Dave and Dr. Seuss

This photo sequence needs music.  Try playing Yakety Sax for the high speed experience.  Or Henry Mancini for a more relaxed ambiance.  Let us know in the comments which you like best.  Be sure to adjust your scrolling speed for maximum enjoyment.

Border Run 2: The Final Chapter

Our second full day at the Poás Lodge began with breakfast, of course.  But this time it was prepared by Jimmie.  Stephan left early to take Dave and Gina to the airport.  
Note to Stephan:  Jimmie can cook, so don't let him make you think he can't.

Today we were heading down into the valley directly below the lodge.  All the cool little towns we could see from the comfort of our room were on the agenda for the day - Grecia, Sarchi, and Zarcero.  Each town is known for a specialty thing or two, so we had a full plate of adventure planned.

I've mentioned before how Central America isn't big on signage.  There are very few road signs on the main roads or highways, or the byways and country roads that meander from town to town.  And once you get into a town, there are seldom street signs or 'Welcome to (insert town name here)!' to tell visitors they've arrived at an intended destination.  Driving from town to town, one may encounter many small villages that are not on any map.  'Is this the town we were looking for?'  'Maybe - not sure - I don't know.'

The most effective way we've found to navigate a town, regardless of size, is to drive around until we find the parque central and work from there.  This is where most every town starts numbering their calles (streets) and avenidas (avenues).  Once one finds the park, the rest usually falls into place.  

What I am trying to say is that we got lost - a lot.  

We own an awesome map of Costa Rica, one that shows all the roads and has insets for each region.  Yeah, except we inadvertently forgot to bring it on this trip.  In fact, you can see by the Garmin map link that, by days end, we logged over 100 miles, probably a quarter of which was backtracking to get unlost.  Or is it dislost?  Hmmm…

We had a great day, however.  One thing we've learned being down here is to rely on one another when things are going... not according to plan.  Laugh it off, make self-deprecating 'stoopid turists' jokes and carry on.  It gets tense once in a while but for the most part, it's all good.  Our only requirement was to be back to the lodge before dark.

The first place we hit was Grecia.  This is a neat little town with one very unique and historical attraction.  The unrivaled star of Grecia is the church.  Check it out:

Beautiful stone and stucco construction, nice symmetry and a clock in the tower that actually works!  Yes, all true - except for the 'stone and stucco' part.  You see, this church is unique in that it's made of… metal.

The Iglesia de la Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes was pre-fabbed in Belgium and shipped over in the 1890's.  We knew it was metal but we didn't really notice it until we got up close.  It's funny to rap on the side and hear it clang.  The priest conducting mass at the time didn't think it was very funny but... whatever.

Just outside of Grecia is the Puente de Piedra, a natural stone bridge.  The link provided is to another blog with some great pictures and the legend of how the bridge was built.  We pulled over and tried to get some photos but it was so overgrown from every direction that we couldn't get any decent shots without taking a machete to the brush.

I did get this awesome picture of the sign, however.

After driving for quite a ways, realizing it was the wrong direction, then backtracking to get on the correct road, we made for the town of Sarchi.  This bustling town is home to a couple of stellar attractions:  hand-made furniture and painted oxcarts.  Sarchi's proximity to the metropolitan area brings in locals and tourists alike to check out the expertly crafted wooden furniture made by local artists.  Want a beautiful four post, kingsize canopy bed?  They have them.  In the market for a dining room set that features a 16 foot long table with enough matching chairs to seat the entire extended family?  No problem.  

As we drove through town, there were countless signs for Toad Hall stores selling muebles (furniture).  Amazing stuff, beautiful pieces of art, really, doubling as furniture.  There are so many stores it made us wonder how they do enough business to make it work.  Kinda like mattress stores in the US.  As we've said, CR is expensive, so prices on the pieces we saw were plenty steep.  Of course, this particular furniture would last a lifetime and could be considered an investment.

Sarchi is also know for it's long and fabled history of carretas (oxcarts).  Back in the mid-1800's when coffee farming was just getting started, the only means of moving handpicked coffee beans from the fields and over the mountains to the coast for export was to transport them in these sturdy carts drawn by a team of oxen.  People painted them in elaborate colors and designs as a status symbol, a way to communicate their family's success.  The carts are typically 4-6 feet long, 3-4 feet wide, but on display in the parque central is the 'World's Largest Oxcart'.  In yer face, Cawker City, Kansas, USA.  

