Do You Know The Way to San Jose | Costa Rica

Apr 14

How do you get to San Jose, Costa Rica? With poor planning, from Thailand it involves 4 flights and 44 hours to get from Koh Samui to Bangkok, Bangkok to Dohar, Dohar to Madrid, and Madrid to Miami. Add to that the 13 hours time difference and you have no idea where you are, who you are, or what day it is ;). In Miami we were able to grab a great meal, UPS excess baggage back home, and get a good night’s rest before our final flight from Miami to San Jose. What were we thinking??? It would have been much easier to just fly straight from the US to San Jose. Anyway, lesson learned and our 2015 travels continue in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.

A big shout out goes to the new friends we met in Miami during a weekend workshop in January. They were so kind and gracious to share their lovely condo near San Jose complete with an amazing view of the city from the pool and restaurant on the property.

Gaining entrance to the gated community was interesting to say the least. The 3 guards spoke no English, and my Spanish is very limited, especially when it’s coming at me really fast. They were trying so hard to work with us, and I think us gringos were quite entertaining to them. Too bad we didn’t video the scene, it was actually pretty funny. Once we got through the gate we realized we were starving, but it was getting late and we were unsure how hard it would be to get back through the gate if we left again. As we were unloading the car, a neighbor across the hall stopped by, introduced himself, gave us two fresh melons to get us by and suggested we walk up the hill to see if the restaurant on the property was still open. They were just closing at the poolside restaurant Paulinos, but stayed open for us. We were so grateful for the huge plate of nachos they whipped up along with a couple of glasses of red wine. Felt so blessed for the warm welcome to Costa Rica. There are so many generous, kind people in the world. It’s too bad so much focus gets put on the negative.

View from Paulinos restaurant overlooking the pool and San Jose at sunset.

From San Jose we were able to take day trips as well as a few with overnight stays. Driving in Costa Rica is a adventure. Our friends recommended the Costa Rica iGO primo ap. It’s a bit pricey at $49.99, but worth every penny. There are no street signs and many major thoroughfares are twists and turns through small side streets, often one way, making it nearly impossible to find your way without this amazing ap. Even if you don’t have an exact address you can find where you are going using GPS coordinates – it’s amazing! It does drains the battery on the iPhone so be sure to have a car charger. My phone almost went dead, just as it was about to get dark, on a windy dirt road full of potholes. We made it fine, but it was a little nerve racking. Also, be prepared with cash for the many toll booths you will pass through while driving in Costa Rica.

After a couple of days adjusting to the San Jose area, we ventured out on our first full day trip west toward Playa De Jacó. The long stretch of beach is a dark gray sand with little rocks and is a little rough for swimming, but great for surfing. Other than surfing, the area is known for its nightlife at the beachfront bars.

Along the way there is an interesting stop at the bridge over the Tárcoles River. We wondered why all the people were parked and walking out onto the bridge and soon learned it is popular pit stop for tourists looking to catch a glimpse of the river’s many American crocodiles.

The fruit stand where they provided parking next to the bridge had some good fruit smoothies as well as sweet and salty nut mixes. We passed on the Monkey Killer they offered to make for us (3 fruits & 3 shots of rum) – a little scary for a roadside stand to be promoting?

The friendly parking attendant at the lot near the bridge. Love the friendly Costa Ricans!

There are also some great fruit stands along route 27 near the toll booths. We made some great purchases to take home for the week.

On the way back to San Jose we stopped for a delicious lunch with an amazing view at Hotel Villa Caletas. The hotel is set within a tropical rainforest with a beautiful view of the Pacific Coast.

The next day we drove east on the Guápiles Highway through the Zurquí tunnel toward the rainforest and cloud forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park. It’s a nice highway and beautiful drive. We enjoyed an informative walking tour at Rainforest Adventures at the edge of the park. We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, but we did see our first Toucan and Adrian, our guide, pointed out some interesting features of the rainforest that we would have completely missed on our own. They also have a sky tram and zip lines, but we saved those adventures for another day.

Our guide Adrian put his hand behind this beautiful spider’s web to show the size.

Another perfect day trip, about an hour and a half drive from San Jose (depending on traffic) is the Poás Volcano in the Alajuela province. After a short hike from the parking lot you look down into the mile wide caldren and sulphur pool. Try to go early in the day or your view of the pool might be completely blocked by the steam. If you’re lucky you might see a geyser shoot into the air, but it didn’t happen the day we were there.

You can only stay there for a maximum of 20 minutes because of the fumes. It was interesting to me, but Bill just thought it looked like a gravel pit. Guess it depends on what you are interested in.

Poor Man’s Umbrella – largest native plant of Costa Rica. It’s name came from an old practice of the people in the past who would cut down the leaves and carry them as umbrellas.

A short drive from the volcano you can visit The La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park. The garden is a great place to observe hummingbirds, exotic birds, butterflies, snakes, frogs, monkeys and big cats. It is a wildlife preserve and all the animals have either been confiscated by the government or donated by their owners. They don’t have the basic skills to survive the wild on their own, so this is really a great refuge for them.

Morpho-peleides – Blue Morpho Butterfly. You can only see the electric blue of this butterfly when the wings are open in flight, and it’s almost impossible to capture.

There are 24 species of hummingbirds at La Paz Waterfall Gardens. You can see a few more on my Facebook page The Spirit of the Hummingbird.

From the gardens there are 2.2 miles of hiking trails along the La Paz River through both cloud and rainforest past 5 waterfalls.

Take rain gear, comfortable walking shoes, and a light jacket. You will get sprayed with water near the water falls. I really didn’t mind it, but some people were covered in raincoats.

The hiking trails and viewing platforms were constructed from 1998-2000 without cutting one vine or tree. All the materials used were carried down by hand on foot to avoid the use of heavy equipment in the forest. What an incredible amount of design and forethought went into this project.

Thanks to the generous hospitality of our hosts in San Jose, we had the luxury to spring for a one night stay at The Peace Lodge on the grounds. The room was the most interesting of any place I’ve ever stayed. There was an actual running waterfall in the bathroom complete with an amazing rainfall shower and jacuzzi tub, another stone jacuzzi on the deck, and a stone fireplace in the room. It was well worth the splurge!

The fireplace in our room was very welcoming in the chilly night air.

The view from our room, out across the balcony

This bathroom was incredible – the entire wall behind the jacuzzi was a running waterfall.

La Paz Waterfall Gardens is a great destination for adults or kids. Like so many places in Costa Rica their mission is to preserve the natural environment of the area and educate visitors.

Absolutely loving Costa Rica. The wildlife, eco-tourism, biodiversity, and protected parks are amazing. It’s pricier than Thailand, but still less expensive than the US. The Ticos (native Costa Ricans) are some of the friendliest, most laid back people you will ever meet. You will often hear them exclaiming “Pura Vida” which translates to “Pure Life” – what an awesome way to live!