We had a wonderful experience in Costa Rica. It is a fabulous country – spectacular and diverse scenery, fun activities, lovely people and for the 1st time in years we traveled with a few other friends, which made the experience even more special. There is something for everyone whether you are looking to be active, laid back, explore wildlife and flora or sit on a beach.

We arrived in San Jose and rented little 4 wheel drive vehicles – one per couple. We traveled in Caravan which was really fun and having our own vehicles gave everyone their freedom and independence when desired. Our 1st adventure was finding our way to our hotel in San Jose. We had great directions but these were somewhat hampered by an election parade blocking our path and by the fact that there are very few street signs in San Jose. We lost part of our caravan but we did eventually all find our way to our delightful historical little hotel. We explored the historical city on foot the next morning before hitting the road to head up to La Fortuna.

La Fortuna is a little town who's biggest attraction is an active Volcano. Unfortunately, we were met with cloud covering the Volcano's peak blocking our view of the Lava. We did see some rock coming down the mountain side, puffs of smoke and heard many bangs. We had a great time in the area hiking swinging bridges on top of the rain forest, hiking down to the base of waterfall and soaking in natural hot springs.

Leaving Fortuna we discovered what all the stories of the challenging roads we had heard were all about. Up to that point although we had been on winding steep highways the roads had been good. The road leaving Fortuna goes back around Arenal Lake and is a mixture of dirt, gravel, some pavement and a million potholes. We had a wild fun ride heading to Tamarindo on the coast.

Tamarindo is a resort and surfing town. Very laid back. We stayed at an all-inclusive here for 4 days. It was very relaxing. We did some exploring by day – found some gorgeous, secluded beaches down dirt roads to the south. There are many teak plantations in the area.

Following Tamarindo we headed further down the coast to Jaco Beach which is another surfing center. The town was lively with many restaurants and shops. We went on a canopy tour here which is a great adventure involving being strapped in a climbing harness fixed to cables up high above the canopy and zipping from tree to tree. Great adrenaline rush!

Next stop was Manuel Antonio. The area is beautiful – very tropical. We stayed at a wonderful hotel up on the hillside with an amazing view down to the sea. The rooms were all screen on 2 sides with 4 ceiling fans in the room – it was just perfect. The wildlife was even more abundant here than in our previous stops where we had encountered Monkeys, Coatis (sort of like raccoons) and lots of birds. Pelicans, better known as the Costa Rican air force, fly in geese like formation there. The Howler monkeys woke us up every morning. They are very loud for little creatures. We were visited by Sloths, Whiteface monkeys, Howler Monkeys, Squirrel Monkeys, Coatis and Iguanas. The Whitefaces were especially abundant at the restaurant in the morning and at the pool bar in late afternoon. Manuel Antonio features a wonderful National Park that is home to many species of wildlife and 3 gorgeous beaches. No beach is very crowded it seems in Costa Rica. We went whitewater rafting one day. It was an amazing, exhilarating experience – We can hardly wait to go again! We also spent a great day out on the ocean on a boat tour – did some snorkeling although the snorkeling is mediocre.

Costa Rica is one of our favorites so far – A country with so much to offer!