August 20, 2005 - Flying in the Canopy of the Rainforest

We arrived in Costa Rica at 930am after a 1.5 hour delay in Guatemala city due to dense fog. Would have slept better if we didn’t have 2 stopovers on the way over in LA and in Guatemala city. Picked up our rental car and headed towards La Fortuna. On the way, we passed by San Ramon, the biggest town we’ve seen so far, and a few other smaller towns such as La Tigra. Many Sodas along the way, mostly empty, even at lunchtime. Amazing they can survive or even keep their food fresh given the low volume of business. We passed by a cheese producing area. Many little shops/stands selling Palmito Queso. Stop by one for a taste and end up buying a block of cheese & some platano chips for the road. Can’t believe we ate a block of cheese, munching on it straight from the bag. It was kind of like fresh mozzarella string cheese. I later learned that palmito queso is cheese the strips like the hearts of palm- hence the stringiness of the cheese. The drive was quite scenic, passing through lush green tropical valleys. Funny how people get you to stop to ask for donations. The first was a make shift toll booth on the edge of the road at a road junction. You stop because you think you have to pay toll – even though it looks rather unofficial & suspicious, only to learn that it is ‘voluntario’. The second was a blue rope that runs across the road and when you approach the kids pick up the rope at both ends forcing you to stop.

We passed to through La Fortuna in search of a soda recommended by Frommers as a good steak place. Of course it was empty when we arrived. We had some fried yucca – which was quite addictive once you got started on it, even though at first taste it was just like giant steak fries. As I ate more, it sort of reminded me of goreng pisang and I just could stop. We also each ordered a steak, mine with garlic and the Mike had the house special which turned being toped with canned button mushrooms and bacon. (They really do love using bacon in their cooking in this country - or so I later realized)I could only eat 2/3rd of it- way too big, and each for less than $10!

On our way to the hotel after lunch, we encountered an extended family of an unfamiliar rodents, which I later learned were coatis. They are about the size of a merecat and almost as cute. Very friendly creatures, especially when I started offering the rambutans and plantain chips.

We checked into our hotel the Lost Iguana, which is up on a hillside facing the Arenal volcano. It has been overcast the entire stay (as expected I suppose, given that we are here in the rainy season) and we have to seen the peak of the volcano. The Lost iguana is quite pleasant, large sized rooms, high ceiling and king sized beds claiming to be fitted with Egyptian cotton sheets. There is large balcony facing the volcano with a trellis of bougainvillea. We are surrounded by greenness, not another building in sight.

At 330pm, we went to the Sky Tram/ Sky Trek. This was at the south side of Arenal. The sky tram consisted of an open top cable car that took us straight up the hillside and into the top of the canopy of the rainforest. We saw some Howler monkeys on the trip up in the distance, but little else in terms of fauna. When we got to the top, we were enshrouded in clouds. That’s when the sky trek part of the trip started. This consisted on a series of cables connecting one platform to another, from the tree tops of one cliff to the tree tops of another cliff. We were hooked up to the cables and sent flying across the skies. The first zip line extended so far that it disappeared into the clouds. The cables were so long that one could never see the next platform until we were almost there. The scenery was gorgeous, with the Arenal Lake usually on one side and the rainforest on the other. The braking system was interesting- just some rope tied to the end of the cables over the next platform that brought you down in rapid deceleration. It always seem like you were going to crash into the platform because you would come at it at such speed. There were about 7 zips. The 2nd to last zip was the longest and probably the funnest because it took you very close to the treetops as opposed to the other zips where you were flying across the valleys. This was definitely going to be one of the most memorable adventures in Costa Rica. Mike was holding on so tightly his arms were aching. Don’t know why he had the white knuckle death grip going on. I tried to tell him to relax but I guess he thought his belly was too big for the cables to hold him.



That evening, we watched the volcano spewing lava from the balcony of our room. Streams of glowing red lava would erupt and flow down the west edge of Arenal. During the day we had heard it exploding and booming multiple times.

Later, we went to the Tabacon Hot springs, taking advantage of the discounted entrance fee after 7pm. $19 instead of $29. Very popular place-apparently the biggest attraction in Costa Rica. Many pools, mostly with original lava rocks and sand in them. Hot spring waterfalls. Spent an hour there, and then went back to the Lost Iguana for dinner. The meal was so-so. Food preparation was mediocre- reminded me of diner food.