Tag: Fun in Costa Rica

Dirty Fun in Costa Rica

It’s that time of the year again. D and I just celebrated our 11th anniversary on 11/11. We were definitely looking for a fun way to honor this day. We have done ATV riding in the Pocono Mountains in PA several times and we even enjoyed a few occasions of ATV riding in the desert of Qatar so we had to try it in Costa Rica too. I booked us a 3 hour ATV Jungle Waterfall Adventure through Viator and Adventure Tours Costa Rica.

Jaco is about a 2 hour highway drive from San Josè so it was relatively close and easy to get to. This is where our adventure began. The excursion was $95.00 each but let me tell you, it was well worth it. When we arrived, we found out our tour would be private. Alex was our guide. He’s Tico and speaks pretty good English. After watching a safety video and putting on our helmet we rode out.

We headed toward the mountains behind Jaco, through dirt paths and started our ascent. On the way we passed the small waterfall, Cascada del Zorro.

We continued through the rainforest and along the mountain top until we arrived at Pura Vida waterfall. It was quite steep to get to this waterfall and with about 10 minutes left ’til arrival, I gave up. The path was covered with slippery rocks and that downward drive was too much for me. I parked my 4 wheeler and hopped on the back of Alex’s for the remainder of the ride down. Darryl was a trooper, determined to drive his ATV the whole way.

We spent some time at this waterfall. The water was cold and brown but still nice to wade in. Some people were jumping off of rocks and swinging from ropes into the water.

After our visit to the waterfall, I climbed back onto my ATV for the remainder of the ride. We stopped at a Vista Point and grabbed a beer. From this Mirador, on a clear day, you can see Manuel Antonio Park, the Nicoya Pennisula and Puntarenas. Our view was completely blocked by clouds and fog which later gave way to Costa Rica rains which just added to the adventure.

Our descent down included driving through rain, mud, and streets of Jaco, over bridges, slipping and sliding. We traveled at high speeds through streets and up and down mountains. We felt the cool wind, cold rain and dirty mud on our skin. We saw tall trees and beautiful flowers as we whizzed through the jungles. On several occasions my helmet visor was so covered in mud and rain that I could barely see and we had to stop multiple times to wipe it clean. By the time we arrived back at the meeting point, we were completely dirty. It was one of the most exhilarating adventures, we have ever had and one we would not soon forget. Of all the places we have done ATV riding, this was the most fun.

Update with advice: If you decide to do this ATV tour, wear comfortable clothing and be prepared to get really dirty. I suggest long pants and sleeves. I also suggest hiking boots or shoes, a poncho, wipes, waterproof bag, towel, bottled water, wear your bathing suit under your clothes and water shoes. Be prepared to have fun and bring along some tip money for your guide

Adventures in Costa Rica

The Coati jumped up and ripped the bag trying to get to the food and I caught it all on camera.

I spent my 45th birthday in Costa Rica and my husband came to help me celebrate. We booked a full day tour of adventure. If ever you’re in Costa Rica and looking for some fun, this post has ideas to consider.

We were picked up by our tour company pretty early in the morning and set out on explorations. One of the things I absolutely adore about Costa Rica is how you can find these large signs posted all over the country identifying where you are. They make for great pictures.

We received some history tidbits as we drove through different provinces too.

Monumento a Juan Santamaría– Juan Santamaria is one of the most popular figures in Latin America. In Costa Rica, he is recognized as a national hero for his role in maintaining the country’s independence.
Monument of Tomás Guardia- was President of Costa Rica on two occasions: from 1870 to 1876, and from 1877 to 1882. He enacted Costa Rica’s 1871 Constitution, which remained in force until 1948

Our first official stop was to the Tres Generaciones Coffee Plantation, where we had the most amazing cup of coffee. Of course, we had to buy some. The plantation is also vast and beautiful.

Coffee plants everywhere
Green for miles and miles.
Green Coffee Beans
Coffee beans are not ripe when they are green. They need to be bright red and glossy.

Hey did you know that Starbucks has a coffee farm in Costa Rica? And they offer tours.

