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The Road to Arenal

After waking up at 5 o'clock and arriving at the airport through an early BQE accident, we flew on two planes, many miles above the clouds, the Manthurian Candidate, and a solid group of Carolina drunk guys, we arrived at San Jose customs in a happy mood around 2pm.

A slower pace for our 4x4 gringito mobile, and we started off on our road trip to San Ramon through the late afternoon sun. We were blown away by the lush green ridges and valleys we were passing through, up and down winding green roads, with the scattered slanted farms, vineyards, and cattle grazing.

Now we're driving in the 6 o'clock darkness, which is blacker than the new york midnight. Winding up a hill, we see what looked like a 7 year old kid driving a huge tractor down the road without any headlights.

We finally arrived in la Fortuna around 8 o'clock, and looked at a reasonable hotel and a $5 'cabina' that was essentially a white walled box with beds, with una senora que era muy amable. "No, Gracias." Not this vacation.

Then we made our way up toward Arenal, the active volcano, and stopped by Tabacon, the high end gringo haven with hot springs overlooking the lava. Unfortunately, no rooms there, and we decide to drive another 30 minutes through our first rough roads to the Arenal Observatory Lodge, which ends up being the perfect spot for us. George would say "ridiculous," Colin would say "perfect."

It's 8 pm. We are driving up a road with more holes than (insert pithy metaphor here - ha ha ha). We have not made a reservation anywhere, and we are expecting that there will be space at the inn because we are us. And we are entitled. Rocky road, potholes, and one particularly nasty drop-off later, we arrive at Arenal Observatory Lodge. There is room, and it is perfect. Colin asks for the cheaper option, a communal cabin with shared bathroom that is used by the research scientists that make a yearly pilgrimage to Arenal to study the volcano. There are two Adirondack chairs facing a picture window. We won't find out until the morning that it is a perfect view of the Volcano right in front of us.

Cerro Chato and the shaky road to Monteverde

This is the part of the trip that was the least documented with words, but the most challenging and fulfilling. Our full day of hiking to and from Cerro Chato, with a beautiful and lonely lake up in the mountain, gave us the proudest feeling of the trip.

The next day we drove to Monteverde on what may have very well been the most adventurous drive of our lifetime. While we both became expert pothole avoiding drivers, it was the hour or so that Christie drove in the middle of the day through beautiful hilly green mountains, that really set the bar. The road was so bumpy that it was as if someone had tried to set the rocks of the road up to be difficult for the gringo drivers. (We found out later from Cecilia's friend Roig that the government had the money and wanted to pave the roads, but the local people fought it. I guess it's understandable - who would want busloads of fat tourists flying through your beautiful neighborhood?) Fortunately, we were able to get to the point of laughter the bumpy road was so ridiculous.

Once we got to the town of Santa Elena, home to el Bosque Nuboso de Monteverde, we decided to go straight for the zip line through the forest, which was amazing, although a little less so than the hype we had heard, partly because the weather so perfect that there were no clouds in the cloud forest.

After a butterfly garden tour with a friendly, stoned guide, we had a nice dinner at Morphos, along with some drinks, and made it into bed on the early side with Colin as drunk as he's been in a while. Next morning we checked out the Monteverde forest, along with a knowledgeable guide, who helped us to see a Quetzal, which is one of the most beautiful and rare birds in all of the Americas.

Overall, a wonderful time in amazing forest. The main lesson I learned is that there are some things that can only be created in lifetimes. The complexity and beauty and deep interactivity of the cloud forest humbled me in my desire for the world to be different quickly. Great things take time to create.

Cabinas at Manuel Antonio

Each night here has been unique and perfect. More than in the other legs of our trip, we've been able to flow with the energy of this place. From our initial walk to La Posada and finding the friendly Indiana born hostess Janie, to our afternoon hackisack interactions with the Quebecois, the little surfer kid, "Columbia," and the beach beer guy, we have been able to get to know the local Costa Rican and American scenes.

In particular, one of the events that stands out is the face to face confrontation with a mono (monkey) in the parque, with a nasty rebuke from "el guia," who we saw about 20 more times throughout the long weekend. The most memorable night was Saturday night, which everyone said was the biggest night of the week in Manuel Antonio, where "everyone" goes to Mar y Sombra. After an afternoon shower back at the private jungle bungalow, we had a few Imperiales at the local bar, then took the bus up to el Avion, a gringo hangout with a great view at sunset, which was empty and lifeless by the time we got there. With barely any Colones left, we decided that instead of hailing a cab or walking over a kilometer to the nearest ATM, we would walk down the winding road to Mar y Sombra.

The walk, which included slippery slanted non sidewalks and fast moving taxis, was one of the big adventures of the trip. Christie and I both wished we were able to film it because it would have made a great movie scene, two gringos literally sprinting around the dark, steap, winding road just in time to avoid the cars flying around the corner. After what seemed like 30 minutes in our slightly drunken state, we cheered and hugged victoriously when we finally arrived at Mar y Sombra with our mil colones, just enough for one beer and good times with the rest of the dancing local flavor.

The rest of the night was filled with near misses with "el guia," Colin's pushy attitude to get in on a joint with some younger guys, a run in with Mauricio, Douglass, and the sexy Cindy, which included a shared climb and descent to the lifeguard chair and a trip to la Discoteca in Quepos, with all the necessary freeing of the white booty. All in all, arriving back at la Posada around 3:30, the latest night of our trip was a memory filled adventure that we will keep with us for a long time.

Above are photos from La Posada, the great spot we stayed at in Manuel Antonio, and below are shots with Roig, an awesome friend of Cecilia Tores' who we stayed with in San Jose before we left town.

Yes, Janie from La Posada had a pet racoon and dear. And yes, in classic Colin style I did do a performance of Language of My Reality from my Free Culture show late night in front of the pool.