Travel to Costa Rica, Heredia.

Coffee beans, ground coffee, chocolate covered coffee beans, iced coffee drinks, coffee liquors, coffee candies . . . coffee everything! Today was our day to visit Café Britt and learn about the production of coffee, from the first step of planting to the final step of roasting and packaging. The Café Britt Coffee Tour is not just another tour. Yes, it is full of information about coffee production and its importance in Costa Rica, but it is also funny and full of surprises. We walked down a path totally surrounded by coffee plants and tropical trees, where the Britt guides explained the planting, growing, and hand-picking processes. Then we were led to the roasting area, where large roasters are used for varying amounts of time to create light roasts, dark roasts and espresso roasts. The next stop was a small auditorium where we were shown how to prepare coffee in both the traditional and the modern ways, and Natalie was chosen as a volunteer for the "cupping" demonstration. Her job was to smell and taste the coffee as the professional taste-testers really do here in Costa Rica...

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Travel to Costa Rica, Manuel Antonio, Vista.

This morning is the Spices Tour we signed up for last night. We were up and ready long before the minivan arrived at 8:50 to take us to the farm. I don't think I mentioned that we were a bit hesitant about taking this tour, due to the cost of $50 each, but it sounded very interesting, and Manoli wasn't all that excited about the other tours available, so we went for it. When they picked us up, there was already a young couple in the minivan, going on the tour with us. We traveled quite a ways out of town to their farm, Villa Vainilla. It is a well-known, recognized biodersity operation with a lot of write-ups expounding on it's virtues. They are a major producer of vanilla for the region, plus grow a good many other spices, coffee, and cocoa. First, we were given a very good explanation of vanilla and how it was grown and processed, explaining the reason why it is so expensive. Each flower has to be hand-pollinated in order to produce the bean pods.

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Travel to Costa Rica, Puntarenas, Monteverde.

This morning we'd booked the Hanging Bridges tour at Selvatura. The minivan picked us up, and about 12 others. After a rather long ride, mostly due to rough, winding roads, we arrived at Selvatura. This place has the Hanging Bridges tour, at least one canopy tour, canyonerring, a Tarzan swing, and Butterfly, Insect, and Serpent houses. We were really looking forward to seeing some wildlife, so we got our tickets and headed onto the footpaths towards the first of eight bridges. To make a long story short, we saw almost nothing but plants, a couple of birds, and one centipede! Granted, the trek was enjoyable, there were some pretty cool plants, and the hanging bridges were pretty neat, but that doesn't add up to $30 each worth of enjoyment. I don't know if its the norm to see so few things, or if we just picked a bad day or time, but based on our experience, I would not recommend this tour. To make matters worse, other than the last couple of bridges, we had to contend with a birding tour of about 20 people that would catch up with us when we J.C. on one of the hanging bridgesstopped, then they'd stop and we'd pass them again, and so on and so on. Aftre browsing their gift shop, we took the 11am minivan back to town.

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Travel to Costa Rica, Alajuela, La Fortuna.

I was awake relatively early this morning as our hotel is right on a busy street and given we don't have air-con, the windows are open to let at least some cooler air in. After catching up on blogs, we went out for breakfast at the My Coffee cafe (same place we enjoyed an arvo coffee from yesterday). After tentatively ordering pancakes, Rach changed her mind when she saw the dessert menu...berry crepes (with ice-cream I might add!). I chose an omelet and was happy when it was brought out with fresh fruit and muffins too! So we broke our fast ensuring that we were well fed ahead of our massive adrenaline-rushing excursion.

We were picked up at 10am and taken to our waiting 4WDs. We scrambled onto the back of the trays where they had added benches for the would-be canyoneerers. The drive up the mountain was particularly bumpy...a 'Costa Rican massage' our funny little local guides pointed out (amongst heaps of other one-liners). The heavens then decided to open and a tropical downpour begun, well I suppose its not called a rainforest for nothing

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Travel to Costa Rica, Alajuela.

Semana Santos. Interesting words: In translation it means the “Holy Week” in Spanish. We have experienced the week of Easter - Costa Rican style. Let me tell you these Tico's know how to do it up right....but let me back up a bit because we were supposed to be in Nicaragua for Easter.

Well Nicaragua didn't happen. The last days the kids were here we all ate at a "soda" for breakfast. These sodas are where the locals eat. They serve good, cheap “typical food”. Well 3 out of 5 of us suffered some gastrointestinal distress later. Some of us got over it in a few days, others a few days longer and then there was me. Two weeks and a doctor visit later I am just starting to feel normal again. When we dropped everyone off at the airport we went looking for our bus ticket and were told we had to purchase it the night before we wanted to travel north. What we didn't take into consideration that we were “approaching" the Semana Santos ( Holy week) and that everyone and I mean everyone was travelling somewhere and the bus was completely packed for the next 3
Dam spillway
Thought of my dad here days. So now we are stuck in San Jose. We found a cheaper hotel right downtown which was in the roughest area in town. However I didn't have to worry about venturing out as I got so sick I was confined to the room for the next 5 days.

