombs and living quarters. It started raining while we were touring (it had been sunny when we got off the bus so few of us bothered to bring our ponchos) which contributed to our disappointment with this site. On our way to our next stop we drove through an area affected by the January earthquake and saw damaged buildings and evidence of mudslides. We made a rest stop at a small shop that had several iguanas outside on a lower level and in the trees. One even crawled into the shop while I was trying to photograph it. Very cool!

Our next stop was the town of La Fortuna (near the Arenal volcano) for lunch. We also had a little time to shop in the town. We did a little shopping and found an ATM to replenish our stock of local currency. From here it was a short drive to our hotel, Arenal Paraiso, which was really cool. All the rooms were individual buildings, all facing the volcano. The room itself was all wood with 2 queen beds, A/C, TV and a small fridge. It was also the first place we'd had with phones in the rooms. This was so they could call us in the middle of the night if the volcano was visible (it's active, and lava and sparks are visible when it's not covered in clouds). Unfortunately it was covered in clouds most of the time--the best view we got was about 80% visible; by night, it was completely covered in clouds. Our guides said they see the volcano about once every 4 or 5 trips, and that we saw more than most tours. We checked out the property and found some small hot springs with great views of the volcano. (We were envisioning sitting in there watching the volcano erupt later that evening--no such luck.)

But we did have a wonderful hot springs experience. Our activity that afternoon/evening was a visit to Tabacon Hot Springs nearby (which is part of a fabulous resort). We swam in their warm pool. I even slid down the slide into the pool and got quite soaked. Then we went in the progressively warmer hot springs and sat under waterfalls which gave a great massage. These are natural hot springs and get warmer as you climb up the elevation (presumably as you get closer to the volcanic source of the spring). It was fabulous! Unfortunately our guide recommended against taking cameras there (even though mine is waterproof) as there are a lot of minerals in the springs which can corrode the metal and damage the rubber gaskets that seal the camera. This would have been a good place for one of those disposable waterproof cameras, but we hadn't brought one. After we'd finished in the springs, we got cleaned up, and had a wonderful buffet dinner at that resort. By this time we'd made friends with several people in the group and we sat with them (mostly women--so it looked like Brian had a harem <G>) and had a delightful evening--very fun group! Back in the room, we checked the volcano several times, but it got progressively cloudier, and we never saw any lava.

Thursday, March 12
Another early departure to get to our next destination. (This constant packing and moving was a bit tedious, but we knew when we planned the trip that we wanted to see as much of the country as possible.) The guides gave a talk about the volcano, Lake Arenal and eco tourism in Costa Rica. We learned that the volcano is about 7000 feet high and has been erupting for years. It wiped out one town decades ago, and the surviving town on the other flank had renamed itself La Fortuna for their good fortune in being spared. We also learned that about 25% of Costa Rica is protected in national parks or forests. The sun came out as we traveled (heading to the dryer, sunnier side of the country closer to the Pacific). We made a quick rest stop (with a little shopping time). After the stop, our guides told us about Guanacaste Province where we were now and Monteverde (our next stop). The province is primarily an agricultural area (all irrigated since the climate is dry--more like southern California) with cowboys. The Guanacaste province is named for the national tree and used to be part of Nicaragua until the people living there decided they'd rather be part of Costa Rica (early in the 20th century). Quakers founded the town of Monteverde after Costa Rica abolished their army in 1948 (that appealed to the peace-loving Quakers). Monteverde is located in a cloud forest which is a rare occurence as it requires a fairly narrow land area with water on 2 sides and a high elevation. The bumpy mountain road we took up to Monteverde was built by the Quakers and had beautiful views.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and it turned out we had a flat tire (what's with us having tire problems when traveling??!!?! Jamaica back in the '70s, Africa--twice, now this <G>). Luckily it was in the back where the bus has double tires so Tino was able to continue slowly to a safe spot to pull over and change the tire. It was actually a pretty spot, and we were able to get out to take some photos. It didn't take long and we were soon on our way to Monteverde again. We stopped in town for lunch. This meal was "on our own," but we were taken to one restaurant where we were able to order off the menu (and pay ourselves). The service was very slow and a lot of people in the group complained. Frankly, it was what I would expect in Latin America, and had been surprised up to this point at the speedy service most places. The food was actually pretty good although we never got the ice cream we'd ordered for dessert (they did take it off the check when Brian pointed it out). From there we went directly to the SkyWalk hike across a series of suspension bridges in the Cloud Forest. The bridges were a bit unnerving, but the views were beautiful. And we did see a few birds, including the rare and beautiful quetzal. It was pretty chilly at that elevation (especially on the breezy bridges). Then we checked into the hotel. This was the best hotel yet (they seemed to get better with each stop). Our room was huge and very nice with a TV and a huge bathroom with shower and tub. We also had a balcony with a great view of the sunset. Once we were settled in our room, we headed back out to dinner at a nearby restaurant (included this time--and we basically had it all to ourselves). This meal was very good and the owner of the restaurant was very chatty and interesting.

