Costa Rica - Monteverde

We had a car-boat-car transfer between Arenal and Monteverde. Following  a short drive from Amor, including a quick stop for some Coati viewing, we began a slow cruise around and across Lake Arenal. There were many bird sightings and some nice scenery. 

Clockwise from top left:

• Bill & Pat with Arenal in the background
• Little Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• The Coati
• Great Egret
• Neotropic Cormorants
• Osprey

Our luggage went around the lake by car and, after rejoining it, we continued along the mixture of dirt, gravel, and pavd roads to Monteverde. We stopped for lunch (Corvina) before we checked in to our new lodging at Senda. 

The next morning we went on a Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve walk where we encountered a range of Flora and Fauna including clockwise from top left:

• a Coati
• a Quetzal
• a giant Fiddlehead Fern
• an Otatea, commonly known as Mexican Weeping Bamboo
• a Fuchsia paniculata
• a Python millipede
• a Hot Lips plant 

Nearby there were Hummingbird feeders and lots of diners. Later we had a colorful sunset at Senda and a local dance group performed during dinner.

We had intended to zip-line our way around Selva Adventure Park but did the more sedate Butterfly and Sloth preserves. We saw butterfly cocoons in various stages of opening and an array of moths and butterflies inside a glass enclosure. One highly creative butterfly can look like a snake (when closed) and an owl (when open).

Connected to the butterfly area was a Sloth preserve with many of the two toed variety.

We had a nice lunch in town followed by a visit to the neighboring Orchid garden. Later we took a walk in the hotel gardens and saw a large rodent known as an agouti.

Costa Rica - Arenal

Our ride out from Pacuare was about 45 minutes, much of which was uphill over potholes (no road in sight).

We connected with Jose, our driver guide for the next 13 days, and as we approached our new home at Arenal Amor we caught a view of the Arenal Volcano and the "Reclining Indian". 

We arrived at our new home with its sometimes view of the Volcano (which last erupted in 2010). Below: View of Arenal from our deck and from our shower on the one morning it was clear, other days it was shrouded in clouds.

At the restaurant, which also has a great view over the tropical growth to the volcano, we enjoyed a nice Torrontés wine with our sea bass and salmon.

We had lunchita (Note: Costa Ricans are referred to as Ticos due to the tendency to call things "little" using the Spanish endings "ito" and "ita") at Las Tablas in Fortuna, the closest town near our hotel. We enjoyed a nice Chardonnay with the Pork rice dish and Talapia. Below: The church in La Fortuna with Arenal behind. 

We had a Farm-to-Table tour at nearby Finca Luna Nueva Farm. The Farm is a sustainable rainforest farm, eco-lodge and restaurant located in a primary rainforest. It operates as an organic farm focused on regenerative and syntropic (symbiotic) agriculture, they have a mission to bring back the native growth using natural techniques such as growing symbiotic plants. They dedicate every bit of land to producing healthy food while regenerating topsoil and biological diversity. 

We walked along well-groomed rainforest trails learning about products such as native cacao & coffee, as well as honey from tiny stingless Mariola bees. The Mariola bee, native to Costa Rica, is known for its docility and high-quality, medicinal honey. They are just over 1/10 of an inch-long, do not sting and defend their hives by pinching. Each day they open a small round entrance which is sealed with wax for the night.

We also tasted the sweet pulp that surrounds the cacao bean.

The farm raises over 90 species of tropical fruit trees including Cardamon and Pejibaye (savory, starchy fruit with a unique flavor frequently described as a cross between a roasted chestnut and a buttered baked).

We also spotted the "Cuban cigar  plant", a unique  ornamental plant with reddish-brown cigar-shaped bracts and small, white flowers.

At the Finca Luna restaurant our meal feautred Finca Luna's products. And we were offered a range of local beers identified by the names of animals such as sloth or toucan. We met the owners (they bought into the "farm" in 1999 - 5 years after it had been established). And during our discussion we discovered that they have spent some time in San Miguel. where they have worked with soe of our local farmers.

On our way to the Arenal Volcano walk we discovered a Scarlet Macaw (top left). As soon as Bill started taking pictures it attracted a significant crowd. We were a bit embarrased at creating a traffic backup but later learned that this is normal. 

Along the walk we saw, clockwise after the Scarlet Macaw: 

• a Viper
• a Great Curassow
• a Broad-billed Motmot
• a Laughing Falcon

Threatening rain sent us to lunch at Selva Rustica where we both had corvina fish,  Bill with rosemary butter and Pat with sea food sauce.

After lunch we visited Ecocentro Danaus for the butterflies, top right to bottom right. 

