Costa Rica, Belize and Tikal
Discussion
Did Tortuguero, Arsenal & the Pacific Coast back in 2018. Great 2 week trip. If you are into your wildlife & nature great place. We stayed at a beach hotel on the pacific coast & the pool area has a few resident iguanas, huge things. At breakfast the smaller iguanas came out to be fed. We went to a great pizza restaurant just outside Arenal, got stuck there one afternoon through a tropical downpour with a perfect view of the volcano. In the end they just sorted us out with a lift back to the hotel. I’ll see if I can find the name.
Eat like the locals at the sodas at Arenal (and anywhere really) - these are local no-fuss food places and usually very tasty, and a great experience.
Monteverde and Tortuguero are just paradise. Do and see as many walks as possible.
We stayed at Koora in Monteverde and it’s possibly the best place we’ve ever stayed, the service and location up in the trees overlooking the valley all the way out to the coast (family suite room) was unreal. I left a bird watcher, such was the diversity of them out there.
Tortuguero- you can fly in but the journey from Monteverde over the greenery and then in via small boat through the channels was an experience in itself, albeit a big day. Most of the tours out there (usually booked in the centre) are far too large and you’re not going to see as much (too much noise). Go on the earliest tour possible - we did the Tortuguero lodge kayak tour up caño negro and it was a real highlight, only us and the guide making silent progress and had troops of monkeys jumping over the top of us, caymans, and a couple of rarer more niche species. “El Patio” is a great bar for sunset listening to and watching the boats over the channel in the evening.
We Gecko trails for all out transport and they were superb, sorted us out when our flight arrived super late, and couldn’t have done it cheaper ourself.
Jeep-boat-jeep is a nicer journey between Monteverde and Arenal than only Road, the roads aren’t great out there and are very very slow. The boat journey over lake fortuna under the volcano is beautiful.
Any specific questions about Costa Rica just ask.
Monteverde and Tortuguero are just paradise. Do and see as many walks as possible.
We stayed at Koora in Monteverde and it’s possibly the best place we’ve ever stayed, the service and location up in the trees overlooking the valley all the way out to the coast (family suite room) was unreal. I left a bird watcher, such was the diversity of them out there.
Tortuguero- you can fly in but the journey from Monteverde over the greenery and then in via small boat through the channels was an experience in itself, albeit a big day. Most of the tours out there (usually booked in the centre) are far too large and you’re not going to see as much (too much noise). Go on the earliest tour possible - we did the Tortuguero lodge kayak tour up caño negro and it was a real highlight, only us and the guide making silent progress and had troops of monkeys jumping over the top of us, caymans, and a couple of rarer more niche species. “El Patio” is a great bar for sunset listening to and watching the boats over the channel in the evening.
We Gecko trails for all out transport and they were superb, sorted us out when our flight arrived super late, and couldn’t have done it cheaper ourself.
Jeep-boat-jeep is a nicer journey between Monteverde and Arenal than only Road, the roads aren’t great out there and are very very slow. The boat journey over lake fortuna under the volcano is beautiful.
Any specific questions about Costa Rica just ask.
I remember eating at a tree house in Arenal, which was pretty cool. I liked the Pacific Coast - Montezuma and Santa Teresa, where we shared our outdoor bathroom with a little gecko. I was less keen on Tamarindo, which was a bit too busy and touristy for us. The sunsets were nice though:
Tamarindo sunset by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Tamarindo sunset by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
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