Michael cranked up Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" as we pulled out of San Miguel de Allende on our way to Mexico City to catch our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Yes! We were heading to Costa Rica and finally adding a new country to our list. It had been exactly three years since we'd traveled to someplace new. As we dug into the planning and began our search for places to stay it seemed like old times. But 'new times' as well - what would the COVID protocols be? It turned out that entering Costa Rica didn't require a test or even proof of vaccination. So We were more than ready to notch up country number 86.
Our two weeks would be divided into short stays in San Jose, La Fortuna, Monteverde, Dominical, and Quepos. This fast-paced itinerary also took us back to pre-Covid Senior Nomad travels. People often ask how long we stay in one place, and the average was a week to ten days - with Michael adding “there is a lot of world to see!”. Post-Covid, we began staying places much longer, sometimes a month or more, and now that seems the norm. As we dust off our full-time travel plans I wonder what our new “sweet spot” will be?
Michael giving our trusty suitcases a good scrubbing - first time in nearly nine years!
We explored many different ways to visit this popular patch of Central America. We had some trusty nomads suggest we take a tour that they recommended, so we headed down that path. The Roads Scholar Tour they enjoyed was sold out. Others that we researched were also sold out or exorbitantly expensive. We finally settled on one, and Michael’s finger was hovering over the confirm button when our San Miguel de Allende neighbor chastised us for not exploring Costa Rica on our own. “Isn’t that what you’re all about?” I’m so glad she shook us out of our “tour trance!"
The best decision we made was NOT to rent a car. From all we’d read and heard, renting a car in Costa Rica is challenging. Not only because of the extortionate cost and intimidating rental process but driving in Costa Rica sounded like a nightmare. Many roads are just gravel, and others are packed with potholes. And apparently, otherwise gentle Costa Ricans go a little loco behind the wheel and consider passing cars at high speed a national pastime. And finally, physical addresses in Costa Rica are rare. Navigating is more a “turn left at the little church and then go straight until you see a turn-off next to the old Coca-Cola billboard (that may or may not still be there) and turn right” sort of thing.
Instead, we hired Danny Jiminez, owner of CostaRicaDriver.com (tel: + 506 8854 5969) who we dubbed “Danny the Driver”. He picked us up at the Airport on that first day, and then took us onward between locations for the entire two weeks we were in the land of Pura Vida.
I don’t know exactly what prompted me to explore hiring a private driver - because that sounded way out of budget for us, but I am so glad I did. Danny was not only prompt and professional, but he was also good company, a great ad hoc tour guide, and knew all the best local stops for lunch or coffee along the way. All for the same price as a rental car without the risk of an accident, the high probability of a break-in, or marital discord over nearly impossible driving directions.
Danny knows a lot about Costa Rica - but he’s an expert at finding stops for cheap and delicious lunches.
Here’s how it worked. He picked us up at the airport in San Jose and delivered us to our Airbnb. Two days later he drove us to Fortuna where we spent two nights. He returned and drove us onward to Monteverde. Four days later he took us to Dominical. A friend of his drove us for the short leg between Dominical and Quepos near Manual Antonio State Park. But he was right there to pick us up for the three-hour return journey to San Jose on our last day. Talk about Pura Vida!
If you ever need Danny’s services contact him at +506 8854 5969. He is also on WhatsApp at that number. Tell him the Senior Nomads sent you!
Most guidebooks and those that have been to Costa Rica say to skip San Jose. But we wanted to give this much-maligned capital city a fighting chance. Our Airbnb was in the URBN building - one of those hipster high-rises in a transitioning neighborhood. Really, it was an “Airbnb hotel” since most of the units are short-term rentals and there is even a check-in desk in the lobby.
Our place had a “Tropical IKEA” theme with all the right basics in the kitchen, decent linens, and a good shower. Best of all, however, was the sweeping view of the city. The young entrepreneur that managed our unit (and two dozen others) stopped by with a nice bottle of wine, so all in all, it was a fine start.
The view from our balcony. Watching the weather change minute by minute was better than Netflix.
We had the first night, one full day, and the next morning to explore, and it turned out that was plenty. What a gritty mish-mash of abandoned baroque buildings and intrusive brutalist architecture! Any sort of urban planning seemed to have been dealt with “under the table” so ugly buildings were built while others were left to decline seemingly at random . There were a few beautiful parks, however, that offered relief here and there.
This new building in downtown San Jose is where Congress meets…what message are they sending?
Even though San Jose was gritty, there was plenty of street art and fresh fruit to add splashes of color.
Other than an excellent Free Walking Tour that helped us make sense of it all, a swing through the Jade Museum, where we learned some cultural context and viewed plenty of artifacts and jade (lots of jade), and a typical meal (with rice and beans of course) in the labyrinth of the Mercado Centro, we had to agree that the reason people come to Costa Rica is for the natural beauty.
