Costa Rica

Landing into San Jose, Costa Rica, we were greeted with family friends who took us in for the night in their hill side casita. We hadn't really planned exactly how long we were going to stay in Costa Rica and that's the beauty of traveling without a definite plan. So we spent a day in San Jose town, touring the Teatro Nacional and feeding pigeons in the park.

We decided to hit up La Fortuna, Arenal where the famous Arenal Volcano stopped erupting about three years ago. We checked into the Arenal Backpackers, which had outdoor tents containing double beds for rent. They were clean, comfortable and safe. At the hostel, you could slack line, swim or chill by the pool, eat at the cafe and book any tours you wanted from the front desk that was manned constantly by good-looking young costa rican chicos.

There are mountain bikes for rent around town that usually go for $25US for the full day per bike. It's a great way to explore the hidden swings under bridges for jumping into the water and seeing other sites around the town. We found a place for only $10/bike for the half day and the guy we rented from was kind enough to start our half day at 10 am and was going to give it to us til 5 pm, to which we agreed that 4pm was a good "half-day". We rode our bikes a few kilometers to the base of what would be the most steep ride I have ever done and I couldn't help but think about spinning at Torq Cycle and was grateful for the training. It should have dawned on us that riding wasn't going to be the best option as people on horses and ATVs kept passing us both ways.

TheLa Fortuna Waterfall was a 4km uphill climb and it didn't take long before we were pushing our bikes uphill and riding the flat 50m before pushing uphill again. When we finally arrived and paid our $10 entrance to the waterfall, it was worth every pedal, push and step to a very quiet, turquoise blue fresh water fall. Ciaran jumped in while I hung back due to an allergic reaction to the deet spray we used. I didn't know at the time what it was and didn't want to aggravate it even more.

The next day we went on a hike around the volcano and learned about the plants and micro ecosystems that exist in all the different areas of Costa Rica depending on climate. The guides are well educated on their surroundings and enthusiastically shared their knowledge. We even found a strong vine to swing across the forest - it was needless to say a LOT of fun!

In the evening we were taken to the Baldi Hot Springs, which turned out to be within a massive resort and although it didn't feel authentic, it was a really fun afternoon! They had pools of all sizes and different temperatures and some had spring side bars for cooling off. We also found two water slides that sent us as fast as 45km/hr and worthy of a lawsuit if it ever crossed a north american border. It was worth the adrenaline rush, being thrown into the giant pool with a crowd of spectators clapping and cheering your epic fall.


From La Fortuna, we took a bus, ferry (that kept stalling) and another van (that broke down and we had to wait for another one) to reach Monteverde where the country's best zip line was waiting for us! We stayed at a local hostal called Sleepers which had two double beds with giant fleece comforters on them. We had no idea that it was going to cool off so much in the cloud mountains at night and we were grateful to have had some wooly socks and scarves to match our sandals. Food in Costa Rican Sodas (family run restaurants) served up some of the best Casado (rice with beans, meat, veggies and plantain). We didn't waste any time and set up our zip lining tour right away through Extremo company.

Zip lining and hiking across the cloud forest over 16 lines, one tarzan swing, one repel and a super(wo)man zipline to finish the two hour trip was one of the best adrenaline rushes and we even double zip lined across a few forests.

That afternoon after some delicious tacos, we met up with some Swedish friends we met on the broken bus and went for a local hike in search of an adult sized climbing tree. There are a lot of free walks and hikes in Monteverde that you can do on your own and the locals will gladly show you on a map where to go. We walked up a steep hill, past a school and turned left into a tiny opening into the forest then down halfway and there it was- a giant tree that had it's trunk strangled to death by other vines and plants, leaving a massive hole in the middle for people to climb!

To make the most of our time that day, we also squeezed in a two hour night hike where we saw for the 3rd time in 7 years, two sloths in the same tree! It was all I really ever wanted to see and I was a happy hiker from that point forward.

The next morning we got an early bus to journey the full day to the Nicoya Peninsula to the town of Santa Teresa. It was the bumpiest road we have ever traveled on and it was worth getting no sleep and thrown around the buses. Santa Teresa is a surfer, yogi town that isn't crowded. We stayed at Tranquilo Backpackers in a 6 bed dorm (with just three of us). It's got a giant kitchen for cooking, hot showers, lots of hammocks and a 4 minute walk to the beach. The place is run by a grumpy guy who is strict about 11pm noise curfew but if you're lucky, the girl who works there most of the time makes the stay so welcoming and she's super helpful! Next door was Nalu Surf shop and school and we signed up for $45US for an afternoon surf lesson that went from about 3-5pm and we got to keep the boards til 6 pm the next day to practice. The waves at Santa Teresa are perfect for learning, they're small and plenty and not busy which is the best part when you're a beginner.

Food in Santa Teresa is phenomenal. We treated ourselves the first night to fish burgers at Tori (which means street market in finnish). It was owned by a Finnish surfer dude and I was stoked to see a giant picture of the Gage Street Wet Market in Central, Hong Kong on his wall! They also have GREAT coffee for take away or dine in and home made cup cakes and desserts.

We spent our time in Santa Teresa soaking up the surf, sand, sea and yoga at Horizon where our friends Chantal and Daniel were staying and running a yoga retreat the following week. If you're ever in Vancouver check her out at Shanti Yoga in Tawassen or Semperiviva
We had a beautiful seafood dinner our last night at Brisas Del Mar, before returning back to San Jose on at 6 am that bumpy road that brought us to paradise just a week before.




As we said goodbye to a beautiful two weeks in Costa Rica, we were surprised at the check in counter that we had missed our first flight en route to Cartagena, Colombia. LAN Airlines put us on the next flight at no extra cost but we would have to stay one night in Panama and at the Airport Hotel Restort and Casino...so we did!

Find out how we did in the next post at the Casino Hotel in Panama