I Should Have (And Did) Go Ziplining.

Everybody does ziplining when they visit Costa Rica.  There are a ton of companies here that offer this excursion.   Neither The Wife nor I had really ziplined before, so we were interested in doing a tour as a family.  However, we didn't want the experience to be like a South Park episode.

Aside from utter boredom, my biggest concern would be whether The Girl would wuss out on the day of this activity.  We showed her multiple YouTube videos of little kids having a blast while ziplining.  We promised The Girl that she could go tandem with an instructor. And we even gave her a ziplining Goldieblox doll.

I picked Ecoglide Arenal Park because it has a reputation for being safe and family friendly.  There were many other options such as Sky Trek that were known for having high and fast lines.  But they weren't for smaller children under the age of eight.  Plus, from a parental standpoint, Ecoglide uses two cables for added safety.

We stopped by the hotel’s dining area when it opened at 7 AM to grab a quick bite to eat before the first activity of our Costa Rican trip. 

The buffet offered basic breakfast items including Tico favorites like rice and beans.

Fresh fruit was laid out to attract
birds for the guests to watch.

The drive to Ecoglide Tours from our hotel took only five minutes.  After checking in and stashing all of our unnecessary equipment in a small locker, we geared up for our 7:45 AM tour.  They had some GoPro cameras for rent ($35), but we brought our own.  They had only a few helmets with the built in mount, so The Girl became our walking tripod. 

Helmets, harnesses, and gloves are all that is needed for ziplining.

Ecoglide has 13 zipline cables and a Tarzan swing.

Geared up and ready to go!

Our guides first gave us some instructions on how to use the equipment.  Fortunately, nobody had any questions.  We all tried a short line just a few yards above the ground to make sure that we all knew what we were doing.  The Girl was initially scared to find out that she wouldn't be hooked up to a guide.  Oops...I guess I lied.  Fortunately, the fear soon passed and she did fine on the practice run.  Besides, a child like her with so little weight wouldn't go very fast anyway.

A truck drove us up to the first line and in no time, we were on our way.  The first few lines were a bit slick from the rain we had over night.  So, a fat guy like me had to pull very hard on the line with both hands to brake in time.  We did about eight lines which we all handled fine.  The Kids were all having fun.  For me, the excitement and adrenaline did start to wear off after the first few.

The first eight cables ran through the misty rainforest canopy.

I started to contemplate horseback riding just as we got to the best part of the tour—the Tarzan swing.  Participants would freefall about 20 feet before the tension of the rope kicked in and swung them like a pendulum.  I knew that The Wife, who is allergic to adrenaline, did not want to do this activity.  The screaming and cries from the first lady who tried it did not help the situation.  The Girl too started to freak out.  She kept muttering softly with watery eyes, “I don’t want to do this.”

Eventually The Wife and The Girl made a deal that they both would do it.  The Boy who was totally amped to do this swing went first, followed by me.  It was a blast.

The Tarzan swing was better than zip lines, horseback riding, or boating.

I was glad to see The Girl do the swing without any signs of fear or crying.  Sadly, the same could not be said for The Wife.

The Wife kept her eyes closed the entire time and screamed like a banshee.

The last five cables, including this 430 meter one, were out in the open outside the rainforest.

We finished the last ziplines which ended the tour at around 10 AM.  We purchased a CD containing pictures and video of all of us for $30.  The pictures were okay, but my GoPro had better quality footage.  We were fortunate because half an hour after finishing, it started raining heavily. 

For lunch, we headed into town to check out a restaurant called Chifa La Familia Feliz that sounded better than the other large Peruvian restaurant in town.  Although the establishment was supposed to be open at 11 AM, the owner was still setting up at 11:15 and needed another half hour.  Costa Rica runs at a different pace than the United States, especially on a Sunday.  We walked up the main road stopping off at a couple of souvenir shops with forgettable junk inside.  We did find a small grocery store and picked up a small Styrofoam cooler and some coffee socks.

La Fortuna's main street was pretty quiet on a Sunday morning.

We returned to the restaurant and Martin Gonzales, the owner/chef, was very gracious and apologetic for having us wait.  He explained in perfect English that he is from Lima and the concept of his restaurant is to serve authentic Peruvian cuisine juxtaposed with the Chinese-influenced food known as chifa.  We ordered several dishes—mainly authentic Peruvian ones.  But to appease The Boy, we ordered the chifa version of fried rice.  It differs from a purely Chinese version as the meat and vegetables are diced very small (incidentally, I've never had fried rice on four different trips to China).  It was very good.

