Matthew Houde's Blog, page 35

La Fortuna: What to Expect from Costa Rica’s Most Popular Destination

La Fortuna, also known as La Fortuna de San Carlos, is undoubtedly one of Costa Rica’s most talked about destinations. Travel writers love to cover it, tour operators boast about it, and a quick Google search will reveal thousands of articles on this small town alone. But does La Fortuna live up to the hype? The answer: yes it does and then some. In this post, we share our insider tips to this quaint mountain town and tell you why following the tourist trail to La Fortuna is still worth it.

 

Orientation

La Fortuna is located in the hills of northwestern Costa Rica about 3-4 hours from San Jose’s international airport and 2.5 hours from Liberia’s international airport. The town is centered around a beautiful park with colorful gardens and a large church. The main star, Arenal Volcano, provides the backdrop and can been seen from almost every vantage point. On the streets surrounding the central park lie many restaurants, hotels, tour operators, and shops, with more lodging and dining on the road leading to the volcano and Lake Arenal.

Some of the guidebooks might have you picturing an overdeveloped tourist trap, but fear not, the town remains charming and still has a local feel. Amongst the souvenir shops and cafes catering to the many visitors, you’ll find Ticos in their daily life, buying supplies for their farm, running errands, grabbing a bite to eat, or just relaxing on a park bench.

Check out our short video at the end of this post to help you get a feel for the town.

Activities

One of the reasons for La Fortuna’s popularity is the plethora of activities. You can do just about all of the quintessential Costa Rica tours out of La Fortuna, from exploring the rainforest canopy on a hanging bridge, to flying through the sky on a zip line, to canyoneering down waterfalls. With all of the choices, it can be hard to know where to start. Here’s a list of some of our favorite attractions that are totally unique to this area of the country.

 

Arenal Volcano is one of a kind

 

Arenal Volcano

Arenal is, in our opinion, Costa Rica’s most spectacular volcano. Standing at a lofty 1,633 meters (5,358 feet) high, this cone-shaped giant can be seen for miles around, but it’s worth the effort to get a closer look. For good hiking trails, read our post about Arenal Volcano National Park or head to the nearby Arenal 1968 trails. And for one of the best viewpoints, visit the Arenal Observatory, which has its own hiking trails but also a nice view from the observation deck. Tip: Be flexible planning your visit to the volcano, especially if you’re going during the rainy season (May through November), as Arenal is sometimes hidden behind the clouds.

Hot Springs

The other attraction that you don’t want to miss is La Fortuna’s hot springs, which are naturally heated by the volcano’s thermal energy. For the whole experience, head to one of the resorts like Tabacon or EcoTermales where you can soak in luxurious gardens. Or if you don’t mind a more rustic setting, do what we usually do and head to the river across from the Tabacon to soak in the beautiful natural surroundings for free.

 

Enjoying the hot springs in La Fortuna- doesn’t get much better than this!

 

La Fortuna Waterfall

If you have time for one more activity, make it the La Fortuna waterfall. We delayed our visit here for a while, not being sure it was worth the $10 entrance fee, but were impressed by the waterfall’s beauty and power. Tip: Arrive early in the day to avoid the crowds. This is a popular attraction and it can get busy, especially during the dry season (December through April).

 

La Fortuna Waterfall- gushing even in the dry season

Restaurants

La Fortuna boasts over 75 restaurants so travelers are sure to find something that pleases their pallet. High-end dining options are typically located at hotels and resorts, while smaller, local places are scattered throughout town and the surrounding area. But eating off of the resort doesn’t limit you to traditional Costa Rican fare. Among the many sodas serving local specialties are restaurants offering international cuisine.

For breakfast or lunch, head to My Coffee, a casual café with a mix of dishes from arroz con pollo (fried rice with chicken) to an assortment of crepes. While the food is good, the real highlight is the coffee. Costa Rica is famous for its rich java and you can get a great cup just about anywhere, but it’s rare to find iced coffee. My Coffee not only has that, but they also make specialty drinks like iced mochachinos if you want a treat.

Soda Viquez is one of our favorite spots in town for local food. It’s located just a block from the park and has great service, with typical Costa Rican friendliness. They serve up all of the classics like gallo pinto (rice and beans with eggs) for breakfast and casados (plates of chicken, beef, or fish with side salads and plantains) for lunch. At any restaurant in Costa Rica service can be on the slow side (it’s all part of the pura vida way), but if you’re short on time, Soda Viquez is a good option because it also has a la carte offerings.

Last but not least, there’s Café Mediterraneo. We stumbled upon this restaurant after a grueling hike up to Cerro Chato crater lake and were so glad we did. Café Mediterraneo is located just outside of town and has great views of Arenal and the neighboring Cerro Chato. Not only is the view nice but they also have excellent pizza—a rarity in Costa Rica.

 

View of Arenal Volcano and its dormant neighbor, Cerro Chato (pictured left) from Cafe Mediterraneo.

Hotels

Because La Fortuna is a major tourist hub, the options for lodging are numerous and varying. When considering the choices, our biggest tip is to inquire about the location. While you don’t need a car if you stay near the downtown, you might want one if you’re staying closer to Arenal Volcano where things are more spread out.

High End Hotels and Resorts ($250+)

The Nayara: Our top choice for luxury in La Fortuna is the Nayara Hotel or its new sister property, Nayara Springs. These eco-friendly boutique hotels have beautiful grounds, excellent food and service, and nice volcano views. Staying at the Nayara Springs, where each villa has its own private plunge pool fed by hot springs, is definitely on our bucket list of places to stay. Check Availability and Prices Here.

The Springs: The Nayara tends to book quickly so if it’s unavailable, try the Springs Resort and Spa. The Springs is a larger property with more of a resort feel because it has everything on site. It’s located outside of town and has its own hot spring pools. Check Availability and Prices Here.

Tabacon: Another good option is the Tabacon, home to the most popular springs in Arenal. They have several different types of rooms from well-appointed suites to standard rooms starting at $250/night. Check Availability and Prices Here.

Mid-Range Hotels ($100-200)

Arenal Springs: For a more affordable resort, check out Arenal Springs about 7 kilometers outside of town. It has spacious, clean rooms with good volcano views, but the main draw is the big, multi-layered pool. Check Availability and Prices Here.

Hotel El Silencio del Campo: If you’d rather stay somewhere smaller with more character, check out Hotel El Silencio del Campo. This family-run hotel has 24 private, comfortable cabins and an on-site spa and thermal pools. It’s a short drive from town on the road going towards the volcano. Good restaurant and friendly staff. Check Availability and Prices Here.

Budget Hotels ($100 or less)

Hotel Monte Real: We enjoyed our stay at Monte Real on one of our vacations to La Fortuna. It’s conveniently located just a few blocks from downtown along the river, so you don’t need a car. It has simple, yet spacious, well equipped rooms, and a manicured property with gardens and a pool. Some of the rooms have volcano views so be sure to inquire. Check Availability and Prices Here.

Hotel Cerro Azul: Another solid budget option is Hotel Cerro Azul, located about 1.5 kilometers outside of town. This lodge is run by a local family and is known for its warm hospitality. It has five rustic cabins set in a garden with great volcano views. Check Availability and Prices Here.

