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Bugs, Snakes, Birds, and Turtles

After F and D departed, the crew lounged around the rental house until the house cleaners kicked us out and then headed up the mountain to San Gerardo de Rivas. This funky little mountain town is the last stop for folks headed to hike Mt. Chirripo; we did not hike the mountain on this trip (but R and H took this serious hike on earlier in their travels). We did, however, venture to Cloudbridge Reserve to pay our respects to H’s thumb. We spent the evening at Casa Mariposa – a super cute hostel at is built into the rocks along a stream and open to the wonderful world… which meant we had a few insect guests staying in our room and one black snake. H and R were a bit more comfortable with our roommates, but Landin and I decided to pitch at tent to have a little more privacy. Nothing like sleeping in a tent indoors. H and I got up early to do some trail running along the Cloudbridge waterfall trail and worked up enough heat to jump into the most beautifully clear, cold stream 3 times.

We continued up the mountains toward the Cerro de la Muerte (Mtn of Death) and stopped at the Mirador de Quetzales for some bird searching – and we had success! One female Quetzal added to my list as well as 20 other birds. Our Guide was wonderful and we sipped hot chocolate as it rained before heading down to San Jose for the night.

We made a very early drive to catch a canal boat the next day to Tortuguero National Park. Clic Clic runs a very affordable canal boat out of La Pavona. Tortuguero was hot hot hot (cold water shower never felt so good) and wet wet wet. So to mitigate the heat we had milkshakes, naps, and hammock swings (to create some breeze). We did enjoy the national park and took a night walk to see a Green Sea Turtle looking for a nesting spot. Also we paddled around the canals in a dug out canoe and again found plenty of rain in the rainforest.

Once we had enough humid heat, we retreated to the mountains to give our clothes a chance to dry out and soak our muscles in the hot springs of Volcano Arenal. We found the cute town of El Castillo and stayed at Essence Arenal, which serves a wonderful veggie dinner and has spectacular views. After spending the morning in the heated stream waters (we even found a free access point across from the most expensive spa), we drove around Lake Arenal to find the brewery and stopped

on the way back at Pizza John’s for pizza, home made ice cream, and a some interesting/great conversation.

Landin and R were scheduled to leave early on Tuesday, so we made the track back to San Jose. H and I are now headed to the East Coast for some beaches and Caribbean food.

Tags: Cerro de la Muerte, Chirripo, Cloudbridge, Costa Rica, Fun times with Family, La Pavona, Lake Arenal, San Geraldo, San Jose, Tortuguero National Park, travel blog, Volcan Arenal

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Categories Costa Rica, Our Travel Stories
Author G

30rdy birdry

7 Jun

So it is official… I crossed, with the help of family and friends, into a new decade and we had a pretty great week to celebrate. We left Nosara after H got in some surf time and headed up to meet F & D in Playa Hermosa (there are at least 3 Playa Hermosa in Costa Rica – really, how can anyone keep these things straight?) but we were at the one by Playas del Coco. Playa Hermosa and the surrounding area seems to have experienced some development over the last few years with lots of big houses over looking the bays. F found one of these beautiful houses for rent with a pool overlooking the ocean; it was the perfect location for some bird watching, especially since the birds liked to bathe in the pool. In fact we (well at least Landin and I) spent many hours bird watching in the pool.

From our house in Playa Hermosa, we ventured out to Tenerio National Park to explore Rio Celeste and the “Blue Waterfall and Lagoon”. The sulphur from the volcano turns the water the lightest color of blue; I definitely think I have a new computer screen image! The following day, We split the group up with some of us venturing to the 4 Seasons Resort for lunch and some pampering while the others got in some dive time. Later that afternoon we drove down to Playa Grande catching the most beautiful sunset yet (at least from my perspective)!

After our 3 nights in Playa Hermosa, we drove down to Dominical for our second house rental (another extremely beautiful view of the ocean from the pool). From here we caught a boat to Corcovado National Park to see wildlife – for which there were plenty, including 3 different types of monkeys, a sloth, tucans, and a trogon! We were thoroughly soaked from rain in the rainforest, and searched hard for a tapir but only came up with a foot print (still super awesome!). We finished the day with a waterfall slide and the most delicious comida typicio dinner cooked for us by the rental house’s chef. Our last day in the area included a fancy zip line with an up-side-down rope drop and tarzan swing.

I did manage to see 30 different animals and 30 different birds over the course of 24 daylight hours for my birthday… definitely was the best way to say goodbye to the 20’s and welcome in the next decade!