Thursday, February 18, 2010

Our first adventure in Costa Rica

Costa Rica....what was it going to be like?  I'd read so much about this country, done so much research and spent so much time at online travel forums learning about where we'd be staying and things to do while we were there.  But, we'd never been on a vacation like this before!  This was the first time we'd be in a foreign country totally on our own.  We weren't going with a tour and we weren't just going to one hotel as a home base and doing excursions from there.  This trip was all self planned and it was going to be an adventure! 

What did we have planned?  Three different hotels in three different regions, renting a car and driving on what some rumors were said to be horrible roads and one flight within the country on a small plane.  Add to that a couple of transfers between the flight and hotels where we didn't have the car and some strict luggage weight limits for the small plane and we were good to go!

We were ready!  We landed and got through customs and immigration with no problem.  We found the airport in San Jose to be very efficient and very clean.  We were met outside by a representative from our car rental company and off we went.  After we picked up the car, we set out with some directions we had printed out from the hotel we were heading to and a map I had picked up before leaving home.  Once we drove a bit and were away from the airport the scenery was beautiful.  The roads were windy and became a bit mountainous but there was nothing we considered to be horrible, at least not yet!  They were fully paved and sometimes we had to pass a slow moving truck, but the ride was great.  We were heading for the town of La Fortuna. 



The main attraction in La Fortuna is the Arenal Volcano.  I've heard that some people visit La Fortuna and never get to see the volcano because of cloud cover.  Yet some people are lucky enough to have a clear view all the way to the perfect cone top.  Some people are even lucky enough to get to see lava trickling down the sides.  Would we be lucky enough to see the volcano?  Would we get to see the lava or maybe even hear it rumble?  Well, as we turned the corner and faced the charming town of La Fortuna we saw the volcano and it's magnificant!


I felt like if we didn't get another peek at the volcano the entire time we were there, at least we had this amazing view just this once!  However, we wouldn't be let down.  The entire three days we spent in La Fortuna we had a perfect view of the volcano.  We even did hear it rumble!  It sounded like a train roaring by.  One night we joined a crowd of people on the bridge by the Arenal Observatory Lodge and watched the lava come tumbling down the side of the volcano.  The crowd "oohed" and "ahhed" just like watching fireworks on the 4th of July. 



We found so many amazing things to do and explore in the Arenal area.....I was hooked already and our journey had just begun!

3 comments:

  1. Hey isnt costa rica AMAZING??
    I spent a month there in summer 2008, and for a week i even stayed right beside the rainforest, and went in and around it

    i loved it!

    -Me

    this is my photography blog, it has pictures from my trip, along with other pictures of course
    http://snapshot-beauty.blogspot.com

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  2. Hey there! Costa Rica is definitely an amazing place. The rain forest is just beautiful! So much wildlife! I'm going to check out you blog! Thanks for the link!

    Shelley

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  3. Impressive photos. Enjoyed reading about your adventure.

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