Robinson Adventures 2024 Costa Rica
An Alternate Adventure in Costa Rica March/April 2024
After a series of health issues that prevented us from taking our long awaited cruise/train trip in Vietnam, we took some time for me to increase my mobility and strength. Although I am not 100%, we felt that I am well enough to take a more gentle trip for a much shorter time. (Vietnam will still be there for a future trip.)
So, here we are in Costa Rica. We will be joining a Caravan bus tour of many significant places in Costa Rica (8 days) and then we will return to one of the 4 resorts we will visit en route for an additional 4 days of pure relaxation. We thoroughly enjoyed a Caravan tour in Panama a few years ago and we are anticipating the same level of service and activities on this one.
Good Friday, March 29, 2024
Yesterday, we flew from Toronto (6:30 am) to Dallas and then from Dallas to San Jose, Costa Rica. We arrived on time and we settled in our hotel/resort well before dinner. We are currently staying at the Holiday Inn La Sabana in a lovely and spacious room overlooking the central courtyard and the large swimming pool and hottub. To say that we were fatigued by the trip would be an understatement. We had a modest dinner at Denny's which is right inside the hotel and crashed into bed just after 9 pm. There is a two hour time difference between Waterloo and San Jose so going to bed early was actually a sensible thing to do in terms of adjusting to the new time zone.
We enjoyed a late breakfast in the breakfast area surrounded by gardens. The buffet offered a variety of choices ranging from pastries to omelettes. Most intriguing was the range of tropical fruits, jams and juices. We enjoyed the selection. Especially intriguing was a large orange smooth skinned fruit with a long stem. We broke it open to discover that it was a guava. It tasted great. I am quite certain we have never seen a guava in the casing before.
We decided to spend the day at the resort, exploring and enjoying the many features it offers. First was a trip to the pool (surprisingly not to swim). There were several chaise lounges, some in full sun and others under roofs or shade. We chose a comfortable couch and settled in for a relaxing morning. Jim puttered with his computer and I started to read a new book. I even had a bit of a nap. We chatted with a few people and actually met a couple from Oklahoma (Theresa and Terry) who will also be on our tour.
At our leisure, we strolled through the garden and found our way through this large complex and back to our room. Having had a plentiful breakfast, we felt no need for lunch. Once back in our room, we spent time on our deck overlooking the courtyard. It was pleasant if a bit windy but well sheltered from the sun. The temperature was 27C.
Dinner tonight, in the hotel dining room, consisted of ceviche for both of us, quesadillas for Jim and chicken soup for me. The service was friendly; the staff speak fluent English and the portions were ample. Neither of us could finish our meals.
After dinner we attended a meeting sponsored by the Caravan Tour Company to go over the details of our tour which begins tomorrow morning. Our tour guide, Paul, was articulate, funny, spoke perfect English and shared a lot of information. We had a chat with him after the meeting about how we would handle my walker and my low energy for walking. He had clearly given it some thought and had all the details written down. Jim and I are feeling deep confidence that this tour will be successful for both of us.
The day is coming to an end. We need a good night's sleep as the bus leaves tomorrow promptly at 7:45 am. Good night all.
Saturday, March 30
An early start this morning ... breakfast any time after 6:30 and bus boarding at 7:45 Remarkably enough everyone was on time. Perhaps it was the warning that the tour director, Paul, gave last night. "If you are late for the bus, I will leave you behind. The people at the hotel desk will call you a taxi and tell the driver where they can meet the bus." Yikes!! He sounded very serious about that.
The first couple of hours this morning provided a mobile tour of San Jose. We saw many highlights - government buildings, impressive churches, many, many parks and public squares, several schools, a variety of residential areas ranging from quite impoverished to quite opulent. One of the most impressive buildings we saw was a theatre that had replicated a similar theatre in France. It was beautiful, elegantly decorated on the outside. It certainly stood out as one the most impressive builings on the tour. What was especially noteworthy is the fact that it was the first theatre in Costa Rica to have electric lights. Three theatres in Europe had preceded it.
