Costa Rica - the southern Pacific coast

 After all of our scurrying around the country, we decided that we needed to slow down and relax in this tropical environment before heading home.  We chose the small coastal communities of Domincal and Uvita.  Dominical is a laid back hippy village with dreadlocked surfers and craft vendors lining the dirt beach road.  But it is also attracting the rich expatriate crowd who build luxurious villas on the hillside above.  It was in one of these amazing villas that we found ourselves relaxing for two nights; thanks to a last minute booking.com steal.  We couldn’t get enough of the surroundings; the jungle lined crescent beach and the constant rhythm of cresting waves.  It was a treat to make our own breakfasts in such an amazing setting.

We hated to leave the villa, but we moved down the road a few miles to the town of Uvita which borders Marino Ballenas Park and hosts a sizable expatriate population with its amenities.  It is still relatively laid back compared to some of the big beach towns along the coast.  We stayed in a very nice boutique hotel owned by a couple who just moved from Toronto.  We were the only guests for two nights and we ended up having some long conversations with our very kind hosts.  We took a couple of trips to the whale’s tail; one at high tide and one at low tide.  It is a bit of a surreal experience to stand in the surf as waves come at you from both sides.  The tail is composed of a rocky shelf met with crashing waves and tide pools.  Staying in an expat community enabled us to enjoy Thai food and an authentic Italian pizzeria with Papa working the earthen wood fire oven.  We even got to experience a tropical downpour one evening.  It was with mixed emotions that we made our way north to Liberia on our last day; sorry to say goodbye to the beautiful Costa Rican country but a little anxious to get home.

Volcanoes, cloud forests and jungle

 

It was a long, slow, winding drive to La Fortuna; but we enjoyed every bit of it.  Seeing the beautiful countryside, towns and local Costa Ricans doing life is an adventure in itself.  The last couple of hours of the drive were along the shores of Lake Arenal with views of the cloud shrouded volcano Arenal.  Before checking into our hotel, we got the details from the guide company for our overnight trek across the mountains.  The town of La Fortuna is the tourist hub of Costa Rica with a much larger European presence than the Pacific beaches.  Our hotel had a nice view of the volcano.  

We left on our two day hike around noon with our guide Franklin who had lived alone in  the mountains for ten years.  We weren’t sure about this stout older man in knee high white rubber boots, but he proved to be a knowledgeable mountain stud. So off we went with 2 other Americans 3 Germans and 1 French woman on a 20km hike through the mountains with an overnight stop in a rustic mountain shelter.  It wasn’t long before we forded a small river and then started the 3000 ft. climb through tropical forest.  Our Camino legs have gone rusty, and we lagged a little behind the younger crowd.  Our guide filled us in with forest information: natural insect repellent, edible termites and plants.  The shelter was even more rustic than we envisioned; wooden bunks with thin foam and old soiled sleeping bags and pillows.  We even had a huge hole in the floor with bare earth and who knows what else lurking underneath the shelter.  The candlelight dinner was cooked on a traditional wood stove by our 75 year old host.  His two dogs kept the wild animals at bay all night long with barking.  Of the ten hours that we laid on our hard bunk, we maybe got four hours of sleep.  The next morning we absorbed the amazing view of volcano and surrounding mountains and tanked up on beans, rice and eggs for some more hiking.  The camaraderie with the others reminded of nights on the Camino.  The rest of the hike took us to ridges and open meadows with fantastic views and into the cloud forest of Monteverde and the town of Santa Elena. The hardest part of the trip was the 4 hour impossibly bumpy van ride back to La Fortuna.

The next morning, before leaving the area, we took a hike through a forested park with swinging bridges.  We enjoyed the leisurely stroll through the amazing forest.  Then we drove six hours through the highlands and down the southern coast to the famed Manuel Antonio National Park.  Getting a mandatory online ticket to a guided tour proved quite taxing.  With much anticipation we entered the park which made TSA entry look like a breeze.  However, the experience was very disappointing.  Throngs of tourist bumping into each other, trying to look through their guides telescope at a tiny lizard or camouflaged bird soon got old.  We did see a few monkeys and some balls of fur real high in the trees that were supposed to be sloths.  The picturesque twin beaches were packed with people and the only eating was allowed in a large cage.  For the record, we don’t recommend Manuel Antonio Park; it is overhyped.

Costa Rica - Nicoya Peninsula

 

We arrived in Liberia, Costa Rica about twelve hours later than scheduled.  Our Alaska flight from Seattle landed on time in LAX but sat on the tarmac for an hour waiting for an empty gate.  We consequently missed our flight to Liberia.  Instead, we caught the red eye that night.  Alaska Airlines did put us up in a hotel for the afternoon, so we got a little rest after canceling a hotel and rescheduling our car rental.  As it turned out, we were able to transition to Costa Rica better In the morning light. Our original scheduled flight would have necessitated renting a car and finding our beach hotel 30 miles away in the dark in a strange new environment.  Instead we were able to rent the car, go to the city, get some supplies and a Costa Rican SIM card and make it out to our hotel by 11am and checked in early.

