Trip to Costa Rica, April 15, 1995

Actually trip to Costa Rica started really well. On April 15, 1995, our scheduled  United Airlines flight departed at 12:30 pm. We arrived at San Jose at 8: am. After a six-hour layover at Las Angeles.  But the problem we encountered was that our luggage did not travel with us, we were told that it would, probably, get there by next morning flight. Obviously, we had to manage without all the things we needed until then. And we could not go to Arenal as planned. Our plan was for a brief stay in San Jose on our way to Arenal. We rented a car at the airport and stayed at the Garden Court Hotel in San Jose. 

After breakfast on April 17, we took a day trip to Heredia, Alajuela, Grecia, and Sarchi. It took us a long time to find Heridia where we bought 2 T-shirts for change of clothes.

From Heredia we went to Grecia, and arrived at the red metal church with ginger bread trimming which was part of our itinerary.

Then we visited Colonial church, the old fort, and then were headed for Sarchi, the artisan town. We went to two stores where they had handicrafts, useful decorative items made by hand with simple tools. One of the stores had hand painted ox carts displayed outside. The work was on going in the back part of the stores. We were interested in seeing the process. They were very hospitable and invited me to take the video.

The store across the street had hammocks, and lot of other handicraft. The most interesting part of Sarchi was its church built between 1950 to 1958 painted pink with aquamarine trim. From there we were headed  back to San Jose. After some rest and relaxation, we went for our dinner in El Pueblo to a restaurant called La Covina de la Leña. The food was very good- especially the appetizers.

Next morning  for breakfast a display of fresh fruit along with a variety of baked items was laid out. Papaya and coffee was great for me. After breakfast we got ready and went to Irazu volcano  to get there before the clouds closed in.

We could have taken the car up very close to the top, but we decided to walk which was a mistake because it took a long time to walk up and the clouds did close in as we had feared, preventing us from seeing anything as you can see in the image below.

We hung around hoping for it to clear up but to no avail. On the way down we stopped at a restaurant called Linda Vista at 10, 064 feet above the sea level, apparently, highest location in Central America. It was interesting to see that they papered their walls with the visiting card given to them by the visitors. Also money bills and items of possession were hanging from the ropes all over the bars and restaurant area. We also gave our visiting card.

From there we went to Cartago and visited the Bascilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles. They built a shrine for the black virgin called Nigrita. There are hundereds of silver images on the walls, which were left as thanks to the Nigrita. Women were touching the stone beneath the statue and one of them was wiping it with her scarf for blessings, perhaps, to carry it for someone in her family. We went across the street and ate our lunch. I had a salad that came in a big plate of palmettos and chayote etc. Got directions to go to paraiso and then on to Orosi. When we got to Orosi, the road was flooded due to heavy rain. We stopped the car and waited for 30 minutes. Got directions and headed back towards Ujarra. Found a ‘Mirador’, a look out point.

Got some video of humming birds and went back toward Orosi and could not proceed due to flooded roads. We decided to turn back and come back to the hotel. For dinner we ordered Domino pizza with three toppings for $9/-.

On April 19 we checked out to head toward Teleran. Stopped at the airport and picked up the $300/-vouchers they gave for the inconvenience they caused by delaying our lugguage. Drove all the way to Cañas only to be stopped by a policeman to give us a ticket. When I explained to him the situation in Spanish, he was happy and very surprised that I spoke Spanish he decided to waved the ticket. After that we missed the road, roamed around before reaching hotel named Bahia Azul. It was a rundown accommodation right in the middle of breathtakingly beautiful surrounding.

Our next stop was a small town called La Fortuna, the east of which the Arenal volcano is located. we came to Tilaran around lunch time, and checked in at Hotel Bahia Azul. When we went to their restaurant to get some lunch, we met a gentleman called George who was also visiting Costa Rica. He had rented a four-wheeler and planned to go to La Fortuna that very afternoon. We had already heard that the road to get to la Fortuna was not passable in our Nissan, and we decided to cancel the plan of going there. During our conversation with George, we mentioned the problem and he offered to take us and was very happy that he did not have to do it all alone.  Although it was going to be a rainy adventure, we made a start only to realize that the road was not just bad, but in places big sections of the road had fallen into the gorge. But some temporary bridges were built. We decided to undertake this terror filled journey with George. It was like being on a thrill ride in an amusement park with a difference that in an amusement park, at least, odds are in favor of coming back down safe whereas on this trip odd were reversed. In spite of crater size potholes, and near misses on the improvised bridges, we made it and  were happy about the adventure and challenge we took on.

