I Lift My Eyes Up, Up To The Mountains

Gallery: Playa de Esterillos--Day 6

jd_trekker — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:16:00 GMT

Xandari Resort

Dia cinquo: Playa de Esterillos w/visit to Jaco

jd_trekker — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:20:00 GMT

Up at 7 a.m. Made coffee. Pulled a lounge chair over next to the plunge pool. Grabbed coffee mug and Bible for a warm round of morning reading. Later, trekked out to beach and perused the sands. Roused the group for a shot at the complimentary morning breakfast. Back to Xandari restaurant. Took down a Tower of Health—mounds of yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit; started on tray of fresh muffins—more like cupcakes; and ended with a mango smoothie—not milky, icy, completely refreshing.
Decided next to work on a sunburn. Succeeded. Strung together a bit of soccer, wavage, and running. Cooled off in the water. As much as one can cool off in bath water. Chased a few crabs about the sands. Cornered one. Got pinched. Go figure. Found a lonely lounge chair; gave the chair some company; read a bit. Plunged into the plunge pool to cool down. Again, bath water. Everything at the playa the same temp: wind, water, rain, air, earth: bath water warm. Always.

Headed to Jaco for an evening on the town. Jaco. Offered great views driving into the city from the South. But once in town, neither a cheap nor clean locale. Seemed designed to extract money (and possibly health) from tourists. If seedy were a desirable option, cheap could be secured; if acceptable to decent were the plan, it required paying prices approaching unreasonable. A Costa Rican friend referred to it as a hell-hole. But it served up a nice evening. Dined at the Wishbone. Mexican-style dishes, large and tasty, but not entirely cheap. Wondered up and down the Jaco strip, a strip populated largely by Americans, but French, German, and Dutch were heard. Surf store upon surf store stacked horizontally down the main street, interrupted here and there by locals hustling mostly Cuban cigars. Stocked up on goods for the lunch and dinner as well as goods for the beach. Although items used by the locals were cheap, items like sun block and Snickers were going for $15-20.

Headed back to the resort. Evening entailed a plunge pool and texas hold em. Dueled into the night. Improvised on chips. Used Costa Rican coins, Colones. And won some; lost a few.

Dia quatro: Arenal to Playa de Esterillos, Costa Rica

jd_trekker — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:04:00 GMT

Wednesday, 11 March 2009

Up at 7:30 a.m. Packed gear. While others packed, wondered down to hostel café for an early caffeine kick. Left gear at hostel. Headed out for breakfast and morning trip to Arenal Volcano Observatory. Took a good 30 minute cab ride. Stopped to play with some crazy little critters that looked like skunks. Fed them. Turned to leave. Read a sign that translated: Do Not Feed the Animals. But can't really translate, so not really responsible for that mess.

Arenal. Planned on hiking to old or new lava flow. Turns out neither option was available. The short trail to the lava flow was closed off. Took it anyway. Worked way down steep, muddy rain forest path. Eventually ran into a creek. Played around a bit. Built a dam. Refreshed in the water. Headed back up the trail. Rain. Made it back to the Observatory. Watched clouds enshrouding volcano, attentively at first, then less so as nothing materialized. Could occasionally see some steam billowing up off the harsh rock face.

Interbus van, driven by Ramone, picked us up from the hostel. Headed out of La Fortuna: destination, Jaco, then Esterrilos, the Xandari resort locale. Left at 2 p.m. Stopped twice. After seeing 10 signs within a 10 km stretch, each advertising queso palmito, convinced our driver to pull over. Bought queso palmito. Queso palmito: a large ball of cheese, a lot like mozzarella. Smelled terrible; tasted not terrible. Wound our way into Jaco at about 6 p.m. Dropped off two of our party who stayed in Jaco. Continued on to Esterrilos. Arrived at 6:30 p.m. Turned down an unpaved path, lined with trees, and separating two paddocks of gaunt, grazing bovines. Main street. A dusty, pot-holed strip of scorched earth. Pulled up to an ornate metal gate, suspending a large curvaceous X in the center. Gate rolled back. And paradise appeared—Xandari Resort & Spa.

Receptionist greeted us warmly. Attendant carted luggage away. Another smiling attendant offered drinks, drinks almost slushy-like in their consistency, packed with tropical fruitiness. Led through an Edenic garden, down a dimly lit pathway, through rows of pastel villas, past a lap pool, a spa, a hot tub, and a lounge pool. Numero Doce. Arrival. Entered into awesomeness. Pics should suffice to describe Villa Numero Doce.

Checked out our new digs. Expressed our joy with a celebratory jump hug (thank you Scrubs). Headed out for dinner. Xandari restaurant. Open-air seating under a thatched-roof, the sound of waves crashing nearby. Hungry. Ate: calamari, catch of the day, tiramasu, and coffee. Full. Checked out the resort. Nice. Returned to the plunge pool, turned on the jets, and soaked up the good life.