All over town, you see the 'painted oxcart' motif, too.  The towns' garbage receptacles, street light poles, business signs, sports fields scoreboards, etc. - all painted in the same style as the carretas.  It is Sarchi's identity, hands down - their version of 'put a bird on it'.

To provide some perspective, the wheels on this cart are taller than me - D

PS - I would hate to clean up after the oxen that pull this baby.

Put a carreta on it!

Like almost all Latin American towns, adjacent to the central park (and here in Sarchi, the ginormous oxcart) is, of course, Sarchi's main church.  Although grand in its own way, this one is not as unique as the church in Grecia.  I include a photo of it only because the clock in this one also works!  Seriously, it is indeed rare to find a functioning clock in any of the old churches down here!  Today we were two for two!

11:13-ish?

After Sarchi, we continued on down the road to Zarcero.  Our last stop for the day, this town is known for a couple of things - its church (of course) and a very unusual parque central.  It's a picturesque town of about 5,000 people, many who have adopted organic farming practices on their fincas - highly unusual for farms in this part of the world.

First, the church.  This amazing brick structure is well known for its unusual color.  In fact, Zarcero is one of the few towns we've visited that actually had a 'welcome' sign as we entered town and the church is featured prominently on the billboard.  I am sad to report that the clock in this church did not work.  Still, two outta three ain't bad.

As we walked around the building, we noticed that the bricks were held in place in a rather strange way.

Rivets?!?!  What the hell?

Tap, tap - clang, clang...

Yes, folks - another metal church, Zarcero's version painted to look like brick.  Unlike Grecia's church of prefabricated panels, fitted and welded piece by piece, this one seemed to be sheet metal laid over an underlying material then riveted and tacked into place.  It's beautifully done.  In fact, we were completely unaware that this church was metal until we got about 3/4 of the way around it and Bex! noticed the rivets!

Here is a link to an article about Zarcero, with some good pictures of the inside of the recently renovated church and its hand-painted ceiling.  The write up also talks about the Dr. Seuss-ian topiary in the parque central.  It was done by Evangelisto Blanco, also known as Señor Scissorhands.  No, seriously - that's his nickname.  It's quite trippy, as you can see.

Dali-eqsue arches abound.

Peek-a-boo!

There was more traditional non-topiary artwork as well, such as this mosaic.

And these snazzy painted trashcans

The grotto behind the church

Artistic shot of the day.

After taking in Zarcero, we grabbed lunch at a roadside comedor just outside of town, then drove back to the lodge.  It was a very long day and we were pretty worn out.  However, I got my second wind when Stephan read my mind about what I was going to have for dinner.

"Burger, with bacon, cheese and a fried egg, right?"  "OMG, how did you do that?!"  "I could just tell."  It was amazing, too.  Jaw-unhinged-to-eat incredible.  That evening, we again enjoyed the fireside visiting with the guys, and Gertie and Don.  The latter two were zeroing in on a house they liked, which was very exciting.  Gertie had pictures on her iPad and it definitely looked like a nice place to live out retirement.

We had more exploration plans for the next day, but we admitted that we had  had enough of being in the car, so decided to enjoy a down day at the lodge instead.  Looking through the windows at the valley was more appealing than looking through the windshield at the roads.  We blogged and caught up on emails, played Parcheesi and unwound.  Bex! won most of the Parcheesi games, utilizing the special 'Fuller family rules' to her benefit at every turn.

We walked down the road a short distance to have lunch at a nearby restaurant.  Cloudy and windy, but with no rain, the walk seemed like a good idea.  We had our rain jackets but only to buffer the wind.  Not 50 meters from the lodge, the sky opened up and we were pretty drenched by the time we got to the restaurant!  The wind was blowing the rain sideways!  The weather was much more cooperative for the walk back.