Chef Gonzales stir fries some rice in a wok.

While we waited for our food, The Girl must have taken a massive dump and clogged up the restaurant’s toilet.  They had to call in the plumber from a few shops away to fix it.  A little while after he fixed it and left, The Wife had to use the bathroom.  Sure enough it got clogged up again.  The Wife could only hold her head in shame as the plumber made a return trip back to the restaurant to fix the toilet.  As I had mentioned previously, we Americans crap big.

The ceviche limeno was better than most other versions we
tried in Costa Rica.  However, not as quite as good as in Peru.

Chef Martin's take on a causa, a common mashed potato
dish in Peru.  This one was served with a shrimp sauce.

Fried rice, chifa style.

Aji de pollo, a traditional chicken and potato dish.

Fried sea bass filet with a mariscos sauce.

Surprisingly, there was not a single other diner at the restaurant while we were there for lunch.  Part of the reason was that it was a Sunday, and the entire town was pretty quiet.  However, the location of the restaurant also probably played a part.  Although it is located on the main street running through the town, it is on the edge away from all of the tourist hotels and excursion companies.

After our filling lunch, we headed over to the Arenal National Park to work off some calories.  There are several hiking trails that can take you around the outskirts of the volcano.  We chose a relatively newer trail called the Arenal 1968 Trail.  It is named for the eruption in that year that destroyed three small villages killing 87 people.  The lure of the hike is that it crosses over some of the old lava fields.

On our way there, we encountered several cars stopped on the side of the road.  There was a pack of about twenty coatimundis digging for food on the side of the road.  These animals are similar to raccoons, but are mainly found from Mexico down to South America. They must have been completely accustomed to people because we could get within a foot of them before they even looked up.  Sadly, we saw some people feeding them (despite signs prohibiting that activity).

The coatimundis completely ignored all of the people who stopped to watch them...

...unless they were getting fed.  With no sense of dignity, this coati begs for more food.

After taking many photographs with the "wild" animals, we proceeded to our destination.  The road turning into Arenal National Park is a mess.  Someone must have mistaken it for the Ho Chi Minh Trail because it was filled with what seemed like hundreds of bomb craters.  The SUV was bouncing around so much that we were worried that it would break an axle.

The main road in Arenal National Park was awful.

Eventually we made it to the Arenal 1968 Trail.  For $10 per adult (free for children), we hiked the shorter version of the trial.  Walking sticks of various sizes were available for guests.

A longer version of the trail extends into some forested areas.

A visitor center with a gift shop and restaurant was on a small hill overlooking the entrance.

There are also clean bathroom facilities...if you are an exhibitionist.

Several banana plants were being
grown at the start of the trail.

Pineapple and corn were also being cultivated.

We hiked in the shadow of the volcano, which was still obscured by clouds.

The first hour was somewhat tougher because we had to climb to the lava fields in the hot sun.  

But once we made it to the top, the cool breeze made it very enjoyable for the long walk down. 

Since the last eruption, plants have grown in between the large lava rocks.

A Flambeau butterfly

Aside from a few insects and birds,
there was no wildlife to be seen.

Nevertheless, there were plenty of interesting plants which have grown in the last 45 years.

There were great views of Lake Arenal from the trail.

We were getting worried that
a storm was brewing...

...so we sped up our pace to finish the trail loop.

After our hike, we headed back to the hotel and lounged at their hot springs and pool for the rest of the afternoon.

The hotel's cleaning staff used some fresh flowers...

...to make some nice towel sculptures.

For dinner, we decided to try an Italian restaurant only a few minutes called Que Rico.  It has a wood burning oven that churns out pizzas that can be delivered to guests staying at neighboring hotels.  Unfortunately, only one cook was responsible for making all the pizzas.  He worked at a furious pace, but he got backed up with so many orders.  By the time The Wife’s pizza had arrived, the three of us had already received our pasta orders and finished eating them.  Despite taking so long, several of the shrimp on top were still not fully cooked.  It's too bad because the crust was actually pretty good.

This pizziolo was good, but got overwhelmed with orders.

Foccacia margherita

Fettuccine with shrimp.

Ravioli with cheese and spinach.

Spaghetti with seafood.

A pizza topped with translucent shrimp.

We thought about complaining but our lackadaisical waitress didn't seem to care how we were doing anyway.  She barely came to our table.  We left after consuming only half the pizza (the cooked side).  It was a disappointing ending to an otherwise great day.