Gallery: Playa de Esterillos--Day 4

jd_trekker — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:01:00 GMT

Heading to the beach--resort style

Gallery: Arenal--Day 4

jd_trekker — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:51:00 GMT

Arenal Lodge: Trying to Observe a Volcano

Gallery: La Fortuna--Day 3

jd_trekker — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:25:00 GMT

Dia dos: La Fortuna, Costa Rica

jd_trekker — Mon, 9 Mar 2009 23:41:00 GMT

Monday, 9 March 2009

Up at 7 a.m. Clouds hung over the town and volcano. Visibility was limited. Rain came and rain went, interrupted only by a willowy mist. My Mountain Gear Tsunami rain jacket quickly became my favorite piece of gear, my new best friend. Second best friend? My rain fly for my pack.

Headed to city centro for a quick breakfast. Found Rain Forest Cafe just past the park in the center of the city and to the right (past the Super Cristian). The coffee (cafe typico) was thick and rich, a consistency it gleaned from a double brewing. My travel buddies told me the specialty coffee drinks would put Starbucks out of business. My breakfast packed a formidable punch of protein. Daysauno Americano: scrambled eggs, avocado, bacon, toast, and fresh jam. Breakfasts went for less than $5. Nice.

Next stop, La Fortuna waterfall--and beyond. Haggled with a cabbi to take us to the falls (in most of Costa Rica, you can either negotiate a price or ask to turn the meter on). Not a bad idea to take cab from town to the falls, as it is uphill; you can walk back from falls to the town. Charge of $9 to see the falls. Hiked down a fairly steep, but easily manageable path that is kept up pretty well. Reached falls. The name delivered. The water falls. Landed in a rocky pool, billowed up into a frothy pillow. I watched. Wandered a few meters down stream to a swimming hole. Already wet from the humidity and mist stalking one's every move, I waded in. Started in an eddy. Cool, refreshing. Hit a current; it clasped me in its watery fingers. Sharp, strong. Pushed my way over to the far shore. Followed a gentle path up around the far rock face to a hidden nook overlooking the water below. Headed back.

Decide to hiked to Cerra Chato, a dormat volcano crater now filled by a lake colored an ominous green. Lonely Planet said it's a strenuous, 5-6 hour hike. Strenuous? Possibly. 5-6 hour hike? No. We moved at a fairly constant pace, trekked throw a fricken monsoon, plodded down the trail as it turned into a river, and still pounded it out in under 4 hours. Rain forest. The name should have warned us. Just wet, wet, wet. Hiked through a cloud, which was accompanied by friendly bursts of rain. Reached the rim. Because of the clouds, no view. The hike from the rim to the crater lake made the "strenuous" path just ascended appear tame. Hiked/slid down the trail. Hit the green lake while shrouded in mist: quiet, serene, and just a little bit scary. The wind and driving rain helped not at all. The return trip. Hoped to hit the trail connecting Cerra Chato and the Arenal Observatory, but in the driving rain couldn't see a thing and the trail was turning into cocktail of water and debris, a slick mudslide. Decided on familiarity and headed down the conquored path.

Gallery: La Fortuna--Night 2

jd_trekker — Mon, 9 Mar 2009 23:35:00 GMT

Gallery: La Fortuna--Day 2

jd_trekker — Mon, 9 Mar 2009 23:30:00 GMT

Falls and Volcanoe Hike

Gallery: La Fortuna--Day 1

jd_trekker — Sun, 8 Mar 2009 23:20:00 GMT

Dia uno: San Jose, Costa Rica!

jd_trekker — Sun, 8 Mar 2009 23:04:00 GMT

Sunday, 8 March 2009

Left Lyd's early Sunday morning for our flight out of Miami Int'l Airport. Jumped on a plane. Read a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Slept. Arrived in San Jose.

Met our shuttle driver, Ivan (the terrible--according to the man himself). Shuttle arranged by Pangea ($38/person). Took a three to four hour whipping, winding van ride through lush mountains, razor-sharp, rising sharply from the valley floor to pierce the clouds hanging not too far above our heads. Eventually wound our way into the clouds, dense rolling waves of moisture--humidifying everthing. This would be our last dry moment for quite a few days. Passed numerous washouts. Edged carefully around them. Sped on. Arrived at Arenal Backpacker's Resort.

Checked in to our private rooms. Awesomeness surrounded us. Waded into the pool and relaxed a bit. Tested the internet room at the hostel. Mingled with a few Americans and the staff--friendly locals. Got some pointers on good eats and good bitters and sweets (coffee and dessert).

Hit up dinner at Soda Restaurant. Ordered Casada w/Pork. Unbelievable portion: savory pork, beans and rice, steamed vegetables, sweet plantains, a pasta, sweetened beets. Fantastic.

Wondered about town. In the rain. Always rain. Purchased necessities at the Super Cristien. ATM at local bank for Collones. Back to city centro and stopped in at Rain Forest Cafe for unbelievable coffee and some heavy, homemade carrot cake. Savored every sip, sighed after every bite.

Back to Resort. Hung out around pool and common area. Played cards till late. Collapsed. Sleep desperately was needed in order to prep for dias dos.