Here is my account of our wonderful Tour of Costa Rica & Nicaragua taken during March 2017
i won't bore you with all the Travel details and so our journey begins the morning after our eleven pm arrival in San Jose, our Tour manager was Prisca who is Italian and lives in Verona who travelled with us from LHR, local guide Ronald and coach driver throughout was George
Day one - Thursday 9th March
our morning tour of San Jose departed at 9am, all of the 22 originally on our party were very prompt at all departures, stops etc enabling us to keep pretty much on track throughout and our tour this morning took in the beautiful cathedral/National Theatre/gold museum etc with a couple of free hours to allow for lunch and a little wander around arriving back at the hotel just before 3.30
there was a huge supermarket just down the road from the hotel and so some of us took this opportunity to stock up on water and snacks
a welcome drink was provided for us this evening in the bar then some of the group went to a Tapes bar pretty much next door to the hotel
weather: lovely & sunny very warm little breezy
Day Two - Friday 10th March
wakey wakey bright & breezy it's 6.30am and we're ready to depart for Tortuguero
a morning of two breakfasts as after an early one in the hotel we were to stop for a further breakfast around 8.30 which was where we saw our first Sloth and also a blue jeans dart frog
a very enjoyable stop was then made at the Del Monte banana plantations to watch the work process in action, it all looked hard work for the workers but at least they had to some nice music playing to keep them entertained, here amongst birdlife, we spotted a woodpecker and a rinocerous beetle as well as a Jesus Christ Lizard otherwise known as a basiliscus lizard
shortly before midday we arrived at the jetty to get the boat which took around an hour and a quarter to reach our lodge which was very picturesque then after a much needed welcome drink and lunch before we departed across the river for Tortuguero village a little after three, i say a little after three as two of our party had gone awol eh' 'Jaya goes missing' i actually wrote at the time, she claims to have followed Doreen along the wrong path where both ended up in our neighbours back garden aka some sister lodge, i am sure jibber jabbering played a part in their miss direction lol, anyway all was well as they hopped on the Jaya-Hopper service directly across river, they didn't really miss much in just a 17 min film on Turtles
a walk on the lovely beach where we had a group picture taken and where some decided to take the opportunity to have a swim whilst the rest of us explored this delightful village, our return back to our side of the river was made for just after five with our two happy wanderers deciding that a night on the beach was not for them and so therefore were safely sheeped back on to the boat by us wiley shepherds, admidst all the fantastic birdlife we also spotted earlier or rather the staff at the lodge did, a Porcupine, all cuddled up neatly nestled in a tree near the pool where in one funny moment Jaya looses her footing and takes a tumble in the jungle ha ha :cool:
Dinner was served from 7 this evening and the weather today again was lovely sunny very warm with some broken cloud
Day Three - Saturday 11th March
up with the birds or perhaps the rather vocal Howler Monkeys for an early Cruise at 06.45, there was very heavy rain overnight but this morning was fresh and clear, some of the amazing wildlife we saw were, Capuchin monkeys ( white faced ) Howler monkeys spider monkeys Humming birds Iguana's Tiger Herons Sloths Toucans jacanas green back heron flycatchers 2 tone sloth long nosed bats great eagret unsung given bird a male and female heron and a kill bill Toucan
we returned for breakfast around 8 before embarking on a walk around the many pathways of the lodge spotting a toad a Damsel fly, a Mexican hairy porcupine and a male & female spider who both seemed jolly pleased with themselves plus of course many plant and tree life
at 2.30 another wildlife cruise, some of the wildlife we spotted were spider monkeys ( mother & baby ) sloth black river turtle Jesus Christ Lizard howler monkeys Capachin monkeys spiders many herons and much more returning to the lodge about five spotting 2 Toucans in the trees as we walked to our lodge
another beautiful day hot & sunny
Day Four - Sunday 12th March
an 8.30 departure up river by boat back to the mainland arriving about 10 with a midday lunch stop where we saw yet another sloth and a blue jeans frog which are incredibly tiny and after another long but interesting day on the Road we reached the Tilajari Resort on San Carlos River shortly before half past three, a pleasant walk along the river spotting 2 Iguanas whom soon scuried up a tree when they saw me and so with little else around i decided to head for the butterfly conservatory, grrrrr even they were hiding from me, i never saw not one, our rooms were like our own little bungalows here with our own front door and patio