We were looking forward to dinner this evening!  There were other guests at the lodge but they had been informed that the restaurant was closed for dinner this particular evening.  Stephan was making wiener schnitzel and serving family style.  Now, Gertie is from Germany - in fact, she and Don still visit regularly, as do the boys.  We were told that Gertie makes a mean wiener schnitzel but that Stephan's version out-schnitzels Gertie's.  All we can say is that it was delicious.  Made not with true veal (cruel!) but with meat from a young cow nonetheless, it was tender, breaded, and fried to perfection.  It was an amazing evening with our Costa Rican family and we topped it off with some wonderful scratch made brownies that were served with whipped cream and a little vanilla ice cream.  Heavenly.

Alas, the next day we said our goodbyes and headed down the hill to San Jose.  Once again, we'd like say how grateful we are to Jimmie and Stephan.  The hospitality they showed us made us feel like part of the family.  It was a pleasure to get to know Don and Gertie, as well.  Fine people, all of them - and if you're ever in the area, pay them a visit.  You won't be sorry.

After driving small country back roads during the course of our week, driving into San Jose was a little nerve-racking.  We are happy to report that we got the car fueled up and dropped off at the Alamo office without incident!  (Because getting lost doesn't count as 'an incident')  We saw our car rental buddy, Diego, and we talked about where we'd been this time around.  From there, we hefted backpacks and walked down the Paseo Colón to our hotel.  As it turns out, this is our new favorite place to stay in SJ!  

The Hostel Casa Colon is the perfect location and a very nice place to be.  Yes, it's a hostel and they do have more typical hostel-y rooms.  We opted for a private room with bath, and it was very comfortable.  The building itself is unique looking, with a turret rising up 2+ floors that includes the entry to the premises and houses the wide, spiral staircase to the upper floors.  It was too early to check in but they stored our bags for us so we could run a couple of errands.  First, we walked the three blocks toward the Tica Bus station, just so we knew where it was for our early departure the next day.  We enjoyed lunch near the square the cathedral is on, sitting at the window on the second floor so we could watch the hustle and bustle of the city and the endless stream of people heading in every which direction.  Then we hit the grocery store for road snacks and a few items we have only found in the city - crushed red pepper flakes and earl grey tea, mostly.

Our errands complete yet still too early to check in, we bought sodas and strolled through Sabana Park.  Finally, we got our room, fired up the AC, the TV, and the wifi to while away the afternoon.  This hostel's location is primo because it's located close to the bus station, as mentioned.  It's also perfect because it's close to our fave little Italian restaurant, The Corner Pizzeria.  We found this place during our last visit and it will be on the short list any time we're in San Jose.  Situated in an old home a block off the busy main drag, the subtle lighting and casual atmosphere here, coupled with great wine, delicious salads and amazing, thin crust pizzas = a perfect 'last night of vacation' date with my wife.

We had opted for the early bus heading north out of San Jose, in hopes of getting all the way back to Merida in one day.  We went downstairs for the included breakfast and - no one was around.  They start serving at 6 AM, which was perfect for us.  Where oh where was the… ah, there she is!  We woke the cook up, who was sleeping on the couch in the lobby, and she sheepishly went to work on our food.  After breakfast, we checked out - by which we mean we left the keys on the reception counter since no one was around - and walked to the bus station.

We know the routine by now:  we got in one line to pay our exit taxes, then took that receipt to the counter so they could check our passports and tickets, got our customs forms for the border crossing, then we waited for boarding.  Like last time, the bus trip north seemed like it went really fast.  We got through the Costa Rica side quickly, then through the Nicaragua bag inspection lickety-split.  Then... it all slowed to a crawl, waiting for the passports to be processed to enter Nicaragua.  Maybe they were scrutinizing a certain someones passport again!?  Oy.  We waited and waited for quite a while, and finally were on our way.

Again, the short drive from Peñas Blancas to Rivas flew by and, the next thing we knew, we were being assaulted by all the taxi and pedicab drivers wanting to take us to wherever we were going!  Good lord, it was chaotic!  To make matters worse, it was a national holiday so our plan to hit the liberia for printer paper was thwarted.  Drats!  We held off the damn drivers long enough to discuss our options.  We really needed paper, so one option was to stay the night in Rivas and hope we could find a liberia open on Sunday.  Instead, we decided to still get home today, so we culled one driver from the herd and had him bring us to the port so we could catch the ferry home.