We learned that San Jose is situated in Central Valley, surrounded by several volcanic mountains. This valley occupies about 5% of Costa Rica, yet over 3 million people live in the valley. That means that 2 million people live on 95% of the land. An interesting ratio ...
As we left the city of San Jose and travelled through the countryside, we passed by much agricultural land. Forests of bamboo were scattered across the landscape. Coffee plantations were plentiful (we were reminded that Costa Rica is known for its excellent coffee). We saw many greenhouses featuring all manner of decorative plants. Many of these are actually exported to the USA and Canada. All the while we were cognizent of the high volcanic mountains that surrounded the valley, one of which, Turialba, erupted in 2021, coating San Jose in ash and smoke. Our guide is quite content for us to see the mountain from a distance but not to get too close.
We stopped at a lovely roadside restaurant and had the opportunity to visit a coffee plantation and learn about the process from planting to harvest. Coffee is picked by hand with workers trying to ensure that they do not miss any of the berries. It is hard labour, indeed. Following the visit to the plantation, the restauranteurs gave a demonstration of the correct way to brew fine coffee. It involved slowly pouring boiling water through a porous cloth filled with ground coffee. (not something Jim and I are likely to do at home.) But I will admit that the coffee we drank with our lunch was very nice.
Our next stop was at an animal rescue facility. They had hundreds of birds, reptiles and four-footed creatures who had come their way because of illness or injury or because the parrots and macaws especially had actually outlived their owners. Jaguars and sloths were the most interesting to me. There is also an animal hospital on this site. Many wild animals are treated and able to be released back into the wild. There was a gift shop at the exit and, of course, I wanted to stop and take a look.
And that is when the accident occurred ... I was seated in the walker on a very shallow slope. We had neglected to engage the brakes, thinking that it was safe as it was. But as Jim looked at some merchandise, the walker got away from him and quickly picked up speed as it rolled down the slope. It and I came to an abrupt stop at one of the shop's displays. The display was built around an old tree stump with many jagged protrusions. My leg hit one with some force and cut my left shin. Blood poured out. Fortunately the park had a well equipped first aid kit and one of our fellow tour members is a paramedic. I was patched up but the bleeding slowly continued. We returned to our hotel according to plan and I was then taken to the main hospital in San Jose where lovely Doctor Loyola cleaned the would and stitched me up. I forgot to ask how many stitches but I was told that I was not to go swimming for at least 3 or 4 weeks. So much for pool time at the resorts we are visiting.
Back at the Holiday Inn Resort, it was dinner time. We enjoyed sharing a table with two other couples and found that we had a lot in common. Laughter permeated the meal and Jim and are hopeful that we will share a table with them again.
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Happy Easter to those who celebrate this event. There does not seem to be any reference to this event anywhere that we visited today, including on our bus filled with 31 Americans and 2 Canadians (us).
We headed out early again this morning en route to La Fortuna, a city on the far side of the mountains in the part of Costa Rica that abuts the Caribbean Sea. As always, the bus ride was comfortable and our guide, Paul, was well prepared to share information about landscape, wildlife, economy and customs.
Monday, April 1, 2024
April Fool's Day!!! No pranks on the bus. What a well behaved group. We are enjoying all our conversations with guide.
After breakfast again we boarded our bus (Buenas Dias, Serbio) and headed on the day's adventure. Our first destination was the Arenal, a lookout over the volcano and the valley below. We has has a wonderful view of the Arenal volcano. The Arenal volcano is significant because it erupted in 1968, an eruption that lasted until 2010, 42 years. It is the tenth longest duration of an eruption on earth since 1750. Arenal is considered to be a volcano at rest, but not dead.
Having enjoyed the spectacular views of Arenal, we then headed to Los Lagos resort -which features the Aguas Termales, many hot tubs, all shapes, sizes and temperatures lying on the side of Aramel. Sadly, I was not able to go into the pools because of my leg injury. I enjoyed a quiet morning on a lovely patio accompanied by many different kinds of very colourful birds. I enjoyed reading my book and especially enjoyed the pina colada served in a pineapple which Jim brought after he emerged from the baths.
