Estamos consiguiendo casados!
After Ian’s final exams we embarked on our adventure to Costa Rica. The journey started with an indirect flight stopping in Havana and San Salvador before arriving in San Jose. Our first night was in Alajuela, a town in the central valley. We dined at the Mirador restaurant, which had a spectacular view of the San Jose lights. At five o’clock the next morning we set out for the long drive to Volcan Arenal. The roads were unnamed, steep, windy, and occasionally went through the clouds.
That evening we stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge set on the slope of the volcano amidst lush tropical rainforest. Unfortunately the rain prohibited us from seeing the top of the active volcano. We made our first hike through huge leaves and tangled vines toward a beautiful waterfall. With the sounds of tropical birds and howler monkeys, Ian proposed to Stephanie, (she accepted of course!) We celebrated by spending relaxing evening in the Lodge’s clover shaped Jacuzzi, watching the rain fall through the trees.
The next day we headed off on the potholed road around Lake Arenal. We headed towards Guanacaste, a province in the Northwest corner of Costa Rica. It is a very dry region of
Costa Rica for five months of the year and we arrived at the end of it. We entered the Parque National Santa Rosa, a beautifully diverse park engulfing two volcanoes, dry rain forest, and some of the scenic Pacific coastline. We roughed it this time and camped near the beach along with Iguanas, Pelicans in the skies, Crocodiles in a close by lagoon, and sea turtles on the beach. This is the naturalists’ example of “Costa Rica”!After trying to sleep in 30-degree (centigrade) temperatures and frequent sand storm bursts, we packed up the next morning and headed off in search of cooler night temperatures towards Volcan Rincon de la Vieja. With its gigantic rainforest trees, an abundance of tropical birds and mammals, this place is a biologist, geologist, and eco-tourist dreamscape. On the slopes of the volcano are waterfalls, streams, lagoons, sulphuric vent holes, mini volcanoes (which can subside at any moment), boiling water pools, and boiling mud pools. We spent another night camping in the forest
Awoken by the sounds of howler monkeys, we packed up our stuff and headed towards the coast again. This time to a small beach called Ocotal. We treated ourselves after roughing it and stayed at a resort. Set on top of a cliff, this Pacific Ocean hotel was beautiful with views of the sunset from our room, hot tub, or the restaurant. Service was impeccable, tourists were virtually non-existent, and there was plenty of sunshine. This was a great place to relax, eat good food, and sip on some pinacoladas. We liked the beach so much, the next day we drove further south along the Nicoya Peninsula to Playa Nosara. Here we stayed at Rancho
Suizzo, a quaint place with separate cabins and only a two-minute walk from the beach. We had dinner at the world famous (or so they say) Gilded Iguana. The drinks were great!The next morning we said goodbye to the ocean and headed back up to the slopes of the mountains. What a drive! It was 30 kilometers of gravel, windy, dangerous mountain roads. Our final destination: Monteverde and Santa Elena, elevation: 5000 feet. Our rest stop was an old coffee plantation with lush gardens. That afternoon we braved a canopy tour. A great way of seeing the massive trees from above and valleys below! With no other tourists we got a personal tour guide with 3 tour guides. We placed our harnesses on reluctantly and glided along steel cables from one tree platform to another. After 12 cables and 1 mile of adrenaline, we wanted more! The longest cable was 300 to 400 meters long, 100 meters high, and we probably reached speeds of 40 to 50 kilometres per hour! Ian fixed our only flat tire after the excursion and we had a wonderful dinner in the local favourite restaurant/bar all by ourselves (we didn’t have to wait for service for very long).
Our last full day began with the drive back down the mountain followed by a climb again up the main highway to a similar elevation. Final destination, Vista de Valle in the Central Valley with fantastic views of a 500 foot deep canyon and their own 300 foot waterfall. The modest trail to the waterfall included ropes to prevent sliding down the canyon walls and a system of ladders. We cooled off in the beautiful pool with views of banana trees, bamboo, and the surrounding mountains in the distance. We had our own circular thatch roofed lodge with an outdoor shower adjacent to our patio overlooking the valley. It was a great way to end a wonderful trip. We will remember this country for its wonderful fruits and tasty traditional foods, friendly warm people, its varied climate, its diverse and rich wildlife, and spectacular geography. But most of all we will remember this trip as the place we agreed to spend the rest of our lives together.
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