"Pura Vida" is the expression that means Costa Rica - it roughly translates as "pure life" but has many meanings - chill out, live in the moment, appreciate life, be kind to each other, don't sweat the small stuff... It's used as a greeting, a farewell, an "oh well" when something goes not as planned, a celebration when things do go well and more.
Tour Overview
We had only seen a small part of Costa Rica near the La Fortuna area where we had stayed at Ann's son's house a year before. (Mike and Shirley mainly live and work in Greenport, Long Island most of the year and are developing their home in Costa Rica) As we wanted to get to know more of Costa Rica we booked a 16 day tour with G Adventures https://www.gadventures.com/ that covered a great deal of the country. We were pleased with their services. Our itinerary can br seen here. https://www.gadventures.com/trips/costa-rica-adventure/9374/itinerary/
Our tour leader, Liam, was excellent with his knowledge of the country, friendly personality and we always felt well informed about the days activities/itineraries and well cared for, the food was fine, most all the lodging was simple yet adequate. We liked this type of tour where there were numerous activities that you could choose to do and pay for, or not do, depending on your interests. The tour made 7 stops, each for 2 days (except for La Fortuna which was 3 days), beginning and ending in the capital city San Jose.
Tour Overview
We had only seen a small part of Costa Rica near the La Fortuna area where we had stayed at Ann's son's house a year before. (Mike and Shirley mainly live and work in Greenport, Long Island most of the year and are developing their home in Costa Rica) As we wanted to get to know more of Costa Rica we booked a 16 day tour with G Adventures https://www.gadventures.com/ that covered a great deal of the country. We were pleased with their services. Our itinerary can br seen here. https://www.gadventures.com/trips/costa-rica-adventure/9374/itinerary/
Our tour leader, Liam, was excellent with his knowledge of the country, friendly personality and we always felt well informed about the days activities/itineraries and well cared for, the food was fine, most all the lodging was simple yet adequate. We liked this type of tour where there were numerous activities that you could choose to do and pay for, or not do, depending on your interests. The tour made 7 stops, each for 2 days (except for La Fortuna which was 3 days), beginning and ending in the capital city San Jose.
DAY 1: SAN JOSE, Jan 6
Shirley's sister, Nurbeth, drove us to our hotel in San Jose where the tour started. We met with the tour group and our tour leader at 6:00 pm for introductions, briefing, and then out to dinner. Our group of 16 was a varied bunch - ages 20's - 80, active, not so active, 4 from the US, 3 Germans, 1 Danish, all the rest from Canada. In spite of our differences we blended nicely over the days and it was really a pleasant bunch to be with.
DAY 2: QUEPOS, Jan 7
On the Pacific side of the country, Quepos is home to Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica's smallest national park as well as some great swimming beaches. The first afternoon we headed to the beach via the local bus and Ann loved the warm swimming waters. We had hoped to go kayaking through the mangroves but the activity was unavailable during this day. We enjoyed the Villa Romantica hotel.
Shirley's sister, Nurbeth, drove us to our hotel in San Jose where the tour started. We met with the tour group and our tour leader at 6:00 pm for introductions, briefing, and then out to dinner. Our group of 16 was a varied bunch - ages 20's - 80, active, not so active, 4 from the US, 3 Germans, 1 Danish, all the rest from Canada. In spite of our differences we blended nicely over the days and it was really a pleasant bunch to be with.
DAY 2: QUEPOS, Jan 7
On the Pacific side of the country, Quepos is home to Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica's smallest national park as well as some great swimming beaches. The first afternoon we headed to the beach via the local bus and Ann loved the warm swimming waters. We had hoped to go kayaking through the mangroves but the activity was unavailable during this day. We enjoyed the Villa Romantica hotel.
DAY 3 QUEPOS, Jan 8
While Manuel Antonio was lovely, it was crowded. Fortunately, there was a lovely path to a water fall which was very uncrowded and the plants were huge, lush, green, and varied, the beaches were beautiful, and there was a (hot!) path up and over a small peninsula which gave super views of the area. Back in town we chose to eat at the local yacht club where we could view the water and the boats. Unfortunately, that night Ann started to show symptoms of some gastrointestinal bug (yuck!)
While Manuel Antonio was lovely, it was crowded. Fortunately, there was a lovely path to a water fall which was very uncrowded and the plants were huge, lush, green, and varied, the beaches were beautiful, and there was a (hot!) path up and over a small peninsula which gave super views of the area. Back in town we chose to eat at the local yacht club where we could view the water and the boats. Unfortunately, that night Ann started to show symptoms of some gastrointestinal bug (yuck!)