We had arranged a ride with Adolfo, the property manager who tends to our place.  We stopped by the mini-super for supplies (wine, peanut butter, tomato paste) and headed around the island for home.  During the course of the drive, we worked out a solution for our paper needs.  Adolfo would buy four reams for us, put it on the chicken bus and have Hamilton or Don Celso meet the bus when it passed through Merida to retrieve our paper.  Yep, this is how things get done here.  (Note:  It worked beautifully!  Monday evening, Don Celso came by with our paper!)

We were very tired after our early start and long travel day but we were very glad we made the decision to get all the way back home.  Shortly after we arrived and got windows opened up, Yosslyn (Hamilton's daughter) came over with dinner for us.  People here look out for us and this was yet another expression of that.  Hamilton and his family knew we would be exhausted.  We had fried fish smothered with stewed veggies, rice and tostones - and they even brought a bottle of Coke for us, too.  It meal was fantastic!

Welcome home dinner, provided by our dear friends.

We unpacked just what we needed to clean up before going to bed - the rest could wait.  It was another great travel experience for us.  Everything went smoothly; we saw old friends and made some new ones; and we were now home safe.  Rejuvenated and excited for classes to start again!

Border Run 2: Chapter 3

After enjoying the waterfall hike in the morning, we left La Fortuna and drove around the east side of the cordillera (mountain range).  Gorgeous country, with steep, twisty, fun roads.  The ol' Yaris had trouble on the inclines, though.  At one point, we were chugging up the road and an oil tanker truck came barreling up behind us, wanting to pass.  Uphill, mind you.  He must have been empty, but it was still funny that the Yaris was impeding his progress!

The route we took brought us around the back side of Volcán Poás, past the La Paz Waterfall and the Peace Lodge, a high end resort associated with the private gardens that are home to the cascada.  Everything we've read says the falls and surrounding gardens are beautiful, but the entry fee of $38 per person prohibited these starving volunteer English instructors from going in!

We stopped at El Churrasco Hotel y Restaurante in Poásito for lunch.  The food was pretty damn good - I'd eat there again just for the cute little tortillas.

Creamy guacamole to start - and a lot of it!

After almuerzo, it was time to finish the days drive and reunite with the good friends we met on our last trip, Stephan and Jimmie, proprietors of the Poás Lodge.  Ahhh, the lodge.  I could just live here.  We can't say enough about this place.  Incredible views, cozy rooms, super comfortable beds and comforters.  And over-the-top hospitality.  And, yes, that says 'comforters' - it gets cold at night when you're at 8,000 feet!  The hummingbirds again put on quite a show, a constant display of aerial acrobatics, even in the gusty wind and intermittent rain.  Jimmie greeted us and showed us to our room.  Stephan was on his way back from a weekend beach getaway in Jaco with some visiting friends from Texas.  They showed up in the afternoon - we met Dave and Gina, and instantly liked them.  Especially Dave because a) his name was easy to remember and b) he brought bourbon.  

Hummingbird silhouette

In living color.

Waiting for more hummers.

That's no humming bird

On this visit to our Costa Rican home away from (our Nicaraguan) home, we had the pleasure and honor of also meeting Gertie and Don, mother and step-father of my Texas brothers.  Wonderful wonderful folks.  They were visiting Costa Rica because they are house hunting - Gertie wants to be closer to her boys; the boys want her close but not too close.  It's a tricky and delicate game, indeed.  

We were made to feel like a part of the family, which was such a great feeling.  We miss our families a lot so to be included in the familial banter, the good-natured trash talking, and the whole vibe was a ton of fun.  Spending time around Gertie made me think about my mom and how much I miss her.  Hanging with the boys helped me keep my skills honed for when I get back home to my family.  Very important, trust me.  Practice, practice, practice.

Ahhhhh, perfect.

Stephan and Jimmie had blocked out the hotel the first night, so it was just us, our hosts, David and Gina, Gertie and Don.  After another of Stephan's delicious dinners, we all relaxed by the fire, caught up on what's been happening in our respective lives and enjoyed a few drinks.  After our previous week of new territory, sights and experiences, it was nice to be in a familiar place where we could truly unwind.  Needless to say, we slept like babies that night.  That doesn't mean we woke up every two hours crying and hungry, by the way.  Quite the contrary.

