Monteverde, Hotel Belmar, Costa Rica

We stayed at Hotel Belmar in Monteverde.  At first I was disappointed that we didn't have a room that faced the beautiful view, but after spying a mot-mot from our forest-facing room we realized our room had its own benefits.  If you are a birder I recommend staying in room #14, the "canopy room" in the chalet because you can literally lay in bed and bird at the same time.  I also loved eating breakfast on their open-air terrace shown below.

On our one full day we drove up to the reserve and hiked over to the continental divide.  Although we didn't see a quetzal, I did love finding these ghostly fairy mushrooms above.  George and I also hiked the trail up to the radio towers behind our hotel, but I do not recommend that hike.  It was just a road that went up and up and more up.  Usually you can at least glimpse some interesting birds on such a walk, but our only rewards for all that effort was a crazy black caterpillar with spiky yellow "hair" (see below) and two pairs of extra sore legs.    

Drive to Monteverde

The third day of our trip we headed out of Chachagua towards Monteverde.  This drive, although beautiful, is arduous and took over five hours (the last two on a rough gravel road).  The beginning of the drive was around Lake Arenal on a crazy, curvy road that offered some breathtaking views of the volcano.  We stopped at Café y Macademia for lunch on the western edge of the lake.  The food was fresh and delicious, plus the restaurant had nice views of the lake. 

Once we got around the lake and through Tilarán we started heading up the gravel road to Monteverde.  I suggest getting gas in Tilarán as there is nothing until Monteverde.  The closer you get to Monteverde the more rugged the road, and the more you begin to wonder what you've gotten yourself into.  But it is breathtaking country and something about those crazy roads makes you feel very alive and present (you'd better be present as you might meet a huge tourist bus or semi around any corner). 

Be sure to stop along the way and look North as there are nice views of Arenal along this drive.  You can see it in the photo below peaking over the hills in the distance.

Tabacón Hot Springs

After our hike at the hanging bridges we were ready for a nice warm soak in the volcano-heated water of Tabacón Hot Springs.  The guide book recommended it and it did not disappoint.  The springs were so natural-looking you felt like you were slipping into a rivulet in the jungle.  And the grounds were extensive with many little "streams" separated by beautifully manicured pathways.  There was also a pool near the entrance with a swim-up bar.  How often do you get the chance to be in a volcano-heated pool with a swim-up tiki-hut bar sipping freshly-squeezed girly drinks with two of your favorite guys in the world?  Not everyday!...and  I enjoyed every minute of it!

Tabacón at night is also beautiful (photo below).  We left just after it got dark, but it I can imaging it would be super romantic if you were here on your honeymoon.  Hermosísima!

Arenal

We spent two nights at the Chachagua Rainforest Hotel and on our one full day we drove to the Arenal Hanging Bridges where there is a very nice view of the volcano.  We were lucky the day we went because we had a clear view, although there was a little white poof which never moved from the peak.  I wondered if it was steam coming out of the volcano.

The drive from Chachagua to the Hanging Bridges is about 45 minutes and during our drive we saw a whole family of coatis crossing the road.  They are beautiful creatures and if you watch them walk away you can see they have soft-looking grey pads on their back feet.

We had a very nice hike on the Arenal hanging bridges.  I don't recommend the hike for people who are afraid of heights.  I do recommend wearing good sturdy shoes as the trail is made with concrete blocks with holes in the middle.  I wore my crocs by accident and it was a little rough on my feet.  The waterfall below was part of the hanging bridge hike and when we were hiking up from it George spied the Broad-billed Motmot below. 

Chachagua Gardens

The grounds of the Chachagua Rainforest Hotel were beautiful with plenty of great photo opportunities.  Of course, heliconias are one of my favorite things to photograph because of the repetition and color.  When George saw this photo he said, "That photo is so you" and I had to agree.

The photo below is of some crazy prop roots on an unidentified type of palm tree.  Supposedly one kind of palm tree (Socratea exhorrhiza) can actually move its position by throwing out prop roots in the direction it wants to go and has thus earned the name "walking palm." Although this has not been scientifically proven, I like to imagine these trees slowly moving in a millipede-like fashion to find a nice sunny spot in the rainforest.

The "red" bananas below were right outside our cabina.  Costa Rica has many kinds of bananas that are not available to us in the states because they spoil quickly and are hard to transport, but boy are they tasty!  My favorite are called "quadradas" (due to their squarish shape) and they are extra sweet and delicioso!  The other photos were just random things that caught my eye.

Chachagua Rainforest Hotel - Costa Rica

George, my Dad and I just returned from a great trip driving around the wilds of Costa Rica.  Our first stop was Chachagua Rainforest Hotel.  It wasn't a bad drive from San Jose but the road up to the hotel is a bit of an adventure if you have never driven the rocky gravel roads of Latin America.  I love that we had to drive through a stream to get to our room!  The first thing we did after checking in was wander over to the beautiful open-air restaurant and order a round of drinks.  I was quite pleased when my strawberry, mango, banana "batido" showed up with this straw topper.  Little things can make a girl so happy.

I was also very pleased with our cabin.  We stayed in #202 and although I didn't see all the cabins I felt that we had the best one on the property.  We were the closest cabin to the stream and you could sit on the porch and watch birds or just lay in the hammock.  I also thought the room was very clean and tastefully appointed (bird art - you can't get better than that!). 

After settling in we took a hike around the property.  It is truly an oasis and was a nice introduction to Costa Rica.  If you visit this hotel I recommend at least a day just to hang out on the property and wander the grounds.

The short trail leads back to the reception desk and there are two traditionally decorated oxcarts around the back side of the building. Of course you know I am crazy-drawn to these decorations.  Another thing we found in the reception building was a book called "1000 Places to See Before You Die" and there is a nice write-up of Chachagua Rainforest Hotel.  Now I only have 999 things to do!

January - Pods and Puddles

I don't usually bring my camera when I walk but today I did and boy was I rewarded!  Sometimes January can feel so drab and soggy that I don't feel like leaving the house.  But once I get outside I always feel better and just look at what I saw today!  Amazing scenes abound out there!  So next time you have the winter blues go foraging for seed pods and puddles.  It brightened my day and I hope yours too.  Happy January everyone!

I love you bananas!

The week before Christmas I was walking from the kitchen to the dining room when I spied these bananas.  That Georgie o' mine is so sweet sometimes (OK, he is sweet all the time, but this was extra nice.)  It made me laugh and smile and feel so lucky to live with this funny, clever boy.  I asked him how he did it and he said he just wrote on them with a pen with the tip pushed in...any pointed object will do.  So next time you have bananas in the house surprise your sweetie with a banana message.  It will make their day!

Shutterfly Book

I  made this book as a thank you gift for some friends who let me stay in their house this summer.  It is a book for their grandchildren to read when they are at their house.  They have beautiful tile around their house so many of the images are of their tiles.

I made the book on Shutterfly and they now give the code for inserting into a blog so if you want to see the whole thing you can click on it below.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Gnome Joy!

I've been obsessed with peppermints and gnomes so they seemed a perfect combination for my card this year.  Wishing everyone a very happy holiday and lots of joy!

Wrap it up!

As soon as I saw this ribbon at Michael's I knew it was coming home with me. I looooooooove the look of the cut-outs against the solid colored paper.  I also found a cute moose ribbon in my ribbon box and I thought the two were perfect together.  Now I am finally done wrapping and I love to sit back and look at them all in a big pile.  So take a moment to breathe and enjoy the beauty as you wrap things up this year!