Costa Rica, Jan. 7-19, 2008

Itinerary

Day 1: MSP-SJO on United/Continental via Chicago and Houston.
For at least three stated reasons the plane to O'Hara arrived after our plane to Houston was scheduled to leave.
Fortunately that one was also late enough so we could make both connections. Taxi to hotel.
Day 2: San Jose
Jade Museum, National Theatre, Cathedral, Gold Museum, lunch atop the Holiday Inn;
taxi to Children’s Museum, Central Market
Day 3: to Manuel Antonio via van (Interbus).
Beaches.
Days 4,5: in Manuel Antonio
Beaches and Manuel Antonio National Park
Day 6: to Monteverde. Via van (Grayline).
Night tour of nature park.
Day 7: in Monteverde
Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, guided tour, Selvatura nature park bridge walk and hummingbird gardens
Day 8: to Arenel via van/boat/van.
Arenel Volcano National Park via taxi.
Day 9: to ThemalesDelBosque. Taxi to La Fortuna; Bus to San Carlos (Ciudad Quesada).
Hot springs.
Days 10,11,12: to Alajuela. Taxi to Zarcelo, Naranjo, Saarchi, Grecia, Alajuela.
Rental car to Poas Volcano, La Paz Waterfalls; Doka Coffee Estate, Xankari, Zoo Ave
Day 13: SJO-MSP
Hotels: We stayed at hotels that were locally owned, moderarely priced, $70-100, incl. taxes, breakfast. Almost all the hotel have great grounds, safes, AC or fans, restaurants and tour desks.
- Hotel Don Carlos, San Jose. Nice, centrally located hotel.
- Kahare, Manuel Antonio. Great view from villa #4. Walkable to the beaches and the national park.
- Heliconia, near Monteverde Well located for restaurants and night life. Somewhat pushy tour desk - perhaps a language problem.
- Lavas Tacotal, near Arenel. Good view of the inactive side of the volcano. Their ads say otherwise but the lava flows have moved to the other side of the mountain. The desk would have arranged an expensive trip to see the flow later in the day by which time the volcano was in clouds. Fortunately, we took a taxi to the park early enough to hear the volcano rumble and see it spit up smoking boulders.
- TermalesDelBosque, near San Carlos. Best value; hot springs included.
- Orquideas Inn, Alajuela. Our favorite restaurant. We would've stayed our last night but they were full.
- La Riviera, near airport Good access to the airport at half the cost.
Transportation: We only rented a car for the last two days - $58/day incl. mandatory insurance. Otherwise we used taxis, vans, and buses and a boat. Both Interbus and Grayline (see the links above) operate hotel to hotel shuttles between the major resort areas - for about $35 to $45/passenger. Public buses are very inexpensive - just a few dollars for similar trips. From Monteverde to Arenel we used a taxi/boat/taxi service. Taxi prices can vary a lot so the fare should be predetermined: airport to downdown San Jose $19; around San Jose $1-2; around Manuel Antonio $5-6; around Monteverde $6-8; around Arenel $8-14; half-day San Carlos to Alajuela $80.
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Costs: (for two)
   Air:               800
   Lodgings          1100
   Local Trans        500
   Admissions         400
   Food               400
   Sum               3200
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