after a club sandwich in the restaurant and a couple of beers the night was done and it was like walking home back home after a night out, another very beautiful warm day
Day Five - Monday 13th March
our optional tour to the Hanging Bridges of Arenal departed at 8am stopping off at a viewing point for Arenal Volcano, Jaya got all excited at the sighting of two squirrels and a woodpecker, during our walk we encountered many very busy Leaf Cutter ants, a vipor up a tree, a walking tree amongst the various variety of vegetation in the park, it was pretty busy and so we only had time to do 3 of i think the 7 bridges, Prisca our TM mentioned you would need at least 6.5 hours to do all the bridges today, maybe 4 if it was quiet but we settled for the three before making our way back to La Fortuna for lunch where it was now hot and sunny and so we returned to our resort around 2.30 and as i personally was not doing the Hot Springs at Tabacon i joined some of the left behind group for a few drinks and a meal in the restaurant choosing the set menu for $18 to bring to an end another lovely hot & sunny day
a tip if you are doing this excursion to the bridges, wear appropiate footwear, our TM didn't think they'd let us in with open shoes/sandals/crocs ( well me really ) but you just have to sign a disclaimer, Thankfully it was dry for us so wasn't wet or slippy
Day Six - Tuesday 14th March
Prisca decided to keep many departures to eight o'clock making it easy to get used to and so another 8am departure for our optional Kayak river trip along the Penas Blancas River, a wonderful experience just floating along downstream and spotting wildlife for over 2 hours, owls, monkeys, blue herons, bats, lizards, iguala's, crocs before we made a nice little visit to a local farm house for coffee and cake before making our way down the muddy bank back to our eh' rubber dinghy's when suddenly i lost my footing and landed smack on my bum which sure made one or two lucky enough to capture it giggle, ha ha :P
our cruise continued down river looking out for more wildlife as we trundled past some crocs looking for an early lunch as some of the group in one of the other dinghys decide to do a spot of swimming, they seemed to be having a jolly time and after a short stop on the way back to our resort where we saw many iguana's on the banks revelling in all the attention and we were back in our resort just after one
Later this afternoon we were taken on a nature trek around the grounds looking mainly at plants and trees followed by a relaxing evening after another hot & sunny day
Day Seven Wednesday 15th March
07.15 departure for Monteverde
a long day travelling today but some of the scenery was just beautiful but due to heavy rain earlier the road we would have took had been closed as an earlier coach had got stuck in mud and so this put an extra hour of the journey as we climbed up into the mountains it became dusty and dry but George's driving was absolutely amazing, we reached the coffee plantations around 12.15, an interesting tour and lunch, was very windy here and we reached our hotel in Monteverde around 3 o'clock
I found the talk given by an 84 year old former Quaker settler interesting at times but I could have used that hour spent on something else i'm sure
our optional Night Jungle walk tonight was quite an experience and always worth doing and almost immediately on entering the jungle our guides spotted a Toucan sleeping high up in the tree, the bright colourful colours just shining out of the darkness, our guides warned us not to touch any trees or vegetation as there could be spiders or snakes on them though I found at times you had to just to steady yourself, I recall seeing a very small frog, an armadillo, a viper, a tiny spider and probably the highlight a Coati family and a Kinkajou plus a few other things and when we saw a small spider wandering by Gwyneth commented in her Birkenhead accent she'd seen bigger spiders in her bathroom back home which gave us a chuckle :rolleyes:
a very enjoyable and exciting couple of hours, oh an armadillo was seen scurrying out of the darkness but we soon lost it as it headed inland and our guide did find and pick up a tiny beetle before our tour concluded
a nice day all round
Day Eight Thursday 16th March
8am departure for the Cloud Forest and optional Zip Line, gosh was it windy last night, lying in bed listening to the wind, nothing better, anyway this was a super day up in the cloud forest, amongst the many things Ronald found was a Tarantula deep down in the pocket of a tree which he so kindly took a picture to forward on to us via Prisca before we enjoyed a nice lunch in the town of Santa Elena
from here our coach took those not doing the zip line back to the hotel ( about half the group ) whilst we went by mini bus up to Selvatura Park where we were equipped with the equipment, photographs taken and we made our way to the first of the 13 lines but the guys reassured us, some you would do three/four in one go then a gruelling walk to the next station and as Jaya said the last 1000 meter zip line we did in Tandem, I was with Doreen and wow wow wow it had begun to drizzle and we whizzed through the clouds, amazing, when Doreen shouted 'Stop Stop Stop' as instructed by the guy on the other end I suddenly had to break hard on the cable which actually stopped us a little short and we had to be hauled in, a thrilling experience to say the least
