Costa Rica - The Land

I don't often get the chance to travel with someone so when I was looking for my next travel destination a friend of mine had just happened to post she had some free time and a month later we ended up in Costa Rica.

I was definitely in the mood for some Central/South American place to go as I have yet to really explore outside of Europe.

Costa Rica is a huge tourist draw these days as it's rated the richest and safest country to visit in Central America.  Ok so not really that interesting.  But we had our fair share of adventure getting off the beaten path.

I flew into Liberia in the north of the country in Guanacaste province home of the cowboys.  Flying over the country I could just tell what an amazing country I was about to visit in terms of the landscape.  We picked up the rental car and off we went with just my tablet for navigation to our first destination.  We hit the Great American Highway or the road the traverses the entire country to find it's a one lane road with the average speed of about 40 mph.  Well at least it was partly paved.

Our first destination was La Fortuna home of the Volcano Arenal made famous with its earlier evening lava spews that dazzled visitors.  While it's no longer spewing at the moment I have yet to see a real active volcano so it was definitely exciting for me to see.

 We had planned taking about 3 hours to get there which ended up in about 5 hours and arriving at night.  Luckily the road was paved and had only a few sporadic spots to dodge around boulders.

We made a pit-stop at one of the first microbreweries in Costa Rica as the scene here is just beginning to sprout up.  Lake Arenal Hotel Brewing had only 2 drafts at the time in a Dunkel and one IPA. They weren't that tasty which I amount to the water quality being low in this country.  They both had a kind of metallic taste.

Waking up to a giant volcano looming in the distance amidst palms, exotic fruit, and dense jungle is an awesome feeling.  The breakfast in the morning was that much better freshly made from some Costa Rican ladies.  The go-to for breakfast is the rice and beans which actually tasted better than it sounds.

We hiked the trail closest to the volcano where you were able to catch some of the old lava flow.  You need to pay at the parking lot and the lady there tried to rip me off through the weird conversion rate. Luckily I paid in dollars after being confused she was asking me for about 100 dollars.  This hike was legendary! Rainforest out to the open fields and lava flows to huge tall plants that made you feel like an ant.

Leaf Cutters

Lava Flow

Look at that guy

The best thing in La Fortuna was the hot springs.  The free ones! A lot of the resorts here charge up to $100 just to spend the day at their hot springs.  The free hot springs feel like you're in the middle of a jungle amongst the real Costa Rican families who come here.  This was probably the best part of my trip to sit in such a paradise.

The next stop was a drive back around the Arenal Lake and down to Monteverde.  This was the hotspot for ziplining and adventuring into the tropical forests with abundant wildlife.  The town here is small among hills with a lot of tourist traffic around.

I had only ziplined once before earlier this year in PA and nothing compared to these lines they had in Costa Rica.  1st Class.  Over 15 lines some where you could barely see the other side where you would end up.  Flying high over the forest trees was amazing.  Bring a jacket out here as it gets chilly.

Mr. Sloth

Next stop the Pacific Coast!