Our first day was spent in Playa del Coco.  The small town has a mixture of northern retirees, along with local and international tourists. The bay was filled with anchored excursion boats; and while we walked the beach, we watched tourists clumsily board small boats in the surf. A tropical sunset and beach side dinning topped off our first Costa Rican day.  The next day we beach hopped, stopping for a quick stroll and photos at each one. Hermosa, Flamingo and Conchal beaches all had a different feel.  Our favorite was Conchal with its white shell ‘sand’.  Our hotel in Tamarindo was very nice.  It was a Best Western, but nothing like a US BW.  It was more like a luxurious beach hotel with an economy price.  We enjoyed cooling off in the pool and some relaxed reading. The town and beach in Tamarindo was bustling with tourists from around the world.  We walked by a lot of fancy restaurants and boutiques to a crowded night market and ate paella on a paper plate standing by the street.  A balmy beach walk in the dark brought us back to our hotel.

The Nicoya Peninsula is one of five ‘blue zones’ in the world. (highest percentage of centenarians) We are hoping to catch the vibe! The beach towns on the southern part of the Nicoya Peninsula are remote and hard to access, and the Waze directional app didn’t want to cooperate with our desire to stay on the coast.  Consequently, we spent hours back tracking roads as we visited Samara and then on to Santa Teresa.  We saw a lot of beautiful country, rural backroads, small towns and jungled hills.  We arrived in Santa Teresa for our two night stay at a boutique hotel between the busy street and the beach.  Santa Teresa is a unique tourist destination.  The main street is a third world dusty rutted dirt road with open drainage, lined with expensive restaurants and boutiques.  The traffic is comprised of gen Z tourists on noisy rented motorcycles and four wheelers with surf boards attached.  Pedestrians have to jockey there way over ditches beside rushing traffic.  We walked five miles on the sandy beaches dotted with occasional rocks and a sea stack. Surfers and their groupies permeate the beach, but private sections could still be found.  We spent a full day in Santa Teresa, walking, swimming and lounging.  On Sunday we headed to the mountains for new adventures but stopped in Montezuma for breakfast.  This small beach community has a hippie feel.  The rocky coast must keep the surfers away!  

Florida Gulf Coast

With our remaining time in Florida, we explored the western shores along the Gulf Coast.  After crossing the Everglades again, we stopped in Naples, with a quick peek at the downtown and beach.  The downtown seemed a bit more swanky than we anticipated.  Next, we scooted up the coast to Fort Meyers and ended a long day of driving from Key West.  The next morning, we drove out to Fort Meyers Beach for a beach walk.  There were a surprising amount of people enjoying the sun and warmth, the most crowded beach we had seen so far on the trip. We also checked out Sanibel Island and Captiva Beach.  We couldn't find any public parking at Captiva, but we had a nice walk on Bowman Beach. In the afternoon, we drove up to Sarasota where motel prices were through the roof for some reason.  We ended up in an overpriced Super8 which was a disappointing dive.  That didn't stop us from enjoying the waterfront park and a good ramen dinner in the trendy downtown. 

The next morning we drove out to Siesta Key and walked again before driving north across the mouth of Tampa Bay to St. Pete's Beach where we found a small fixed up retro motel with a patio and pool.  We really enjoyed this cute little motel and the vibe of the area-a little more laid back, and a little quieter.  We even ate dinner in the room, snagging some frozen dinners at a grocery. store nearby.  Deciding to slow down a little and stay in the area, we tried to reserve another night, but it was booked. So we searched for another option nearby in Madeira Beach and scored on a beachfront room on the fourth floor.  Between check out and check in, we drove up to Clearwater Beach. We spent a lot of time either walking the beach or enjoying the balcony and absorbing the warmth.  Our last day we drove into Tampa.  We walked the downtown waterfront park and then found a motel near the airport, where we got to bed early for our early morning flight back to Seattle.

Florida's National Parks and Key West

Using our motel in Florida City as our base, we visited Bascayne and Everglades National Parks.  In the morning we drove East to Biscayne.  This park is almost exclusively a marine sanctuary that can only be explored by boat our diving, but there is a corner of it on land.  It was enough to have a visitor center with lots of info and a stamp for Esther's passport.  We also took a short hike along the mangrove coastline.  Next, we zipped back west and spent the bulk of the day in the Everglades.  Fortunately, a kind ranger let us in for free despite leaving our forever pass at home.  We really liked the Anhinga Trailhead, watching an alligator chasing birds unsuccessfully.  Determined to make it to Flamingo, we took the long drive.  The landscape of the Everglades looks a lot like African savanna, only there is a gigantic shallow river slowly flowing through all the tall grass.  We caught a late lunch in Flamingo and Ellen got bitten alive by mosquitoes.  On a later day, we also stopped at Big Cypress National Preserve and saw throngs of large alligators.

We spent two nights in Key West in a two bedroom guesthouse centrally located to all the attractions.  Our car stayed parked the whole time.  This was Esther and my third trip to Key West, but we still found new things to see.  Our favorite attraction was Hemingway's House and the six toed (polydactyl) cats. Besides getting a glimpse of the colorful author's life, we got to be entertained by the properties 59 cats. Of course we walked to the southernmost US point and Mallory Square sunset.  We endured Duval St. with its raucous atmosphere.  The ubiquitous roosters and chickens kept the town cleared of crumbs. We had hoped to make it to Dry Tortugas National Park, but the fully booked $240 per person ferry ride prevented that from happening. We really enjoyed our accommodations, despite a loud party next door that kept Ellen peaking out the window until 1:00.