Costa Rica, part 1

This trip was majorly guided by this brilliant travelogue by Ashley and Aron. While we were planning to go to Costa Rica I thought to just check Hither and Thither to see if they had maybe been there. And they had. And their recommendations and tips were perfect! (Again.) I recommend checking out their travelogue to get a most comprehensive idea of what to do in Costa Rica.





As soon as we landed and picked up the car, we looked for a place to eat on our way to La Fortuna and followed Aron's recommendation for Chubasco's and had the most amazing batidos and the best Casado I had on the trip. The location too was so dreamy with the afternoon clouds slowly enveloping the mountains in foggy mistiness.





We were totally smitten by the forests and hills and rain and surprise waterfall we saw on the drive.




The clouds refused to reveal the volcano as we looked out the window the next morning. It rained the entire time we hiked in the rainforest (!) but cleared up just enough as we reached the lava rocks and got a better look at the volcano. The forest sounds, rain through the tall trees, the search for monkeys, sudden burst of the brightest, most colorful flowers...it was all incredible. This was followed by a dip in the hot springs. Lunch involved some more casados and some more batidos but nothing as good as that first meal at Chubasco's. We ziplined through the forest and it was so dense, lush, rainy. Back at the hotel, we swam in the pool while it rained continuously.