Two weeks in Costa Rica - lots of pics!

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I''m back from a fantastic spring break to Costa Rica with BF - and I have tons and tons of pics. Please bear with me!

First, BF was actually in CR a week before me (lucky jerk with no in-class exams). While he was there he did a rafting trip and then spent a few days on the Caribbean coast at Cahuita.

I arrived in San Jose and we started off early next morning for Arenal. Here is La Fortuna Catarata (waterfall) at Arenal.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Our second day at Arenal, we took a short trip to Caño Negro to view wildlife. We got on a pontoon boat and saw a lot of animals during the 2.5 hours we were there. On the way to Caño Negro we stopped at the Restaurante Las Iguanas. Trust me, it''s aptly named. There are TONS of iguanas. This guy was the king iguana though

 

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At Caño Negro we saw caimans...

 

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Birds...

 

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Weird little bats...

 

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And three out of the four types of monkeys living in Costa Rica (we saw the fourth type later in Manuel Antonio).

This guy is a spider monkey

 

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Getting a drink

 

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Mother and baby

 

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A white faced capuchin (we also saw howler monkeys at Caño Negro)

 

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Another spider monkey

 

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Volcan Arenal, seen from the town of La Fortuna

 

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From Arenal we went on to Monteverde to see the cloud forest. The first day, we went to the Monteverde Cheese Factory/Lecheria, which was started by Quakers who moved to Costa Rica protesting the draft in the 50s. We also went to the Monteverde Serpentario.

The next day was our busy adventure day. We started with a 3 hour tour of the cloud forest and the Monteverde hanging bridges. We didn''t see much wildlife, unfortunately, though we did see this weird stick bug.

 

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At the last bridge there was a strangler tree (the tree grows around another tree and strangles it to death) that was so old that the tree within it had completely decomposed. We climbed up inside the tree to get to the last bridge.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

After the hanging bridges we went immediately to our zipline canopy tour. We went with Xtremo (for the company) rather than Adventura (which was the one we used for the bridges) because Xtremo offered longer ziplines, plus they let you do the superman at the last line (where you''re hanging facing down rather than sitting up). Let me just say, I''m terrified of heights, but it was SO much fun. A couple we did in tandem, which was nice since BF was in charge of braking and I could just look around (plus the extra weight meant we didn''t spin as much). I was scared to do some of the longer lines by myself because the wind was pretty strong and it kept shoving me sideways - I was so scared that I was going to lose enough speed and end up hanging really high up in the middle of a line (REALLY scared about that possibility on the superman - it was REALLY long!) I HIGHLY recommend doing a zipline if you''re ever in Costa Rica though!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

After the ziplines, we had a quick lunch and then went horseback riding. We again used Xtremo, and the horseback ride was on the private land of the family who owns the stables. It was gorgeous - lots and lots of rolling hills, some steep trails made for fun riding, and just amazing views in general.

The next day we left Monteverde (which I loved - I think if I were to retire to Costa Rica, it would be there - reminded me a bit of the best and most beautiful parts of Queenstown in New Zealand, which was my favorite place from that trip) and went to Playa Samara, where we stayed a week. On the way, we stopped by a place that has a license to breed macaws.

 

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And there were quite a few howler monkeys as well

 

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At Samara we had an issue with hotels. Our first choice, Casa del Mar, had a vacancy for the night we arrived but not the next night. So we checked out the next day and went to Rancharlo, and then went back to Casa del Mar for the third night. But we also wanted to stay a night at the Treehouse Inn, which was amazing and the only vacancy they had was on Monday night (the fourth night). Probably good that they only had that one night because it was a bit expensive, but SO worth it. We had our own beach-facing treehouse, and the area under the treehouse had chairs and hammocks and a table. We were both a little sunburned so we just took it easy and hung out at the treehouse and in the hammocks. And then we went back to Casa del Mar for the rest of the week

Here''s the treehouse.

 

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Inside

 

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Playa Samara (on the Nicoya Peninsula, Pacific coast) - there were LOTS of dogs playing around

 

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And lots of people surfing - BF took surf lessons. Me, not being able to swim, lol, did not.

 

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The beach - it was a horseshoe-shaped bay and very pretty and calm

 

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The south end of the beach - it was about an hour walk from where we were staying on Samara. To the south, past Samara, lay a supposedly prettier beach, Playa Carrillo but unfortunately we never made it there (needed to take a cab, we didn''t have a car). Oh well.

 

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Sunset. The bay faces south so we didn''t get to see the sun actually set (we did later at Manuel Antonio) but we got some great colors and views nonetheless

 

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After a week at Samara we left for Manuel Antonio. We shared a private shuttle with an ex-lawyer from the US, who was really annoying and bombastic. Actually, we definitely ran into our share of some...um...ignorant American/Canadian tourists (the type who, when they ask you (well me since I''m Asian) where you''re from and you say the US, they ask, no where are you REALLY from?" It made for some funny moments. BF was a bit frustrated, I was just amused

After getting in we spent the rest of the day at Playa Espadilla, the public beach in Manuel Antonio outside the park.

 

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And got to see the sun set over the water

 

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The next day we went into the park on a guided tour. The guides were all awesome - apparently they need to be tested and certified as a guide to work in the park. Our guide had been leading tours since he was 15 and he showed us some amazing wildlife. Like this toucan...

 

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What a beautiful vacation that must have been!

 

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And three-toed sloths...

 

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And squirrel monkeys! The fourth kind of monkey in Costa Rica. I have a great video of them playing - I wish I could upload it!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Our guide made me a cricket