While folks back home were just settling into their second plate of Thanksgiving Day desserts, we were arriving in the Costa Rican Rainforest. It took all day to get here (2 flights and a 3.5 hour drive through so winding and curvy roads), but we wasted no time getting straight to the fun.
Our hotel is located near the base of the Arenal Volcano in a tropical rainforest. Though the last eruption was in 2010, the volcano is still active and heats the water flowing into the 25 thermal pools the hotel has on its grounds.
This time, we are traveling with with our daughter, M, and my 31-year-old baby brother. The hot springs and the delicious dinner of sea bass ceviche and Casado (a Costa Rican staple of rice, black beans, plantains, cabbage salad and meat) was just what we needed to start our first of two days at the rainforest hotel.
On Day Two, I woke up around midnight with some food poisoning (I’m blaming a lukewarm Thanksgiving Day egg roll from the Miami airport as the culprit not our delicious tropical dinner).
Though it was a struggle, I ventured out with the guys and M for our full day of rainforest exploration. Before even leaving the resort, we saw toucans and coatimundi.
The morning was spent exploring Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park which offered incredible views and a winding (though sometimes steep) 2-mile trail through the rainforest. Along the way, hikers make their away across several hanging bridges that stretch across the forest treetops.
Had I been the one taking care of booking and signing our liability waivers, I would have put a hard stop on this adventure. However, Josh did the booking and showed only the most benign of photos when describing these “completely safe” bridges. We were too far in to turn around when I realized the hanging bridges were in fact just ramshackle slices of metal and chain link fencing suspended hundreds of feet in the air by the thinnest of wire cables.
And it started raining. To say I was uncomfortable would be the understatement of all our travel adventures. Horrified is more like it. I had to trust M (who was blissfully unaware of the danger) would be safe holding her dad’s hand because I needed both of mine to crawl across.
There was no sense of relief upon crossing because it was unclear how many more bridges we would have to face before making it back safely to base. Which we did - thankfully.
In the afternoon, we headed out for a Sloth Safari (not the real tour name, but it should have been). Under the lively leadership of our guides Pablo and Mercedes, we ventured out to spot sloths and other wildlife.
Sloths are the slowest mammals in the world and two endangered species of sloth can be found in Costa Rice. We had multiple sightings, including a large male three-toed sloth who was actively grooming his coat and a mama and baby resting in a tree together. Sloths come down from their trees around once per week to dig a hole and poop. In captivity they have a life span of 25 years, but it’s much lower in the wild because they are easy prey due to their lack of speed and poor eyesight.
In the evening, I introduced M to the finer things that hotel life has to offer. We stayed in to lounge around in our fluffy hotel bathrobes (they had a tiny one just for her hanging in the closet) and order room service. They forgot to put our order in, so we waited a little longer but they comped the meal and gave us free dessert which was more than ok with M and me.
While we relaxed, the boys headed into the rainforest once more for a guided night walk. Their guide focused on finding native species of frogs and they spotted numerous types from giant bull frogs to tiny green tree frogs and some red dart frogs.
Josh and my brother spotted a small yellow frog that their guide had never even seen before. He treated them to a round of drinks back at their hotel bar meeting point for he discovery.
Tomorrow we drive around 4 hours across the country to the coast for four days of relaxation and minimal effort at a beach resort.
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