A Trip Of A Life Time - By Client, Lisa Cook
We flew from Gatwick to San Jose & spent the 1st night in The Hotel Dunn Inn in down town San Jose. We were picked up early the next morning for our coach & boat transfer to Evergreen Lodge in Tortuguero where we stayed for 3 nights. We had our own lodges right in the jungle with wildlife & fauna all around you. We were woken up by the Howler Monkeys each morning which was wonderful. The package at the hotel included transfers, full board & a nature walk, 2 x 2 hour boat tours & a tour to the village & beach. The boat tours were lovely & relaxing exploring the canals for wildlife. We saw monkeys, Iguana’s, caymen, various birds & land crabs. We also had a humming bird make her nest right by our lodge. The food was typical Costa Rican fare. There is also a swimming pool & bar & a couple of private bars on the site.
We then moved on to Arenal & stayed at the Hotel Lomas Del Volcan for 2 nights which was lovely & had a spectacular view of the Volcano. We spent the evening at Ecothermales Hot Springs in the rain & a thunderstorm which was fantastic. There are different temperature pools & we had cocktails sitting in the pools & then finished off with a buffet dinner which was included in the price. The next day we went to the Mistico arenal hanging bridges park with a local guide & saw a sloth, viper, boa constrictor, bat & red frog. The views from the bridges were amazing. The hotel is a bit out of town so we had to get a taxi to La Fortuna where there are a good choice of restaurants & shops.
The next place on our adventure was Monteverde, Hotel Fonde Vela for 2 nights. We got picked up in an old school bus which took us to a boat & we went over to the other side of Arenal Lake & picked up by another car to our hotel which was an adventure in itself! We did a day bird watching tour in the Cloud Forest which was amazing & we saw a beautiful Toucan.
Our final destination was Manuel Antonio for 3 nights before we returned to San Jose for 1 night. We stayed in the beautiful Si Como No resort which had a spectacular view out to sea. Our rooms were no frills but lovely. There are quite a few stairs at the resort & it is set out on lots of different levels. The breakfast buffet was very good & you could also order off the menu which was included. It was easy to walk to nearby restaurants & shops. Happy hour at the swim up bar at the pool was also another attraction!
We felt a bit uneasy in San Jose as it felt quite edgy at night but that might just have been us!
Overall we felt we had an amazing adventure with wildlife, jungle, cloud forest & beach time. The people are so friendly & helpful. Costa Rica also leads the way on sustainable travel & ecotourism. Pura Vida! Lisa