Costa Rica [02]

December 17 - December 22, 2014

Foreword — This is the second installment of my trip to Costa Rica. Check out part one if you haven’t seen it yet. In this post, we explore Rio Celeste, Villa Blanca, San Jose, and more.

Day 5. Puerto Jimenez -> San Jose -> Drive to Arenal

After checking out of Bosque del Cabo, we boarded a tiny plane back to San Jose and enjoyed Costa Rica from up top.

From the San Jose Airport, we rented a Nissan X Trail SUV and drove to the Hotel El Silencio del Campo in Arenal, where we stayed for the next three nights.

Towel swans on our beds at El Silencio del Campo

Day 6. Ecoglide, hot springs, lazing around

We spent this day ziplining and taking full advantage of hotel amenities.

Cabin #8

Day 7. Rio Celeste

“When God finished painting the sky, he washed his brushes in the Rio Celeste”

Tucked in the Tenorio Volcano National Park is Rio Celeste, known for it’s turquoise-colored water. It required a little off-road driving, but the drive was definitely worth it.

Rio Celeste waterfall

Laguna Azul

The turquoise color originates from a phenomenon where two rivers meet. Science!

Weather sealed workhorse.

It was wet. It was muddy. It was great.

Day 8. Villa Blanca and back to San Jose

We checked out of our hotel and went on a last minute visit to Villa Blanca, a nature reserve and resort in the Los Angeles Cloud Forest. This drive was also a little bit off the beaten path, but how could we resist a chance to visit a cloud forest when the popular and touristy Monteverde cloud forest was not part of our itinerary? When we arrived, the hotel staff were very accommodating and allowed us to take self-guided hikes on their grounds even though we weren’t hotel guests.

The trails were a little too well-maintained but offered a different type of fauna

The insects were unique as well, although hard to capture on camera. Left: Cithaerias pireta (Blushing Phantom Butterfly) . Right: Pseudoxycheila tarsalis (Central American montane tiger beetle)

After our short visit to Villa Blanca, we continued on our way back to San Jose and although we did not stay at the Hotel Grano de Oro, we heard their restaurant is quite good.

San Jose, view from our hotel

Hotel Grano de Oro Restaurante

Day 9. Mercado Central, Gold Museum, La Esquina Buenos Aires

This is our last day in San Jose, so we hit up all the touristy spots.

Mercado Central. Experience life as a local.

The gold museum. Good place to burn time.

La Esquina Buenos Aires. Time to eat back all those calories.

Amazing service and amazing steak.

Day 10. Farewell

In the early morning, we bid adieu to Costa Rica. This span of ten days left an indelible story in my head. The nature books that were my fairytales came alive in front of my very eyes and my appreciation for nature heightened even more. My belief that nature is something that we have to protect holds firm, and I really hope we don’t screw this up for the future generations.

fin

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Copyright 2014. Photos taken by Kevin Yao. All rights reserved.