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La Fortuna has no doubt grown over the years into a vacation hotspot with all of the amenities, but thankfully it still has a small-town feel. From a traveler’s perspective, it’s the best of both worlds: a place where you can enjoy five-star accommodations and gourmet meals but also experience the culture and get to know the real Costa Rica.

 

Here’s a quick time lapse video to show you around town.

 

Are you planning a trip to La Fortuna? What are you most excited about?

Post by: Jennifer Turnbull-Houde & Matthew Houde

 

The post La Fortuna: What to Expect from Costa Rica’s Most Popular Destination appeared first on Two Weeks in Costa Rica.

Taste Testing the Beers of Costa Rica

Having moved to Costa Rica from Boston, a city with more than a dozen different breweries, one of our first orders of business was to try every beer that we could find. Although we have discovered some delicious microbrews around the country, sadly they are not widely distributed and are hard to find. Instead, there are only a few brands that dominate the market. So what exactly can you expect when ordering a cerveza here in paradise? This post will cover the three most common beer choices in Costa Rica and give you beer lovers a take on what to expect.

 

1.  Imperial

Imperial is by far the most commonly served beer in Costa Rica. This beer has been around since 1924 and has become a recognizable symbol for tourists and locals alike. Practically everyone who visits Costa Rica goes home with a T-shirt, shot glass, or some sort of Imperial souvenir proudly displaying the label’s black eagle logo.

 

 

Tasting Notes

Imperial has an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 4.6% and around 140 calories per serving. It’s a pale, light lager which is comparable to the mass-market beers of the US like Budweiser and Coors because of its low bitterness, mild malts, and modest alcohol content. It is golden in color and usually has a small, white fizzy head when poured. This makes the beer more watery and very drinkable for Costa Rica’s hot weather. The light aroma and grassy taste profile can become somewhat ‘skunky’ when warm, however, so drink up quickly or do as the locals sometimes do and order a side of ice and limes.

Imperial also makes variations on the original, including Imperial Light and Imperial Silver. Could you tell the difference in a taste test? Probably not, but we lean towards the Silver when switching it up.

The Verdict on Imperial

Although it’s watery and doesn’t have much flavor, like many other people, we associate the laid back pura vida mentality with a cold Imperial. Therefore, we love it. But it’s a love-hate relationship.

2.  Pilsen

Pilsen is the second most popular beer in Costa Rica. This beer has been around since 1888 and is easily recognizable by its red and white label.

 

 

Tasting Notes

Pilsen is also a light lager but has a slightly fuller body (but still watery) and very slight hop bitterness, which leaves a drier taste on the tongue. Pilsen has an ABV of 5.1% and is around 150 calories. Like Imperial, this beer is golden in color (although just slightly darker) and has a small, quickly disappearing head when poured. It also shares the grassy aroma, is light and drinkable on a hot day, and can become ‘skunky’ when warm.

The Verdict on Pilsen

Overall, Pilsen is very similar to Imperial but when tasted side by side comes across a little heavier. We prefer it to Imperial because it has more flavor and it’s usually our drink of choice at smaller local restaurants and bars.

3.  Bavaria

Finally, we have Bavaria, which can be found in most restaurants and bars in Costa Rica. For this taste test, we chose Bavaria Dark but there is also Bavaria Light and Bavaria Gold which are both pale lagers, similar to Imperial and Pilsen.

 

 

Tasting Notes

Bavaria Dark is a Munich-Dunkel style lager which basically means that it contains a lot of malt and only enough hop to dull the sweetness. This beer has an ABV of 5.0% and around 150 calories per bottle. Bavaria Dark is amber in color and tastes lighter than you would expect by looking at it. The aroma is of strong malts and there is a dryness at first that disappears after a few sips as the malty sweetness take over. Bavaria has been brewing since the 1930s, but the Dark is the newest in the collection, first coming to market in 2001.

The Verdict on Bavaria

We like Bavaria Dark because it is a heavier, more complex beer and is readily available in most bars and restaurants in Costa Rica. Is it a replacement for a microbrew? Definitely not, but we’ll take what we can get.

 

Overall, the most common beers in Costa Rica are mediocre at best. Sure we used to crave a frosty Imperial when on vacation, and while it can still hit the spot sometimes, now that we live here, we often want something more hoppy and flavorful. Thankfully, the craft brew movement is slowly spreading across Costa Rica so if you happen to see Segua or Libertas from Costa Rica’s Craft Brewing Co., or anything from TreintayCinco or PerroVida, go for it! We still have to try some of these craft brews ourselves and will bring you a post on our favorites soon. Until then, try out Imperial, Pilsen, and Bavaria and let us know your take.

Which of Costa Rica’s brews do you prefer? Let us know below!

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

The post Taste Testing the Beers of Costa Rica appeared first on Two Weeks in Costa Rica.

San Gerardo de Dota: A Hideaway in the Cloud Forest

San Gerardo de Dota is a little known destination in the remote mountains south of Costa Rica’s capital city, San Jose. The village is set deep in a valley, but is surrounded by the towering Talamanca mountains. Among the quiet cloud forests of San Gerardo de Dota live a wide variety of animals and an even wider selection of birds, including the famous Resplendent Quetzal, the Emerald Toucanet, and dozens of hummingbird species. Though San Gerardo de Dota is slowly becoming known for its superb bird watching, it remains home to just a handful of quaint eco-lodges and restaurants, making it the perfect escape. Below we share our recent trip to San Gerardo de Dota and tips for planning your own visit.

 

Green Violet-Ear Hummingbird Zipping Around in San Gerardo de Dota

Location

San Gerardo de Dota is situated in a rural area of Costa Rica about halfway between Dominical on the Southern Pacific Coast and San Jose. Since it’s only 2-3 hours from the beaches of Dominical and Manuel Antonio, it’s a great place to visit before heading back to the airport and will show you a completely different life zone. Because San Gerardo de Dota is at a high altitude, the climate is much cooler and wetter and the wildlife varies from what you will find at the lowland beaches.

For directions and packing info, see our tips below.

Activities

Birding

If you’re into birding, be sure to bring your binoculars. Because of its elevation, the San Gerardo de Dota area attracts a multitude of species (over 150 in the Dota valley alone). On our visit, we saw a Sooty Robin, Acorn Woodpecker, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, and even a Resplendent Quetzal—the stunning green and red bird that put San Gerardo on the map. What makes San Gerardo de Dota different from other forests where the quetzal can be found, like Monteverde, is that in San Gerardo de Dota, quetzals can be spotted any time of year.

Keep in mind that while it is possible to see a quetzal year round, there are no guarantees. We had been trying to spot one off and on for over a year before finally getting lucky this time.

 

Our best shot of this female Quetzal from a distance

 

Hiking

San Gerardo de Dota is undeveloped and there’s lots of great hiking around. Even just walking around town is a hike in itself because it’s so hilly and heavily forested. But if you’re looking for trails, head to the higher elevation Los Quetzales National Park. Los Quetzales has a network of trails of varying lengths. See our post all about the park for more details.