• Several varieties feeding
• the local Monarch in caterpillar form
• a Blue Morpho

 Along the route we saw:

• a Keel-billed Motmot (top left)
• a Plumed Basilisk - Green Basilisk or "Jesus Christ lizard" (so-called as it appears to run across the water)
• a live Cayman  that looks like a cement sculpture (bottom left)

 

That evening while enjoying a wine and light snack at the Jaranita Bar we met a couple from Portland Maine!!!

On our final day at Arenal we took a jungle walk over the Hanging Bridges. We encountered a few animals during our walk including a broad-billed motmot, a spider monkey, and an anole lizard. It was an interesting experience but neither of us loved crossing the bridges!

The food scene at Amor was impressive including breakfast entrees like chorrearda (a tortilla made from ground tender corn) and a pesto omelette. Along the route to the restaurant from our room we saw a Great Currassow.

Costa Rica - Pacuare River & Lodge

We have imagined visiting Costa Rica for years but somehow kept choosing other destinations. Maybe it seemed too close to Mexico and too easy to visit. It should just be a gap filler. Well the right gap appeared and we were off to Costa Rica in mid-March.

We arrived in San Jose and had lunch at Il Vicolo. Pat had carbonara and Bill had a pappadelle al ragu accompanied by focaccia and a nice Primitivo.  Lunch was so late that in the evening we decided to have chips and bubbly at the Executive Lounge.   

The next day we had a roughly 2.5 hour drive to the Pacuare River along which we planned to raft to Pacuare Lodge. Enroute to the river we stopped for a traditional breakfast of rice and beans with fried eggs. As we continued the drive we stopped twice to see sloths hanging out in the tree tops. 

Estación Basílica is the entry point to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles, a revered pilgrimage site in Cartago, Costa Rica.

The river has a nice mix of class 2 and class 3 rapids. Enough to be slightly scary at first and then just downright fun. 

The rooms at the lodge are named in the ancient local language. Our room was Gavilán (Hawk). 

For lunch we had - mushroom pasta and Tri Tip Steak - with Erasmo, nice red wine from Chile, a blend of Barbera and Garnacha. 

Our luggage arrived via a combination to 4WD vehicle and a suspended basket for crossing the river. The same cart used for our departure.

We settled into our room and later went to the bar and had glasses of chardonnay. At the bar we met up with with new friends Adam and Beth (from New Hampshire) who joined us for dinner.  The calamari and the fish tacos, accompanied by sparkling wine, were clearly very fresh and well prepared.

The highlight of the next day was the Canopy Tour by Zipline. Ziplining was fun but the highlight of the tour was having to wait while our guides coaxed a young sloth off of the zipline. By the time we crossed to the next platform the sloth had taken up residence on the corner of the  platform.

We planned to do a nocturnal tour but preferred to enjoy the downpour from the room, hoping for better weather to come.

We were up at 5:30 for the Birding tour. Pat struggles to see birds that are sitting still but is good with motion. She was thrilled to see a toucan land on a branch and point it out to others, especially because by then there were two toucans. It turns out there are 3 kinds of local toucans and we saw at least 1 of each, including the keel-billed Toucan (which sounded like the "Kill Bill" toucan when the guide said it). We also saw Bitterns (a water bird), and a blue morpho butterfly (but it is only blue when its wings open up).

Later in the morning we went to a water fall not far from the camp. An easy walk to  a quite pleasant little falls. 

At lunch we were taken into the "wine cellar" to see the broader selection that was not on the wine list. We enjoyed a nice Gavi de Gavi with salad, calamari and sea bass.

Later we had a  nocturnal tour. We spotted a lizard, a large butterfly that looks like an owl's face when it is closed up, a baby snail eating snake, two frogs mating, a huge grasshopper, (its body is roughly 3 inches long), a striking red spider and another frog peaking around a plant stalk.

Our last outing at Pacuare Lodge was to learn about the local Cabecar people.  Today they maintain some traditions and a dialect of their local language. The dialect was developed to simplify communications with the local Spanish speaking people. Their buildings, called 'hoods",  have a pointed roof for the mens' quarters and flat roofs for the womens' quarters. For clothing they used strips woven material made from dried plants. The men required only a loin cloth while women added a strip fot the top. They have a very thorough lexicon of medicines. He demonstrated steeping one in a broth and drinking it from a liquid proof cup made from a folded  banana leaf.

Some scenes from around Pacuare including the restaurant, our accommodation and the basket for crossing the river.

Some of the tasty food we had included portabella pasta with intense tomato sauce, grilled sea bass and vegetables, succelent fish tacos, personal size pizzas (pepperoni bacon and margherita), tri-tip steak and grilled vegetables, fried calamari appetizer and a chocolate tart.