If it isn't obvious by now, one of my husband's (David) and mine's passions is conservation, more specifically sloth and wildlife conservation.
We got married in October of 2018 and thought the most perfect place to spend our honeymoon would be in Costa Rica, with its abundance of wildlife and sloth sanctuaries to visit. Since we had what is considered a destination wedding, in Savannah, GA, we decided to schedule our honeymoon for December of 2019. When the time came for our honeymoon, David ended up coming down with a stomach virus on the airplane from Orlando to San Jose, Costa Rica, so we ended up deplaning. He was told by a doctor that he could not fly for at least 7 days, resulting in us spending our honeymoon at my parent's house in Florida. Still beautiful, but not Costa Rica. We then rescheduled our trip for March of 2020. Since we were not straight out canceling, every place we spoke with was very helpful and considerate with rebooking our stay at no additional cost.
Side note: That is one thing you will learn about traveling to Costa Rica, is that their customer service, no matter where you go, is impeccable.
So a few months pass and the pandemic hits...We speak with nurses and get opinions from healthcare professionals and decide to still go ahead with our plans. That said, the day we were supposed to leave for Costa Rica, their borders shut down. To say we were disappointed is an understatement.
We weren't giving up though and decided to reschedule our honeymoon for a third time, for February 2021. We also decided to add on five additional days, because after having to reschedule for two years, we deserved it! Fast forward a year and even though we are still in the midst of the pandemic, we weighed the risks v rewards and decided to go (with precautions of course). And we are so glad we did!
Air Travel:
We decided to spread our travel out over two days. We are in Milwaukee, and Southwest offers flights from MKE to SJO, but there are 2 layovers. On the other hand (and what I suggest doing), is we flew into a larger hub (Orlando), and we stayed the night at the Hyatt, inside the airport. (Now, I could do a whole other post on why this hotel is so convenient, but that is for a later time). Why we chose the Hyatt and to fly into Orlando, is because Milwaukee to Orlando is a direct flight (just over 2 hours), and the convenience of the hotel being right inside the airport is everything, allowing us to catch an extremely early flight the next morning, with little to no stress.
Note: Use sites, such as Booking.com and Kayak, as the hotel is typically cheaper on there. You can also stay off property, as there are plenty of cheap hotels around the Orlando airport, and we luck out that we have a lot of our family and friends in Florida, as well as Orlando, so it works for us.
If flying from Milwaukee, you can also catch a layover in both Dallas, as well as Ft. Lauderdale. Also, many people think that it takes a while to get to Central America, but at least from Florida, which I feel like this is one of the main connection hubs for flights to Central/South America, is just over 2 hours. I remember being shocked when I flew from Miami to Nicaragua a few years back, and it only took 2 hours. From Orlando to San Jose, CR, it said it would be 3 hours, but only took just over 2.5 hours to get there! (Which I am here for because while I am not scared of flying at all [I have an engineer for a husband, who has gone over the factor of safety with me], I am very claustrophobic. For the most part, I won't even get into an elevator.)
We flew Southwest from Milwaukee to Orlando (which we normally fly, as we lived in Jacksonville, and Jax to MKE/MKE to Jax, the main airline is SW, so we have grown comfortable with Southwest).
We then flew Jet Blue, from Orlando to San Jose/ San Jose to Orlando. Okay, my honest opinion, while I love Southwest, because of their prices, the points we have saved up with frequent flyer miles, and I've always felt so comforted by the flight attendants and pilots on the flights, I have to say that Jet Blue takes the cake in both convenience, comfort, and amenities. Like..WOW! I will go into more detail on another blog post pertaining to flying and traveling internationally during the pandemic and our experience, but beyond our flight only have 49 (yes 49!) people on it, the Jet Blue seats are so comfortable. The most legroom in Economy (though we did upgrade to what is known as "extra space", where we got extra legroom). As well as each seat was equipped with a screen for watching movies, television, and Jet Blue even partnered with Amazon, so if you shop in the air and purchase through Amazon, you got True Blue points (Jet Blue's frequent flyer program). Jet Blue also teamed up with Showtime, so you had the option to watch Showtime movies and shows, as well as you get free WIFI. I mean, literally luxury in the sky, but on a budget (New slogan, Jet Blue?)