I would for sure recommend something warm for Monteverde, a light fleece or something as you are up in the mountains and be prepared for some rain though we hardly had any except in the evenings but I did pick up a cold here which lasted 4 or 5 days and for our second night here we again encountered very high winds
Day Nine Friday 17th March
a really early start today at 06.30 for the long drive to Nicaragua along the pan American highway with a couple of stops on route and to get some lunch from a supermarket at Plaza Santa Rosa as delays at the border crossing can be quite lenghy, up to 4/5 hours but thankfully we were through both sides on the border in an hour or so, you would not believe how different Nicaragua is to Costa Rica, much much poorer and so much cheaper also, a stop was made at the absolutely stunning volcanic Lake Nicaragua but boy was it windy there though rather pleasant and some nice stalls to wander round in the time we had free here in the town of Katerina, many hawkers here too selling their merchandise and those Howler monkeys peering down on us from the trees up above
we reached the hotel, an old colonial style hotel, here in Granada around 4.30 and at 5.15 Prisca took us on an oriental walking tour of the town, the hotel is very very central and easy to navigate you back and forth, so close to the main square and the stunningly beautiful church, Prisca advised us not to go to the waterfront area alone especially at night as not safe, we eat in the hotel in the evenings as they did a special set menu, we sat out in the lovely garden area and a little area us 3 codgers sat in I named Flowerpot corner as you were surrounded by various plant life, almost like a secret corner lol
after the meal Prisca took us to the Dario hotel to see a free show of Dancing and music, this only happens on a Friday and was a very enjoyable evening, meanwhile outside on the main street there was a live band on a stage and they were incredibly good, the streets were crowded then I found Paul Doreen & Glenis so sat with them for the last half an hour
the weather today after leaving chilly and windy Monteverde was lovely and hot again
Day Ten Saturday 18th March
at 8.30 am it was time to hop aboard the optional horse & carriages for our very colourful ride around Grenada. getting off a couple of times at landmarks for photographs, very enjoyable, then even more enjoyable was the really beautiful boat ride round Nicaragua lake, this was not to be missed, some of the best wildlife could be found here, so many birds and tiny islands where local live including one small island inhabited with spider monkeys, no one knows how these monkeys got on this island or how they've survived but they have, after this lovely boat ride of an hour or so our tour continued with a walking tour of the town, those not doing this optional joined us for this walking tour and we returned to the main square around 12.30 where we all trundled off in various directions to do our own thing, Jaya took her gang, me peter & mike to an irish bar O'Shea's for lunch or was it us taking Jaya, ha ha, Jaya had to leave her fish ( fish n' chips ) as undercooked and the manager noticed and so offered her a refund as she didn't like to complain and didn't, a word was taken back to the cook but it was quite busy and the service was slow, still sitting outside in the sunshine was nice, was very hot so a nice cold beer was so welcome
This evening there was a big boxing match on and so I took the opportunity to head down to watch it with the locals on the street, every tv was showing it
Day Eleven Sunday 19th March
8am start for our optional excursion to Managua and Masaya Volcano
an morning local market and an afternoon craft market visits split up the travel time with an included lunch that was very good actually as you gave your order in earlier, a choice of chicken, fish, steak, vegetarian, I had the steak which was really big, during our visit to the volcano we looked right into the crater where you could easily see the burning ash and many people who have lost their hats lay on the craters edge so please hold on to any hats you wouldn't want them blowing off, revolution square was nice to wander round as was the old town of Managua, and do try the local passion fruits at the masaya craft market was most enjoyable, we returned to the hotel around 4.30
The evening was free and some of us went down the main street for a light meal and sangria, there are so many restaurants to choose from and all in good competition
Day Twelve Monday 20th March
so it's been a lovely weekend in Nicaragua and so now it was time to return to Costa Rica
