Costa Rica - Part I

As preveiously advertised, today I start my multi-part series on our family Christmas vacation. Now, if reading about someone else's vacation is not on your list of things to do before you die then I give you permission to take this week off from reading this blog. Check-in every few days to see when I get finished with this topic. I think it will take at least three or four installments.

Okay, here we go. We left early on Christmas morning for our 9:30 flight to San Jose (the capital of Costa Rica for you non-geography buffs). Our flight was comfortable and non-eventful, although it was full and they were offering $300 travel vouchers to anyone who would volunteer to get off the plane. Unfortunately, our tranquil travel was interrupted soon after our arrival in San Jose. Apparently in Costa Rica the concept of reserving a car is something more akin to a loose potential guideline than a formal commitment. After retrieving our luggage - six large suitcases and six backpacks - we got in line at the National Car Rental counter. I soon realized that the three people in front of me in the line all had something in common. Each of them was told that the vehicles they had reserved were not available, and that the only ones that were available were those of the compact and sub-compact variety. Needless to say, this wasn't making any of my fellow turismos very happy. I held my breath as I approached the counter, foolishly hoping against hope that the nine passenger van that I had reserved would somehow be available. Of course, it wasn't. Rather than bore you with all of the sordid details I'll just skip to the point three hours later where after much wailing and gnashing of teeth we finally ended up with a Toyota Land Cruiser, which at first doesn't sound all that bad. Unfortunately, this was the "Prado" version of the Land Cruiser, which is somewhat smaller than its cousin that is marketed in the United States. After much ingenious trial and error we were able to strategically stack the suitcases on and around the rear set in such a manner as to leave a small hole for one small person to occupy. Kayla was the lucky winner for this spot. I, of course was the driver, and Vicki was manning the co-pilot's seat. This left Bethany and our two 6' 3" son's-in-law (Cody and Lance) to share the middle seat. With everyone securely packed into our Prado we set out on the three hour drive through the mountains to the small town of La Fortuna, home of the Arenal Volcano and other scenic wonders. In spite of a driving rain during the last half of the trip and multitudes of pedestrians who fearlessly walked within three inches of the side of the road for a good portion of the journey, we arrived unscathed at the Arenal Volcano Observatory Lodge just in time for dinner. The Observatory Lodge earns its moniker by nature of the fact that it is the location of the seismic equipment that monitors the activity of Arenal, which is an active volcano that more or less erupts on a continuous basis. It's last really big eruption was in 1968, when after a 400 year period of dormancy it blew up and killed 187 people. For added excitement, the lodge is located only six-tenths of a mile from the eastern slope of the volcano. There are pictures everywhere of the volcano erupting, the most impressive ones of the night time eruptions that show glowing rocks and lava cascading down the southern slope. Unfortunately for us, all we saw was a thick layer of clouds that obscured the summit of the volcano for all but about fifteen seconds of our stay. However, we did hear the almost constant rumble of the volcano, which was both impressive and a little scary.

Undaunted by our minor disappointment over not seeing any flaming boulders, we set out the next day for our first "eco-experience" - rappelling in a waterfall infested canyon. After riding a few miles on paved roads in comfortable mini-buses we were transferred to four wheel drive jeeps for a three mile trip up a mountain on something that was probably a road at one time. We then donned our harnesses, received our ten-minute training lecture, and headed for our first rappel, which was, to our surprise, the highest of the six we would complete during our excursion - 185 feet. The first one was dry. Of the five that followed, all but one were made in or very close to waterfalls. Check the pictures. It was a lot of fun. At this point I must comment that Vicki and Kayla - both of whom I had disparaged in an earlier post - both acquitted themselves in an exceptional manner. My apologies to both of them for doubting their veracity. As a matter of fact, Kayla took her first step toward ultimately wresting the title of "Adventure Twin" from her sister during the rappelling segment of the trip.

That's probably about all you can take for now. Tomorrow - or whenever I get back to this - we'll move on to Playa Tamarindo, with a full description of our fishing and beach related activities.







The official Freede Family Christmas picture for 2009. Aren't we a handsome group?