San Jose:
San Jose is a beautifully historic, yet modern city. When you first fly in and arrive, you fly in over mountains, as San Jose is centrally located in a mountain range, which is absolutely beautiful! The first thing I recommend is, when you get off the plane, go directly to the SIM card exchanger, as I know at least, if you have Verizon, their international plan barely ever works. Being able to get a local SIM card gave us access to the internet, which helps with using Waze (highly recommended in Costa Rica compared to Google Maps, as Waze is used by locals and has more up-to-date delays listed).
We rented a car, as we planned to drive across Costa Rica to different locations. While you can Uber, as well as take a bus, or domestic flights, and while San Jose, pretty much everything is within walking distance, if you plan on going anywhere outside of the main downtown area, I highly recommend renting a car. We rented our car through CR- Save Car Rental, and I appreciated that they spoke English, as well as they gave us a phenomenal detail (10 days for just over $300). We did get an all-wheel drive, as we heard the roads were bad, but I recommend NOT getting an all-wheel drive, as it actually slowed us down quite a bit on the highways. That being said, the car itself and the service were fantastic, we personally had just requested an all-wheel drive.
We stayed at Hotel Santo Tomas, which is a historic mansion, converted to a hotel. Our experience at this hotel was one of the best we've ever had. The owner, Tomas, helped us tremendously have a doctor come to the hotel to give us our Covid tests, he recommended amazing food places to eat at, was there every step of the way (through WhatsApp) to help us with any questions we had, with not only the section of the trip in San Jose but with every other section of this beautiful country. We made a lifelong friendship with Thomas, and the workers at Hotel Santo Tomas were more than accommodating and helpful! The hotel was beautifully ornate, and I actually plan on doing another blog post, going into more detail on this hotel, as we plan on staying here again when we are back in Costa Rica, in December.
In the next part, I am going to keep it short and simple. We stayed in San Jose one night at the front end of the trip, and three nights on the latter half of our trip. The first night, out of the hotel, we turned left and ended up in the historical section of San Jose. While we ate on a rooftop terrace, at an amazing vegan restaurant (I had a veggie wrap, and David had a meatless burger), that area of town, while gorgeous, with its historic landmarks, felt as if there wasn't much to do. We walked to an authentic Costa Rican restaurant that night and passed a few small bars, we didn't feel comfortable going to drink in a bar, due to Covid. However, the second time we stayed in San Jose made us fall in love with the city. The souvenirs I was tasked to bring back for people were the "Been There" mugs from Starbucks. We mapped Starbucks and found out it was in the city center, where all the activities, restaurants, shopping, and museums are located! What a difference a matter of a few blocks are!!!!! The city center was so comforting and made me fall in love with San Jose. I already want to go back for a few days, just to San Jose, and spend the time in the city center. With the restaurants, museums, and shopping, to me, it reminded me of Times Square (in New York). Below are some activities and places to eat in San Jose, that we highly recommend, and cannot wait to experience again.
-Mercado Central
-Shopping in the town center
-Trying the different foods and pastries at the McDonalds (they have cheesecakes, homemade cakes, ice creams, fried chicken).
-Pre-Columbian Gold Museum
-Jade Museum
-Museo Nacional de Costa Rica -Restaurante El Patio del Balmoral (We ended up eating here two nights in a row, it was that good!)
-Toucan Rescue Ranch (we are very into sloth conservation [see previous blog posts], and this sanctuary is one we have supported for years! We were able to do slothies and coffees, where we toured the ranch and saw different animals in their care, as well as then had pastries and coffee, next to a beautiful two-fingered permanent sloth resident, Latte)
-Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center
-La Paz Waterfall
Note: The last three activities require a car or bus to get to, as they are not located in downtown San Jose.
La Fortuna: To start off with describing La Fortuna, is that I would live here. We straight up discussed once we retire getting a plot of land in La Fortuna and creating a sloth sanctuary, or volunteering our time. The area is absolutely beautiful but HOT! HOT! HOT! One thing to consider when you go to Costa Rica is that they have a dry and rainy season. We went during the dry season, as we were driving all over the country and wanted to be the safest in our travels. While we appreciated being able to be outside every day, the humidity was no joke, especially in La Fortuna. On our second morning in La Fortuna, we did get heat exhaustion and unfortunately had to cancel our plans that morning to volunteer with Proyecto Asis, but after getting into the A.C. and getting some food in our stomach, we felt better. A strong tip is to HYDRATE, especially with electro lights. We brought and drank Liquid IV every day, which was a huge lifesaver from keeping us from getting dehydrated. Even though a few hours one morning was spent not feeling well, we had so many amazing experiences in La Fortuna.
