Rara Avis

Rara Avis is an eco-tourism lodge set in a mud rainforest,  ie it rains 364 days of the year, and the trails are full of mud. You get issued gumboots at the start, but after a few mis-steps in mud ponds you quickly end up wet and muddy anyway. To get there you have to be towed by tractor for 4 hours up a mud track. The reward is the feeling of isolation, peace and quiet once you are there. The rainforest was full of huge epiphytes, orchids and lianas. The guides were very helpful and friendly - they are all volunteers who receive food and lodging in return for taking people on tours of the forest and telling them about the ecology of the place. Highlights included sightings of a couple of snakes and an aggressive tarantula.

Negatives were the trip back down - the tractor got stuck and we had to walk down in the rain (and the dark) down the mud track with our luggage - not a happy ending to the stay! Also, we were overcharged US$50 (a long story) and have yet to hear back from the managers in San Jose. So much for wanting feedback...nice place, shame about the management. We suspect it won't last.

Arenal

The last place we stayed was Arenal Observatory Lodge, which is very close to Arenal Volcano. We'd already been warned by fellow tourists that it had been unseasonably wet, and sure enough, it poured with rain every day. Occasional rumbles from the volcano were heard but otherwise no sign of the crater.

This is one place where a car would have been handy; it was an expensive taxi ride to other attractions, and without a car we were limited to occasional walks in the rain. We managed one longish walk up the mountain to an old lava flow. Lovely forest, and we got a view of a toucan from the lava flow. We also escaped for one night to Tabacon Hot Springs where steaming hot water is fed through various "natural" rock pools and waterfalls - you can sit in a hot pool and have your shoulders massaged by a pounding hot waterfall. Be warned, even by London standards this is very expensive.

San Jose

We went in and out of San Jose in transit to other places. While we were there, we stayed in a  very nice B&B up in the hills of Escazu, Posada El Quijote. This has great views of San Jose, a lovely garden, lots of art decorating the walls and a friendly cat! 

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