When the road improved a bit, we continue on to our planned destination. We passed through a rain forest and were headed to the only active volcano in Costa Rica. It was supposed to be spewing fire almost all the time. We could see a huge monstrosity way in the distance but no fire activity was visible. The clouds, the blackest I have ever seen, enveloped the whole area, and nothing was visible. We turned back at this point and started to look for a gas station which we found. Then we stopped at a watering hole for a drink. It was a mom and pop operation. While father and son were working the bar, the women were taking care of the meals etc. behind the scenes.

This building had a tin roof and you could hear the rain. It was pelting down for a long time. After waiting a while, we asked the person behind the bar if it always rained as hard and for so long, he told that it was only a drizzle and sounded like hard rain because of the tin roof.  Relieved that we were not going to be drenched on our way to the car, we left without eating because we hoped to find a good restaurant on the way back. There were none to be found. After returning to the hotel, we freshened up to go eat at the hotel restaurant. They were almost closing and there was nothing left for them to serve us.  However, they were very obliging and prepared a meal for the three of us. 

Mornings were really beautiful and best time to enjoy nature.  I decided to take a video of the scenic beauty around the hotel. A cup of coffee sounded like the best idea, but at 6 am?. When I went in to the restaurant, there was no activity except one young man was cleaning and setting up for breakfast which was going to be at 7:30. And the I asked him about the possibility of getting a cup of coffee. He informed me that they don’t serve breakfast until later, but he was going to make  two cups for me to take to the room. We had our coffee in the room.  After getting ready we went for breakfast at 8: am and checked out of Bahia Azul around 9: am to go to Puntarenas, where we stayed at the hotel Tioga. Hotel Tioga was located right on the beach lined with palm trees.

It was very relaxing atmosphere added to which was the good, friendly service. We found a really good restaurant called Aloha right next door where we had salada de palmitos, and caramel custard for lunch. We went back there for dinner and had arroz verde con camarones fritos (green rice with fried shrimps) green because it had lots of freshly chopped cilantro. It was delicious. They also call it Gallo Pinto. For recipe click on image below.

On the morning of April 21, I got up super early and was hungry but knew breakfast would not be served until  7:30.  I took some mangoes we bought to the kitchen to see someone was around to give me a knife or cut them for me. Luckily a  lady who was cleaning agreed to cut the mangoes because she said she was not allowed to lend anything from the kitchen to anyone. We were happy to eat mangoes until we could get our breakfast.  Breakfast they served fried eggs, toast, and coffee. After breakfast was finished we set out to visit Manual Antonio National Park at Quepo. The drive from Jaco to Quepo was agony because the road had huge potholes. I don’t know how we did not have a burst tire or some accident. However, we got to the National park. When we arrived a 9-year-old boy agreed to take care of the car, and there was a guide who demanded 700 Colónes, local currency, to take us around. But after the amount was agreed upon he changed his mind and said that he wanted that amount per person. We dropped him and went around ourselves.

From the park we went for a snack of ceviche de camarones, which turned out to be a disaster for me because of my seafood allergy I had severe stomach ache. On the way we stopped at yuroguan restaurant where food was good but I ate but agonizingly because of my bad stomach.  For dinner we ate a sandwich and mango and went to bed.

On the morning of April 22 we got breakfast and went to volcano Poás. We got there at 8:30 am only to be disappointed again because it was raining and we could see nothing.

 We got back to the hotel to relax and cleaned up to go to dinner. We took a taxi which dropped us in front of the restaurant door, and later we found it to be closed. We walked around and went into Hotel Del Rey to use their bathroom. As I was standing there I saw the news about Oklahoma bombing. After some more walking and looking for something to eat, we ended up eating MacDonald before going back to the hotel.