a 7am departure and we reached the border around half past eight, with all cases having to come off this time to be scanned, we braced ourselves for the long haul but surprisingly we were just as quick getting through as we were going infact a little sooner, about an hour all in but don't always expect this our TM said, hooray the wifi was back which helps pass the time on coach, didn't have it on board in Nicaragua though the hotels was pretty good as it was almost everywhere, gosh it was up to 36 degrees today so very hot as we reached our hotel Crocs Casino in Jaco around 3 0'clock, a lovely resort much different than anywhere else we stayed, much more Americanised though and around a 15 min walk into the town itself
Prisca booked us a table for dinner which most of us attended before dancing the night away in the open bars disco
Day Thirteen Tuesday 21st March
8am departed for Manuel Antonio National Park where during our walk some of what we saw were a long horn spider, a sloth, some squirrel monkeys, so beautifully coloured meaning we had now seen all 4 speices of monkey in CR, and then we encountered the very naughty robbers of the park, the capuchin monkeys, as we reached the beach you needed eyes in the back of your head, they were everywhere, looking for opportunities and despite being advised not to bring certain foods into the park ( they check your bags ) some of us still had items stolen from us by these cute but cheeky monkeys, ie: bananas ? of all things, ho ho
it was so hot here today we were purely sweltering and so it was a relief to be back at our hotel in Jaco just after half past three
This evening myself and a few others walked into town and had an excellent meal at Graffiti's whilst another group headed to a fish restaurant though as with most places the service was a little on the slow side and we took a slow walk back to our hotel around 9
probably the hottest day yet at around 36 degrees
Day Fourteen Wednesday 22nd March
at 8 this morning we departed for our boat trip on the Tarcoles River, this was a wonderful trip and a def NOT TO BE MISSED, our Crocodile safari did NOT disappoint, so much again was seen, unsure of the spelling here but here goes as we took our walk through the forest, a garder Trobon bird, an ant nest, leaf cutter ants, iguana's, a black & green poisendar, army ants, spider monkeys, a coaoti, Tinamoo bird, jesus christ Lizard and some other things i'd jotted down but can't read my writing
on the cruise which followed this afternoon we saw things such as, a great Egret, great blue heron, little blue heron, Tri coloured heron ( gosh they're all herons ), a Anhinga, an American picnic kingfisher which was a rare sighting and the 2nd smallest KF in Costa Rica, frogs, bats, Macaws and a few other things I've lost it on the spelling i'm afraid or my writing has become unreadable....
Then the finale on meeting the croc Lady Gaga, another huge croc with half its jaw and foot missing after a fight with another croc before moving onto a croc called Tornado, the very brave crocodile man literally standing inches away and in the water at times fed him chicken and we all thought one slip or false move and he could be missing a hand or a foot himself, truly amazing
we arrived back at the hotel around 2.30 and at last for me some free time, I was determined to have an hour just lazing at the pool sipping a cocktail
This evening we put together a farewell meal and then danced in the disco bar, Wednesday was supposed to be Reggie night but the dj soon changed the tone to disco music for us lot, a super last evening
in the morning the poor Manchester travellers ( 2 of them ) were having to leave for the airport at 2.30am for a 6am flight whilst us LHR didn't leave until 09.45 for a 14.10 flight, something to bear in mind for anybody wishing to fly from their local airport, our bags were also checked directly through via Houston whilst the Manchester flight went via Newark and had to re check their hold luggage back in, we had 2 hours to change flight on the way out and 3 on return, was ample time really, it was about an hour and a half from Jaco back to San Jose airport and on arrival around half an hour from SJ airport to the Studio hotel and pretty much all the hotels with exception to the lodge in Tortuguero had coffee makers not kettles, also be careful you don't leave anything behind as one poor chap left his camera on charge in Nicaragua of all places and didn't realise until we were out of the town, Thanks to Ronald and Prisca they were able to get it brought on by another coach party under the same agents who were heading back to CR the following day and so at the eleventh hour he was finally reunited with his expensive camera when we arrived at San Jose airport for the flight home, kindly he was loaned a camera by another traveller for the remaining days of the tour so please make sure you double check everywhere before departure
This brings to an end my mammouth review of Costa Rica/Nicaragua 2017 hope it all sounds ok and I really enjoyed this holiday which was quite fast paced with a really lovely group of people
Regards
Dave 