We stayed at two different hotels. The first hotel was Paradise Hot Springs, which was incredible. Traveling during COVID allowed us to be the only guests staying at the resort itself, though they do allow day passes, so we had a few locals come to use the hot springs throughout the day. Our room (Paradise Luxury Suite) was two stories, with the top story leading out onto a deck that overlooked the Arenal volcano. Down below us were donkeys, cows, and horses. It was a rustic, farmlike feel, while still being a jungle environment. Very unique, and it felt as if we were in a different world. With COVID, we communicated with the hotel staff via WhatsApp and it was beyond convenient. We went in without an itinerary, though we know we wanted to check out local wildlife, the hot springs, as well as walking trails. The staff was able to message us a few options for both activities (based on our liking and what we wanted to see. For example, we even said we wanted to get sloth souvenirs and they gave us a specific store to get sloth items at!), as well as restaurant recommendations.
Below are activities/restaurants that we did and ate at the first two days we were in La Fortuna, staying at Paradise Hot Springs.
-Hot springs. Paradise Hot Springs had 8 different thermal pools, ranging in temperature, that all have water fed directly from the volcano. One of the main thermal pools also had a swim-up bar, so after our busy day, we were able to get freshly made mojitos and pool hop. -Sloth Walk Trail. Best experience, hands down. Our guide: Luis, who is an amateur photographer and now a dear friend, helped us spot 4 wild sloths and one even had a baby with it! The trail that you walk on is a little over an hour-long, and it's part of a protected forest. Due to the protected forest and the leaves provided in this area, many sloths make this park their home. We also saw many birds and other mammals in addition to sloths as well. Luis also helped us get incredible footage of sloths, without disturbing them. 10/10 would recommend! -Go into town and go souvenir shopping.
-Proyecto Asis is a wildlife refuge/sanctuary about 30 minutes outside of La Fortuna you can visit or volunteer at. -Local sodas to eat at for lunch or dinner. There are plenty in La Fortuna and wanted to experience local cuisine, so we typed in on Waze: Sodas, and it brought up a bunch of cute little restaurants. There are also some organic and vegan places, that was a little too modern and Americanized/touristy for what we wanted out of our trip, but I would suggest going there for breakfast and getting some local Costa Rican coffee.
-Horseback riding, kayaking, or paddleboarding in the lake of the Arenal volcano is popular as well.
On the third day of our stay in La Fortuna, we splurged and stayed at Nayara Gardens. I will start off by saying this resort is extremely expensive but worth every penny. We are actually saving up to stay a whole week here in 2022, where I will do a more detailed post purely on this resort. We just stayed one night at this resort, which we added on when we replanned our itinerary for Costa Rica, after it being canceled two times. And I am so glad we added this night on. Nayara is actually the number two resort in the world and the number one best resort in Central America, and it is easy to see why. The property consists of Nayara Gardens, Nayara Hot Springs, and Nayara Tented Camp. How we came across this resort is that it has a sloth walk and sloth sanctuary trail on the property. One of the sloth's favorite foods are cecropia leaves, and so the resort planted hundred of these trees, and sloths naturally flocked to them. This area is protected, so it is a win-win for the sloths (as well as us, hehe). While we actually did not see any sloths during our stay, we had a blast hiking the perezoso (sloth in Spanish, which actually translates to "the lazy") trail! Upon check-in (after getting our temperature checked and hand sanitizing), we were given fresh mocktails. A golf cart then took us to our room, overlooking the jungle and the volcano. The room was incredible. The nicest resort we have ever stayed at. It contained an indoor, as well as an outdoor shower, an outdoor jacuzzi tub, hammock, and your own private balcony. What is unique about this resort is that each room is its own private casita, so you are quite literally immersed in the jungle. If you don't want to walk anywhere on the expansive property, you can call the front desk to send a golf cart to you and take you to where you want to go. Since we were only there for a night, we wanted to experience the room, as well as the property, so we hiked the perezoso trail, as well as sat outside, and enjoyed the jungle and all the gardens that opened the way to a view of the volcano. While we just ordered room service, there are multiple restaurants on the property, as well as yoga every morning, multiple hot spring pools, and so much to do!