We got up reasonably early the next morning, enjoyed breakfast and decided to take a shot at seeing Volcán Poás.  As you may recall we got shut out on our last visit in April due to a big storm blowing in from the Caribbean, up and over the volcano.  The weather wasn't looking perfect this morning, either.  But it's just 4k to the top so we thought we'd go check it out.  

The lady at the entrance gate said there was a 50/50 chance of us seeing anything worthwhile so we paid the fee and drove up to the visitors center to see what we could see.

'If the volcano erupts, run - then drive - as fast as you can.  Thanks - The Management'

The weather was cloudy with a misty rain falling.  There was a steady wind blowing that grew stronger as we walked the few hundred meters down the jungle lined path to the crater, the foliage providing a wind break for us.  

We detected that familiar volcanic sulfur smell and crossed our fingers.  Once we got to the viewpoint, we approached the railing and… and… and… clouds.  

Awww...

Drats.  The wind was much stronger here in the open, away from the trees, so we zipped up our jackets and made the call to wait it out.  We were encouraged by the wind that kept the clouds in constant motion, like a fan blowing curtains to and fro, allowing glimpses of what was behind.

What happened next was either Mother Nature playing nice or it was caused by the appearance of Gina and Dave.  As soon as they walked up and stepped to the rail, the wind picked up, swirled left and then right.  and like a curtain being drawn aside for a grand theatrical performance, the clouds swept away for a few minutes, allowing us a view of the crater below.

Thar be the Portal to Hell!

It was like Dave was channeling Mickey Mouse in 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice', with him immediately jumping on the opportunity to take credit for making it happen.   Smart dude.  You can see just how desolate the landscape is inside the crater.  The volcanic gasses bubbling up out of the water and fumes/steam billowing out are the source of that wonderful sulfuric odor.  It was truly awe-inspiring.

There is another crater, this one extinct, that is now a beautiful laguna.  There is a mirador (viewpoint) here, so we hiked up the trail.  The jungle is forever trying to take back the trails,  growing over the path, which makes it dark and spooky, the trees seemingly alive like in a Tim Burton cartoon or something out of Pan's Labyrinth.  

Do you believe in fauns and faeries?

Alas, the clouds had the laguna socked in, too.  The air was calm up here, perhaps blocked by the rain forest, so the clouds never parted.  Dave waved his arms maniacally to no avail.  The active crater was the primary objective, however, so our day was a huge success!  We walked back down the trail, with thoughts of checking the burbling crater for views one more time. 

This little guy stalked us most of the way down the trail, scampering ahead, then waiting.  Pretty sure he was hoping we would drop something edible!

The trip back to the crater's edge was for nought.  Too many clouds.  And without Dave to clear them, well…  

Oh, and since we couldn't see the laguna, we thought we'd pass off this representation:

No, really!  This is the laguna.  Honest!

Walking back to the car, we stopped to enjoy some of the amazing flora here…

THIS is the sombrilla de pobre (poor man's umbrella) - it's huge!

Later that day we went for lunch at Restaurante Colbert, the French place we dined at on our prior trip.  The drive there was delayed due to noon rush hour traffic, however.

Odd… all those horns yet no honking.  Huh.

The webpage for Colbert's is in Spanish but there are pics.  Plus you can peruse the menu, which is in French/Spanish/English.  Just like our experience before, it was a little surreal - two people from the US, who live in Nicaragua, enjoying authentic French food at a restaurant located on the slopes of an active volcano in Costa Rica.  

We got stuffed again with dinner at the lodge - Stephan knows no limits for portions (which is why I love him).  We again sat around the fire, each of us sharing what we'd done that day, Stephan sharing his bourbon.  Dave and Gina were leaving the next day and Stephan was taking them to the airport extremely early in the morning.  So, of course, we tried to make sure they all had plenty to drink.  Beer, bourbon - and gin and tonics for Bex!.  Actually, we ALL had plenty to drink!  We got the scoop from Gertie and Don about all the houses they had seen that day.  They had high hopes for a place or two.  It was a fun way to unwind after the day, with friends and a fire.

