Birthday Travel

My Costa Rica birthday cake!

Today is my birthday!

This year, I'm a little bummed because it's not in the cards for me to travel on my birthday. Usually, when I'm blowing out the candles on my cake, I'm doing it in a new travel destination. Next year, hopefully the stars will align for me to be traveling again on my big day, but for now, I'll be happy remembering some of my great birthday travels.

My first birthday trip was with my BFF, and not only was it my first birthday trip, it was my first trip to Vegas! (One of my mostest favoritist cities in the US.) It was supposed to be a trip with about 5 feisty women painting the town red, but all but one canceled. That's okay, it showed me who my true friends were, and the BFF and I had a complete blast! We played the slots. We ate the food. We lounged in the spa. We rode up the "inclinator" at the Luxor while tipsy (not recommended) and just generally had a blast. Thank you, BFF, for that awesome birthday!

I also remember spending a birthday atop the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Okay, it wasn't my actual birthday, it was a week prior. However, our guide as we climbed the bridge asked if anyone had a birthday soon. I was the only one who raised my hand, and all 20 people on our excursion sang to me atop the bridge, with the most beautiful backdrop below. It might not have been the actual birthday, but it was amazing none-the-less.

Another birthday I remember fondly was with my now-husband. We thought it would be nice to spend my birthday in Costa Rica - and it was REALLY nice. On my actual birthday, we were in Arenal, and woke up with a beautiful view of the volcano. We were surrounded by tropical paridise, and staying in something of a tropical log cabin. I woke up, he kissed my forehead and wished me a happy birthday before I even realized where I was. He gave me a birthday card that he'd brought with him from the States, and then we enjoyed a relaxing breakfast. At dinner that evening, he arranged for the staff to bring me a cake with "happy birthday" written on it. He got even more points because he didn't speak Spanish, and the staff didn't speak much English. Do you see why he's my NOW-husband?

I sure am blessed to have had some great travel birthdays!

Arenal, Costa Rica Trip Report

On our first full day in Costa Rica, the BF and I boarded a shuttle bus and started our 3.5-hour commute on some super, nausea-inducing curvy roads to the Arenal region of Costa Rica (San Jose is in the south, west part of the country, Arenal is sort of in the north, central part.)

The Arenal volcano is the main attraction here. It's a relatively new volcano, having been created in the 1960s (and taking out a nearby town when the mountain blew its top.) It's an active volcano, almost always erupting - but often covered in clouds. So it's really a crap shoot for how much of the volcano you'll be able to see.

The closest town to the volcano is La Fortuna - renamed because the town was "fortunate" to survive the first eruption. It's about 2 blocks big, and mostly houses a few restaurants and gift shops for the tourists. Although there's a really pretty church with a view of the volcano, and a pretty park in front of it.

Our hotel, the Arenal Paraisso (Par-ay-ee-so), was about five minutes outside of La Fortuna, on the way to the volcano. Every room has a volcano view, and our bungalow was our own little house, complete with a resident hummingbird in the bush out front. It had a porch, it was made entirely of wood, and it was quiet at night except for the night animals and the monkeys. This area is chock-full of wildlife. This particular hotel had its own hot springs (which were actually not hot, because they cheated and funneled them from the REAL hot springs) and its own zip line. (Zip line tours are HUGE in Costa Rica. Word of advice if you do this, only about 10 percent of the zip line operators are actually licensed. Check before you jump off of a 500-foot high cable line.) We enjoyed the hotel, but it was a bit rustic, there were bugs (you're in a freakin rain forest, what do you expect) and there was a bit of a musty smell. However, I don't think you'd find any different in any other hotels.

We purchased a volcano hike tour from Sunset Tours (can't say enough good things about Sunset Tours.) We got on a van and took a very bumpy ride to the base of the volcano (the side that wasn't erupting) and took an hour-long hike through the primary forest surrounding the volcano. On the way, we stopped to be overrun by some Quintis, which look like raccoons with longer snouts. They were not shy (the photos below show the BF being surrounded. Yes! A photo of the BF. Another to follow on Thurs of the two of us, up close.) Once on the hike, we saw howler monkeys, which made the BF super happy, and lots of birds. The guide was great - he knew everything about the forest, and did one heck of a howler monkey call.

After the hike, we got back on the bumpy road to the active side of the volcano (along with every other tourist in Arenal) to see the volcano erupt. There was a fair amount of cloud cover, but after about 10 minutes of watching, we saw the volcano spit out some firey rocks and ash. (I was expecting a lava flow, but according to the guide, that kind of eruption is rare to see. It's more rocks being blown out of the top.)

Our second day in Arenal, we took a side trip to the Cano Negro Wildlife Reserve, also with Sunset Tours, on the Rio Frio river to go wildlife spotting. That'll be tomorrow's entry.

And now, for some Arenal photos. (Roll over the image for the caption.)

La Pura Vida in Costa Rica

While I was on my blogging hiatus, I celebrated my birthday, with the BF, in Costa Rica.

January-April is a good time to visit Costa Rica, because their rainy season ends around November. Naturally, that means the prices to the small Central American country are more during that time, but compared to what it'll cost you to go to Europe right now, it's still a deal.

We made it a cross-country trip. We flew into the capital of San Jose to spend one night (which was enough. more on that later). Then, we took a shuttle to Arenal - nearly 4 hours away on very curvy roads. We stayed in Arenal for 3 days and 2 nights, and then took a combo of a boat/shuttle to Monteverde (on the worst unpaved roads ever, for 2 hours, but some of the most beautiful countryside.) We stayed there for one night, and then took a shuttle for 3 1/2 hours to Playa Flamingo, and stayed there for three days. (Our deal included transportation to each city)

Often, people choose one "base" location, like the Western beaches, and then "day trip" to all the key locales on the island. It's an option, but your days are going to be long (you can see the one-way drive times) and your butt will be sore.

I do, however, think it's important to see the different locations within Costa Rica. Each one has it's own ecosystem, its own weather, etc. Arenal has the (live) volcano, Monteverde has the Cloud Forest, and the Western part has the beaches.

This week, I'll break down the trip report for you.

First, I'll start with San Jose. You know it's bad when, on the plane, the native Costa Rican sitting in our aisle suggested that we get out of San Jose as soon as possible. There's not really a lot to see/do in San Jose. The hotel (Hotel Britannia)as okay, but smack in the downtown area, which, to me, was a little scary and run down. It was 6 blocks from the main central square in downtown, which was the hub for the city's life. It was hard to believe that there were higher-end American stores in an area that seemed so poor, but the tourists are more important, I guess. We walked the square, saw the public buildings, took some photos, ate a mediocre dinner, and then went back to our hotel. We were thre for a total of about 5 awake hours, and that was plenty.

So fly into San Jose if you want, stay a night if you'd like to rest before you drive several hours, but I wouldn't make it a 3-day event.

Tomorrow: Arenal

Now, for some San Jose pictures.