Another option is the trail right in town that follows the Rio Savegre through the forest to a lovely waterfall. Although this a shorter hike along fairly flat terrain, it’s a bit of an adventure as there are some bridges to cross that could really use some maintenance. (More details on this hike coming soon.)

Fishing

One of the most interesting things about San Gerardo de Dota is the trout that inhabit its cool rivers and streams. You’ll definitely see locals fishing along the river banks and later, you’ll be sure to find their catch on restaurant menus. Trout are not originally native to Costa Rica but were supposedly introduced in Panama by the US military and somehow made their way north. No matter how they got there, they’re now a big part of the local economy, which now farms and sells trout around the country.

 

Rainbow Trout Hanging Out in the Rio Savegre

 

Local Artisans Gallery

Perusing the Latin American Artisans Gallery at Dantica Lodge was one of the highlights of our visit. This place isn’t your normal tourist trap. The gallery is elegantly designed with welcoming glass walls and carries locally made art and handicrafts. Though modest in size, it has a wide assortment of items, including Boruca masks from Costa Rica, Carnival masks from Colombia, ceramics from Peru, and lots of beautiful jewelry. Many of the items were affordable, and we didn’t make it out without buying a bracelet for Jenn.

 

Some of the cool artwork at the Latin American Artisans Gallery

Lodging

San Gerardo de Dota has only a few lodges and B&Bs but there’s still plenty of great choices. On our visit, we stayed at Suria Lodge, a cute family-run place with simple, cabin-style rooms and beautiful gardens. The draw for us, other than the affordable price, was that it’s located at the end of the road in San Gerardo. That made it close to the river, for the best birding, and walking distance to the waterfall trail. Tip: We booked our stay through Hotels.com after finding that the rate was a lot less than through the hotel’s website. 

Another popular option is the Trogan Lodge just up the road from Suria. This is a larger property with clean, comfortable cabins. The grounds abut the river and are gorgeous, with trout ponds and gardens filled with hummingbirds. Trogan Lodge is a popular option for families and larger groups.

If you’re looking for a little more luxury, check out Dantica Lodge. Dantica Lodge is a few kilometers before you enter town and has ten bungalows set into the steep hillside. The rooms are clean and modern, with floor to ceiling windows to take advantage of the sweeping mountain views. The downside of this gorgeous lodge is that it’s a little outside of town.

 

Dantica Lodge’s Awesome Mountain View

More Details for Planning Your Visit

Directions

San Gerardo de Dota is located off of Highway 2, about 2 hours from San Jose and 2 hours from Dominical. Like everywhere in Costa Rica, signage is not the best; however, there is a small sign at the turnoff. It helps to keep a lookout for kilometer markers. San Gerardo de Dota is located at kilometer 80. 
Once you turn off of Highway 2, you’ll descend into the valley for about 15 minutes, maneuvering down several steep switchbacks before arriving at the village. Just one main road runs through town so there’s little chance of getting lost.
Leave early in the day: Driving after dark on Highway 2 is not advisable. The road is windy and steep and visibility can be very limited when it rains or the cloud cover increases.

Packing

Bring layers, especially for the cooler nights. Temps can get into the 60s (16°C) at night but remain a pleasant 75° (24°C) during the day. On our first visit a couple of years back, we arrived from the beach wearing shorts and T-shirts, not realizing how different the temperature would be a mere two hours away. Lightweight pants and layers for day time is recommended and jeans and T-shirts/lightweight sweaters for night time.
Bring a raincoat: It’s the cloud forest, so it rains a lot, especially in the afternoon.

Supplies and Gas

Fill up your tank and stock up on supplies before you arrive as there’s just one pulperia (small grocery store) in town and no gas station for miles.

Resplendent Quetzal Watching

Visit in April – May if you can, as this is when they’re breeding and most active. Otherwise, your best bet is to hire a guide in town as they know where they live and the best time of day to spot one.

 

Sedums Growing in the Garden at Suria Lodge

 

San Gerardo de Dota is unlike any other destination in Costa Rica and we’ve always loved our visits there. Maybe it’s something about the fresh mountain air, but we leave feeling rested and rejuvenated, ready to plan our next visit. You can bet we’ll be back in March or April for prime Quetzal season.

Have you been to San Gerardo de Dota? What was your favorite part?

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

The post San Gerardo de Dota: A Hideaway in the Cloud Forest appeared first on Two Weeks in Costa Rica.

House Sitting: Build a Perfect House Sitter Profile

A couple of weeks ago, we did a post about saving money on accommodations through house sitting. We shared how the process works, the three best websites to join, and our experience of saving at least $7,000 over the past year on housing in Costa Rica. Now that you know the basics, it’s time to get to the details of how to land your first assignment. After all, the word has gotten out about the benefits of house sitting. It seems that everyone is jumping on board as a way to fund their travel adventures, and with all of the competition, you need to know how to stand out from the crowd. The key is to build a killer profile. Over the past year, we’ve had a chance to tinker with ours to see what works and what doesn’t. Below are our top 5 tips for building the perfect profile.

 

Tip 1: Show that you’re trustworthy and responsible but sprinkle in some personality

Getting a house sitting job is much like getting any job. Homeowners want someone taking care of their home who is responsible, experienced, and has common sense to deal with problems that may arise. But they also want to like you as a person if they’re going to have you living in their precious house, so make sure your personality really shines through. Your job in writing your profile is to get all of this across as concisely as possible, as homeowners will probably spend less a minute on your page.

How do you do that? Start by providing any relevant experience. If you’ve house sat before, references from homeowners obviously carry a lot of weight. But even if you haven’t done a formal house sit, you can get creative with what counts as experience. If you’ve watched a friend’s house and dog for a week, say that. If you’ve owned a home, say that. After all, if you’ve had your own home, you know what can go wrong and the necessary steps to take to fix it. That’s what you’ll be doing when you house sit so it’s definitely relevant. Even skills like gardening or handyman work can be helpful, especially since people are looking for someone that could say, unclog a toilet without having to call an expensive plumber.

Here’s our profile if you want a feel for how to set one up.

 

Screenshot of our profile on Trusted Housesitters

 

References: If you’re using one of the sites that allow you to include references in your profile like Trusted Housesitters, make sure to have at least a few. When you’re just starting out, you can request them from employers, professors, or anyone else who can review your character and work ethic. When we first started, we each asked our supervisors at our old jobs and a neighbor from our condo association to write one.

Worried that you don’t have any references from homeowners? Don’t be. If you build a great profile, at some point, someone will take a chance on you. We ended up getting our first house sit because the original sitter backed out last minute and the homeowners needed someone right away. Unlike other candidates, we were available right then because we were already moving to Costa Rica.

What’s most interesting though is that we didn’t even get that house sit through one of the house sitting websites. We placed an ad in the local e-newsletter in the area of Costa Rica we wanted to live, linking to our Trusted Housesitters profile to lend more credibility. The homeowners didn’t even usually read that newsletter, but for some reason, they opened it one day and were already members of Trusted Housesitters so the process was seamless. The message is get creative. Advertise in anything that a homeowner might read: local newsletters, community boards, online forums, etc. You never know who you might be reaching.

