Shuttle Day

After leaving our suitcases outside our Airbnb, we wandered into town. In La Fortuna there is an enclosed outdoor mall, and we found a smoothie shop. We ordered two smoothies and sat in the shade. They were delicious—I may just drink smoothies for the rest of the trip!

We headed back toward our Airbnb and stopped to pick up some groceries. Our next Airbnb would be outside of town.

Once back at the Airbnb, we talked with Nancy, a very nice woman, probably around 30. She lives in the Airbnb, and when she rents it out she stays downstairs with her mother. It’s almost like a family commune—she’s the oldest of eight children, and they all live on the property or nearby.

Nancy pointed out a family of monkeys in the trees across the river. Earlier that morning we had seen a toucan in the guarumo (trumpet) tree. Animals eat the seeds from that tree. On their property they also had a banana tree and a coconut tree.

The only downside was that we were close to the road. The first night we heard trucks and dogs barking most of the night. The next night it rained, the dogs were inside, and with the fan on it almost drowned out the truck noise. We slept very well.

Our shuttle picked us up at two and drove past the Arenal Volcano area. Then, surprisingly, we stopped at Lake Arenal and transferred ourselves and our luggage onto a ferry. It was a relaxing, misty ride across the lake.

On the other side we were picked up by another shuttle. This ride quickly turned into quite an adventure! The road was either rocky and bumpy or filled with potholes. We crossed two bridges. The first was so narrow that the driver had to back up to carefully position the shuttle in the center. He called it the “Oh My God Bridge,” which I may have muttered myself.

The second bridge was called the “Carwash Bridge” because it crosses a river where the water flows right over the bridge. Several times I looked out the window and could see a steep drop below. Yikes!

The rest of the ride was beautiful- seeing ‘green Costa Rica’ all around us! As we drove up into the mountains, the temperature noticeably dropped!

La Fortuna

 Very close to our Airbnb was a grocery store, so we stopped in for breakfast drinks and a small packaged pastry. They looked good, but they turned out to be extremely dry—almost like eating flour. I think we’ll stick to local bakeries from now on.

From there we went to the Bogarin Trail. It’s a nicely cleared path winding through trees and dense tropical plants. We chose not to hire a guide, but whenever we saw a guide looking up into the trees, we quietly followed their gaze and often discovered wildlife ourselves.

We saw two sloths—one was a juvenile and surprisingly fun to watch. I hadn’t realized just how incredibly slow they move. We also spotted an agouti on the ground, which looks a bit like an oversized rat, along with a toucan, iguanas, and many other birds. One of the more interesting things we saw were a few trails of leaf cutter ants. Apparently they can travel up to 600 meters and Carrie 10 times their weight. The number of ants in a line was just overwhelming. At the end of the trail there was a feeding area where fruit had been set out, so we sat for a while watching birds fly in and out. The humidity here is intense, so we stopped often for drinks.

For lunch we stopped at a small stand and ordered empanadas, sharing a large bottle of Fanta.

Later we walked around the town of La Fortuna. It’s definitely a tourist town—almost like a Costa Rican Gatlinburg. We found a small art gallery and bought a toucan made from balsa wood with plans to turn it into a Christmas ornament.

Next we walked uphill to our chocolate tour. It was a good thing we left early because the climb was steeper than expected. The chocolate tour was fantastic. We saw cacao trees and learned the entire process of turning cacao beans into chocolate. At the end we got to experiment by mixing our own flavors into a spoonful of chocolate. My favorite combination was peanuts, brown sugar, and vanilla. During the tour we also saw a baby sloth and another agouti. Our guide was bubbly and very personable, and I would definitely recommend the tour.

The walk back down the hill was much easier. On the way home we stopped at a bakery to pick up something for breakfast the next morning. We also spotted a happy hour bar and decided to stop in for mojitos. I logged 23,500 steps on this day. When we got back, I felt tired and sweaty but content.

Alajeula Costa Rica

 We left our Airbnb around 8:00 a.m., grateful we could store our suitcases. Staying true to our travel tradition, we quickly found a bakery and bought two cheese pastries—tasty, though mine was a bit heavy, and I only finished about two-thirds.

We stepped inside the beautiful Alajuela Cathedral, where a woman led a call-and-response prayer while workmen hammered away on scaffolding above—an ironic soundtrack to the devotion below. 

At the Juan Santamaría Cultural Historical Museum, once 19th-century military barracks and later a college, we explored well-done historical and art exhibits. In the courtyard, a group of seniors exercised together, likely from a local organization.

After popping into a discount shop for two forgotten essentials—a brush and toothbrush—we headed to lunch at La Meche, recommended both by our Airbnb host and a friendly woman we met on the street. We ordered from a small buffet of fresh, traditional dishes—fish for me, chicken stew for Scotty, plus tamarind and strawberry-banana juices. The restaurant was bustling with locals. The woman joined us briefly, shared that she splits time between Costa Rica and Palm Beach for affordable medical care, and then surprised us by paying for our meal. Such a sweet gesture—we’re really liking Costa Rica.

Alajeula is a very busy town! Lots of cars, people and shops. Many places look old, but the city is clean.  The parks are popular places for people to sit and enjoy the little bit of nature within the city. 

Our shuttle to La Fortuna was completely full, luggage stacked high in the back—but thankfully air-conditioned. The chaotic, crowded highway scenes—vendors weaving between cars, people waiting roadside for buses, homes pressed close to the pavement—reinforced that taking shuttles was the right choice. Costa Rica is undeniably beautiful, but we hadn’t expected to witness such visible poverty alongside it.

Flight to San Jose, Costa Rica

 It was nice having a relaxed morning instead of rushing to the airport at the crack of Dawn. Our flight left at 12:55 and we arrived in San Jose at 7:40 with about a 40 minute layover in Houston. But once we got to the airport, we waited in the immigration line for an hour and then customs line for about 20 minutes. We quickly found a taxi and got to our Airbnb. It’s 10 o’clock at night and dark so tomorrow we’ll do a little bit of exploring before the vacation really starts. 

Leaving Black Rock Mountain

 Of course! The day we leave, the skies are a gorgeous clear blue. I was able to take a few photos from the overlook as we left the campground.

Camping - Black Rock Mountain State Park

 Not a sunny day, but it wasn’t raining so off we went to hike. Tennessee Rock Trail is rated moderate as it dies go down the mountain, then back up. As we hiked from our campsite, it was a bit longer - a total of 3.6 miles.

A highlight of the day is when we went to visit Tina and Paul. (Tina is the ex-wife of my cousin, Curt). We had a lovely visit and I told her I’m so jealous of the beautiful are where she lives! Sadly, we didn’t think to get a photo!