Costa Rica – one of my favourite trips to date. Maybe it is because it was our first real adventure into a country where we didn’t speak the language and where we were travelling off the beaten track. Likely it’s because the people we met on this trip were some of the most genuinely kind, gracious and fun people I have ever met. Maybe its because every experience we had exceeded my expectations. I will never know, but I know I have to go back!

Epic Adventures

Windsurfing Lake Arenal

Canyoning the Lost Canyon

Hiking Arenal Volcano

Below (italics) are excerpts from the diary I kept in 2009/2010 when we went to Costa Rica. My husband and I flew into Liberia, Costa Rica on December 25, 2009. We spent the night in Liberia before heading out for 5 days of windsurfing on Lake Arenal, then onto to La Fortuna and Tamarindo.

Day 1: Drive from Liberia to La Fortuna

• Stop at Iglesia de Cañas (Cañas Church), a beautiful Catholic church in the town of Cañas. The church was tiled by famous Costa Rican artist Otto Apuy. The church is quite striking from the beautifully crafted mosaics made of tile. There is not much else to do in this town, but it makes for a great lunch stop as you drive from Liberia to La Fortuna as it is right off the Pan American Highway.

Day 2: Settle into Rosita’s Apartment in Nuevo Arenal

Had a fabulous day. Checked into our apartment which is adorable (Rosita’s Apartment, booked through Tico Wind)! Great views, excellent air circulation (the place is all windows), we have the most beautiful German Shepard guarding our truck (I call her Fluffy guy, she loves Dawg!!) and the owners are extremely nice. He is a retired American who windsurfs, and she is a local.  

The windsurfing looks promising, but I’m not keen on the signs that say “caution, crocodiles in Lake Arenal”. The locals laugh and say “well there are sharks in the ocean”, which didn’t really make me any happier. Anyway, the wind is in the mornings, and today Tom (our landlord) was on a 4.2m sail and 80 litre board. Tonight we are off to a local festival. Bull riding, beer and local food. I guess Dec and Jan is “summer vacation” for the kids, with lots of festivities. Should be fun! Tomorrow we will try the windsurfing, and maybe hit a restaurant that we were told “is better than anything in New York”.   So far we love Costa Rica, love the people and love our little condo. We will keep you posted on the windsurfing tomorrow!

**Guanacaste Bull Riding.

Wow, what an amazing experience. If you ever find yourself in Guanacaste province when a “bull riding fiesta” is taking place, you MUST GO! This is one of those crazy adventures we just stumbled upon. We had rented a truck in Costa Rica so that we could go windsurfing on Lake Arenal. A local had told us of a “traditional Christmas event” taking place in the nearby town of Sabalito. It was a short drive away, so off we went. It wasn’t long before we noticed a gathering of cars and people near a small outdoor arena. We parked the car, somewhat apprehensive of checking out the unknown event being held in the dilapidated, about to fall over wooden structure, where dozens of people were seated and cheering. But hey, the potential to see a bull fight, Tico style? Gotta see this!

We get out of the car and find our way to the entrance where we pay our entrance fee and head up into the stands. We step over broken boards, rotted with years of neglect and from sitting in the beating sun, around gaping holes in the seats and walkways, and find a nice front row seat. The crowd of a dozen or so locals in our section is made up of children running around and climbing the stands as if it were a playground and adults drinking cervezas and cheering loudly. Our first thought is that a child is going to go tumbling through a broken board to the dirt below. But no one else seems to share our concern.

Our second thought is – what on earth is going on in the ring?

We expected to see a beautifully dressed matador flying around the ring, his red cape snapping around with an angry, charging bull in pursuit.

This is not what we see.

We see a ring filled with – people, men really. Old men, young men, teenagers – dressed in jeans and t-shirts. In their hands are rocks and sticks. And as we watch, these old men, young men, very young men, run up to the bull one at a time and hit it with a stick. Throw a rock at it. Then the angry bull runs at these men as they run for cover. The cover being the rickety old stands where we sit. They dive under the lowest ring boards, attempt to jump out of the ring and into the stands. They hide behind one another. And they laugh! And crowd cheers! And they do it again! And as the alcohol consumption of the bull fighters increases, so does their bravery.

It isn’t long before we too forget about the excited chatter of the children running around the stands. We are completely focused on alternating between cheering on the men to get closer to the bull, and then cheering on the bull as it charges at its latest nuisance. We witness a few “grazes”, but at the end of the evening, no one is hurt. The arena seating still stands – a few more blows to it’s shaky foundation. The bull is tired, but likely not injured from the small rocks and twigs that were merely an annoyance for the past hour. The men are adrenaline filled and weary from the exertion of outrunning the charging bull. And the crowd is satisfied at yet another display of local its Sabanero (cowboy) culture.

Epic Rating: I’m going to give this a 4. We didn’t jump in the ring (there was nothing to say we couldn’t), but the sheer enjoyment of witnessing a local tradition as its only tourists was something unforgettable.

Day 3 and 4 – Windsurfing and Equus Bar and Disco

Day 3 – Today was another fabulous day. The windsurfing was fantastic, 4.5 meter sail and 84 litre board, then after getting blown off the water dropped to a 4.0 meter sail. Shawn sailed all day on a 4.7 m sail and the 84 litre board. 

Tico Wind is awesome! Brand new gear. They got a container of new gear while we have been here with new kites, new Fanatic boards and new North Sails. I was on a brand new Neil Pryde sail yesterday, and the JP’s look almost brand new. My favourite part – you can keep your wetsuit, harness booties, etc at the beach. They have a guard at night, and the stuff is safe. It dries overnight, and we don’t have to lug it back and forth. Also, lunch at the beach is a nice treat!

