Costa Rica??

[Gayle]

Hello Educated Crowd,

DH and I are thinking of going to Costa Rica in Feb/Mar for around 8-9 days. Initially, we thought about doing a packaged tour, but now we are intrigued by possibly doing a "fly and drive" where our hotels would be pre-booked and we'd get a 4x4 vehicle to drive ourselves to our destinations.

Have any Catheites ever driven in CR? Also has anyone been there and have any recommendations for must see's or do's?

TIA

 

[bubbles100]

Hello -

My husband and I went to Costa Rica about 5 years ago. We ended up having a wonderful time. A few tips:

1.They say you do not need a passport. It is much easier if you do.
2.We were told you don't need to speak Spanish. Again, if you can't speak Spanish, you are very limited in many cases.
3.We rented a jeep. What an experience! At that time, there were only about 5 gas stations in all of Costa Rica. The roads are very narrow and very bumpy and the natives drive very fast on them. It was a harrowing experience!
4.We book through a travel agency, and found later that if we had book the hotels ourselves, we would have saved about half of the cost of the rooms.
5.Sunsets are awesome. Also, make sure to take binoculars.
6.You should absolutely see the rain forest. It's been a while, and I can't quite remember everything we did. We didn't make it to the volcano, unfortunately. Get a travel guide from AAA or from the library or local bookstore.

We did have a few frustrations as the hotel didn't send a car to pick us up at the airport. We had to rely on a taxi and had a fist full of their currency and hoped we weren't being ripped off! Driving, as I said, was a real experience, but I'm glad we rented the car. Just plan ahead and make sure you have enough gas.

Enjoy yourselves! I would probably do the trip again.

Margaret

 

[JodiM]

My sister and her family went to Costa Rica in August and had a wonderful time. I'm copying her description of their trip and activities (slightly edited) for you. (I think she should be a travel writer!) Hope this helps...

We visited the Arenal Volcano area (an active volcano that is supposed to be spectacular at night) but didn't see any fireworks due to clouds. Fortunately, we saw dozens of huge iguanas every time we stepped out of our hotel room and had a great day of white water rafting while we were there. We went on a several hour trip down a river with level 2 and 3 rapids - there were probably 8 boats with 6 people in each and there were several "swimmers" but luckily no one from our boat went in the water. Mid way down we stopped for a fruit break - fresh locally grown pineapple, bananas and mangos - delicious. Saw lots of toucans and other birds, a couple howler monkeys and some poisonous dart frogs.

Next we took off for the rain forest. The first part of the trip was beautiful - around Lake Arenal with decent pavement. The last 27 km were eye opening - the road changed to their version of a gravel road - large, sharp rocks roughly put together in a span wide enough for 1 and 1/2 cars to pass - and you had to use the entire width to avoid the car-sized pot holes. Scott enjoyed the challenge but I was hanging on for dear life as I looked out over the precipice to the lovely valley far, far below.

The highlight in Monteverde was the canopy tour. This was a series of 16 zip-lines set among the treetops of the rainforest. You are put in a rock climbing harness and attached to a line strung from tree to tree and you break by pulling down on the wire with your hand (in a heavy glove). At the start of each line you would get instruction - "don't break at all", "break at the very end" or "it's very fast - break all the way". It was fast, fun and spectacular views. I had a hard time getting Scott to leave.

We also took a horseback tour to a gold mine (where we saw tarantulas and bats) and had a nice guided tour of the Monteverde cloud forest where we say lots of flora and fauna including the rare Quetzal bird. (By the way a cloud forest differs from a rain forest by its higher elevation and less rainfall but more consistent rainfall throughout the year.)

Back in the car to the Pacific Ocean and a lovely resort called Paridisus Playa Conchal. It tended to cloud over in the afternoon but we had 2 very clear days and the clouds/rain that we got didn't stop us from doing anything. We snorkeled every day and the boys did great for their first time. Cole was diving down to pick up starfish and check things out like a pro. He can't wait until he's 10 and can get certified for scuba. The beach immediately to our south (20 minutes by car) had larger waves and was great for body surfing. The last night we went on a sunset boat tour - we saw a sea turtle and it was a clear night with just enough clouds to make for a spectacular sunset.

Hunter really got into the "all inclusive" concept and he enjoyed bellying up to the pool bar and asking for his virgin daiquiri. The 3 restaurants were so good that we had to vote to decide where to eat on the 4th night there. I think I had gallo pinto (black beans and rice) every day I was there and I enjoyed it each time. (Dad and Ginny beware - I brought home a recipe and will be trying it while you're here.)

I've rambled on more than enough. Suffice it to say - we had a thoroughly enjoyable trip and would go back in a heartbeat. Family reunion next summer anyone?

 

[Gayle]

Margaret and Jodi - Thank you so much for your info! It looks like we're going to do the self-drive thing. It should be a lot of fun.