Instead of our usual return to England for Christmas we decided to stay Stateside this time. We had Christmas day and turkey outside in the sunshine at our house, just the 5 of us for the first time, and then we packed up for 10 days in Costa Rica. Narrowing down where to go and what to see was tricky. There seem to be so many great areas, but my husband was keen to try some family surfing as part of our trip so he made the choice for our base to be in Dominical, on the pacific coast, in the middle of that coastline. From Miami we flew to San Jose, hired a car – we had read that a 4×4 was recommended so that’s what we got and it proved to be the right decision – and using Waze found our way to our destination. Apparently Waze is THE app to have in Costa Rica and the best way to navigate the country.
We found an Airbnb house about 20 minutes inland and up from Playa Dominical. The journey was mostly on the main winding road but then turned off on to a rough, gravel track, passing local houses and then downhill towards our finca and some amazing views. The house was just what we were hoping for surrounded by rainforests and nature.
Leaving Playa Dominical, heading up to our house was a convenient row of shops where we could pick up a few supplies. We cooked dinner a couple of times at home but also found local restaurants along this route. One simple but popular place beyond our house with great views over the valley and another more unusual spot which we passed each day so had to try – Gate One Charter An outdoor terrace for the restaurant then a full plane converted into a bar! Looking at their Facebook page it seems they are closing down – hopefully someone will step in and take over.
We booked a family surf lesson late afternoon at Playa Dominical so got to be out on the boards as the sunset. The lesson was great and all of us were able to ride a few waves, some with more assistance than others. The children loved it so much that we went back the following day and just rented the surfboards for them to practice with. The beaches here have the black sand because of the volcanic rock so not as classically pretty and it can get really hot on your feet.
We had a couple of ideas of what we wanted to see but our itinerary was by no means finalised – the trip was booked fairly last minute, which seems to be a trend for us recently and in the run up to the Christmas break days are busy with school concerts and holiday parties, so I hadn’t had as much time to research.
Once we were there we came across the Nauyaca waterfalls close to where we were staying. The falls can be reached on foot, by 4×4 or on horseback. We liked the idea of the horses but it was already booked up. The website suggested the hike was too difficult for children, but ours initially grew up walking the mountains of Switzerland so we risked it! It was the perfect trail for children, in our opinion. 12 km round trip, nothing too steep, shady in places, we had walking boots but they would have managed in trainers. At the waterfall they all took a dip in the cool (freezing) water. Not me, I prefer the temperature to be closer to bath water. We took a picnic so had lunch and a break, clambered over the rocks and admired the views before heading back down.
Manuel Antonio is the well know national park full of wildlife and white sandy beaches. It is very popular! We found ourselves ushered into a beachfront car park and somehow picked up a ‘fixer’ who sold us a parking and nature guide package and lead us to the entrance of the park. It all felt very fishy and usually we would walk away from anything like this, but there didn’t seem to be any other option. It was cash only at the ticket office so my husband was whisked off in a car to a cash machine! I would suggest getting cash beforehand – less nerve-wracking! It felt very chaotic but somehow it worked out and this just seemed to be the system. He helped us get tickets and introduced us to our guide. All have their telescopes and are experts at spotting the animals so we felt that was worth paying for for a better experience. Even whilst we were waiting for my husband to buy the tickets the guide pointed out a very cute Mexican porcupine asleep above us in the branches of a tree.
A calmer way to see more wildlife, which overall we preferred, was at Hacienda Baru. This is an ecolodge with accommodation but also nature hikes and a zip line tour. We were there for the zip lining. A guide and a spotter, with his telescope, lead us on a gentle walk through the forest showing us sloths high in the trees, getting us to eat termites, that taste of green beans or peanuts (!) and arriving at the start of the zip line course. The guides were fun and interesting, a highlight was seeing a mother sloth feeding her baby, and of course, we all enjoyed flying through the trees.
From our house we could hear all sorts of jungle noises – birds, howler monkeys, who knows what else! There were binoculars so we happily spent time studying the forest canopy or wandering in pyjamas following hummingbirds in the garden. Our house was called Finca Aracari/Toucan Villa – so I really wanted to see some and finally, on our last morning, they appeared and did not disappoint. 2 or 3 of them flying from tree to tree, eating berries around our garden.
We were still in Costa Rica for New Year so wanted to be somewhere a bit more lively to see in 2018. Our flight was early on 2 January so it made sense to be closer to the airport in San Jose. San Jose isn’t a big tourist destination and doesn’t have a great reputation so we googled what there might be for us to visit and a festival in the suburb of Zapote kept coming up. The hotel receptionist also gave this as her suggestion, so off we went. It is a week long festival between Christmas and New year’s eve with carnival rides, lots of food stalls, music playing and at the centre a large stadium – for the bullfight. With very mixed feelings and in my beginner’s Spanish we bought tickets and went in. It is not bullfighting with matadors that we know from Spain or southern France but members of the public who sign up to enter the ring and encourage the bulls to chase them. They then leap over the sides of the ring to escape, if they are lucky. In between the bull events there were some easier-to-take dance routines with superheroes, musical chairs for horses and lasso tricks. It was quite surreal and we didn’t stay until the end, but on every TV screen we passed and also back in the hotel bar this was what people were watching. When in Rome…
The last thing we felt we should see whilst in Costa Rica was a volcano. The country seems to be full of them. We had planned to visit the Poas Volcano but throughout 2017 the national park had been closed or under review because of possible volcanic activity. And just that week the park had been closed again for safety reasons. So we had to find a backup volcano.
Barva volcano seemed to be a less touristy option but we decided we’d give it a visit and set off up the most tricky track. Our 4×4 did us proud on the unsurfaced roads with so many enormous potholes. Often we weren’t even sure whether this route was intended for cars and kept wondering how much worse it was going to get. At a point which seemed to be close to our destination and where the road was wide enough to turn the car around we decided to park and continue on foot. Not too much further on was the entrance to Volcan Barva in the Braulio Carrillo National Park. Here there was an office with trail routes and toilets. We headed off through the trees and the cloud forests to get to the crater lake – which we could just make out through the heavy cloud cover! It was much cooler and damper up here so we were glad of our extra layers.
On the drive back down we passed this very cute honesty stall selling local cheeses and bread, which took us back to hiking days in Switzerland where farmers would often offer something similar along the trail. And to finish off our stay we opted to stop in this cafe on the mountainside for some traditional Costa Rican lunch.
