Because we value independent travel, we were pretty set on having our own transport while in Costa Rica. As ever, every corner of the internet warned us about the treacherous driving conditions in Costa Rica, and as usual we were skeptical. Here’s the reality: everyone but the most timid drivers can drive a car in […]
Well before dawn we’d returned our rental car, checked in at the airport, and boarded a flight to Miami and were back on the ground three hours later. Unfortunately, though we’d had a smooth start, we had seven hours in Miami before our next leg to Chicago where we’d have to spend the night before […]
With our last day in Costa Rica on tap, we woke up early and, as we’ve been nearly every day, were the first ones to Parque National Rincon de la Vieja. A quick chat with the ranger sent us hiking at a quick pace up and down the trails through the dry forest. We would […]
Bree: Back in the car, we took a winding afternoon drive to Playa Flamingo, hoping to find a campsite somewhere in the area (as indicated by our guidebook). We drove through the blazing hot beach side communities, trying to find the promised place, to no avail. In the meantime, Ben’s “hot dry desert” annoyance was […]
Bree: Our nighttime walk was in fact fairly benign, although the prospect of walking around any forest with such a diverse and unknown lineup of animals in the dark was enough to make me uncomfortable. As we perused the beach in the dark, our headlamps glowing red, my eyes darted back and forth, worried we […]
Some tips for visiting Santa Rosa National Park: Do: Drive down to the beach even though the route in no way resembles a road. Drive a 4×4. No exceptions. This was easily the worst road we have ever encountered anywhere in the world and we visited during dry season. Hold your breath every time you […]
Only a few days remained in our trip and we were interested to spend at least a few days at the beach, so with our stomachs inadequately filled, our clothes wet and muddy, and the roads only getting worse, we set off down the mountain, past the “real” entrance to Rio Celeste, and on toward […]
Bree: We woke early, our tent folded into the hovering cloud sitting low on the mountain. We wanted to get an early start in order to be the first ones on the trail, but the ranger station wasn’t open on schedule. After some deliberation, we gave up and started hiking anyway. No one was around […]
With extreme motivation to see a caiman during our stay in Costa Rica, Bree and I decided to head north toward the Nicaraguan border in order to visit Cano Negro, a river which runs through one of the world’s most important wetlands as far as migratory birds are concerned. Attempting to route from our location […]
Though we’d been hiking for nearly five hours, it was still only lunchtime, so we headed south around the volcano for another typical lunch and a visit to the butterfly conservatory. There, we visited dozens of kinds of butterflies and finally saw a few of the glass winged variety still enough to capture them on […]
Early this morning, we piled out of bed and ate at the hostel, served by the kindest, non-English speaking host. Then, we darted out toward the volcano, hoping to get an early start on our hike. As we hoped, we were the first people to arrive in the park. We took the trail that […]
Finally feeling rested, we got a leisurely start on the road to La Fortuna. With slightly better directions in hand, we actually found ourselves on an established, albeit rough road. The going was quick by Costa Rican standards, and before long we found ourselves at the overlook, peering over Lago Arenal at the stately volcano. […]