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.
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Rule #2: Don't Die. 