With Volcán Poás checked off the list, full bellies and a decent buzz it was time for bed!  We had more adventures planned for the next day!!

Border Run 2: Chapter 2

The bus ride from the Blue Dream Hotel back up to La Cruz was fine for us but wow was the bus struggling on the steep parts.  This particular bus runs pretty much all day and the driver definitely knew when to down shift.  It's a climb, for sure.  We got lucky yet again and only had a short wait at the terminal before a bus came through to whisk us off to Liberia.  We settled in and enjoyed the ride.  We had a good amount of traveling ahead of us today to get to our next stop, so the down time was nice.  Plus, we were heading into unexplored areas (for us, obvs) so we weren't sure what we might encounter.

Here is a map of the days travels:  Bahía Salinas to La Fortuna.

Soon enough we were in Liberia at the bus terminal and hopped in a cab to get us to the airport so we could pick up our rental wheels.  Being savvy travelers such as we are (ha), we caught the driver trying to scam us.  Travel tip:  before you get in a cab, it's best to negotiate the price first.  We did this, of course, the guy agreeing to 5,000 colones ($10) to take us and our backpacks to the Alamo office at the airport.  When we got there and were getting our bags out of the trunk, he asked for 6,000 colones ($12).  Bex! called him on it and thus he talked his way out of a tip.  I tell ya, nothing gets past my wife - although I am pretty adept at keeping her on her toes.

We did the paperwork and car inspection, then got directions to get us back on the Pan American Highway.  The vehicle we got this time was a Toyota Yaris.  Ah, the Yaris.  Talk about your crappy designs.  Seriously.  All of the important stuff - gas gauge, speedometer, idiot lights, etc. - are located, not in front of the driver, but instead in the middle of the dash.  So instead of glancing straight down to check speed, the driver has to look down and over to the right.  Really, it's no different than the driver checking the radio station or AC settings while driving.  Ridiculous.  Not sure what the point of this design is.  But - the Blazing Blue Pearl (yes, that's a color, apparently) Yaris would be our car for the week, so we made friends with it and only talked about the car when it was out of earshot.

Personally, I think the reason for the center console location of the important dash components must be for this person.

Once we got on the Pan Am we drove south to Cañas.  There was a lot of construction and, man, the road was rough.  We had forgone 4-wheel drive for this trip but joked that it would have been kinda nice - for the highway.  You know the one - the PRIMARY THOROUGHFARE for ALL traffic through Central America.  Yeah, that one.  We finally turned off the main road onto a much better side road through the country.  And beautiful country it is!  Rolling hills, small farms and ranches dot the countryside, lush green pastures.  Green, green green!  We stopped in the little town of Tilaran for lunch.  My travel agent had read about a little family-owned soda (diner) called Soda de Nilo.  Lunch was a casado (a Costa Rican typical lunch plate).  These meals come with a little bit of e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

You thought I was kidding?!

Let's start with the tomato wedge and go clockwise.  From the aforementioned tomato wedge we have shredded cabbage topped with cucumber and salad dressing; a chicken breast with sautéed onions; a tortilla; rice; spaghetti in red sauce with diced chicken; and mashed potatoes.  And don't forget the bowl of black beans.  Plus I had a blueberry smoothie to tie it all together.  Bex! had a smoothie made with cas, a tropical fruit that we've only ever seen in CR, never in Nicaragua.  She said it tasted citrus-y, a little herbal - and she quite liked it.  During lunch, we watched the first part of a World Cup match between Holland and Brazil, for third place - which is kinda pointless.  Even the players looked disinterested.

After lunch we continued on toward La Fortuna, which would be our home base for the next couple of days.  We rounded a corner and pulled off the road to take in the magnificence of Lake Arenal.  This natural wonder was formed millions of years ago during the Jurrasi…  What?  Readers, excuse me for a minute.  (I'm blogging here!  What's so important?!  Okay, what about Lake Arenal?  Wha… no way.  Seriously?  Crap.)  (ahem) Lake Arenal was formed when they built a dam in the '70's.  There was a small lake here before then but the dam created this baby.  In fact, the town of Arenal was relocated and renamed Nuevo Arenal (New Arenal) and the town of Tonadora was, well, just left to be covered with water.  Progress!

