Day 4 - Coffee Plantation, Volcano, and Waterfall GardensWe woke up early, because we had a lot of things we wanted to see and do. We checked out around 6am and started out on the road towards Peace Lodge. Once outside of Turrialaba, we weren't sure which way to go when the road split into a Y. So we chose one way, which turned out to not be the main road. Luckily it still went the way we wanted to go. It was just a bit more scenic. I guess that was one of the neat things of having a rental car. The ability to go off the beaten path. One lesson we quickly learned was that there are no street signs in Costa Rica. All directions are given by referencing landmarks. Crazy! So we got back to San Jose and were trying to avoid going through the city and took another wrong turn. We quickly realized it and turned around. Since we missed the turn to Hederia we went though Alalajela instead. After a bit of wandering around we found DAKA estates were we wanted to go for a coffee tour. We pretty much had our own private tour. We learned that there biggest buyer of coffee beans is Starbucks!
We fell in love with the peaberry coffee and bought several bags. When we left there we went to Paos Volacno. As we were driving up the mountain the clouds started rolling in. By the time we got up to the crater of the volcano, we couldn't see anything. So that was kind of a disappointment. We could have planned this a bit better. So we left the volcano and went to Peace Lodge to check in. This place was amazing. The room was huge, had a jacuzzi on the patio, stereo with speakers all over the room, a 7 ft waterfall, and a huge shower! They even put our last name on a sign outside the door.
I was very impressed and the staff was so friendly. When we arrived they said they would show us the room, so we asked if we should bring the luggage. There response was Nope, this is your vacation". Sure enough when we returned to the room after seeing the park, there was our luggage! The park was amazing too. We got to see lots of birds, frogs, butterflies, and monkeys.
The trail at the bottom of the park along the waterfalls was amazing too. We had a great time here. That night we enjoyed a bottle of red wine and the jacuzzi.
Day 5 – Horseback Riding and more White WaterToday we did a tour through our hotel. It was a combined tour of horseback riding and White Water Rafting. The horseback riding was quite an experience. The guide was great and even taught us a few extra Spanish words. Like Cow is “Baca” that sort of thing. It stuck through out the trip, because I kept saying Baca every time we saw cows on the road. The horseback riding was pretty much our own private tour. There was no once else signed up. But we had a lot if fun. They really didn’t care if you trotted or galloped either. That was very unlike the “USA”. We even got out to a grass field and they told us we could run if we liked. Dave and I ran together, but the running thing wasn’t for Dave. All I could hear was “stop, stop, no, no more”. I was kind of funny. I really enjoyed the running part. One the way back the tour guide spotted our very first Howler Monkeys! They were so cute, sitting up in the tree. Later that day we saw some more when driving back to the hotel. After horseback riding it was off to go rafting. This trip was much calmer than the Pacuare but still fun. It was only class 3 rapids. We stopped at one point where they fed us fruit and we were allowed to jump off a cliff into the river. That was also a lot of fun. At the end we had a nice Costa Rican lunch and headed back to the lodge. When we got back I really wanted to go see the Toucans again. So we went down to visit the birds in the park. They were so active and fun at that time of the day. In the evening we took a night Frog Tour. I got some great shots of the frogs.
The frogs are really active just after sunset since they know there chances of getting eaten are much less. After the tour we had a nice dinner at the lodge again. This time I had Filet Mignon and dave had Costa Rican Filet Mignon. The night before he had a steak and I had chicken with crab meat. The restaurant there was really nice and definatly 4 star quality. Then it was back to the room for more wine and Jacuzzi.
I love the gloomy look of this photo
So did every one have a great thanksgiving? We did we ate at the Stinking Rose in Beverly Hills since our kitchen wasn’t quite ready for cooking. Then we headed home, took a nap, had chocolate fondue and wine, and just hung out the rest of the evening. Friday I went shopping with my mom while my dad worked on hooking up our sink and dishwasher so we could actually wash dishes again. Then it was off to Catalina Island for an overnight stay.
While in Turriabla we stayed at Casa Turrire. I really liked this hotel. It was cute and quaint. It had a more country plantation setting and our room overlooked the lake. The people were very friendly and the food was great. We enjoyed our first day just walking around the grounds and having a really nice dinner with wine. Then it was off to bed as we were very tired! I think we were in bed by 7:30!
