Santa Elena
COSTA RICA
Cables, Canopies & Mullets
By AARON
Monday, August 4, 2008
So Lyndi and I were able to catch the 5:30am ferry off of Isla de Ometepe, and as I sat in the upstairs area watching the t.v. they had on, I started to realize that it didn’t matter where you lived in the 80s- everyone made crappy music videos and everyone had a mullet in them. In fact, dispelling all prior theories, the mullet was actually a worldwide fad, bent on subtly taking over the world, one bad haircut at a time. But I digress…
The trip to San Jose, Costa Rica actually went pretty smooth. We arrived at the Ticabus station in Rivas, Nicaragua around 8am, and caught the 9am bus to San Jose. We even got to watch “Forgotten Kingdom”, a kung fu movie that pairs up (finally), Jackie Chan and Jet Li for a martial arts spectacular – second only to about 347 other martial arts films. Since Ticabus only goes to the capital cities for stops (Rivas is an exception), we arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica and stayed overnight at a place named after the national dish of Nicaragua: Gallo Pinto.
Early next morning, we took what seemed to be the tourist bus, about 4 1/2 hours northwest to the Santa Elena/Monteverde region of Costa Rica. Both cities are only about 10km from each other, and each one offers beautiful tropical rain forests with abundant flora and fauna throughout. We chose Santa Elena because it was listed as the “less touristy” of the 2, and found a great deal on a hotel smack dab in the middle of town. (I can’t remember the name of the hotel, so let’s call it the Ritz Carlton.) The Ritz offered rooms as low as $6US per person, along with free internet access, communal kitchen, and help with all 98 tour companies operating in the area.
I really liked Santa Elena; it kind of reminded me of a small ski town, minus the bum who sits alone at the end of the bar, telling you stories of how “this used to be a mining town”. Lined with shops and swanky restaurants to lure the tourists into buying $30 t-shirts and overpriced lunches, the 3 main roads create a triangle in which the majority of businesses reside. The Ritz was smack dab in the mix, with bars on both sides and the bus station conveniently located across the street for those quick getaways. (Side note: the cheapest bar with the cheapest beer is Los Amigos, which is on the main road. Just ask anyone, they all know where it is.)
Our first day we arrived, we checked out 2 of the best tour companies in the area, and chose Aventura 100% over Sky Tours. Both were the same price, but since Lyndi and I are so EXTREME!!!!!, we decided to go with a company that could keep up with our base jumping, blindfolded shark neutering, naked ice climbing lifestyle that we were accustomed to. Aventura 100% did not disappoint, picking us up in a totally crazy minivan around 7:30 the next morning and driving an insane 20km/hr along a dirt road to the offices. We had opted to do a combined tour package, that included a canopy tour of the rain forest and a bridge tour, that takes you on 8 suspended bridges through the forest with a seasoned guide.
First up was the canopy tour, which takes you on 13 cables, suspended as high as 13 stories, across and above the rain forest for an overhead view of the area. Also included was a repelling line, and another fun thing called the “Tarzan swing”. Our guides were great as they took our group of around 12 people, and led us from one cable to the next, and literally pushed us off a 2 story platform only to be swung up high in the air on the Tarzan swing. The canopy tour was fun, even a little nerve-wracking considering it was raining and windy that day, and on one of the 2, 1300ft plus cables, it can get pretty windy and knock you around a bit.
Next up was the more relaxing suspended bridge tour, so after taking off our helmets and harnesses from the canopy tour, we headed with 2 other couples to another office area for our nature walk. Our guide was great as he took us on a tour of the rain forest, explaining in great detail the local plants and animals of the area. Unfortunately we didn’t get to “share a fresh-kill lunch with a jaguar”, or “ride a harpy eagle” like I thought the tour booklet said, but we did see a couple tarantulas, a family of owls, and at the end of the tour, a silver fox, who seemed more interested in us than vice versa. Returning back to the Ritz after a hard, adrenaline-fueled day, Lyndi and I grabbed a Monster energy drink, went to Los Amigos bar, and knocked back a couple of Pilsens, which proved a far superior national beer than those of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Salva Vida of Honduras though, still remains number one on our list (so far) of best national beer.
The next day we decided to take the early bus back to San Jose, giving us ample time to tie up all loose ends before heading to one of our number one destinations on this trip: Royal Decameron All-Inclusive Resort and Spa, Farallon Beach, Panama. How were we able to do this on a backpacker’s budget of $25/day???? Stay tuned as Lyndi and I have a stare-off for the right to tell you of how we rocked this resort, and won the hearts and cheers of hundreds of Central and South Americans while we were there…