Tonadora is just right down there… under about 50 meters of water.

Volcán Arenal is magnificent!  Steep slopes, perfect conical shape and, until October 2010, extremely active.  It reawakened in 1968 and for 42 years put on a helluva show.  In fact, the entire area's tourism was built around the volcano.  Constant lava, ash, and gas emissions were a huge draw.  Most of the hotels were built facing the lava-y slope so at night people could see the red glow from the flow.  The volcanic activity has ceased but the tourist activity has not.  It's still a beautiful area to visit.  Partly because there is real beer!

The Lake Arenal Hotel and Brewery is a cool spot overlooking the lake.  They have 21 rooms, a huge restaurant, banquet/meeting spaces - and a microbrewery.  Lake Arenal Brewery (LAB) is a small operation but judging by the beers we tried, a well done venture.  I had their pale ale, which was just on the edge of being an IPA.  Quite delicious, especially after months of Imperial and my beloved Toña.  Bex! took the servers suggestion and blended the pale ale with their brown ale and it was very good, also.  We tasted the brown ale solo and it was good, although neither of us is a fan of the style in general.  The restaurant space here is huge and sprawling.  Definitely a gringo enterprise, with not much in the way of local art or design.  Being inside here, we could have been Anywhere, USA.  And $5 a pint!  Yeah - five bucks.  I can get buzzed in my little village bar for $5.  Don't get me wrong - it's a neat space but not very Latin American.  

And now I step upon my soapbox for a brief interlude to discuss 'marketing'.  The drive around Lake Arenal is a scenic one, or should be, the road dipping and climbing, zigging and zagging around the contours of the lake.  You can catch glimpses of the majestic namesake volcano here and there.  There are many businesses along the road and the drive is a nice day trip for tourists and locals alike from La Fortuna and other nearby towns.  One of the businesses on the lake is a place called Toad Hall.  It's a hotel/restaurant/family fun center/souvenir shop.  I refuse to put a link in this blog because of the way they single-handedly ruin the drive around the lake with their signs.  Literally every 50-75 meters there is a sign advertising for this place.  Even on the road leading to the lake we saw signs, although not as prevalent.  But the loop around the lake?  Incessant signage!  And not even professionally done signs.  These things are spray painted gold backgrounds with spray painted red lettering and seem to be made of every piece of scrap wood, plastic and garbage they could get their hands on.  Okay, points for recycling.  "Oh, look honey - it's another car hood on the side of the road.  That's weird.  Oh, wait - it's another goddamn sign for Toad Hall."  Every wide spot in the road, places where you may hope to get a view of the lake or the volcano has a damn sign propped up with pallets or tree branches.  Bex! wrote a review of them on Trip Advisor stating that we refused to stop there because of the way their marketing was vomited all along what should have been a scenic drive.  There are other reviews stating the same complaints and the few the owner has responded to are defensive and unprofessional.  The owner accuses negative reviewers of being employees of competing businesses.  Anyway, if I ever find out you were in Costa Rica and visited this abomination, you are dead to me.  Thank you.

And now, a fun game for our loyal readers.  How many Toad Hall signs can you spot in this video? 

We cut off the lake road toward La Fortuna, grimacing at the continuous reminders that we had 'missed Toad Hall/thanks for visiting.'  We got into town and, after venturing the wrong way down a one way street (oops!) we found our hostel.  Our reservation at The Sleeping Indian, made through a third party site, had not been received but fortunately they had a room available for us.  This place is great!  Our room was roomy and clean, with a private bath and hot water.  The common area was like a large living room or den and they have a small balcony overlooking the quiet street below and the parque central just a block over.

One of the staff gave us excellent culinary advice on where we could go for dinner, making several suggestions.  We ended up going to Kappa Sushi, just a couple of blocks from the hostel.  We thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful change of pace.  So much so, in fact, that we went back the next day for dinner again!  They keep it simple here, with just a few types of excellently prepared fish, good sized rolls and great service.

(drool...)

