Here is a rough map of the ride.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
A Ride to Playa Penca
We took a timelapse of our drive to a nearby beach , Playa Penca.
Here is a rough map of the ride.
Here is the video but since it is a compilation of photos, pausing anytime yields a clear pic.
Here is a rough map of the ride.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Arenal Volcan
So catching up some more from January and the visit of Pam and Paul Caswell.
After Alamo came and got the car started we drove to the town of La Fortuna in north central mountains of Costa Rica. We were able to catch up with the tour bus that Pam and Paul and Gab were riding. They had stopped for lunch so we met them at the restaurant and were able to follow them. And we took a road, Route 4, that was just finished and which was not on the map.
We checked in and were able to hit the pool and hot tubs before dinner. Had a good dinner at the hotel restaurant. The next morning after a really good breakfast at our hotel, we drove to the Fortuna waterfall but we could not swim there to do the recent amount of rainfall. Only something like 550 steps down and then back up. But there was lots of inspiration from the Guru Sloth (see pics) on the way. After that we drove over to Arenal Volcano National Park where we ate a packed lunch. We did a nice hike there and got a little rain on us. Shout out to Christopher for using the emergency poncho that Steph has been carrying in her purse for like 10 years. Only a great mom does that.
Before we had headed on this trip, someone we met said that we had to do the rope swing at La Fortuna. If you go on Trip Advisor or any similar site, you will find that the 'rope swing' is one of the top things to do in the area. So you might expect that this would be some commercial thing where you pay for your turn and maybe there's a lifeguard. Nope, just a rope over a river by the side of the road. In Tico fashion there is a guy who will watch your car for $4 but he seemed busy so we did not get charged. And this rope swing was awesome and by awesome I mean terrifying for an old man. When you let go, your head is probably 15 feet above the water. And it was fun. All of the Schuckers went. Grandma took pictures and video while Grandpa kept an eye on the car. (I probably owe him $4.) That night we went out and had a seafood dinner.
The skies on the trip so far had gone back and forth between downpour and streaming sunlight and La Fortuna was no different. Volcan Arenal (Arenal Volcano) is high enough it seems to create its own weather, basically making its own clouds. So lots of the pictures below have the top of Arenal in clouds. We got a bit lucky the next day. In the morning we went over to The Hanging Bridges in Mistico Park. The hanging bridges is a series of, you might have guessed, bridges through the jungle. We went with a tour that included a nature guide (some of the pictures below are through his telescopre. Without the guide we would have missed a good deal including the pit vipers. The tour was supposed to be 2.5 hours but our guide was chatty so it was nearly 4 hours. All good though and we learned and saw so much. As we finished the tour, Arenal got clearer and clear and so almost all of the pictures where you can see most of Arenal is from the restaurant at Mistico Park.
On the way back, we stopped at a hot springs river. As Grandpa said, it is amazing that this place is not commercialized. We parked on the side of the road and walked about 50 yards to a river that was fluctuated between 80 and 100 degrees. Somewhere upstream it was much warmer. We just found a place in the river which has spots of between 8 inches and 2.5 feet in depth and we just hung out for a bit. There was at least 30 other people there; one family had camped on the side of the river and was having a large picnic. A coati came and visited their meal. Rest of that day was spent hanging by the pool at the hotel and Grandpa took us out for a pizza dinner.
The next morning we headed back to Playa Grande and Pam and Paul headed to Monte Verde for some sightseeing on their own. Shortly the kids would start school and Pam and Paul would come back to visit us for a weekend in Playa Grande.
After Alamo came and got the car started we drove to the town of La Fortuna in north central mountains of Costa Rica. We were able to catch up with the tour bus that Pam and Paul and Gab were riding. They had stopped for lunch so we met them at the restaurant and were able to follow them. And we took a road, Route 4, that was just finished and which was not on the map.
We checked in and were able to hit the pool and hot tubs before dinner. Had a good dinner at the hotel restaurant. The next morning after a really good breakfast at our hotel, we drove to the Fortuna waterfall but we could not swim there to do the recent amount of rainfall. Only something like 550 steps down and then back up. But there was lots of inspiration from the Guru Sloth (see pics) on the way. After that we drove over to Arenal Volcano National Park where we ate a packed lunch. We did a nice hike there and got a little rain on us. Shout out to Christopher for using the emergency poncho that Steph has been carrying in her purse for like 10 years. Only a great mom does that.
Before we had headed on this trip, someone we met said that we had to do the rope swing at La Fortuna. If you go on Trip Advisor or any similar site, you will find that the 'rope swing' is one of the top things to do in the area. So you might expect that this would be some commercial thing where you pay for your turn and maybe there's a lifeguard. Nope, just a rope over a river by the side of the road. In Tico fashion there is a guy who will watch your car for $4 but he seemed busy so we did not get charged. And this rope swing was awesome and by awesome I mean terrifying for an old man. When you let go, your head is probably 15 feet above the water. And it was fun. All of the Schuckers went. Grandma took pictures and video while Grandpa kept an eye on the car. (I probably owe him $4.) That night we went out and had a seafood dinner.
The skies on the trip so far had gone back and forth between downpour and streaming sunlight and La Fortuna was no different. Volcan Arenal (Arenal Volcano) is high enough it seems to create its own weather, basically making its own clouds. So lots of the pictures below have the top of Arenal in clouds. We got a bit lucky the next day. In the morning we went over to The Hanging Bridges in Mistico Park. The hanging bridges is a series of, you might have guessed, bridges through the jungle. We went with a tour that included a nature guide (some of the pictures below are through his telescopre. Without the guide we would have missed a good deal including the pit vipers. The tour was supposed to be 2.5 hours but our guide was chatty so it was nearly 4 hours. All good though and we learned and saw so much. As we finished the tour, Arenal got clearer and clear and so almost all of the pictures where you can see most of Arenal is from the restaurant at Mistico Park.
On the way back, we stopped at a hot springs river. As Grandpa said, it is amazing that this place is not commercialized. We parked on the side of the road and walked about 50 yards to a river that was fluctuated between 80 and 100 degrees. Somewhere upstream it was much warmer. We just found a place in the river which has spots of between 8 inches and 2.5 feet in depth and we just hung out for a bit. There was at least 30 other people there; one family had camped on the side of the river and was having a large picnic. A coati came and visited their meal. Rest of that day was spent hanging by the pool at the hotel and Grandpa took us out for a pizza dinner.
The next morning we headed back to Playa Grande and Pam and Paul headed to Monte Verde for some sightseeing on their own. Shortly the kids would start school and Pam and Paul would come back to visit us for a weekend in Playa Grande.
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