*****

Monday, December 22

The next morning, we woke up early again and drove to the Sky Aventures Park.  The site offers a variety of activities including zip lines, off-road biking, tubing, etc.  However, most of these adventure sports were only available for children older than ours.  Therefore, we were there only for a tour of their hanging bridges.

We had booked a general tour with a guide.  However, the seven other people who were supposed to be there at the same time as us didn't show up after 15 minutes.  Our guide, Mainor went ahead and gave us what amounted to as a private tour. 

The hike took us over five hanging bridges and past two waterfalls.  We saw almost no other tourists on the trails.  

The hanging bridges swayed a lot, but
were safely secured with thick steel cables.

A couple of lookout points on the trail offered views of the lake and the countryside.

The two waterfalls along the trail...

...were not very impressive to look at.

The walk wasn't very strenuous, but it got tiring and hot after about two hours.  Mainor was good about going over the different trees and plants of the area.

Flowers from the Erythrina americana plant resemble small machetes.

A pretty pink plant is actually a parasite.

Mainor points out a flamingo flower.  I don't see the flamingo.

The leaves of a rattlesnake plant
create a protective barrier.

Unfortunately, there were no large animals present during the whole walk.  We didn't even see any birds flying about, just a couple of insects .

Orange-spotted tiger clearwing butterfly.

Glasswing butterfly.

Different leaf cutter ants include the large soldiers and the worker which carries the
leafs.  On top of the vegetation are smaller sentinels which keep the leaves clean.

The ants collect leaves to feed a fungus
which only grows within their nest.
The ants in turn consume the fungus.

We finished the tour around 11 AM and blew a wad of cash at the Café Britt gift store on the premises.  The chocolate covered candies are pretty good, but way overpriced at the Café Britt stores.  They can be purchased at local grocery stores at a lower price.

We headed back to La Fortuna to look for a place for lunch.  We wandered into a restaurant called the Lava Rocks Cafe..  The food was fine and the service was attentive.  But like most places in that town, it was mainly geared towards North American tourists.

After a long hike, the frozen drinks were refreshing.

Fish ceviche

Lava Rocks burger

Chicken fajitas

Seafood rice

Chile relleno with shrimp

Afterwards, we went to the Down To Earth coffee shop.  The owner, Mathias, affably served us up some frozen drinks.  He recommended some tasty banana-vanilla-cinnamon ones for the kids, but The Wife wisely chose the coffee with fig shake.  It was damn good.  Since we were in the market for buying some coffee to take home, we purchased a bag of their Dota Estate coffee beans.  Mathias explained that it is picked within a 2 week period where the berries have their maximum sweetness.  Whatever the case, it sure smelled wonderful.

The Cafe was tucked away on a side street near...

...several adventure tour offices.

Roasted and unroasted coffee beans.

The Dota select coffee and the "premier" estate version.

Later that evening, we drove to the Eco Termales Hot Springs.  The place is located across the street from the Baldi Hot Springs, so we were hoping that we weren't getting their runoff.  There were already a couple of tour groups at Eco Termales when we arrived, but the site limits the number of visitors so that it doesn’t get too crowded.  Fortunately, we had made reservations in advance.

We checked in at the front desk and had to set up a time for dinner. 

We were given a towel and a key
that opened up a small locker.

There were about eight thermal pools and two waterfalls on the premises.  Six pools were at a moderately heated temperature, but one was much hotter and the other much colder.

The paths to the pool are lit up by mushroom-shaped lamps.

This small pool is used by guests to cool down.

The pools are wide enough for privacy, but shallow so that most children can still stand up.

Small waterfalls contribute to the
relaxing ambiance of the hot springs.

The vast majority of the guests were much older (50+).  There were only a few families with children, and most were well-behaved.

The Wife thought it was ridiculous that we had to change back into our regular clothes for dinner.  She changed her mind when some obese guy still wearing his banana hammock tried to get served in the dining hall.  Having to gaze at that atrocity over dinner would have killed everybody’s appetite.  The food was fine, but nothing exceptional.

The dining room was like a big beer hall except not as fun.

The soup was good, but we couldn't figure out what it was.

Flour tortillas

Black beans

Salad

Grilled chicken

Grilled beef

Grilled tilapia

We spent another hour after dinner at the pool before heading back to the hotel at 8 PM.  Although the evening session lasts until 9 PM, we were one of the final groups to leave.

The Eco Termales pools were relaxing, but not a huge step up from that of our hotel.  It definitely would have been worth going if we had been staying in a location without hot springs.  However, it was really hard justifying the $178 price for the four of us.