After coffee and sweets, we continued our drive to the Cinchona Waterfalls. This waterfall reminded Darryl and I of the Wailua Falls on the Road to Hana in Maui. There is a bridge in the front of the Cinchona waterfall that you can take pictures from just like Wailua. I recommend walking to the middle of the bridge to get some interesting pictures of the waterfall and on the other side of the bridge to get some more. Be careful on this bridge because it’s small, vehicles take turns going in either direction and they don’t really pay pedestrians any attention. The waterfall is beautiful and cool. I could spend a day right here.

We stopped at the Soda y Mirador Cinchona. Here you can enjoy typical Costa Rican food with the Hummingbirds while admiring the waterfall in the distant. The snack provided here, by the tour company, wasn’t anything I could eat so I can’t comment on the quality of the food. But being so close to the tiny birds was nice. I was also able to get a behind the scenes view of cooking happening in the kitchen and pick up some snacks.

Up close and pesonal with hummingbirds
The kitchen- behind the scenes
It’s not Costa Rica if there’s no Gallo Pinto

The next part of our adventure was seeing some animals in the wild. Along the side of the road, we met up with a Coati. It’s a medium sized rodent that favors a raccoon. My husband had the fabulous idea to exit the van to get a closer look at the coati but he forgot he had a bag of food in his hand and the coati smelled it. The Coati jumped up and ripped the bag trying to get to the food and I caught it all on camera. Hahaha. Check it out…

A hungry Coati

Along with the coati, we were able to catch a glimpse of a sloth and some large iquanas in their natural habitat.

Close up of the sloth in the tree
The sloth was in this banana tree. I think the way bananas grow is so interesting.
Iguana minding his own business

We had a Casada lunch (typical Costa Rica meal) during our travels. And the true adventure happened in the trees at “go.adventure” at the Arenal Park. It is here where we were able to see the amazing Arenal Volcano and what a beautiful site it is.

Restaurant for Casada
Arenal Volcano- An active stratovolcano, built upon layers of ash, rock and lava – and at 5,437 feet (1,657 meters), it stands high above the rest of the countryside

We got our adrenaline pumping by flying through the forest. We conquered 8 zip lines in total. Some were long and fast, while others were short and sweet. We zipped past some gorillas and through trees. It was exhilarating and fun.

https://videopress.com/v/ZLGI16pd?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Nothing like flying through the trees
Darryl enjoyed it too

I even repelled down a wall for the first time and I think I found a new hobby.

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This was awesome

Before heading to dinner and back home, we stopped at one of the hot spring resorts in La Fortuna for a couple of hours. I can’t recall the name of the one we visited, but they have warm and cool spring pools that you can enjoy. Some are secluded and hidden behind trees. You can order drinks from the bar and enjoy spectacular views of the Arenal Volcano. The resort is nice but I was expecting natural hot springs not pools. The resort would be a nice place for a stay but if you’re only there for the day, they offer changing rooms for your convenience. We enjoyed this resort until the rain finally caught up with us.

Afterwards we stopped at a large souvenir shop with many handmade and authentic Costa Rican items to purchase. It was dark by the time we got dinner. Dinner was at a Soda (restaurant with typical Costa Rican food). The food was okay, but we weren’t impressed by the other patrons, dogs. The restaurant workers had to keep chasing them away. (Side Note) There are a lot of stray dogs in Costa Rica. You don’t really encounter them so much in the central valley though.

It was close to midnight when we got dropped off and we were beat. But it was a wonderful way to spend my birthday.

These Shoes Were Meant for Walking…

…and that’s just what I’ve done. This is the cleanest these shoes have been in the last 3 months. I purchased these Merrill’s for $100+ before I came here at the recommendation of many, to buy hiking shoes for the move. I never imagined I’d get so much use of them. One of the things I have done in this country more than any other is- hike. I never thought I’d be into it, but it’s so beautiful here that I absolutely love it! I can’t get enough of the colorful flowers, large leaves, variety of trees and plants and bird songs. The insects and animals are, and I never thought I’d say this, but, pleasantly abundant.