Friday, March 13
Nice to not have to rush off to a new destination this morning. We had a very nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and we able to purchase bottled water right there in the lobby before heading off in the bus to the Cloud Forest Preserve. We had a nice hike, but saw little wildlife. One guy in our group wasn't feeling well and skipped the hike. He saw more birds and some monkeys just sitting in the entry plaza waiting for us to return. <G> We did see a hummingbird nest, but (as you'd expect) it was really small. Next to the entry plaza was a hummingbird exhibit with lots of hummingbird feeders (and thus lots of hummingbirds). That was fun to watch (and photograph). And while waiting to reload the bus, we saw a couple of large birds in a nearby tree including the elusive quetzal. This time he was close enough to easily photograph.

After the tour we were taken back to the hotel for a completely free afternoon (including lunch). Since we'd enjoyed dinner so much the night before, we went back to the same restaurant (a short cab ride). We got in just before a tour group and had a very nice lunch and another chat with the pleasant owner. While there we checked out an art gallery in the same building, and the bat museum downstairs (part of why we went back to that location). Very educational information on bats (although better suited for someone who knows nothing about bats--from previous travels and Disney's Animal Kingdom exhibits, we found we knew most of what the guide told us). Then he took us into a darkened hallway that looked into the glassed-in bat exhibit. They keep it dark during the day (and light at night) so the bats (who are nocturnal) will be active for visitors to see. It was pretty cool, but much too dark for photos. Brian got some decent video using his night-vision setting. We walked a ways down the street stopping at a bakery for dessert. They had a bird feeder in their courtyard and I was able to photograph some really pretty birds including an emerald toucan (the first one we'd clearly seen on this trip although toucans are supposed to be fairly common in Costa Rica).We also checked out a couple of art galleries and a hippie-ish shop with handmade crafts and aromatherapy items (but didn't buy anything). Then we walked back to the hotel--a couple of miles, all uphill! (But we needed the workout...) Back at the hotel we booked a couple of half-hour massages (back & arms only, but we got to spend time in the jacuzzi there too, which we used to massage our legs after the long walk). That evening, we had our farewell dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant which was very good. The meal was included in the tour, but we got to order anything we wanted off the menu (with no prices).

Saturday, March 14
This was an early morning as we had a long drive to the airport in Liberia for those with flights out today. (We had booked a hotel near the airport as the flight to Miami left earlier than the tour company's cut-off, and took the same flight home on Sunday). We claimed our seats on the bus before breakfast, and enjoyed our last included meal. Then it was back on the bus and back down the bumpy mountain road. Once we were back on the smooth highway, we made a rest stop. We also took advantage of our last time together to get a photo of the entire group (the guides took them on everyone's cameras). There were also several beautiful scarlet macaws in the trees and on the porch of a building there, so we finally got some (hopefully) good photos/video of macaws. Then it was the final leg of the trip to the airport.