Next morning we got up and after breakfast went back to Poás volcano one more time to try our luck. The day had started nice and bright. It took us around 45 minutes to get there.

We took our car and parked. The view was incredible. Clouds were in the distance but we could see that they were moving, and the movement was brisk, and certain. That beautiful volcano was going to be covered in a very short time. We were disappointed but happy and proud that we triumphed in capturing nature’s most powerful phenomenon from a closest possible distance. It was as if we could reach out and touch it.

This was followed by a visit to Sarapiqui River which is in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica and was declared a national park area for saving the wild life, which was threatened with extinction. It is a long, beautiful river, which winds its way through the forest. The river was inviting. Everyone stood around enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. Various sized boats bobbing in the calm water rippling with small, gentle waves was alluring. There were dueños (owners) of the boats, and there were those hopefuls who worked for boat owners expected to make a few Colónes by actually by taking people out on the boat for the river tour.

We were expecting to pay a reasonable amount for a tour on one of the boats, but they were looking for a bigger profit.  Amounts they were charging varied according to who they were dealing with. For tourist the price was higher and they quoted in dollars, but did not want dollar bills, they wanted local money exchange which put the price up substantially. One man offered a tour at 200 Colónes which we accepted and went to park the car properly and take care of other necessities  When returned there was a commotion with a lot of men encircling the guy who was to take us on the tour. They were yelling at him for doing the tour for such a low price that it would bring down the price for all of them. Two or three other people tried to take us with no success because the price offered was low for everyone else. Eventually we were approached by someone who owned a boat (dueño) and he sent us with Alberto who was experienced.  Alberto looked happy and  was oozing with confidence. There was a glint of excitement in his dark eyes. His short, compact body seemed full of energy. He wore shorts and a shirt almost tightly fitted with a baseball cap which seemed like an extension of his head. One couldn’t imagine him ever being without it. He gestured us to follow him to his big boat  with a canopy. When we embarked we both had a distinctly different reaction. Mine was certainly a sigh of relief on seeing the canopy because heavy rain laden black clouds were looming low threatening a heavy downpour, while Jaffer found it disappointing because he thought it would limit our field of vision.

We started our tour along the river and saw tropical forest, obviously, teeming with a huge diversity of life. On one hand we saw parasite vines wrapped around the tree looking as though they were created by an artisan. These vines penetrated their roots into their hosts to extract nutrients for their own survival without compunction. On the other hand, there were huge trees uprooted and lying on the ground. They were not dead but alive by sending roots into the ground and extract nutrients from the earth for their survival.

While we were on the boat, tropical rain came down in a torrent and displayed the most  beautiful sight the nature could ever offer. As far as the eye could see there was this orchestral performance of the rain with its music and dance on the surface of the river. Rain  was so heavy that it was scary. We needn’t have worried. The curtain of rain lifted and clouds moved away giving way to clear skies and some sun.

All the birds and the animals were in hiding during the rain. When this display of rain stopped, all the forest started to come alive.Alberto knew how to spot the birds and all kinds of creatures along the river as we cruised. We could hear the birds but could not see them because they avoid being seen by anyone. But he could point out sloths, alligators, monkeys, birds, and kingfishers.

Birds started to fly from branch to branch. One of the bird with its huge feathers and long beak did a dance as if performing for us, while the in-flight kingfisher dived into the river to get his fish meal. As Alberto took the boat near the shore, we saw crocodiles. One of them was sitting with its head on the branch to spy on the river and its activities. The other one lay calmly along the side of the river enjoying the peace. When the boat chugged quietly and slowly as close as possible, it continued sleeping without a worry in the world.  It seemed as if even the animals were aware of the safety provided because their home was a national park.

Further down a sloth was hanging from a branch upside down in its typical manner. Sloth with its heavy furry body supported by big pawed, furry legs which clawed on to the branch, move slowly from branch to branch looking for food while her young follow behind closely.

And few yards from there a group of monkeys were up in the trees hardly visible they jumped from tree to tree. The whole forest was full of animals but they were skillful at camouflaging and hiding from humans. It would have been difficult to see much without Alberto’s trained eyes which spotted them and pointed them out for us to see. Because of gloomy, rainy weather photos did not come as I would have liked to share.