So far, I’ve completed three official hikes but I’ve also walked miles in national parks and around the city. The Senderos Hike was my first on July 23. It’s located in Ciudad Colon near the University of Peace. It has nice trails for biking and hiking. Pets are allowed too. You do have to pay a small fee for this hike, but I can’t remember the price. It’s a fairly easy hike but can be a little slippery after rain. There are ropes along the slippery paths. I went on this hike with a family and their two children so we didn’t go too far. We saw birds, butterflies, a toad, plants, trees, flowers, a river and insects of course. After our hike, we stopped for lunch at this yummy Vegan restaurant called Tulsi, which is pretty close by. It was a good place to refuel. Enjoy the video and food from Tulsi…

Senderos Hike

The next hike was Las Eolicas de Santa Ana on August 2. It’s basically a walk to the wind turbines and it’s a free hike. Here is the view of the windmills from my apartment.

I thought it would be cool to see them up close and personal since I see them everyday from afar. My friend Shanny and I took this hike together. Neither of us did much research on it, but Shanny suggested we take an uber up and walk back down and that’s what we did. The ride up was pretty steep so we were happy about this decision but you can imagine what the walk down was like. From the top we were expecting to see the windmills unfortunately, we were met with clouds and fog. It looked like we were in a scary movie. Visibility was very low. At least we caught a glimpse of the windmills. The fog hindered the promising views of Santa Ana below too. So we began our descent. Visibility got progressively better as we made our way down. It was a long and very steep hike back down. I think it took us well over 2 hours. Our knees, calves and toes were aching by the time we reached the bottom but the views we caught on the way down were wonderful. The hike was on a car path unlike Senderos which was a nature path. I’ve heard there are several trails to Las Eolicas. (Note: It’s not the safest hike as there have been reports of robberies at the top. We found out about this afterwards but felt completely safe during the hike. I recommend going with a group.) After we made it back to the bottom of the mountain, we walked another 2 hours back into town while stopping and checking out some local shops. Finally I purchased a Casado- a typical Costa Rican meal consisting of rice, black beans, plantains, salad, a tortilla, and an optional protein before heading home. Check out the slideshow.

The third hike, and most commercialized so far was Hacienda La Chimba but it was also my favorite thus far. The school principal brought my husband and I here, when we first arrived, for a coffee tour and lunch. We didn’t do the hike that day but I knew I would return to do it, because of all the Instagram photo, worthy stops on this hike. Along with food and coffee tours, this place also has canopy, zipline, and hiking trails. There is a fee for the activities. The fee for the hike is $12.00 or $8.00 if you have a local ID. It’s a very safe location and monitored, for that reason, I would recommend this trail out of the all three to do alone. However, doing it alone means no company to take those amazing shots of you. The hike is a nature trail with hills and dips, soil and rocks. I don’t think the trail is very hard but it can be a little demanding. I assume that is why children under 7 years old are not allowed. The longest trail spans 9km with several stops and short cuts along the way. Shanny and I made this trek on September 3. We almost opted out because we thought we were going to get rained on, but we went anyway. Pura Vida! We completed a little more than the 5K. You can see from the video how wonderful this hike is…

While hiking, I recommend carrying a backpack with water, snacks, sunscreen, bug repellent, sunglasses, a hat and rain gear. Wear comfortable closed toe shoes or hiking sneaks/boots. I prefer long pants over shorts so I don’t itch from plants or insects touching my legs. Don’t forget your phone and smart/fitness watch to keep track of your steps because everyone knows it doesn’t count unless it’s recorded. A smart watch is also helpful in the case of an emergency. My Garmin has detected an emergency and alerted my husband on his phone on two different occasions while I was hiking. My heart rate suddenly spiked due to running or jumping and took the signs as an emergency. Thankfully they were not, but it was super to know that this feature worked if I ever needed it. Also for the public walks, exercise caution. Check the weather before any hikes. Morning hikes are often better in the rainy season, which is most of the year, because the rain tends to hold off until the afternoon. Also, if you reach the summit and its cloudy, wait a few minutes, the clouds usually pass with time.

Hiking seems to be the most exercise I’m getting in Costa Rica, due to my work schedule, and I am very much enjoying it. I guess Costa Rica has made me into a nature girl. These Merrills have been great hiking shoes for traction but don’t do much for keeping my feet dry. I guess it’s time to invest in some waterproof hiking boots because I see many more hikes in my future here.

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