Half the group was continuing on to the Pacific coast for a 2-day beach extension that we didn't take (would have loved to, but didn't want to spend the money or time at this point). They dropped the half who were leaving, including us, at the airport where we all said our goodbyes, turned in our evaluations, and tipped our great guides. This was about 11 am and the lines to check in were really long, so we were glad we hadn't pushed it for our 1 pm flight. We asked about the shuttle to the hotel and a gentleman called the hotel to send it over and helped us take our bags out to the shuttle.

The hotel (Hilton Garden Inn) was literally across the highway from the airport (but surprisingly quiet). The airport is fairly new (built for faster access to the Pacific coast beach resorts about 30 minutes away; it's about 4 hours to San Jose where the older airport is) and the area around it is just starting to develop. The hotel had only been open since November. We checked in, but it was too early to get into our room, so we went to get lunch in the hotel restaurant (but it wasn't open that early either). We just sat in the closed bar next door, glad to be sitting in the air conditioning as it was really hot here (over 90 degrees, but with low humidity). We read and listened to our iPods until the restaurant opened (about a half-hour later). We had a very good lunch with excellent service, but it was a bit expensive. Unfortunately right now they have a captive audience and can charge whatever they want, since the taxi fare to and from town would be about as much as our lunch was. There is some construction in the area so I imagine in a few years there will be more options nearby. Once we'd finished lunch our room was ready. It was another very nice room with a king bed, flat screen TV, fridge, microwave (they did sell frozen dinners in the little shop if you wanted to avoid the pricey restaurant), safe, iron and even a Herman Miller chair at the desk. There was wired internet access in the room (2nd floor), but free wireless on the first floor which Brian tapped into for some web surfing with his iPod Touch.

We'd planned on this being a relaxing, wind-down-after-all-the-hustle-of-the-tour afternoon, so we took our books and iPods down by the pool. There was no shade on the pool deck (new landscaping hadn't grown up enough to offer any), so we sat at a table in the outside bar area which was under a roof with ceiling fans. We relaxed for several hours until the late afternoon sun came in under the roof and chased us away. Back up in the room we were able to connect Brian's video camera to the TV (an advantage to a new TV--accessible inputs) and watched the video he'd shot from the trip. He's definitely got some good stuff and I can't wait to see the edited version. We had a nice dinner at the restaurant downstairs. After dinner we watched the rest of Brian's video and Saturday Night Live from the Miami station (so it was 2 hours early allowing us to still get to bed at a decent hour).

Sunday, March 15
Brian actually got up early and used the hotel's nice new fitness center (I had said I'd get up with him, but decided against it--sleeping sounded better than working out <G>). We had a very nice buffet breakfast at the hotel including fresh-made omelets and waffles. We checked out and took the shuttle back to the airport, arriving the recommended 3 hours before our flight. There was almost no one there yet, so check-in and security went very quickly (although we noticed a big crowd arrive around 11 am again). The departure area is open air and very hot (even with ceiling fans). There was a small shop which was air conditioned, but also very crowded. We bought lunch at the snack bar there to carry on board using up most of the rest of our local currency. I bought some candy bars in the shop to use up the rest (it was so hot in the waiting area that when we went to eat them on board about an hour into the flight, they were still pretty soft). We had to go through a manual bag check again before boarding (and couldn't bring the water on board that we'd bought at the airport to drink with our lunch). Flight home was uneventful, immigrations and customs in Miami went smoothly, and everything was fine at home when we got in (what more could you ask?).

We really enjoyed Costa Rica. The people were really friendly, the scenery and wildlife were beautiful, and we admire their efforts at protecting their natural assets--plus we had a lot of fun! We would definitely recommend it--just expect to get wet on the Caribbean side and be hot on the Pacific side.