Costa Rica Redux.

(April, 2008)

Melinda and I went to Costa Rica.
It was my second time and her first time.
As per usual, this is how we started.




We stayed at the Arenal Backpackers hostel in La Fortuna, Costa Rica-- a town in central Costa Rica near the Arenal volcano, active nearly every day since 1968.


La Fortuna is a charming town. We went to a local watering hole where we watched more courageous people jump from a rope swing.


And Mel C was possessed by demons.


Our first stop was the hot springs at Tabacon. After swimming up to the swim-up bar (you know how we love combinations of swimming and drinking!), we enjoyed a refreshing buffet dinner and later passed out in one of the warm natural volcanic pools. Here are some pictures of the springs.










We explored the nearby Venado Caves, home to a wide variety of animals. Here is a short video:



8:10pm



8:17pm


8:45pm


The next day, we took a taxi + boat + taxi to Monteverde!


Settled by peace-loving American Quakers in the 1950s as civil protest to the Korean War, Monteverde ("Green Grass") is nestled in the mountains along the ridge of the Continental Divide.


Our first stop: ziplining through the rainforest.




Mel C looks totally cute.


I look like some strange fair-skinned man who works for the phone company.


Part of the ziplines tour was the option to go on the "Tarzan Swing".
Sounds fun, right? WRONG.
I did it last time I was in Costa Rica. Never again.

However, for your viewing pleasure, here is Mel C.
Screaming like an infant.
(Told you so.)


Who is that Austrian guy? We'll never know...

After ziplining, we headed straight for the hummingbird garden.

First stop: bees!









After the hummingbirds, we went to the largest indoor butterfly sanctuary in all of Latin America. A guided tour told us everything we needed to know about butterflies!











We stayed at a beautiful wood-lined hostel-- Casa Tranquilo. The rooms were $15/night (total) and we later saw a scorpion in the bathroom. We tried to take a picture of it, but it must have heard us coming so it quickly scuttled away. Surely it took up residence in one of our backpacks...




One night in Monteverde we walked to El Ranario-- the Frog Pond. The Frog Pond is most active at night, since many of the frogs are nocturnal. Flash photography is not allowed, and we took the tour by flashlight.




No tour of Monteverde would be complete without a tour of La Lecheria, the cheese factory started by the Quakers. There was no organized civilization as we know it prior to the Quakers in this area (a few local farmers and squatters), so until the 1950s, this region had no electricity and no running water.




This is a picture of our tour guide.


And here are some pictures of some of the Monteverde cheese factory products:


It's chocolate! It's cheese! It's ChocoCheese(tm)!

The Monteverde cheese factory also makes ice cream, which is sold in local stores. I took this picture for my friends Michele Nieves and Erick Mora.


Later we hiked to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. We took the Del Bajo Trail.





It was rainy in the rain forest!


Here are two creatures we saw on the trail. Yes, one of them was 20 feet from the parking lot, but it still counts. It still counts, I say!



Our next stop was Playa Hermosa, near Santa Teresa, on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, on the Pacific Ocean side. This is some of the best surfing in the world. Sadly, neither Melinda nor I are among the best surfers...

We stayed at my friend Erick's house.



We spent most of our time here:


Here is Mel C on the quad that we rented, which we immediately flipped.


A catalogue of our injuries may be found here:


This dog lives next door. He has a name, but we just called him "Cute Dog."


We were in Sta Teresa for the first rain of the season. Everyone was glad that the rain had finally come to cool down the dusty summer. There are certain types of crabs that, upon the first season rain, scuttle down from their mountain-top perches to mate on the shores of the beach. Upon their satisfaction, they return to their hilltop homes the following day, hurrying through front yards, up trails, and across the roads to get back home. When we awoke the next day, the entire front yard was moving with these sand-dollar sized crabs. If a person gets to close, the crab rears up and shakes its tiny claw. It's enough for people-- and dogs-- to stay away.


(photo by Mel C)

Erick lives a short walk down an overgrown trail from the beach. Along the walk, we saw the neighbors' horses, a spiny tree which contained iguanas, and wild mango trees that dropped their fruit like grenades of sweet juices, delighting the birds and bugs who eagerly consumed them.

Oh, and also many howler monkeys.

(photo also by Mel C who had the patience, and the courage, and the photographic eye!, to brave the monkeys who weren't particularly thrilled by her arrival...)

Tiny hermit crabs live all up and down the beach, but you'll never see them if you're looking. That's because the moment they sense you're looking at them (or hovering over them), they'll stop in their tracks. But you can pick them up, and coax them out of their shells, and they'll waddle up and down your hand until you set them back down, and then they can go about their business. Crabs got shit to do.





Now you see why I go on and on about Costa Rica. This was just another Thursday night in Santa Teresa...



It's hard to tell what this is from the picture, but upon finding out that the hotel with the infinity pool was closed for the sunset one night, we made our way to this lava formation on the beach that heats up with the sun and warms the water that sits in its natural pools. Every so often, cool waves crash up against the backdrop of rocks and swirl it around-- voila! Instant hottub! (in which we drank beer)


After Santa Teresa, we stayed a few days in nearby Montezuma, at the southernmost tip of the Nicoya Peninsula.

We ate at a lovely restaurant-on-the beach, where Mel C had the barracuda.



And the waiters advised us not the feed the cats. We ignored them.


From Montezuma, we took a short trip to Tortuga Island, where we enjoyed a day of snorkeling and a fresh lunch of grilled chicken, fish, and fresh fruit.




(tree photo by Mel C)


Friends! ("How many of us have them?...")


I maintain that we discovered a new World's Largest. It is my contention that this is the World's Largest Stone Iguana. I defy anyone to prove me wrong.



Costa Rica vive siempre en mi corazon y tambien entre mis sueños... gracias, Tierra Madre, por la pura vida.