Tip 2: Craft a solid headline and have a few profile photos

Your headline and photo are your first impression. When the homeowner is scrolling through the hundreds of people available in their area, your profile and photo has to make them stop and click.

Headline: The headline should summarize what you want to get across in your entire profile. It’s your theme. For ours, we use the big keyword “experienced.” Before we had done any house sits, we used “responsible” instead of “experienced.” We’re only looking for long-term house sits now so we include that as well in order to prevent being contacted about short-term gigs. If you’re only interested in house sitting in one particular area, the headline would be a good place to state so.

For those of you planning to house sit as a way to live abroad, if you’re already in-country, say it in the headline. We think it puts homeowners at ease to know that we’re already here, making us less likely to back out at the last minute. Plus, homeowners love meeting in advance if possible so that they can get comfortable with you, and you with their house/pets.

Photos: Your photos should be professional but it’s good to have some more fun ones to get your personality across. If you love traveling, include a photo from one of your favorite trips, or if you love boating, include one of you out enjoying the water.

If you want to land jobs with pets, also be sure to include photos of you caring for your favorite furry friends.

Tip 3: Select individual cities/towns on your profile page

This is a big one that a lot of people don’t know about. Some of the house sitting websites allow you to list specific cities/towns you’re available in. Mind My House and House Carers both have this feature, and we’ve been told that we were practically the only people available in a specific town in Costa Rica. And this wasn’t a teeny tiny town; this was Nosara, a well known tourism destination. Being one of a handful of available sitters significantly increases your chances of landing a job.

So don’t just list entire countries in your profile. Get out the map and list every major town you’re interested in. We learned this little tidbit after reading the fine print on House Carers about how results were filtered when a homeowner does a search.

Be sure you understand how each of the sites work. Spend some time in the Support/FAQs section of each website to maximize your ranking in the site’s search engine.

 

Screen shot of how locations are listed on House Carers

 

Tip 4: Take advantage of the Google factor

Homeowners can’t see your last name from your profile, but some of the house sitting websites allow you to link to external sites. Give them more reason to pick you by linking to your online business, LinkedIn profile, or other professional site with which you’re associated. Some homeowners have come right out and told us that they checked out our book or Two Weeks in Costa Rica page, and then Googled us to see what else they could dig up. Since we have our whole story on the web, they immediately felt like they knew us better.

Tip 5: Sign up for alerts for your desired location

Some homeowners don’t want to deal with getting an influx of responses to an ad, so they won’t post an ad at all but will hand pick potential house sitters and contact them directly. This is where it helps to have a solid profile with lots of house sitting experience. When you’re just starting out though, you’re much more likely to have to respond to an ad to get a job.

Your goal is to be among the first to respond. Most of the websites allow you to sign up for e-mail alerts when a homeowner lists an ad in one of your preferred locations. You get the notification shortly after it’s posted, before it’s posted on the website, giving you an advantage. We’ve read stats about how being among the first to respond significantly increases your odds and have found this true in our experience as well.

 

If you follow these tips when building your profile, you’re sure to land a house sit. It might take some time, but just like any other job, the hardest part is getting the first one. After we got our first assignment last year, we were able to line up more for all but three months of the year.

Have a lingering question that we didn’t answer? Ask it below!

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

The post House Sitting: Build a Perfect House Sitter Profile appeared first on Two Weeks in Costa Rica.

Racing the Clouds at Poas Volcano

Even before moving to Costa Rica, we had wanted to visit Poas volcano. Considered to be the largest active crater in the world at almost a mile (1.5 kilometers) wide and 300 meters (900 feet) deep, Poas is an icon in Costa Rica. Part of the reason for its popularity is its location. Poas is close to San Jose and the international airport, making it an easy day trip on either end of a vacation. But Poas is a must-see in its own right. The crater lake is one of the most acidic in the world, having a pH of around zero. This makes the lake very toxic but also gives it an intense blue color. The striking pictures of Poas’ aquamarine water and fascinating geology were enough to make us want to visit but then, to intrigue us even more, this past February the volcano ejected a dense plume of mud and steam 300 meters (984 feet) into the air.

While living on Lake Arenal, we recently took a road trip to the Sarapiqui region and knew we had to fit in a visit to nearby Poas. Unfortunately we can’t say that it was everything we dreamed it would be (keep reading to find out why), but we picked up some good tips along the way.

 

Poas Volcano. Photo Credit: Philippe Guillaume

We arrived at Vara Blanca in the mid-afternoon. This small, mountain town in the foothills of Poas volcano is about an hour’s drive from San Jose and took us a little more than two hours from La Fortuna. Since we were visiting in August during Costa Rica’s rainy season, we were delighted that it was a fairly sunny day. Our original plan was to visit the national park first thing the next morning and get a good view of the crater before any clouds developed. But seeing that the sun was out once we arrived, we quickly changed course and headed straight for the park entrance, thinking that tomorrow could be worse.

After climbing the steep hill in our car and catching some awesome views of the Central Valley below, we reached the park entrance. At the gate, there was a line of about ten cars waiting to get through. We started to worry at this point because the clouds were beginning to build. Five minutes later, we had paid our entrance fee ($10/pp), parked the car, and were practically sprinting up the paved trail to the edge of the crater. As we got closer, it started to drizzle. Closer yet and we could smell the sulfur from the volcano in front of us. And as we reached the viewing platform, there she was, in all her glory.

 

There’s a crater down there somewhere…

 

It took us a while to absorb the fact that we weren’t going to see the crater. We took turns being overly optimistic that a sudden breeze would lift the fog, but after about fifteen minutes and increasing rain, we succumbed to defeat.

Something that we have learned by living in Costa Rica though is that no day is a waste. With our raincoats zipped, we walked some of the trails nearby. Before long we had spotted a species of bird found only in this type of cloud forest called the Large-footed Finch. Since we have become official birding geeks since moving to Costa Rica, this was pretty cool to us. The pair was hopping around, turning over wet leaves on the ground with their oversized feet, searching for food. We also saw some colorful Variegated Squirrels eating and stashing acorns in the nearby trees.

 

Large-footed Finch

 

When it really started to rain, we took shelter in the park headquarters and perused the small museum (good for kids) and gift shop. Since it was the weekend, dozens of local families were around, enjoying a picnic and just relaxing. Family time, especially on Sundays, is an important part of Costa Rica’s culture and everyone was still having a great time, regardless of the weather.

 

Jenn, hiding under the leaf of a “Poor Man’s Umbrella” plant.

 

The next day the weather was still cloudy so we explored more of Vara Blanca and the area around Poas. We found that even without a good view of the toxic volcanic lake, the Poas area was well worth a visit. Still, we were disappointed to have not seen the crater, so wanted to provide some tips for those of you planning a visit.

 

Tips for Visiting (and Actually Seeing) Poas Volcano

Go During the Dry Season (December to April)- Poas is known for being clouded over due to converging winds from the Pacific and Caribbean slopes and for this reason people advise to visit during the dry season. Is it possible to see it during the rainy season? Sure it is but there are no guarantees. If you’re coming during the rainy months, increase your chances by giving yourself a couple of extra days in the area and race to the volcano on the first clear one. Even if it’s not clear when you get there, stick around because subtle shifts in the wind are known to lift the clouds.