(… more drool…)

The next day we got up early and drove back toward the lake for a canopy tour along a trail interconnected by 15 hanging bridges.  (Here is a map of the drive to the location and the walk.)  Waterfalls, a little rain and a lot of quiet.  When we arrived, we were one of only a few cars in the parking lot.  When we left, the lot was darn near full, including half a dozen tour buses.  Getting an early start paid off in full!  Crossing the first bridge, we had to squeeze by a small group who was with a guide.  In the course of passing them, the lens cap came off Bex!'s camera and fell down below the bridge.  Oy.  We waited and acted busy while the tour group passed us, then we started hunting for the cap.   Boom - spotted it and it was accessible, but only if rules were broken.  Specifically the one about not leaving the trail for any reason.  I acted as lookout and Bex! returned to the head of the bridge, snuck around the pillar and scampered down to retrieve the cap, while I guided her from above.  Success!  She also jaywalks, too, by the way.

Booby was none too thrilled be dragged out on this excursion.

What is Bex! doing?  She's going to get us kicked out!

High about the river.  My sister would love this!  Right, Pat?!

Bex! crossing the Puente la Catarata, 92 meters across and 45 meters above the river.

Hmm, which way is the exit?

How did they get across before they built the bridge?

Birds of Paradise in their natural habitat.

On the way back to town, we stopped in at one of the hot springs for some soak time.  The water is heated by the volcano, so that makes it especially neat.  Just outside of La Fortuna, there are a bunch of hotels, everything from run of the mill to super swank.  Like I said, the volcano is the draw that brings tourists from all over.  We chose a spot that was family friendly and cheap, rather than pay a steep fee to access one of the nicer, private spas or hotels.  It was fun, with many pools at different temperature ranges to choose from.  After relaxing for a while, we headed back to La Fortuna for lunch and soccer.

Another of the food recommendations we received was to enjoy 'the best patacones in Costa Rica' at Restaurante Don Rufino.  Spot on suggestion!  Made of plantains that are sliced into rounds, fried, smashed, fried again and topped with cheese or meat, patacones are a delicious snack, widely available in Central America and especially tasty when paired with beer.  We didn't find them on the menu, however.  Not to be thwarted, we asked our server 'Tienes patacones?'  'Si, claro!'  Excellent!  These babies were off the hook delicious!  Topped with refried beans, cheese, guacamole and  speck ham - OMG.

I want to go to there.

Today was also the championship match for the World Cup, with underdog Argentina facing the robotic precision of Germany.  We walked around town to find a spot to watch the match.  Yeah, good luck.  All the cool little dive bars we had scoped out earlier were now packed.  So we wandered back to Don Rufino's and sat at the outdoor bar.  It was perfect, actually, even when the sky opened up and started dumping buckets of rain.  That lasted until the overhang covering us started leaking, however.  But the bartender found us a spot inside at the bar, so we watched the rest of the game and had a great time rooting for Argentina.  The staff was cheering for Germany, so that made for some humorous interaction!

After the match, we enjoyed sushi for the second time in two days then went back to the hostel and chilled in the comfortable common area.  We mapped out the next morning's adventure and packed for our departure the next day.

Right outside of town about 6 kilometers is the La Fortuna Waterfall.  This is a very cool hike, with 471 stairs leading down down down to the cascada.  It's gorgeous and worth the effort, as you can see.

Heading down a stretch of the 471 steps. 

This is not the sombrilla de pobre (poor man's umbrella).  It is, however, the destitute man's umbrella.

Now, where's the zip line?

This is not the waterfall you're looking for...

Because of its proximity to town, there were quite a few people here but it was no big deal, with plenty of room to maneuver.  It was misty which kept it cool, even though the humidity had us sweating pretty good!  Once we got to the bottom, we enjoyed the various viewpoints of this waterfall.  

Love this pic of my beautiful wife!

Booby, again seemingly unimpressed.  Meh.

The appetizer waterfall.

The entrée waterfall.

Sufficiently warm and sweaty from the misty rain and exertion, we went back to the hostel, loaded our stuff and hit the road.  Next stop, a return visit to the completely awesome Poás Lodge to hang with my 'brothers from another mother', Jimmie and Stephan!  

In fact, we were going to meet their mother on this visit!

Woohoo!!