Costa Rica, only the size of West Virginia, but a world away in what it has to offer. One of the most diverse countries in the world where you can travel in Costa Rica only 10 to 15 kilometers and have a completely different climate and scenery. Bordered on the north by Nicaragua and the south by Panama, Costa Rica is only a few flying hours away from the United States.
Those of you who have never had the opportunity to visiting or having a travel experience in Costa Rica might enjoy a vacation travel in Costa Rica participating in a few of our mini- excursions and Costa Rica travel experiences we sometimes take in our beautiful adopted country. You can find a map of Costa Rica at www.maptak.com and travel Costa Rica along with us if you like.
Our home and villas are situated a short distance west of San Ramon de Alajuela at the edge of the western central valley, and approximately midway between San Jose the capital, and the coastal town of Puntarenas which is an old banana port. We are in an ideal location to travel either east and west, or north to La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano (the seventh most active volcano in the world), the Monteverde cloud forest and town, and the San Carlos valley area where the fertile soil grows many of the crops in Costa Rica.
It is also very convenient from our location to travel south down the lower central coast past Jaco, on the coast highway, or go up toward the upper Nicoya Peninsula on the Pan American highway or the "pista" as it is called here. Sometimes driving in Costa Rica can be very hazardous, so it pays to be a defensive driver with lots of patience.
On our first mini-excursion, we drive down to Puntarenas which is only 35 minutes away on the pista. We arrive in Puntarenas at 7am to catch one of two car ferries which will take us across the bay. One takes us to Playa Naranjo which is about a 45 minute ferry ride, where we can then travel up past the town of Nicoya to the upper peninsula and beaches, or the other which takes us over to Playa Paquera on the lower Nicoya
Today we will take the longer ferry ride to Playa Paquera and the lower peninsula.
The ride over is very smooth and pleasant and we spend our time watching gulls, fishing boats, and cargo ships going to the Port of Caldera on the mainland, and the cruise ships going in to dock in Puntarenas and offload tourists for the many tours which are available in different parts of Costa Rica. We pass many small islands on the way which are uninhabited except for the many shorebirds and some of the wildlife of the area.
On the ferry you may sit on the upper open deck, or if you like, go below decks where there is air conditioning, a snack bar, and restrooms available. These ferries are large, very comfortable, and well maintained with most being obtained from Germany and other European countries.
Arriving at Playa Paquera, we disembark and begin our journey a short distance away to the town of Tambor and the “bay of whales” which is famous for “whale watching” during certain times of the year when the whales come in to spawn and feed. For those that like the beach, there is a nice beach to lounge on and take in some of our tropical sun.
Next we journey through the small town of Cobano to arrive at Playa Montezuma which is home to the many surfers that visit every year to catch the waves. Montezuma is a neat small town with plenty of nightlife, places to eat, and lodging to stay overnight if you want to, or grab a surfboard and test out your surfing skills.
After visiting Montezuma, we head out to the tip of the peninsula to Mal Pais known for its nice beaches, laid back way of living, excellent fishing, and good lodging accomodations. We have our lunch of fresh seafood at one of the great small restaurants called “sodas”, while we enjoy the open ocean views. Also if you wish to stay for the night, the sunsets from this area are spectacular.
Backtracking to Playa Paquera we catch the ferry back to Puntarenas and head back up to San Ramon.
Our next trip which will be an overnighter, finds us leaving the town of San Ramon and heading north through La Tigra and Chachagua two small communities on the way, to La Fortuna where we stop for a short while to stretch our legs and look through the souvenir shops that line most of the streets. We then head toward Volcano Arenal a short distance away and across the dam at Lake Arenal where we take the small ferry up the lake to Monteverde.
In Monteverde, which was founded by Quakers seeking relief from religious persecution in the United States many years ago, we take the sky walk over the top of the cloud forest where we can see much of the natural cloud forest foliage and many birds. After taking a short rest, we visit the world famous cheese factory where many different varieties of great cheeses are made. For those of you who like to fish, Lake Arenal has great fishing and if you are a windsurfer, it is known as one of the best windsurfing lakes in the world.
After leaving Monteverde we head back across the dam and up toward the observatory on the western side of Volcano Arenal. Since it is getting late in the day, we head toward one of our favorite overnight stops at a B&B not far from the observatory that has great views of the Volcano. From this area we can stay up late and watch the night time eruptions which are oftentimes spectacular.
Early the next morning we head up toward the observatory and park just outside the gates taking the trail which crosses a small stream and hiking up about a kilometer to the
last eruption site in 1992 to sit on the lava rocks and watch the boulders come out of the cone of the volcano and tumble down the sides and listen to the sounds like a jet engine when steam is released from the volcano vents.
Most tourists who visit the area do not know about this trail, and leave Costa Rica not having seen a close up view of the volcano and its wonderful scenic area.
Leaving La Fortuna we head back up through Chachagua and La Tigra to San Ramon.
Our next day trip has us leaving again from the town of San Ramon, and traveling north east to the town of Zarcero which is only some 25 km away at an elevation of 2,000 meters. The Zarcero area is sometimes called the "little Switzerland of Costa Rica" because of the cool weather and the many dairy cattle in the area. In Zarcero we stop for a short visit to look at the beautiful church made of zinc and the sculptured cedar trees in the front carved to represent dinosaurs, and other animals.
Leaving Zarcero and heading east climbing even higher, through many dairy farms and areas where there are numerous flower farms because of the cool weather, we make our way across the mountain and down through beautiful cloud forest scenery and preservation areas to the small town of Bajo del Toro where we stop to have a lunch of rainbow trout at one of the many trout farms which surround the area.
After lunch we continue through the small community of Bajo del Toro where we see a close up view of Volcano Poas, and on for several kilometers to one of the most scenic waterfalls in Costa Rica called Cataraca del Toro where we sit in the rustic building at the top of the trail and watch the many hummingbirds of all varieties partaking of the feeders hung around the perimeter before we take the trail which is one kilometer down to the bottom of the canyon.
Getting to the bottom which we are told is the crater of an extinct volcano where the waterfall spills over is easy and absolutely beautiful, however getting back up the one kilometer trail is not quite so easy. On the way back up we watch the many birds in the trees, and stop to listen to the howler monkeys which seem to hang out near the trail.
After puffing our way back up the trail, we head back through Bajo del Toro and Zarcero to San Ramon.
Our next day trip has us heading out from San Ramon to the Naranjo exit on the "pista" and on over to Sarchi, the well known tourist town where you can purchase furniture, leather rockers, paintings, carvings, and numerous other souvenir items of Costa Rica. Most of the stores in Sarchi will ship items such as rockers, etc back to the States for you if you like.
Sarchi is very historical and was known in the past for the makers of the colorful oxcarts prior to the advent of the automobile when they were made to take farm crops of coffee, tropical fruits, and other produce over the mountain trails to the port at Puntarenas for shipping. Sarchi is now home to the largest oxcart in the world which resides in the central park.
Since we are all tired from our shopping spree in Sarchi, we head back to San Ramon for a well deserved rest until our next COSTA RICA TRAVEL trip.
We hope you all enjoyed our little excursions around our beautiful and exotic adopted country of Costa Rica. Come on down when you can and visit with us at www.vacationvillasincostarica.com
peninsula nearer the mouth of the bay, which is about an hour and a half ferry ride away.