Get to the Park Early- Cloud cover increases as the day goes on so everyone suggests getting to the park early. Ironically, we discovered that the park actually doesn’t open until 8 a.m.—go figure! Still the best thing you can do is to get in line before they open the gates, not only for the clouds but to avoid the crowds. Poas National Park is one of the busiest parks in Costa Rica so by arriving early, you’ll miss the mid-morning influx of tour buses, vans, and cars too.


Visit the Crater First, Hike Second- Although the park has some “trails,” you don’t really hike up to the volcano; it’s more of a leisurely walk. The main trail from the parking lot is a wide, paved avenue that is great for people with disabilities (even wheel chairs), kids, and tourists who might have had too many Imperials the night before. If you do want to explore the few other trails within the park, make sure to visit the crater first then do some hiking while the crowds fill in.


Bring a Jacket- Even if it doesn’t rain during your visit, sometimes it can be cool at the top of the volcano. Poas sits about 2,700 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level so at that altitude, you’re almost certain to feel a chill.


Pack a Cooler- The weather wasn’t picnic-worthy when we visited, but the park has some great areas to hang out if you want to spend the day (with tables, bathroom facilities, etc.). They also have an on-site cafeteria. If you just want to see the crater, you could easily be in and out within 30 minutes, but we recommend hanging around for a bit longer. At Poas’ elevation, in the cloud forest, there are a lot of cool plants and animals around that are much less common in other areas of the country.

 

Have you visited Poas? Were you able to see the crater?

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

Switching from Weebly to WordPress

Part of the adventure for us in Costa Rica has been trying to make a living online and for that we need a great website. When we first started out in 2011, we thought we’d just be promoting our book as a sort of side project. We quickly picked a web host that was a good deal, was eco-friendly, and made it easy to design a website. Little did we know that almost four years later we would be living in Costa Rica, running a business through our site, and quickly growing out of our simple website builder, Weebly. Something needed to change. Luckily, our host, , recently began to offer WordPress too, one of the most highly regarded platforms. If you’re looking for Costa Rica travel info, go back to the home page now because this post is all about how we made the switch from Weebly to WordPress.

Why We Switched

When we first started, the Weebly Drag and Drop Builder was easy and fast. It uses building-block type modules that stack on top of one another to design your site. Pull in some columns here, add a picture there, insert a little text, click, click, and voila, you are well on your way to a nice looking website. But making a pretty website and one that does everything you want are two different things. As we got farther along and wanted more customization, we kept finding limitations with Weebly. For example, it was difficult to find plugins that would work properly for comment platforms like Discus, display widgets for blog posts, social media sharing features, etc. With Weebly Premium, we were able to access the site’s code and make changes, but without great knowledge of html, we found it hard to create the look and functionality we wanted. Everything was pointing to WordPress.

In WordPress, you can still use a sort of building-block structure, which is good for the beginner, but there is much more under the hood. Plugins are the major draw as there are thousands of developers creating them to do just about anything. They are simple to use and make it easy to do advanced customization without knowing much or any code. Another big factor was that there are whole communities, including help forums, focused on WordPress that provide a robust knowledge base, something that Weebly was lacking.

How to Switch

If you are just starting a website, you can choose to use WordPress right from the start (and you should) so disregard the rest of this post. But for those who originally set up their site through Weebly, here’s how to switch. These instructions are for FatCow-hosted accounts but also might be helpful to others with different hosts. Disclaimer: We are not experts on this subject so if you feel uncomfortable, it’s best to hire a professional. When we were researching we didn’t trust just one article, we read lots of them to gain a consensus and suggest you do the same.

1.     In Fatcow’s File Manager, create a new folder under the Root Directory. Call it something like WP. Don’t worry, once you’re done with this process your website domain name can remain the same as your old one.

2.     In Fatcow’s Control Panel, click the WordPress icon and go through the setup. Make sure to download it into the new folder you created in step 1 (the WP file).

3.     Sign into WordPress and start creating your new website. This will take some getting used to; however, you can still use your Weebly account during this time until you are ready to make the switch official. Although it is probably possible to bring over your old Weebly template and all of the pages you have made, it’s complicated. For us, we decided to start fresh with a new theme in WordPress and just bring over all of our old content (the 52 blog posts we had written). We created similar looking pages using the new theme and set it up like our old site, but better.

Tip: It’s important to pick a theme that has a lot of support behind it. Look for developers who have active forums and respond to help tickets promptly. For us just starting out on WordPress, these help forums have been invaluable for learning how to customize our theme. We ended up choosing the Divi theme from Elegant Themes and have been really impressed with its flexibility and support team so far.

4.     Once you have your new pages set up in WordPress, it’s time to bring your old blog content over from the Weebly site to the WordPress site (note: it will actually be in both places until you’re done). This was the tricky part as all of the websites we found were outdated and used Google Reader as the RSS feed to bring the info over, which doesn’t exist anymore. Our timing was good, however, since a new WordPress plugin called Weebly to WordPress Import had just come out. It cost $17 and we were a little leery at first, but the developer quickly got back to us when we had questions, which greatly boosted our confidence.

Before you use the plugin, make the following changes in your WordPress site:

Make the URL/permalink of your posts match how they appeared in Weebly. This is important for preventing broken links, which hurts SEO, and for keeping all those Facebook likes, Twitter shares, etc. associated with the link that you worked so hard to get. Under WordPress Settings, click Permalink Structure. Select the Custom option and insert: /1/post/%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%.html
Download a plugin to import external images (explained below). We used this one.
Now download the Weebly to WordPress Import Plugin and follow the instructions. When you’re done, you’ll see that all of your blog posts have been added to the Posts section on your WordPress dashboard and into your blog, if you have set one up on your Pages. The posts will contain the comments you had before and your pictures as well, but you will want to run the Import External Images plugin to save them into your WordPress media gallery.

Warning: Your posts might need some serious cleanup after the import. Go through each one and change as necessary to make them look the way you want. We found that ours were cluttered with old code from Weebly. We deleted all the code and just copied and pasted the clean text back in. We also needed to re-center our photos, change some headers, etc. It was a couple days of work but better than losing all of our old content.

5.     Now that you have the site looking the way you want, you need to point your domain to the new website. This part was confusing to us so we used the FatCow Help Center and chatted with someone who pretty much did it for us. To find pointing tools, go to Domain Central and click on My Domains, then select the domain name of your website. Click on Pointers. Select Subdirectory and then insert the name of the folder you built your WordPress site in (i.e., /WP/). This will tell the server to use the contents of that folder for your domain.

Note: Once we changed the pointers, some of our settings in WordPress defaulted back to the original for our theme, messing up some of our pages and navigation bar. This took another couple of hours as we had to go back in and clean things up again. We also had to take care of some broken links that were formed on a few posts (ones we had changed the name of over the years). A good practice would be to make a spreadsheet of the exact URLs of all your old posts before making the switch. Once you change over, go through them and check to make sure they work. For the ones that don’t, set up 301 (not 302) redirects to the new WordPress link that was formed (they make plugins for this).