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Travel to Costa Rica, Guanacaste, La Fortuna.

The bus ride from Monteverde to La Fortuna was unpaved and therefore unpleasant. Sleep during the windy, bumpy ride was unsuccessful and the minute we stepped off the bus in town we were "greeted" with annoying tour salesmen. They were polite and friendly but we really weren't in the market for a tour having been in town for less than a minute and wanted to find our place and drop our bags. The "hostel" we booked was less than sufficient, but the bed was comfortable so I didn't mind. Apparently hotels have caught on to the hostel trend and started mislabeling themselves as hostels when they don't provide wifi, a communal area or a kitchen, amenities typical of hostels. Luckily we only booked one night there and found a far better place the next day. The next hostel was more like a backpacker resort; complete with a pool, swim up bar, restaurant, kitchen and lush courtyard. Alonzo was an awesome host, very attentive and helpful. It was like our own little oasis tucked away in the town. The town of Fortuna was pretty uneventful. There were a few restaurants that pretty much all served the same food for a steep price, and very minimal nightlife. We booked an ATV tour set on a farm at the base of the Arenal volcano, our first tour of the trip! It was so surreal; animals freely grazing and enjoying the company of other creatures with a backdrop of jungle and rolling hills. I wish all farm animals could live unconfined like this. There were trails carved out for us, and since it rains often in Fortuna, there was mud everywhere. Some of the puddles were even inches deep with water. We were pretty shocked that given the conditions of the trails the ATVs were not 4wheel drive! Our guide said, "they're 4wheel drive if you get off and push." It was a lot of fun and I'm really surprised I managed to hang on with Kevin's crazy driving, and peeling out around turns. We also got to pose with a six foot python that the guide found on the farm and was taking to the local zoo.

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Travel to Costa Rica, San José.

From Panama city we caught a late night bus to David, about 7 hours north. The bus ride was fine, we slept the whole way apart from police stops where we had to show passports. Arrived at 4.30 am where we then caught a 'Red Devil' bus to Boquette which was an hour from David. We had 3 nights in Boquette in a private room to relax in. We stayed at a hostel called Nomba which was small and run by an a very helpful American guy who had worked with a lot of Kiwi's in the past. Free pancakes were cooked for us every morning which was great and see us through for most of the day!

We had been told that Boquette with a population of only around 10,000 was voted the forth best place in the world to retire in but little known to us. It had a great vibe to it and is set around high mountains (bit like queenstown) however a little colder but warm enough to walk round in a tshirt and jandals. The town was had a mixture of locals and just as many candians, americans and english pople who have moved due
our hostel san jose to falling in love with the ourdoors and lifestyle there.

Day 2 we did a coffee tour of an Americans plantation that he brought after retiring as the CEO of the meals on wheel business in North America. The farm was very beautiful and Scott got to roast some coffee which we got to take back with us. He exports to a few places around the states.

Day 3 in Boquette we did a hike to a waterfall which was pretty amazing but in order to get there we had to squeeze into a locals van which would normally hold 12 people but somehow managed to fit 22 people in! Scott also almost stepped on a small snake which freaked me out on the way up..

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Travel to Costa Rica, Alajuela, Arenal.

We arrived in La Fortuna pleasently surprised by how nice our 11$ a night hostel was. The Arenal backpackers resort is what they call themselves and resort feeling for a backpackers was felt! This small volcanic town situated at the base of mt arenal was buzzing with many tourists and not too short of great food places either! We had a action pack / relaxing 3 days ahead.

Day one consisted of a full day of white water rafting which was AWESOME! we picked a company that had over 1000 positive reviews on tripadvisor and good they were. We were put in a raft with two american boys same age as us that had clearly never done anywater sport. The guide after 5 mins on the rapid and two fails asked scott and i to move to front as we were the strongest (i had to laugh as my arms arent exactly muscley) so scott clearly saved our boat yet i tried but spent alot of time diving into bottom of raft to save myself. A big burritto was earnt for dinner!

Day 2 laura was very sore and a nice soak in some hot springs were in need.
another spaWe went to the springs resort and spa where the series the bachelor has a eposide filmed there. At 800$ a night, (dallas you would love this place) the day entrance fee was 50$ and another $40 in transportation and food and drinks - well lets just say our budget clearly blew over! but heaven it was and hot they were too and best of all laura got to see over 10 different exoctic cats they had kept on the property! WE justified it was happy early valentines day gift to one another......

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