costa rica travel

After staying longer than we originally planned in Santa Elena / Monteverde, we traveled our separate routes to La Fortuna.

(We decided that we would return to Costa Rica relatively soon using my frequent flyer miles)

Now have I mentioned that the roads in this part of Costa Rica are terrible? Well, the roads are world class bad here. Let me back up and say that I never get car sick. I'm a pilot and I used to go out with my pilot father and practice flying in ways that would scare the pants off of most anyone. I don't get motion sick. Period. But on the road from Santa Elena to Lake Arenal I felt so bad that I thought I'd loose it at any moment. I started to feel bad about 10 min into a 2 hour drive... It was tough going for awhile. I did manage to hang on to my lunch and my dignity, but it was real close.

I traveled by what they call "jeep, boat, jeep" from Santa Elena to La Fortuna. This is really travelling by "van, boat, van" so don't be fooled. The van was one of the ubiquitous 12 passenger vans, which bumped up and down and from side to side over very rough mountain roads for a few hours till it got to lake Arenal. I rested up and got on the boat for a very calm and soothing 40 min. ride across the lake to the opposite shore, very near La Fortuna. The view of the volcano in the clouds from the lake is spectacular!

Karen (my wife, confidant soul-mate and companion if you havn't been following this narrative) took the "horse, boat, jeep" route which got her into La Fortuna a few hours after I arrived. She was a bit sore having traversed a very long way on horseback. She hadn't been riding for years so it was a bit more sore than she expected.

We stayed at "Hotel Dorothy" in La Fortuna, it is a block off the main track, very nice and the owner, Noel, was a great host. Noel and the staff at the hotel were very nice and took care of all of our travel needs while in La Fortuna.

More later