Travelation Inspiration: Costa Rica 1: La Fortuna & Arenal

It was February 2012, and Mike and I were standing in the searing cold blizzard at Toronto Pearson's long term parking, waiting for a bus. I couldn't help but bring my warm windbreaker with to the airport. Luckily, I wouldn't need it for the rest of the week. We were going to Costa Rica.

Boat ride in Quepos

We travelled in a group tour, which was a first for us, with G Adventures. We chose them mainly for the price, because it's a Canada based company, and the website really inspires you to go on their Costa Rica Quest. We thought we'd see how the group experience would enhance our travels, and for this tour it certainly did. We had a great tour group of about 12 people, and a fantastic guide in Randy. In all my experiences so far, Randy is the best guide I've ever had for any group tour.

There are definitely some good reasons to go with a group rather than a self-guided tour in this country. The main reason is the roads. We didn't travel very far by distance, but at times travelling 20km could take 5 hours on these roads. These drivers change their suspension twice a year because the roads are so rough on the cars. Above that, I barely saw a road sign in the rural areas, especially on the way to Monteverde. Coming to a T intersection with no signs can be pretty irritating as a tourist, and you can't assume that the locals can speak English to help you out.

Of course there was the social aspects too, we did more partying, and Costa Rica is certainly a place to party it up. It was great to have the guide to provide us information for all the sights we visited, and just in general make sure things went smoothly.

Manuel Antonio National Park

Costa Rica is not a cheap Central American getaway. All places accept US dollars, and prices are similar to what you'd find in the states, especially around tourist areas. But you won't get people hounding you to spend money in their stores or on the streets either, and you won't be hit in the face by poverty. As the tourism board suggests, Costa Rica is the happiest place on earth. Even the poor appear to the outsider to be enjoying their simple lives, and the country thrives on tourism revenue without socially pressuring money out of your pockets. No one is asking for a handout here.

9 Day Costa Rica Itinerary

Trip Style: Group tour

Transportation: 4x4, minibus, ferry

Average daily cost: CAD$170/night (generally including tour, accommodations, all activities, all meals)

Travel dates: February 11-19, 2012

San Jose

We arrived in San Jose late in the afternoon, so we only had time to join the group introduction, have dinner with the group, and buy some snacks for the road at a local supermarket. We never got to see much of San Jose, except for the drive through it the next morning. It gives the overall impression of most South American cities I've seen though, and we never felt we were missing anything here. This was reinforced by our group mates who had spent a day or two in town before leaving on the tour.

White Water Rafting

We departed for Arenal early on the second day of the tour. Mike and I had signed up for the Adventure package which included a rafting tour. We were dropped off before reaching Arenal for the white water rafting. The coordination between our CEO (Chief Experience Officer aka G adventures guide) and the companies that provided the activities was like clockwork. We had just enough time to sunscreen up and sign a waiver before the boats were in the water and we were drifting downstream.

This rafting had some fun and challenging waves. Our boat accidentally got stuck in an eddy, well it started off intentional until we couldn't get out. Our guide had to get out of the boat and find land to try and pull us out of the tide. That was a thrilling 15 minutes for all of us, and our exercise requirement for the day. One of our teammates had purchased a waterproof action-camera for the trip. He pinned it on his lifejacket, and it fell off and was lost at the first hint of a tumble.

A photographer provided pictures of our group for purchase at the end of the trip. We purchased the group's photos and shared them amongst ourselves afterwards.

Arenal

We arrived in Arenal later in the afternoon. We checked in at the Hotel La Fortuna, which was beautiful and tropical, it felt all the more classy following our basic San Jose accommodations. The afternoon was spent roaming around town, enjoying the park, and then a group of us shared a taxi to the La Fortuna waterfall.

The trail to La Fortuna Waterfall

There's a short 15-20 minute hike from the park entrance to the waterfall, with a few viewpoints for the waterfall on the way. We brought swimsuits and the weather was perfect to hop in the water at the bottom. We sunbaked on the rocks for a bit, and were dry by the time we got back into the taxi. When we returned to the park entrance we had the ticketer call the taxi for us because there were none waiting.

La Fortuna Waterfall

We grabbed cocktails during the happy hour downstairs, then went to a restaurant as recommended by our guide. One thing I notice about the tours I've taken with G Adventures, is they tend to take the groups on outings to gringo restaurants. I'm not sure if part of this is for food safety and regulation reasons - they surely don't want to be responsible for participants getting sick - or if it's trying to give tourists what they think we want. I'm sure it's partly to provide good business for certain local restaurants, which of course charge the 'tourist rate' on their menus. I would prefer to be taken to places that feel more local.

Park in Arenal town centre

The next day we had lunch at the restaurant across the road from the hotel entrance. We spent about $3-4 each on Casado - rice with beans, plantain and fried meat. This was my favourite meal of the trip. And no one got sick from it either (or for the whole trip, for that matter).

Canyoneering

As part of our adventure pack, we had arranged to go canyoneering in Arenal. This was a lot of fun, scrambling our way down the streams and absailing down some small waterfalls. The last waterfall was a tall one, and we took more of a leap of faith and glided to the bottom of that one. You can't bring your own camera for this activity because it's guaranteed to get wet, but the tour provided a photographer that sold us the photos at the end of the tour.

Canyoneering

There was a hiccup at the end of the canyoneering tour, when it was unclear if transportation had been arranged for our group or not. We all just ended up walking back into town instead of waiting to see what would happen.

View on the drive to Canyoneering

I only wish we had the time to also climb the Arenal Volcano, the people that did the climb said it was challenging but worth the sight at the top.

Hot Springs

On the third night in La Fortuna our group visited the local hot springs. Dinner was included, towel service was at a minimal extra cost but we brought our own. The lower pool had a water slide and wet bar service. The upper pools were smaller and quieter, and they got warmer the higher you walked uphill. One of the hotter pools also had a cold dunking pool next to it, so you could slip between the two. If you're in La Fortuna, these hot springs were relaxing and clean.