So that’s how it worked for us. We officially made the switch to a more comprehensive platform so that we can keep growing our site and living the dream in Costa Rica. Over the next few months we’ll be doing even more upgrades, so stay tuned to see how our site changes.

Did you make the switch? Let us know below if you have any tips to share.

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

How to Live in Costa Rica for $2,000 a Year

You’re probably reading this and saying to yourself, this can’t be true. How can you live somewhere exotic like Costa Rica and pay just a couple thousand dollars a year for housing? Well folks, it is true. And we didn’t do workaway or volunteering. We just lived our normal lives but in other people’s houses. The concept is called housesitting. If you’re trying to figure out how to move abroad without going broke, or simply want free housing when you travel, keep reading because housesitting might be just what you’re looking for.

 

What is Housesitting?

We were already planning to move to Costa Rica when we first learned about housesitting through another couple we followed on Twitter. Dalene and Pete Heck had been traveling all around the world for a couple of years and not paying a dime for housing. The idea sounded intriguing so we dug deeper and found that housesitting is indeed a real thing. There are entire websites dedicated to it, with thousands of homeowners and housesitters using them every day.

Just like Facebook, the way it works is you start by building a profile. Your profile tells a little bit about you, why you’re interested in housesitting, if you have any experience, and where you’d be willing to housesit (details on how to build a killer profile coming soon). Homeowners who need someone to look after their house will place ads on one of the housesitting websites describing the property, its location, if there are any pets to care for, and other responsibilities. You can browse these listings, then respond to an ad and start the conversation. Some emails and maybe a Skype call later, they hopefully decide you’re a match and you get to live in their house rent free. Voila! Depending on the housesit, sometimes you have to pay utilities but that’s it.

 

View from one of our housesits in the Southern Zone

 

It’s a simple transaction that really makes sense for both parties. In Costa Rica, for example, a lot of people go visit family or friends for months at a time during the rainy season and need someone to watch over their home to prevent break-ins, which sometimes happens if properties are left vacant. Under normal circumstances, they’d have to pay a caretaker, but with housesitting, they can have someone come live in the house and maintain it just like they would at no cost. For the housesitter, they get to live rent-free in exchange for taking care of the home and pets if there are any. Some housesits even come with use of a car.

Our Experience

Since last July, we’ve had five housesits that have taken us all around Costa Rica. We’ve lived in a beach cottage on the Caribbean coast, a huge house in the jungle near Dominical, a charming home with views of Lake Arenal, and even a place just steps from the beach in Nosara. We’ve taken care of some great pets too, something that we’ve really enjoyed.

 

Awesome Great Dane from one of our housesits

 

The housesits have gone smoothly for the most part. We’ve had great luck with homeowners and haven’t encountered any major problems other than not having water a couple of times—but that’s a story for another day. With the exception of one housesit gone awry, the homeowners have all been good at communicating when we had issues and so grateful for our help.

Housesitting Websites

When picking a website to join, the most important consideration is making sure people are actually using the site. This is one time where it’s good to go with what’s most popular. The three biggest sites are Trusted Housesitters ($79/year), Mind My House ($20/year), and House Carers ($50/year). They’re all set up similarly and different homeowners use them, so it’s a good idea to sign up for more than one so that you’re reaching a broader audience. We’ve gotten housesits with all of them, but the most leads came through Trusted Housesitters. Trusted Housesitters is the most expensive of course but it also has more features like the ability to add a video to your profile and showing references on your profile page. We often direct people who found us on another site to our Trusted Housesitters profile because it has all of our references in one place, presented in a professional manner.

 

We woke up to monkeys on the roof at a housesit in Nosara

 

Once you join, you can start applying and dreaming up your next (almost) free getaway. Whether it’s just for vacation or to live abroad, housesitting is a great way to travel. For us, it has been invaluable in helping figure out where we want to live in Costa Rica. When you stay somewhere for just a week or two, it’s hard to get a sense of what it’s really like, but slow traveling through housesitting, staying in one place for months at a time, has really helped us narrow our search. Regardless of why you want to housesit, it’s a great way to save money. Even doing the math conservatively, we figure that we’ve saved at least $7,000 over the past year. In between housesits, we had to rent for a month or two and we paid utilities for a couple sits, but that still adds up to less than $2,000 for the year—not bad for housing in paradise.

Have a question about housesitting? Ask us below!

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

Where We’ve Lived in Costa Rica

Over the past thirteen months, we’ve lived in eight towns across Costa Rica. From the Pacific to the Caribbean, we dragged our eight suitcases through booming resort towns, quaint mountain villages, and everything in between. Before we started our travels, we knew about Costa Rica’s regional differences in climate and landscape, but were really surprised at some of the other differences we encountered.

Below we share our impressions of where we’ve lived, both the good and the bad. This is our take based on our own personal experiences. If you’re considering a move, this information might help narrow your search, but keep in mind that everyone’s needs and experiences will be different and a place that wasn’t for us, might be just right for you.

 

13 months on the road and still counting…

Manuel Antonio (Central Pacific Coast)

What we loved: The best thing about living in Manuel Antonio for us was being within walking distance to a beautiful beach. It was great to just roll out of bed and go for a run along the sand or take an afternoon sunset stroll. Another thing we loved was its pure convenience. It was close to the awesome Quepos farmer’s market and tons of great restaurants (many within walking distance), had a bus that ran regularly to and from Quepos, and had good shopping. It didn’t have nearly the variety of what you can buy in San Jose, but we could find most things we needed in downtown Quepos or at the Maxi-Pali, a larger, Walmart-owned store. Another great thing about Manuel Antonio was its large, close-knit expat community which immediately made us feel welcome.

What we didn’t love: Manuel Antonio is one of the more touristy areas of Costa Rica so the beaches and national park can get very crowded, and prices at restaurants are higher because they cater to tourists. While we got a good deal on a rental because we stayed in a small studio, prices are generally high, again because of the area’s popularity.

Dominical (Southern Zone)

What we loved: We lived in a tiny village in the mountains near Dominical called Hatillo and loved the small-town feel. We also loved the landscape. The Dominical-Uvita area is for us one of the most beautiful in Costa Rica because the lush mountains roll right down to the sea. It’s less developed (though growing every day) so the natural beauty is still intact. Other great things include: the many secluded beaches and restaurant options; all the great places to go hiking; and the non-touristy feel.

What we didn’t love: While we liked that the area was more remote and pristine, this was sometimes a downside side too because things were more spread out and we had to drive to get everywhere. Although there was a local bus, it only ran a few times a day, so having a car was a necessity. For shopping, nearby Uvita had two fairly big grocery stores where we could buy most foods. But for other items and fresh, cheap produce, both the Quepos and San Isidro markets and stores were a little far (about 45 minutes away). Another downside was that Dominical is a bit far from the airport (around 3.5 hours from San Jose).

