Hanging Bridges & Hanging Out

Just as I was bemoaning the plethora of tourist attractions somewhat distracting from the cultural charm of Costa Rica we decided to go visit one of the most popular and well-known local visitor activities, Arenal Hanging Bridges Park. 

Welcome!

It was wonderful!  First off, it was a beautiful day and the views of Arenal were spectacular.  Secondly, the park is very well done all the way from the paved road into it and the well-marked concrete block trails through the jungle.

Despite the number of tour buses we did not encounter crowds. 

Lots of tour buses

 The trails are narrow, curvy and steep so the crowd naturally thins itself out.  There are six hanging bridges, each limited to 15 people at a time and we noticed they are harder to cross when more people are on them.    FYI, the bridges were all anchored very well and the bridge decks in good order.  But just in case, well, duct tape can fix anything!

Hanging bridge

Hanging bridge

Hanging bridge

Duct tape!

Viewing the jungle canopy by walking above and through it was fascinating, humbling, and very interesting.  Both of us were trying to remember our botany lessons about host and parasitic plants as we observed the dense jungle forest (bosque.)  The waterfall was very pretty and is named for the giant Blue Morpho butterfly which is common in Costa Rica.

Catarata Morpho

Parasite plants

Canopy top

Lots going on!

Complex roots

Look up!

Jungle vegetation

Bank vegetation

Jungle vegetation

We did not see any wildlife but only because we toured the sanctuary mid-day.  If you look at the park’s website there are nighttime wildlife tours and early morning birding tours that would be fascinating opportunities to enjoy the complex ecosystem (http://www.misticopark.com/).  We did hear howler monkeys in the distance.  Every bridge is named for a reptile, amphibian or animal found in the park.

Yes, we walked through that!

The walk is about 2 miles and took about two hours.  It was worth the time, effort, sweat (take water!), and the $19/each admission for seniors.

On the subject of wildlife, the only animal we have seen is the cotimundi.  At first we thought they were monkeys but upon closer inspection realized they are not.  Actually they are a member of the racoon family and definitely are scavengers.  There is a large group of them that hangout on one of the curves near Arenal dam and despite the numerous signs forbidding feeding the wildlife there are always several cars stopped and people giving them chips, etc.  They really are a nuisance and I don't understand why people ignore the signage, creating a disturbance in the balance of the food change as well as creating a driving hazard on an already hazardous stretch of road.

cotimundi

This is our last week based in the town of Nuevo Arenal in the northern Guanacaste province of Costa Rica.  Friends have asked what we do on a typical day . . . well, pretty much the same as we do at home.  Get up, make breakfast, check email, listen to the news, cleanup the apartment, maybe do some laundry, take a walk into town to buy groceries, perhaps have a coffee or fruit smoothie (refresca) and watch the comings and goings of Nuevo Arenal. 

School

Refrescas

Cemetery

Local church

Dentist

Fruit & Vegetable truck

Monday mornings we have been taking informal Spanish lessons with a breakfast group of Gringos.  I think it’s more chatter than it is estudiar Español.

Spanish class breakfast

Lunch rolls around and soon enough it’s time for a siesta!  Evenings find us cooking dinner and watching old movies with Spanish subtitles.  One thing about Costa Rica is that year around the day length is about twelve hours, give or take a few minutes. We are not wild about being out after dark so generally try to be home by evening.

Now that we have a rental car we’ve been out sightseeing or taking regional drives.  We wandered over to the San Luis area, on the other side of Lago Arenal, to go to the bi-monthly Farmer’s Market (Feraria.)  It’s not a huge feraria but it seems that nearly all the gringos in this area go to it.  We bought some tamales to bring home for dinner; yummy!

Lots of fruit!

Wine

Sliders!

Lots of people!

One afternoon we went a bit further afield on the east side of the lake and visited a development we’ve followed for about 15 years . . . Vistas del Lago.  The lots are beautiful and we enjoyed seeing the clubhouse and community.  We’ve thought a lot about if we’d want to consider having a second home somewhere, maybe here, but for now we both feel too much curiosity about other places to settle down and only visit one place year after year.  Maybe we haven’t found the right place?

View of Lake Arenal

Love that pool!

Over the weekend we noticed lots of cars honking horns, loudspeakers, flags and a rally near the school.  As it turns out it was elections day (mayoral and councilmen) throughout Costa Rica.  It was over as quickly as it started.   I can’t help but wonder what the Ticans think about elections in the US!

Election Day

Our prior posts have mentioned visiting Tabacón Hot Springs in 1996; it made a lasting memory and we both wanted to visit again.  Yes, it is expensive ($60/person) but in our opinion the day’s visit was worth the price.  The improvements since 1996 were very noticeable and the only thing missing was that Volcan Arenal was not spitting lava and steam.  It was a great day soaking and enjoying the beautiful gardens and the memory will last another 20 years.

The stream

Love the hot springs falls

Gardens

Red Ginger

Cafeto (arabica coffee)

 

Tabacón was the first geothermal hot springs open to the public in the Arenal Volcano region and remains the premier springs and resort.  There are many hot springs venues in the region but most of them drill wells and pump the water, or heat the water and recirculate it.  However, Tabacón is fed by three natural geothermal springs coming off the mountain and cooled by a cold water stream.  The water flows by gravity down the streams and cascades off the rocks forming pools.  Tabacón has combined beautiful landscaping with the surrounding rainforest to provide a lush garden experience.  

It's been an interesting four weeks in the Arenal area.  Our insight for this part of our visit is that we have had to be flexible, something Bob is much better at than I.  We gave up on our idea of relying on public transportation and rented a car . . . a very good decision that made our time here much more enjoyable.  Also, we have taken a look at our schedule and realigned the next portion of it.  Originally we were going to spend three days in La Fortuna but since we've been there several times it doesn't seem necessary.  So we will head to the Central Valley, the volcanic hillside region known for coffee, agriculture, and picturesque small towns.  We spent time in the Central Valley in 1996, and again it is an area that stuck with us all these years.  Our weather has been very rainy the last few days so again, we've had to be flexible.  My attitude is that the rain doesn't stop the Ticans from going about their normal day so we have continued to get out and about.  

Beautiful Lago Arenal

Thanks for following our journey!