On site, there was a lovely gift shop and did not leave empty handed.
We stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant which is known for having sloths in the nearby forest. A walk in the forest preceded lunch and the group was very successful in finding many sloths high in the trees.
Not to be too critical about the food which really is well prepared and tasty ... but it is repetitive. Each restaurant we have been in has served our food buffet style .... chicken, rice, black beans, a green salad and often plain penne pasta ... after two meals each day with same menu, we are ready for a change. Occasional offerings of beef and fish provide alternatives but the meals are still quite boring. On occasion, plantain or yucca was also available.
We returned to our hotel in La Fortuna shortly after lunch. It was nice to be in an air conditioned room. The midday heat is quite oppressive. We had naps and packed our bags as we were leaving tomorrow. Dinner tonight was on our own but Jim and I decided to eat at the hotel where we were staying. Ordering from a menu was fun - seafood soup and a caesar salad for me, ceviche for both of us. Jim had peach palm tomato soup and whole crispy fried fish topped with cream and shrimp accompanied by crispy strips of plantano. Overall ... delicious!!
Tuesday April 2, 2024
La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio
Rise and shine. An early breakfast was followed by departure from this resort. Today we were on our way to the Pacific Ocean. The route was quite long and winding. As we left the Central Valley we were surrounded and once again travelled up and over the mountains. We passed through several towns, all surrounded by agricultural enterprises. Fields of horses, dairy cattle, beef cattle and goats were scattered along the way. Ironically, the one species that we did not see at all was chickens!! Maybe we have eaten them all.
As we crossed the mountains, the vegetation changed. We were now in tropical forest areas. Rich wide-leaved plants filled the landscape. Palm trees, banana trees, papaya trees and a myriad of other varieties lined our route. Broad forests of tropical vegetation flanked the highway.
We stopped regularly for breaks and, of course, for lunch at a lovely roadside restaurant and gift shop. While the food was pretty ordinary (I chose to have only a garden salad today, a range of fresh crispy vegetables filled my plate and satisfied my palate). The gift shop was magnificent - large, a wide variety of products, reasonable prices. So, of course, we shopped. Gifts to take home, a little treasure for us. At our next break, we were enticed into another large souvenir shop but we had already done our shopping so it was easy to ignore the merchandise.
As we approached the ocean, we passed through miles of tall palm trees, planted carefully in straight rows. It was harvest time for the fruit from the palm oil trees. We saw workers with large wagons filled with large red/orange palm fruit, all picked by hand with long sickles and captured in baskets held high in the air to avoid damaging the fruit in this process. The fruit was transported to a nearby processing plant where the oil is extracted from the fruit and prepared for the commercial market.
And then we saw it ... the vast Pacific ocean almost within reach. Under brilliant sun, the water sparkled and sand beaches miles long beckoned. With no wind, there were tiny ripples that broke as the water reached the sand. Deceiving, because this strip of beach holds some of the most challenging surfing contests in the world. The surf can be very high and always has riptides, even on a day as calm as this one.
Finally, after 8 hours on the road, we reached our destination in the town of Manuel Antonio. Hotel San Bada is to be our home for the next two days. The rooms are large and well appointed. There are two pools, one designated for adults only. On the top floor, there was a bar and a comfortable seating area that looked out over the beach and the ocean.
We were just in time for cocktails (2 for 1) in the bar. The view from the bar is magnificent. Located next to Manuel Antonio National Park, we were able to see a range of birds including toucans and fauna including monkeys. The piece de resistance though was the incredible sunset that awaited us. Not a cloud in the sky, the bright sun gradually turned brilliant red and sank slowly below the horizon. It was spectacular to watch. Dinner followed ... yes, chicken and rice and beans and a delicious salad complete with raw beets and carrots.
And now it is time for bed .....
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Early onto the bus again for our day's adventure. It was a lengthy bus ride but our guide, Paul, always had a story to tell and information to share about Costa Rica. He kept us engaged and entertained.
