Arenal, Costa Rica
"Do you wanna see a Toucan?!" - Courts wakes Jeff up with this question after looking out the window this morning.
We slept with the blinds open last night and wake to a clear sight of the volcano, no cloud covering the top. We learn later that is rare for this time of year so Courts is justified in taking 78 photos of it.
We've booked in a guided tour for 8am so we quickly dress and head to the restaurant for breakfast. The volcano is still visible so Courts takes another 75 photos of it while we scoff down an omelette and huevo rancheros. A quick sunscreen application back at the room and we meet the guide and two other guests at reception. The other two guests are Spanish but are happy for the guide to speak in English (luckily for us and not the first time we're berating ourselves for not learning more than "beer" and "toilet" in Spanish).
We take off and a minute later our guide Christian is already pointing out some big birds to us. We're off to a good start. Next is the hummingbird, of which there are 51 different species, 36 that reside here. Christian has a telescope so we're about to look through and see them up close and personal. They are gorgeous little things that come in brilliant colours. Sadly, they only live for about 4 years and usually die of a heart attack due to spending their days flapping around like maniacs.
We head down to the frog pond which Christian says is best at night, because the frogs sleep during the day. He's able to point out a few sleeping frogs, usually on the underside of a big leaf, camoflauged. Some times they'll sleep next to their eggs, which is a weird looking clear jelly with tiny eggs in it. Gives you the shivers to look at, to be honest.
Onwards we go and we see mostly more hummingbirds, no mammals as yet. Christian tells us the monkeys make a migration across the trees near reception most evenings around 4-5, so we pencil that in. Lastly, we see a wood pecker! It's incredible. They peck at the tree branches to get to the worms and we're not talking a light tap. So cool to watch and a good looking bird to boot.
We head back to the room for more sunscreen and water and head out to check out the waterfall tracks on the property. We go through farm land, primary and secondary forest. Every part is stunning and so green.
The land was bought in the 70s and originally turned into a macadamia farm. That failed and eventually they realised that the volcano and nature tourism is the go. But first they need to repair the damage done by ripping out the native forest. They plant a mix of pine and eucalyptus trees to help stop the rot in terms of land-slides. These species are good here because they grow if planted, but dont spread themselves. Apparently the spider monkeys love the pine trees as well!
We try our hand at bird spotting after this morning's crash course but only really see hummingbirds, plus a few vultures that are cruising around in the sky! We also chat to the resident cows who are mostly just lounging around. We get to the final, big waterfall and it's lovely. We've been hiking all morning and it's a hot one today so we make our way to the cafe for a quick bite.
A hot dog, sandwich and a couple of smoothies and we're off to check out the on-site museum, which is dedicated mostly to the history of the volcano. There's a seismograph constantly monitoring but nothing is doing today (thankfully). There's a little bit of info about the flora and fauna of the area too.
We're all hiked out but we've heard there are some free hot springs nearby that might be worth checking out. We jump in the car and it's about a 15 minute drive away. As we get closer we remember we'll need some cash to tip the guy who helps you park and also discover there's a "donation" to get in. It's not much but we've left all our cash in our room. We abandon that plan and head back to the hotel for relaxation massages instead. Who said traveling was easy?!
We get chatting to Daniel at reception. He gets we're from Australia and asks if we know Sticky Fingers. We say "of course" and tell him we basically live on Australia Street. He's such a fan he knows exactly the song and the video clip of the band walking down King Street. He says they should tour CR. Jeff let's him know why that probably won't be happening.
Feeling rejuvenated we head to the deck of the restaurant for happy hour and to see what delights dusk will bring from the animal kingdom. It delivers. We see toucans, coati and the spider monkey migration! It's truly incredible and we're in awe of the surroundings and accompanying wild life. This place has created something very cool and authentic and the animala seem happy enough to utilise their massive plot of land.
As it gets darker there's not much action so we head in for dinner. We both get the special, a New York steak with chimichurri and fries. Maybe it's our fault for ordering a New York style steak in Costa Rica or maybe New Yorkers have no palette but this is some gnarly steak. It's almost impossible to cut and Jeff literally can't get his chompers through it. We do what we can but it's pretty obvious the steak was no good so they only charge us for one steak and give us complimentary desserts.
The nightly downpour has started which is our cue to head back to our room for the night, enjoying the tropical evening rain and sounds.