DAYS 4-5 MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST, Jan 9-10
The drive up into the mountains of Monteverde was spectacular and the cooler air was wonderful after the heat and humidity of Quepos. (It's amazing what 5,000 foot elevation can do for temperature and humidity!) The Hotel Holistico was lovely. There were so many great activities to do in this area - sky bridges, orchids, butterflies, zip lining, cloud forest tour. However, Ann wasn't up for much of anything during these days, although she did have wonderful massage! It's a place we would definitely return to.
We were amazed each day as our phone App called Merlin recognized the sounds of so many birds. It was like holding the birds in your hand. (Picture below)
We were amazed each day as our phone App called Merlin recognized the sounds of so many birds. It was like holding the birds in your hand. (Picture below)
DAYS 6-8 LA FORTUNA, Jan 11-13
The trip down from Monteverde was down a road that seems to have more potholes than road - twisty, turning, bumpy, even a large river crossing over a concrete section of the roadway. At the end of this ride we took a boat ride across Lake Arenal and took a minivan to La Fortuna.
La Fortuna is very near the area where Mike and Shirley have a house, so we were quite familiar with the town and surroundings. We couldn't visit them as they were spending some time around the Nicoya area. When we were here last year we went on excursions to the Hanging Bridges, the Caño Negro River, Arenal Volcano, botanical gardens, La Fortuna Waterfall area, around town, so we chose not to do these activities again.
We did go on a very interesting Chocolate Tour. This showed how, in the past, chocolate was grown, harvested, and processed. In simple terms, the cacao plant has big pods containing 20-60 chocolate seeds or beans which start embedded in a slimy, white pulp. We tasted this which is on the sweet side. These beans are dried for 7 days, toasted over a fire, pounded in a huge metate to break the shells, the shells are separated from the inside bean just by fanning them. they are then ground using a hot stone on a smaller metate and sugar added to get the paste. We tasted the beans along different steps of the journey and they definitely had a cocoa taste, but of course not sweet until the sugar was added. Then in the demonstration, a large bowl of about 70% melted dark chocolate was produced for our enjoyment - each participant was given a teaspoon and the demonstrator dipped her large spoon into the chocolate and dribbled it onto our spoons. We then could choose from numerous toppings to add to the deliciousness - rum, peanuts, coconut, tequila, vanilla, and more. We could keep coming back again and again until each person had their fill - and no, we didn't finish the entire bowl!
We were fortunate that our hotel room (Faro Arenal Hotel) had a kitchen with dishes, cooking pans and everything ready to use. This enabled us to walk to the grocery store and cook our own meals for a couple of days. We did take a side walk through lovely countryside up and up and up to get to the La Fortuna Waterfall area.
The trip down from Monteverde was down a road that seems to have more potholes than road - twisty, turning, bumpy, even a large river crossing over a concrete section of the roadway. At the end of this ride we took a boat ride across Lake Arenal and took a minivan to La Fortuna.
La Fortuna is very near the area where Mike and Shirley have a house, so we were quite familiar with the town and surroundings. We couldn't visit them as they were spending some time around the Nicoya area. When we were here last year we went on excursions to the Hanging Bridges, the Caño Negro River, Arenal Volcano, botanical gardens, La Fortuna Waterfall area, around town, so we chose not to do these activities again.
We did go on a very interesting Chocolate Tour. This showed how, in the past, chocolate was grown, harvested, and processed. In simple terms, the cacao plant has big pods containing 20-60 chocolate seeds or beans which start embedded in a slimy, white pulp. We tasted this which is on the sweet side. These beans are dried for 7 days, toasted over a fire, pounded in a huge metate to break the shells, the shells are separated from the inside bean just by fanning them. they are then ground using a hot stone on a smaller metate and sugar added to get the paste. We tasted the beans along different steps of the journey and they definitely had a cocoa taste, but of course not sweet until the sugar was added. Then in the demonstration, a large bowl of about 70% melted dark chocolate was produced for our enjoyment - each participant was given a teaspoon and the demonstrator dipped her large spoon into the chocolate and dribbled it onto our spoons. We then could choose from numerous toppings to add to the deliciousness - rum, peanuts, coconut, tequila, vanilla, and more. We could keep coming back again and again until each person had their fill - and no, we didn't finish the entire bowl!
We were fortunate that our hotel room (Faro Arenal Hotel) had a kitchen with dishes, cooking pans and everything ready to use. This enabled us to walk to the grocery store and cook our own meals for a couple of days. We did take a side walk through lovely countryside up and up and up to get to the La Fortuna Waterfall area.