The waves and wind are insane. Nicer than The Gorge (Hood River, Oregon), but not bloody easy.   
 
Day 4 – Today was absolutely nukin!!! The waves here are unbelievable – Keyho sized or bigger. I’m  struggling, but Shawn is having a riot. He just barrels over the waves, catches big air and goes along. Meanwhile I white knuckle it, slam or slog. I even got sea sick today!! Must have been too much pasta and salad for lunch, or the huge pineapple “Cakita” for dessert.
 
We went to our favourite BBQ place** for dinner (the place better than NY) and the owner just loved Shawn. He showed us the “Discotheque”** in the back. It is indescribable. It is all stone, about a 50 meter walk into the jungle. He invited us for the New Years Eve celebration, and we are very excited to see this place in action!!
 
Today was a windsurf only day. It was rainy and cool, so didn’t think it was conducive for tourist activities. It is supposed to nuke the rest of the week, so it should be fun. Just have to learn how to surf the waves!!

**Equus Bar, BBQ and Restaurant

This place is awesome. If you are driving to La Fortuna or find yourself on the North side of Lake Arenal, this is a must do. This BBQ restaurant is on the highway, just outside Nuevo Arenal (not in Tilaran) and enjoys beautiful lake views. It is easily spotted from the highway if you are looking for it. Don’t let the exterior fool you – this is not just another roadside restaurant. This is the best BBQ you will have in Costa Rica, and one of the coolest experiences you will have if you find yourself at Equus when the disco is open (we were there for New Years Eve). Get the ribs and chicken, enjoy the view and if you are lucky, enjoy the company of monkeys and toucans! If you are feeling adventurous, ask one of the staff members if you can have a tour of the disco. The disco is an outdoor bar with several dance floors, seating areas and bars set into the jungle. Bring a flashlight if you are there at night, or you are likely to get lost amongst all the cool and hidden rooms of this outdoor wonder.

Day 5 Hike

We had yet another great day. Woke up sore and beat up from windsurfing yesterday, and to sun and massive wind, so decided to take a rest day from windsurfing. The wind here is incredible. It’s hard to sleep through the night, as we keep thinking the roof of our apartment is going to blow away (and then the howler monkeys start howling at the first hint of sun!)

We had heard about a waterfall hike we wanted to do, and today was a sunny day (it has been a bit overcast). We drove on some crazy back roads, passing ranches and bars (bars everywhere, I like this place), cattle drives and narrow, scary bridges. Finally made our way to Tenorio Volcano National Park for a wonderful 3.5 hr hike. The walk included sulphur fumores (sulphur bubbling up through the river so it looked like it was boiling) and a wonderful natural hot spring. After a good soak in the hot springs we went for a much needed dinner in town. Dinner turned into an adventure….(check out my blog on Code Words for Travel – Safety Tip. )

Cool things we should mention:

– Bugs are not a problem. I have had one mosquito bite since we got here!

– Roads are fine. Main highways are paved and quite nice – back roads can be sketchy, however.

Day 6 New Years Eve 2010!

Equus was the place to be! Came home to this little guy on the patio door…

Day 8 Canyoning the Lost Canyon, La Fortuna and Hiking Arenal Volcano. 

Today was an awesome day!!! We went canyoning with a company called Desafio Adventure Company (it means challenge). Canyoning is repelling down waterfalls, we did 4 in total. It was great fun, but what really made it fun were the tour guides. Melvin, Pinky, Frederique and Carlos. The trip included walking through a canyon, and then repelling whenever we got to a place where the river in the canyon turned into a waterfall. But it was a very narrow canyon, so most of the time you are walking in the river. This means walking down mini waterfalls, “cannonballing” into small pools of water and generally playing in the water. The highlight landed up not being the repelling at all, although this was great, but the walk itself was fun and challenging. 

The canyoning was from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and if we weren’t exhausted enough, we decided to go on a night hike of Arenal Volcano. What an incredible experience! Our guide, William, was the coolest guide ever. He is a survivor of the 1968 eruption that killed 80 people and wiped out a town (that is now covered by Lake Arenal) – we was 7 at the time. (He turned 49 on December 31^st, a blue moon). He has since hiked the volcano to the top several times, and made a movie about it (he gave us a copy of his movie).

Anyway, William shows up with a Machete to take us on our night hike (actually we picked him up at his house as he doesn’t own a car). Apparently the night is the best for seeing the lava as when it is dark you can see the red lava better (during the day it just looks gray). We didn’t realize this was a “less touristy” tour, as this is just something that William does for fun. All the other tours take you within 2.5 km of the lava flow, during the day, to a bridge you can drive to. William starts you at this bridge, hikes you up the Volcano at night, through the jungle, on a path he and his brother hacked with machetes, to within 1 km of the lava flow. Totally cool! So there we are in the middle of the jungle at 9:00 PM hiking with a guy with a machete, telling us to stay close because of the hundreds of poisonous snakes, spiders and worms, and the Puma’s and Jaguars. And we don’t know this guy. Oh yeah, and how did we find him? Some guy on a street corner in town arranged the “tour” for us. Not a tour company, just some guy walking down the street who we started chatting with. He tells us the best way to see the volcano is at night, and he knows someone who can take us. He makes a phone call, gives us an address and tells us to be there at 9:00PM!. 

Hotel La Fortuna: We stated in Hotel Vista Del Cerro. It isn’t fancy, but for the price and location it can’t be beat! The rooms were clean and the hotel staff were very friendly and helpful!