We were travelling on circuitous roads through forests and over hills. Occasional agriculture flashed past as we moved along but forests shaded the road for most of our trip. We passed through one area filled wth palm oil trees. Most of them had already been harvested.
Our first destination was Sierpe de Osa where there was a Mango Forest boat/wildlife tour on the Sierpe River, a river riddled with crocodiles. It was a tidal river with brackish water stirred up twice daily by the tides. This gave the crocodiles wonderful camouflage as they searched for their daily food. Swimming is not recommended.
After a predictable lunch, our tour divided into two groups. The guide on our boat was an Irish man named James. He had moved to Costa Rica 11 years ago, spoke fluent Spanish and had an incredible amount of knowledge about the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. He also had an excellent spotting eye and was able to point out sloths, monkeys, snakes, bats and several bird species, including scarlet macaws, which most of our group would have totally missed. We were on the water for about 90 minutes. It was astounding what we saw in that period of time.
Our bus returned us to our hotel mid-afternoon and we had the opportunity to go and visit the 'Spheres'. The spheres are perfectly round rocks that were carved by people between 300 and 1500 AD, a collection of perfectly round stones of various sizes that were carved by some unknown people long in the past. The Spheres are scattered over a wide area. Many are too large to lift or move so they remain in what is believed to be their original location. Some smaller ones have clearly been moved to create groups or a pattern. Very little is known about the origin of these spheres - dates, creators, purpose, all a mystery. Britain is not the only place that has historical mysteries. The mystery of the spheres remains unsolved. Some of the spheres have been cracked open to see what was in the middle. Nothing but stone. It has some elements of Stonehenge ... unusual placement of rocks for an unknown purpose. Very mysterious.
During our journey today, Paul, our guide, provided a lengthy explanation about why Costa Rica has no army and how they would defend themselves if threatened. He recounted one situation that arose between Nicaragua, the northern neighbour, and Costa Rica. It was a border dispute that was finally resolved through diplomatic means which had also involved Costa Rican allies in the negotiations. Many years ago, Costa Rica dissolved its army and redirected all those funds into education. There is a wide belief in the country that education is a vital component of economic success.
Time for dinner, again a buffet featuring ..... chicken, fish, rice, black beans and a salad. Oh my goodness, Costa Ricans thrive on chicken, rice and black beans. I am craving a steak!!
Back to our room and early to bed. The days are long and hot which seems to bring on fatigue. Sleep is the only antidote.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Manuel Antonio to San Jose
Another day dawned bright and clear. Our luggage was packed and at the door. But one final activity had yet to happen. This was a walking tour on the trails of Manuel Antonio National Park, one of Costa Rica's jewels. Success was at hand - many species of birds teased the camera lenses; three species of monkeys (spider, capuchin, howler) performed their acrobatics and howling; bats clung to the trees; colourful crabs emerged from their burrows; an agouti, iguanas and sloths; and white-tailed deer (Costa Rica's national animal, now an endangered species there). The pathway led to a swimming beach that Forbes Magazine describes as one of the top twenty beaches in Central America.
Our journey back to San Jose included crossing the mountains again and descending into the great Central Valley. This time our itinerary took us through rich agricultural lands with acres of papaya, banana and mango trees. Some of the mango trees were so loaded with ripe fruit that as the bus passed under them mangoes were knocked to the ground.
After arriving back to our hotel in San Jose, our group gathered to watch a video created by Paul that included the highlights of the tour as well as many photos of the participants. A dinner followed the video and we all gathered together one last time.
This was our final full day with Caravan Tours. It has been a packed week. We have seen a lot of countryside and landforms - mountains, volcanos. We have seen many animal, reptile and bird species. We have learned a great deal about the culture and history of Costa Rica. It is a beautiful country with beautiful people. We are glad to have been here.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Rise and shine!! First shuttle to the airport was 4:30 am. An Air Canada flight direct from San Jose to Toronto left on time and arrived in Toronto on time. Our luggage all came as well. A fitting end to an exceptional experience.
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