My trip to Costa Rica

Here’s the data dump for my trip to Costa Rica.

We visited the Guanacaste province. It’s very rural, has plenty of places to stay. There are beaches, dense forests, access to rain and cloud forests, (about 2-3 hours away), rivers, ATV tours and zip lining.  We stayed a bit over (2) weeks.

You will fly into Liberia International Airport (LIR). You can lock on a ride to your resort/hotel of choice before you arrive. If you choose to stay where I did they can shuttle you back and forth, but only if you reserve directly through the hotel.  If you go through a third party like travelocity or something like that, you’re on your own for a ride to the hotel.  I reserved through travelocity and my ride was about 50 bucks one way.

You’ll land, go through immigration, get your passport stamped then head to customs where your gear will be x-rayed or inspected. Once done there, head through the double doors and go outside. If you’ve hired a driver ahead of time (which I recommend), he or she will be out there in a crowd with your name on a sign waiting for you. Lots of other people will approach you and offer a ride, just politely tell them no thanks and they’ll leave you alone.  In my experience people here aren’t pushy.

We stayed at the Riu Palace Guanacaste. It’s all inclusive and pretty fancy and also directly adjacent to its sister resort the Riu Guanacaste. Both share many of the same amenities. I think the Riu Guanacaste may be a bit cheaper but I honestly couldn’t tell why. Both are beautiful pieces of property and both are about 45 minutes away from the airport and out in the boonies.  You can get rooms that have a view of either the ocean or the tree line. There are (4) pools, (5) restaurants, a nice little gym, a wellness center (for massages, getting nails done, facials and that sort of thing), a large communal Jacuzzi, steam rooms, a couple of bars including a swim up bar and a cappuccino stand. All are inclusive.

Let me just go ahead and say that I am no photographer.  I lack any sort of talent or skill in such pursuits and I am usually armed only with an iPhone 6.  With that said I did take some pictures that in my humble opinion aren’t entirely awful.

Bring plenty of sunblock. If you are at a resort and go to a concession stand to buy more they will charge you an obscene amount of money. You will likely pay it begrudgingly because the sun there is very strong.

There are a number of excursions I would recommend. Archeologically CR is a young place. Because of this there is plenty of volcanic activity, rainforests,  many different types of wildlife. Seriously, it’s God’s country especially up around Montverde, or Arenal.  I would say start slow with a local tour and gradually extend out away from the property. Here is what I did and would recommend:

• Get a massage. There are lots of vendors on the beach selling a lot of different stuff. This also includes people offering massages. We met a lady named Ivania. She ran a business on the beach with her son Alex.  Her prices for a one-hour full body massage were a fraction of what they charged at the wellness center aboard the resort.  I was skeptical at first, but my wife insisted and I soon found myself under a canopy, in the shade, with a warm breeze blowing across my body. The quiet murmur of whiteface monkeys in the nearby trees and the sound of waves gently rolling in as we got a great massage.  It was at the at this point that my mind clicked and I knew I was on vacation.  If you wind up at the Riu, Ivania is on the beach. Her place has the blue roof.

• Do some horseback riding. Imagine yourself galloping across the beach in the early evening. If you’re not sure how to do it, don’t worry they have plenty of gentle ponies available and there will be someone with you.  I was taught to ride at a young age, however my life has gone in a direction that hasn’t permitted me to do so in many years.  Getting on horseback and taking off across Playa Matapalo was another point where my mind and heart began to relax and I mentally began my vacation.

• Do an ATV tour. Maybe you can pair it up with some zip lining. I went through a guy named Marco. I found him on Playa Matapalo. (the beach next to the Riu). His business is called Marco Polo Adventure CR. He’s a decent young man who loves his country and wants you to see all of the beauty it has to offer. Arrange the ATV tour to include a trip to the Congo Canopy for the zip line. It’s about 40 minutes and includes 10-11 zip lines. You’ll get some good pictures of prowler monkeys and maybe some nice big iguanas. They’ll make a DVD of your trip for about 30 dollars. They recommend you don’t use your phone on the line since its about 100 feet off of the ground and if you drop it usually its gone for good.  The ATV tour ran about 3 hours. You will get into a very rural area, ford about 8-9 stream crossings and get to a nice little waterfall where you can jump in and cool off. You will finish off the day at a makeshift place deep in the woods where a lady will serve you a cup of good strong Costa Rican Coffee, and feed you homemade tortillas and plantain chips. You leave them a tip and you’re off.   It is a blast!
• If the rain forest is something that interests you, check out a place called Bijagua. You’ll see a lot of sloth up there in their natural habitat. It rains all of the time, even during the non-rainy season so be sure and bring some snivel gear if getting wet bothers you. We had a full day starting with Bijagua, then a quiet, peaceful rafting trip down the Rio Tenorio with plenty of wildlife.  We did run up on a pair of full size crocs, so swimming in the Rio Tenorio isn’t really an option. If you get hot, the raft driver usually has a cooler full of cold pineapple to share.  We had lunch at a nice little spot called the Coco bolo restaurant. We finished up with a quick trip to Catarata Falls for a nice refreshing swim. Marco set up the whole day for us.

Next we went through one of the tour agencies at the hotel itself. We used a company called Nexus. They are very professional and employ a tour guide on their bus that usually speaks two or three languages. They did a good job, albeit quite a bit more formal than Marco and his crew. I like them both, it just depends on what your preferences are for a tour. If you like a more structured business like approach, Nexus is good.  If you want to hang out with some locals, see Costa Rica on a very personal level and check out some really cool places then Marco Polo Adventure CR is a great choice.   We hit another rainforest near an active volcano called Rincon de la Vieja/Blue River. 

 

It’s a great little hike with some absolutely breathtaking falls.

• Finally, we hit the Monteverde cloud forest. There are (2) such cloud forests on the planet. One in CR and the other is in Ecuador. It’s a drive but the landscape is unbelievable, and if different species of hummingbirds are your thing then that’s where you need to go.
• There is a bunch of other stuff to do. You can fish for sailfish or dorado. You can rent wave runners, you can take a sunset cruise on a catamaran or you can get on a shuttle and hit some of the other beaches like Tamrindo, Playa Coco, Playa Hermosa, Playa Flamingo or Conchal.

   

Generally we would do a trip then have a down day by the pool or the beach. The tours can be long and at the end of the day you’ll be tired.  But in my opinion, it’s totally worth it.

The environment in Costa Rica is treated with great respect and priority.  The animals and many of the plants and trees are protected by law and because of this much of the wildlife are fairly comfortable around people.  If I were to use one word to describe everything about the country, the word would be gentle.  The weather is gentle, the people are gentle, friendly and very laid back and the entire atmosphere is very relaxing.  If you’re looking for a place to go and re-charge your batteries, Guanacaste Costa Rica is a great place to do it.  

Pura Vida.