It began much like the others, woken up by howler monkey (still so surreal), amazing gourmet breakfast and wonderful coffee that Matt learned the secret to adding Horchata to it (will have to use that at home!), and then packing up our luggage to head out of town 🙁
We didnt even start to plan today’s adventure until we were almost back to the room after breakfast but at that point decided to see if we could get reservations at the Mistico Hanging Bridges park. We were in luck, they had spots and talked us into taking a tour guide- this is something we have both been sceptical on in the past but wont ever be again- HE WAS INCREDIBLE! I will get to that though… first we have to check out of the room and the lovely man who picked us up in the golf cart (no cars allowed on property) asked if we had seen the sloth today… WHAT?!??! No!! He took us over to the edge of the property and there he was, nestled in a tiny ball in the tree. I am telling you there is NO WAY anyone would have seen that, I am still not sure how they saw it or even how I saw it after it was pointed out to me 5 times… camoflage!
Really quick shout out to that AirBnb- Casa del Rio- I would 100% go back there and stay anytime- what an incredible experience with a great staff and some of the best food we have had on our trip so far! Muchas Gracias mis amigos!
We were going to stop by the Bogarin Trail on our way out to the park (place to see a lot of sloths apparently) but there just was not time. I had to swing by and pick up a local artwork souvenir and forgot to take pictures of it before they wrapped it- more to come there.
We arrived at the park and our guide, Jose Raul, was waiting for us. We managed to somehow swing a last minute reservation at a park with a tour guide as a private tour! And he was the BEST guide (in our humble opinion) EVER! He carries a long tripod, scope, umbrella, and flashlight. He sees EVERYTHING! And through his knowledge and lense we got the most amazing pictures of birds, spiders, snakes, owls, and spider monkeys! They were swinging above us and eating, please check the link below for the video of that bucket list moment!
Not only was he knowledgable, he was kind and funny! He told great stories and had many things to say about his “office” as he called it. We would pay for that tour 100x over and if you find yourself at the Mistico Hanging Bridges, Get a guide and get Jose Raul! You won’t be dissapointed.
On the way out there were some Coatis in the parking lot (made a short video of them, posted in the link). And then its off on the 4 hour drive to Tamarindo.
I am going to give my first hand account of this since I did the driving but before I get to that I have to tell you about the BBQ restaurant we stopped at for lunch. Matt found the recommendation online and trust me, its not a place we would have looked twice at except for the HIGH reviews. WORTH IT! (Dang this entire day feels worth it 😉 ) We got to sit on the second story outdoor restaurant eating a huge plate of different bbq’d meats with rice, beans, and fried plantains while taking in the view of Lake Arenal. Muy delicioso!
Ok so back to the road trip.. when the roads are paved and lit, driving is not bad in Costa Rica. Of course there are bad drivers but I dont think that stigma only applies to Americans so we expected it here as well. It got dark while I was driving and all the blogs I read said DONT DRIVE AFTER DARK!!!! SCARY!!!! DANGER!!!! DONT GO ON, GO BACK WHILE YOU STILL CAN… THIS IS NOT THE WAY. TAKE HEED AND GO NO FURTHER. BEWARE BEWARE (sorry I got into a Labyrinth reference there).. LOL! Ok its not THAT bad. When there are no street lights its still ok when there are lane lines… when there are neither, well, that can feel a little intense at times. Matt offered to drive multiple times since I don’t like driving at night but I was in the zone and we made it without any scratches about 4 hours later.
Driving into Tamarindo was a shock… it was like driving into Key West or Daytona Beach during Spring break.. UGH! No wonder Jose Raul called it Tama Gringo…LOL! I am hoping we can still manage to find some local culture in all the white washing here and weave our way around the plethera of “gringos” (that is the nicest way I could think to put that). Our Airbnb seems nice so far though, we have a house that is entirely gated with its own pool. There have been some interesting things about it but nothing we can’t deal with. And on that note, I shall say Buenos Noches to you all as I am ready to call it a night. Tomorrow we go exploring Tamarindo!
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