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca (Caribbean Coast)

What we loved: Our favorite thing about Puerto Viejo was the stunning beaches and the fact that they were good for swimming. A lot of the beaches in Costa Rica are rough and have riptides, but the water on the Caribbean side is calmer in general, aside from the surfing beaches of course. We also loved the culture. The Caribbean coast is the only place in Costa Rica where you’ll see the Afro-Caribbean influence and it’s a really chill, cool place. We also liked how the area was set up and thought it had a good balance of having things to do without being too developed. If we wanted to go out, we could head to one of the bars or restaurants in downtown Puerto Viejo, or if we wanted a casual night, we could check out one of the more laid back places in Playa Cocles, Playa Chiquita, or Playa Punta Uva. Everything was really close by too so if we couldn’t walk, it was just a short bicycle or car ride away.

 

Culture House in Puerto Viejo

 

What we didn’t love: This is one area of Costa Rica where we didn’t feel 100% safe all of the time. While most people just visiting for a week or two probably wouldn’t notice anything, petty theft, break-ins, and drug trafficking are somewhat common and you start to notice it more once you live there. Our neighbor had his iPhone stolen from inside his house when we invited him over for dinner (just a few steps away), and while he should have had the place locked up, it was still alarming that it happened at all.

Another thing that we didn’t love was that groceries were overpriced. Restaurants were also on the expensive side because they catered to tourists. Finally, the humidity was crazy and our clothes, car, and house got really moldy.

Playa Hermosa de Uvita (Southern Zone)

What we loved: Similar to Dominical just to the north, we loved our stay in the tiny Tico village of Playa Hermosa because of the small town feel (we frequently saw local guys riding by on horses), beautiful scenery, beaches, and wildlife. Living in Uvita, we were very close to a couple of bigger grocery stores too, which is great if you need something in a pinch.

What we didn’t love: Many of the communities in the mountains of Uvita, including Playa Hermosa, are accessible only via rough dirt roads. We needed four-wheel drive to get up the hill and the road was really rough, taking a toll on our car. Our Internet connection was also the slowest we’ve had so far in Costa Rica. This may change if a new tower is put up, but for now the connection in Playa Hermosa is limited to a 3G wireless stick with super slow speed (cable Internet is not available). We had the same type of connection when we lived near Dominical but the speed there was much faster. Finally, because Uvita/Dominical is growing in popularity with expats, rental prices are on the high end for Costa Rica (we paid $800 a month for a simple, two-bedroom Tico-style house).

Tilaran (Lake Arenal)

What we loved: We stayed in Puerto San Luis near Tilaran and liked it so much that we came back and lived in the neighboring town of Tronadora for a couple more months. This may sound strange, but we liken this area of Costa Rica to rural northern Maine where Jenn’s family was originally from. It’s the country, Costa Rica style, with lots of rolling farm fields, complete with cowboys and horses. The pace was slow and relaxed and the local people were so nice.

 

More cows than people on the lake ;)

 

Other things we loved were its proximity to Tilaran, which has a lot of smaller shops and grocery stores; the awesome veggie and fruit stores in Tilaran where we bought all the produce we needed for a week for just $10; the lower cost of living in general (rent and grocery prices were among the lowest we’ve seen in Costa Rica); high-speed cable Internet; we felt very safe; it’s not touristy; the mountains are beautiful; and it’s close to Liberia international airport.

What we didn’t love: Because it’s more remote, there wasn’t a ton to do and there weren’t many restaurants (although the ones they had were some of our favorites in the whole country). From the Tilaran side of the lake, it’s over an hour to more restaurants and activities in La Fortuna, so we only made it over there a few times.

Other things we didn’t love were that it was super windy, and although it might not always be, really rainy during our second stay in mid-June through mid-August (raining all day most days). Also, we’re more beach people so we missed the ocean, which is at least three hours away.

Playa Grande (Northern Guanacaste)

What we loved: We loved being just a five minute walk to a beautiful beach. On top of that, we had a nice pool that was a great way to cool off or take a break from writing. We also enjoyed the wildlife and birds and how peaceful it was.

 

The stunning Playa Grande

 

What we didn’t love: Northern Guanacaste is the driest area of Costa Rica and almost everything was dead and brown when we lived there at the end of the dry season. There were even forest and grass fires in the surrounding hills. We like the heat but it was even too hot for us, getting into the mid-90s on most days. Another thing we didn’t like was feeling isolated. It’s possible to take a boat across the estuary to Tamarindo, but aside from that, you have to drive at least a half-hour to get anywhere. Most of the people around us just stayed for a few days or a week max while they were passing through on vacation.

Other things that we didn’t like was that everything was really expensive; there weren’t many restaurants nearby unless you went to Tamarindo; there was little local culture as most of the homes were owned by foreigners; break-ins were a problem (although we didn’t have any issues); we missed the lushness of the tropical jungle; and there wasn’t much hiking nearby because it’s relatively flat.

Nosara (Central Guanacaste)

What we loved: Nosara has a great, laid back feel and the lush jungle setting is gorgeous. We loved seeing howler monkeys in our yard almost daily and heading to the beach whenever we wanted. We also loved that you could get just about anything you wanted for food, fulfilling our cravings for things like pizza and good burgers.

What we didn’t love: Our car hated us for living in Nosara. The roads were terrible, dirt, and pot-hole ridden (get a quad if you live there), and our shocks, struts, etc. even had to be replaced after living there. Other things we didn’t like: we heard about a lot of break-ins and often didn’t feel safe leaving electronics and other valuables at home; restaurants and groceries were more expensive because they catered to tourists and the large expat population; the town was spread out and you had to drive everywhere; and it was isolated from other major towns (at least 45 minutes away).

 

Muffler falling off in Nosara. Yikes!

 

We loved exploring Costa Rica and getting a feel for the different areas, but moving around so much is definitely starting to get a little tiring. We think we’ll settle in one place sometime soon and are leaning towards the Southern Zone but nothing is set in stone. And who knows, maybe our wanderlust will keep us on the move.

Stay tuned to find out how we lived in all these places for less than $2,000 in rent! Subscribe to our posts so you don’t miss it.

What’s your favorite area of Costa Rica? Let us know below.

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

Tirimbina: An Eco-Treat in Sarapiqui

As we cover more of Costa Rica, our travel planning has become much more spur of the moment. This was especially true for our most recent road trip. The weekend was quickly approaching so we got out a map, pointed to a town we had never been to, and started packing. Before we knew it, we were on our way to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui in Costa Rica’s northern lowlands. This area of the country is not a popular tourist destination yet, but boasts an amazing amount of biodiversity and should be on every nature lover’s list.

 

The mighty Sarapiqui River

What’s unique about the Sarapiqui region is that it sits relatively low in elevation and has several large rivers which converge in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, the largest town in the area. Around these rivers is a mixture of farmland and protected tropical forest. It’s in these vast swaths of humid jungle that a lot of environmental research takes place. Scientists and university students from around Costa Rica and the world come to study everything from birds, bats, and bees, to trees, ferns, snakes, frogs, and more. Luckily, most of the reserves also have trails for the casual nature enthusiast like us. We chose Tirimbina, a biological reserve, research center, and lodge near the small town of La Virgen, just outside of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui.

The Reserve

Tirimbina protects 345 hectares (852 acres) of pre-montane tropical forest which hosts a wide array of different ecosystems. What appealed to us were the easy-to-access network of trails, massive hanging bridge, and impressive birding statistics. Those of you who follow our blog know that we didn’t come to Costa Rica as birders, but now break out the binoculars at every fleeting chirp. Needless to say, we were ecstatic at the chance to see some of the 132 different species of feathered friends spotted on the property.