Cahuita/Limon: The main reason that we went to Costa Rica was to experience the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica (please see previous blog posts with more information on this sanctuary and the incredible rescues and rehabilitations they are doing for the sloth species).
The second part of our two-week Costa Rica adventure was spent at the SS of CR (located on the Caribbean Coast, right above Panama). We were actually told that any other year besides COVID (with strict restrictions) to drive down to Panama for a half-day and get that passport stamp. Now, from La Fortuna to Cahuita is a 5-hour drive, due to the speed limit being roughly 40 MPH, drivers driving like crazy, as well as having to stop at the port to let trucks drop off goods, traffic, etc. (Dole has a huge port and shipping yard in Limon, above Cahuita).
The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica allows you to stay up to three nights on their property, but in order to stay there, you have to take the Buttercup Insiders Tour. Which is a half-day tour of the sloth sanctuary, and allows you to see the NICU of the baby sloths (okay, who wouldn't want to do this?!). This is what we did. We stayed 3 nights, 4 days at the SS of CR. With it being during a pandemic, the sanctuary has gotten hit hard, but luckily they have had local Costa Ricans come and take tours and check out the sanctuary. With that said, we were the only ones staying on property, which allowed us freedom and to really get to know the founder (Judy), as well as her family and all the sloths. We were able to go into the NICU for hours at a time, multiple days, and just sit and observe the baby sloths and watch their daily routine, and it was beyond humbling and life-changing. (Make sure to check out my Instagram posts that explain in detail the different sloths and experiences we had there). The first two days we just hung out with the sloths, learning all we could about them, and soaking up all the knowledge that we didn't know, as well as having deep conversations and talks about pesticides, corporations, and how we can help sloths and prevent genetic mutations from occurring, as well as prevent electrocutions.
A few things to note about the Sloth Sanctuary:
-YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD A SLOTH!!!! You cannot hold a sloth, legally, anywhere in Costa Rica, WHICH IS A GOOD THING!!!! Please refer to my other blog posts on how horrible and detrimental to sloth wellbeing taking selfies and holding sloths are.
-You will NOT be able to see the majority of the sloths, as it is always the hope to release all the sloths that come to the sanctuary. That being said, you can only see the permanent resident sloths that, unfortunately, cannot be released. -You are in the middle of a remote jungle. Therefore, no cell service exists, as well there are a ton of mosquitos, and only wifi when it works and on certain areas of the property. While uncomfortable and not for everyone, after the initial shock, we THRIVED on this! We loved immersing ourselves in just nature and the floofs. It was a life-changing experience and oh so humbling, especially during COVID, to see outside perspectives on how others live.
-Howler monkeys will howl and scream, and throw fruit pits at your window and roof, starting at 5 AM, and it will be a hilarious experience.
-I guarantee you will have ZERO regrets seeing the amazing work this sanctuary is doing, and knowing you are helping sloth conservation. -It is HOT! HYDRATE, as well as what we did is wear portable neck fans each day to keep us cool in the jungle heat, and it really made a huge difference. -While we try and avoid DEET, at SS of CR, make sure you have DEET based mosquito repellent. It is so much in the jungle, that sometimes regular spray won't cut it, and you want to avoid getting Dengue fever (as someone on property got it a few weeks prior, due to wearing organic repellent).
Other activities/places to eat:
-Cahuita National Park
-Beaches in Cahuita (top rated in Costa Rica)
-Limon
-Panama
-Chocolate tours
-Plenty of waterfalls
-For food, I suggest you just drive until you find a place, or type in: Sodas, in Waze and eat local. If you are staying at the sanctuary when you exit, take a right and keep going to the end of the road. You will come across an outdoor restaurant, that is buffet-style, and you eat outside. I highly suggest eating here. We ate there all 3 nights and became close with a worker, who was the only person we met in Cahuita who spoke some English. We were learning Spanish and he was learning English, so we all practiced our different language skills on one another. And we kept getting to know him over the course of 3 nights, and it was very memorable.
Note for Cahuita: Bring pictures of your passports everywhere here, as there are police checkpoints.
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