Costa Rica = Happiness

I realize this post is very delayed...butttt....we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving of 2014 by venturing off to Costa Rica for the week. This has been a long time dream of mine to go here and it did not disappoint. The people were friendly, the food was (mostly) amazing, and the scenery was beyond incredible. 

We flew into San Jose and were very excited to see SLOTHS! We traveled to the Toucan Rescue Ranch, located East of San Isidro (Off of Route 112 near downtown San Josecito, Costa Rica). This is a fabulous animal sanctuary with some beautiful birds, sloths, and monkeys. They even have some accommodations available which turned out very helpful when we needed a place to stay. We stayed in a small cottage on the property with 3 beds, a bathroom, and kitchen area. I would recommend this place as the owners are very hospitable and the rooms are clean. Several people will warn you that the roads in Costa Rica are horrible and dangerous, however, we did not notice this at all. Our rental car had a GPS and we did not have any issues with bad road conditions. 

Look at that sweet Sloth face... we fell in love with this cutie at first sight

Arenal

After our night stay in San Isidro, we journeyed to city of Arenal, which is at the base of the Arenal Volcano. This part of Costa Rica is full of lush jungle land, hot springs, and zipline tours! Both of these pictures are some of the views you will see while jumping from zipline to zipline. There are LOTS of companies to go through, and honestly, they are all pretty good! I don't remember the name of ours but we found them off of Trip Advisor. This was one of the funnest things we did as some ziplines are up to 1km long and race you towards dashing waterfalls. It is really a fun adventure. 

 

There are several nice resorts at the base of Arenal which offer private hot springs and pools of warm geothermal water. If you do not want to pay, which we didn't, there is a free entrance across from the Tabacon Grand Spa and Resort. You can park and trek a little ways up the river to enjoy the hot springs. Bring your swimsuit and enjoy a nice natural hot tub!

Esterillos Oeste

After Arenal, we traveled South to Esterillos Oeste where we stayed at the most picturesque hotel, Hotel Rancho Coral. It was by no means a nice hotel, but it was cheap and located right on the beach. The rooms are big and provide a little kitchenette and outside sitting area. We ended up staying here two extra days because we loved it so much. It is very small and quiet which makes it the most perfect tropical and relaxing getaway. The following pictures were taken at Esterillos:

Parrita

Our ABSOLUTE FAVORITE restaurant in Costa Rica was Pitos Que Comemos in the town Parrita. If you're staying in Esterillos it is about a 20 minute drive to Parrita. We ate here 3 times because not only was Pito (the owner and chef) a pure delight, but the food was out of this world! The Guanabana smoothie is UNREAL. Guanabana fruit (AKA Soursop) is a true gem of Costa Rica and will leave your taste buds craving more. 

DOMINICAL

We then traveled down to Dominical, which is famous for their crashing waves that surfers, especially new surfers, are enthralled by. It is definitely a "surfers town" which provides many hostels/hotels as well as trendy restaurants. Here we decided to splurge and booked a night at the Villas Rio Mar hotel. Visually it was a great place today, however, the rooms were not as clean or comfortable as we expected and we left feeling disappointed that the rooms were not as nice as the outside would suggest. In Dominical we ate at Maracatu, which is a vegan/vegetarian restaurant. The food was creative and provided several delicious options that anyone could enjoy. 

Manuel Antonio

Manuel Antonio is a beautiful city and national park that provides the opportunity to see a variety of wildlife and vegetation. 

We stayed at the Hotel Plaza Yara which was affordable and very nice. It was clean, spacious, and the bed were comfortable. This was our favorite hotel that we stayed in due to its cleanliness. It is located just a few miles from the Manuel Antonio National Park entrance and provides easy access to the beach and many restaurants. Specifically, Cafe Agua Azul provided delicious food and incredible view as you over look the ocean and jungle below you. 
As you enter the Manuel Antonio 
National Park you will be surprised at how many White-Faced or Capuchen Monkeys you will see. They line the phone poles and jump from tree to tree as you drive under them. At the park entrance you be flooded with guides that will want to take you through. We hired a private one from the side of the road and he turn out to be fabulous. He led us through the park and pointed out Sloths, Howler Monkeys, Capuchin Monkeys, Green Spiny Lizards, and several small animals that the naked eye could not see.

At the end of the tour they take you down to the beach with is full of all the tourists who came through the park. Here there are very aggressive raccoons that will try and steal stuff from your bags... watch out! This beach is beautiful and offers a great view of the ocean with the green jungle behind you.