Before the 500 steps down to the waterfall. No need for an “after” shot.
We moved on to La Fortuna and stayed in a fun Airbnb with a view of the Arenal Volcano. You’ve often heard us say “a great host can make up for a mediocre listing”, and in this case, the Airbnb was fine, but the true value came from Stefano - an Italian transplant that has come to love Costa Rica almost as much as his Tico wife. He loves to host. You can just feel it the minute you begin to communicate with him. He made our short time in La Fortuna the best it could be during a crowded holiday week by driving us where we wanted to visit to avoid waiting for taxis - including all the way to Tabacon Hot Springs on our departure day. But the good news is we were able to inspire him to pursue his own Senior Nomad travel dreams.
While were there I sorta saw some sloths on a touristic “Sloth Walk”. They were very high in the trees and it was raining, so I hoped for better sightings later in the trip. Together we hiked 500 steep steps down to the bottom of the Arenal waterfall. We could have had a swim, but it was crowded and we’d need to walk 500 steps back up in wet clothes, so we opted for a few photos and a beautiful three-mile walk back to our Airbnb.
The pool at Tabacon Hot Springs with the bench behind the waterfall.
On the way to our next stop in Monteverde, we splurged for a half-day pass at the famous Tabacon Hot Springs Resort outside of La Fortuna. It has a lush tropical landscape fed by a thermal river that threads through the grounds. You can sit directly in the stream or choose from a series of pools, including one with a waterfall and a bench carved behind the powerful flow. The pass included a delicious three-course lunch as well.
We were limp-limbed and ready to sleep in the backseat while Danny drove us five hours on rough roads up another 3,000 feet to Monteverde. But who could sleep? Besides the pot-hole-riddled ride, the views were amazing! And the story about the valley being settled by a group of Quakers was a good one. Apparently, after some members were arrested for refusing to fight in Vietnam, a handful of Amish families who’d heard that Costa Rica abolished their army in 1968 declared “that’s it” we are immigrating there to introduce dairy farming. The rest is history. Their Monteverde Cheese is famous, and they are incredible stewards of the rainforests that are part of their vast holdings.
After one glorious, green, awe-inspiring turn after another, we finally rounded the bend into the small, Monteverde tourist hub of Santa Helena, the nearest town to our Airbnb. Which by the way, is a little hard to find. If ever there was an example of convoluted driving directions, these were the perfect example. Even Danny gave up and our host guided us over the phone from the town center to the front door.
Beth and her husband Manolo are Airbnb legends. If you click on the link and read the reviews of their place you would understand why I was insistent that we stay for 4 nights. There are actually three rentals on this property, all built by Manolo, including a new three-story home with views over a lush valley. Ours was the smallest of the three, more of a treehouse-sized cabin tucked into the trees, but we were comfortable.
Beth greeted us like old friends and pulled a warm banana bread from the oven as a welcome gift. We toured the property and met her flock of exotic chickens, their new cow, and her calf, and plucked a few things from her rambling organic garden.
She and I had many stories to swap including cancer survival (which is an immediate bond for any two women) but there was so much more. And her husband Manolo is a masterful craftsman and deeply knowledgable nature guide. We enjoyed a wonderful private tour in the Monteverde National Park together and spotted a rare Resplendent Quetzal. He’s seen these dazzling birds many times but is as excited as his guests when he spots one. Manolo provides private tours for their guests as well as through an Airbnb experience that he does with Beth for families. I hope we stay in touch with these two for a long time.
Manolo could take pictures of whatever we spot in the forest using his mono scope.
Monteverde is the land of canopy tours via zip lines. I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to be trussed up in a harness and pushed off a ledge to ziiiiiing across the treetops and hopefully reach another ledge far off in the distance. Perhaps it was a fear of gravity (aka my weight) stopping me mid-zip where I would dangle like a sloth in need of rescue.
I feel the same way about bungee jumping. Why would a sane person dislocate most of the bones in their body on purpose? Fortunately, wisdom comes with age and we didn’t give either of those options a second thought.
The hanging bridges at Salvatura Park were well made and we felt very safe.
Michael and I decided on a visit to the butterfly garden and enjoy a leisurely hike through the forest via an amazing network of hanging bridges instead. Both very civilized and beautiful experieces. And other than the creak of the bridges and some legitimate primate and bird sounds, the only interruption was the occasional "whoooooo-weeee" call from the Yellow Harnessed Dodos zipping above the canopy.
Five days later, Danny was on our doorstep, ready to drive us onward to the small surfing town of Dominical. To be continued…
Thanks for following along,
Debbie and Michael
p.s. Thanks to those of you that joined Leapchats.com for my weekly 20-minute chat on travel. Leapchats is now an App exclusively for iPhones or iPad (for now). My chat, Let’s Talk Travel will move to this platform along with all of the other Leap Chats - download the App If you are interested in continuing, or joining the conversation click this link. It is free!