As soon as we entered Tirimbina, we understood why the nature viewing was so good. The area around the entrance had been planted with all sorts of fruiting trees and shrubs that attract wildlife, and the neighboring jungle was lush. We didn’t have to go far before seeing dozens of birds, including a Keel-billed Toucan, butterflies, some howler monkeys, and a sloth. Following the paths toward the river, we came to the hanging bridge. We’ve been on a lot of these bridges in Costa Rica, but this was one of the most impressive. It is really long, stretching about 200 meters (650 feet) over the raging Sarapiqui River, and has a spiral staircase halfway across that leads down to a small jungle-covered island.

 

 

Once we crossed the bridge, we continued on and explored the four trails, trekking across a smaller hanging bridge and through different levels of the forest. Along the paths, we were able to spot more birds like Blue-gray Tanagers, Broad-billed Mot Mots (our first sighting ever!), Passerini’s Tanagers, and different kinds of warblers and hummingbirds. We also saw some large (and creepy) spiders, the tracks of a jungle cat, leaf-cutter ants, some frogs, an iguana, bullet ants, and many spectacular trees and plants.

Tips: Tirimbina has 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) of trails. Our favorite was the Corteza because it was the most remote. With the exception that trail, which goes deeper into the jungle, the trails are fairly flat and good for all fitness levels and kids. It took us about three hours to explore the whole reserve. While the hike isn’t too difficult, we recommend closed-toe sneakers or hiking boots. We almost stepped on a bullet ant a couple of times and were glad to be wearing boots.

Just as we were crossing back over the river, an afternoon thunderstorm rolled in and brought more of the rain that is typical for this wet area of the country. As we hustled back to our room, we got to see the animals getting ready for the storm too. The howler monkeys began making their deep grunts, the sloth we saw earlier was hunkering down under a branch, and the birds were calling and taking roost in the treetops.

 

Cool frog we saw. Anyone know what it is?

 

The Lodge

The lodge at Tirimbina is surrounded by rainforest, and we loved being able to roll out of bed and explore the trails around the garden before anyone else arrived. Something else we liked was Tirimbina’s commitment to the environment. Costa Rica has a lot of eco-lodges but sometimes it’s questionable how eco-friendly they actually are. The lodge at Tirimbina used an onsite bio-digester for wastewater, solar hot water system for the rooms, and composted, recycled, and encouraged energy efficiency—something you don’t see everywhere. They also work with area schools to teach local kids about conservation.

Tirimbina has two types of rooms for non-researchers. We recommend the cute deluxe rooms over the very simple standard ones for a more comfortable stay. With a reservation you are also given free access to the trails and a nice breakfast the next day.

 

Trail in the gardens at Tirimbina

 

After chowing down some gallo pinto (rice and beans with eggs), we hit the road to start our journey back to Lake Arenal. Our visit to Sarapiqui had been amazing—we loved exploring this ecologically rich area of Costa Rica—but on the way home, it got even better. We were lucky enough to happen across a magnificent hidden waterfall. If you’re ever driving from Sarapiqui or Poas volcano towards La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano, be sure to check out Catarata del Toro. It was one of our favorite waterfalls in Costa Rica!

Thanks to Tirimbina Lodge for helping to compensate our stay. As always, our opinions are our own. We really enjoyed our experience!

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde

 

Catarata del Toro: A Hidden Gem in Costa Rica

If you’re visiting Poas volcano or the northern lowlands around Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, be sure to take a day trip to the stunning Catarata del Toro. We happened upon this little known waterfall on a recent road trip and were so pleased we did. It’s the largest waterfall we’ve seen in Costa Rica, with a 90 meter (300 foot) drop, and definitely one of the most interesting as it flows into an extinct volcanic crater. Below is everything you need to know to plan your visit.

 

Location

Catarata del Toro is located near the tiny town of Bajos del Toro in the remote mountains north of Costa Rica’s Central Valley. The waterfall abuts Poas Volcano, but due to road conditions is best accessed from the north, making it a good stop if you’re traveling to or from Tortuguero or Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui and Arenal Volcano.

Getting There

The turnoff to the falls is located between the towns of San Miguel to the east and Venecia to the west. Coming from Route 140, take Route 708 south towards Bajos del Toro/Sarchi Sur. Signage is not great, but there is a small sign for the waterfall near the turnoff. The 14 kilometer drive on Route 708 is along a beautiful, mountainous road (duration: about 25 minutes). This area of Costa Rica gets a lot of rain, and although the road is paved, it is steep in places and does get washed out, so be careful.

The Hike to the Waterfall

Like a lot of waterfalls in Costa Rica, access to Catarata del Toro is through private property so you have to pay to visit ($10). The upside is that someone is maintaining the access trail and there are facilities/bathrooms and parking available. You can leave your car safely in their lot, hit the trail, and even grab some food or a drink at the on-site restaurant afterwards.

The waterfall is part of a huge 250 acre (100 hectare) reserve of primary rainforest. The main trail meanders through the jungle, taking you to a few viewpoints where you’ll want to grab some shots of the waterfall at different angles. You’ll probably see some wildlife too because this area sees very little foot traffic. On our short visit, we saw an armadillo, blue morpho butterfly, and lots of birds.

 

Trail leading to the waterfall

 

After about 15 minutes of hiking on fairly flat terrain, you start to go down—and fast. There are 375 steps to the base of the waterfall. The first set are sturdy concrete, but they get rougher the farther you go, turning into uneven earthen steps by the end. We were happy that we wore our hiking boots, but heavy duty sandals like Merrells would be okay too.

Tip: This hike is difficult, especially coming back up. There are a lot of steps and they’re not all even. It took us about an hour to get up and down but would take longer if you need to take a lot of breaks. Not sure about the hike? Don’t fret. The view of the falls from right outside the restaurant is great too so you can just as easily enjoy it while kicking back with a lemonade.

If you do make it to the bottom, you’ll be rewarded with a close view of the 90 meter (300 foot) waterfalls plummeting into an extinct volcanic crater. The unique rock formations and streaks of color caused by old lava flows and the strange chemical composition of the water are even more remarkable from this vantage point.

 

 

The Hummingbirds

The waterfall is reason enough to visit the reserve but another awesome feature are the hummingbirds. The owners of the reserve have set up hummingbird feeders along the edge of the restaurant that attract hundreds of these tiny birds. We were amazed at the number on our visit, all zipping around within a few feet of our heads. If you’re into bird photography, you will be in heaven here!

Check out this short clip to see what we mean.

Catarata del Toro claims to be Costa Rica’s best kept secret and it delivers. We’ve seen a lot of waterfalls in Costa Rica, and while the Nauyaca are still probably our favorite, this one is a very close second. So if you’re looking to get off the beaten path in Costa Rica and have a couple hours to spare, be sure to take a detour to Catarata del Toro. You won’t regret it.

What’s the most spectacular waterfalls you’ve ever seen?

Post by: Matthew Houde and Jennifer Turnbull-Houde