I had heard so many great things about Costa Rica, and seen the pictures so I knew I had to take a trip there. I decided to go with Caravan Tours since it was the best value I could find for all the activities included. Most of the tours were more expensive and offered less. I really wanted to see Manuel Antonio Park, which some tours did not include. A huge bonus is all your meals are included so that cuts down your trip costs exponentially. You just need spending money for drinks, souvenirs and snacks…The tour is 9 days but you really get seven full ones. I do suggest adding on extra day or two so you can stay longer at Manuel Antonio Park. I went off season during Costa Rica’s rainy season (May-Nov). The most popular time to go is December-April. I like going when it is less crowded and touristy. I was lucky since it only rained at the end, and didn’t prevent me from doing anything I had planned. Also, the currency of Costa Rica is colones, but you don’t even need it since they take US dollars…but you will receive change in colones. I also recommend bringing plenty of bug spray, and long sleeved tops/bottoms since you will be going to tropical areas with allot of mosquitoes.
My sister and two more friends joined me on the tour so it made the trip even more fun. If you are wondering about the age composition of the tour, most of the people on it were retired seniors. We were the youngest people there. I had no problem with any of them, and thought they were very nice and respectful. I find people around my own age and younger to be generally inconsiderate, and late, which is annoying when you are on a schedule. But if you want a younger crowd, go with Contiki, or an adventure type of tour. Otherwise you can always do it on your own. I just don’t think you can beat the price or amount of activities we did. If you want to mainly be on a beach or a hotel pool, then a tour isn’t for you.
San Jose is the capital and largest city in Costa Rica, and where I flew in. About a million people live there, but many more come for work and to shop…about 4.8 million is the total population of the country. I only drove through some of the city, and didn’t spend much time there. I went to Plaza de la Cultura to see the National Theater. The homes in the city are painted in vibrant colors, and decorated with beautiful gates, in intricate designs. It is important to keep your home secure, so you might as well do it in a pleasing way. We started off our activities in Alajuela city and the province.
The tour has allot of activities and starts out with a visit to Poas Volcano …Costa Rica has over a 100 active volcanoes since it is on the ring of fire. There are 48 tremors daily, and a major earthquake occurs every 10-12 years. The area is a national park. Poas Park has trails that you can hike, especially if you want to see the lagoon. The hike is about twenty minutes uphill, and not difficult if you are in shape.
The trails looked spooky since it was so cloudy, and reminded me of the dark hedges of Ireland. This area is in a cloud forest tropical zone. We were about 8000 ft above sea level so it was much cooler at Poas. It was so cloudy and rained when we were there so my pictures do not do the place justice. That is one of the hard parts about going during the rainy season. Plus when you are so high up, cloud cover is always a factor. The same thing happened to me when I went to Mount Rushmore…
Costa Rica is known for its coffee production, so I wanted to try it straight from the source. I was excited to visit a coffee plantation called Doka Estate, which is located on one of the fertile slopes of Poas volcano in the Alajuela province. Costa Rica only produces Arabica, which many consider to be the best coffee. The plantation is beautiful, filled with blue hydrangeas, and coffee plants of course. When the berries are red, it is ripe to be picked! We had lunch there and the food was delicious! The coffee tour then takes you through the making of coffee process. Our tour went through each process. They put me to work raking coffee beans, which is part of the drying process.
As a reward for taking the tour, we got to sample chocolate covered coffee beans and coffee. Step six is my favorite in the tour…I enjoyed the dark roast and the breakfast blend best. I also learned that the blonde roast has the most caffeine since it is roasted for the shortest period of time, and the dark the least…I thought the opposite.
One of the best parts of the estate is the butterfly garden where I got to see a Blue Morpho up close. There are also owl butterflies galore.
There are many beautiful flowers and plants in there as well. The butterflies are not scared and will land on you, or even let you come close. I have never seen such large butterflies. The garden is beautiful!
After the activities, I spent some downtime at the bar by the pool, sampling Imperial, which is the local Costa Rican beer. The guacamole was amazing, and when I complimented it, the chef sent a second batch, free of charge. The hotel grounds had a beautiful path that many in group got up to go bird watching at. The hotel also had a great view of the San Jose valley, so I enjoyed having drinks, good conversation, and time to journal in the evening. The trip started off great from the get go!
