South America Travel Log

Day 1-2

Quito

Our flight landed in Quito at 9:45pm, so we arranged for our accommodation and airport pickup ahead of time. We tried to book a room at Secret Garden since that is the hostel everyone raves about, but there was no room for another week (I guess you have to think ahead to get in at that place). I asked for a recommendation off of Thorn Tree and found out about Posada del Mapel.

Posada del Maple
http://www.posadadelmaple.com/
Price - $28 for a double with a private bath and breakfast. They have dorms too.
Cleanliness – Everything seems clean, but a little shabby which gives it the appearance of being less clean than it probably is.
Comfort – Nice mattresses and pillows. The couch in the lounge was not so great. It is on a side street, so there was little noise other than creaking floorboards.
Character – It is a really funky place. It is very old and has tons of unique characteristics. One of the rooms was declared to be a hobbit house by the girls who were checking into it.
Amenities – breakfast, hot water, shared kitchen, living room with cable 2 computers to share . Close enough to walk to a popular dining and bar spot.
Recommended? – Yes, It is worth it just to see all the interesting parts of the house. The manager/owner is very helpful, but only speaks Spanish. My only concern was that I thought that prices would be a little lower here than in Costa Rica. This was about the same. I don’t know what kind of a place you can get for about $20 for a double, so this might be a little out of people’s budget.

Food, however, is a lot cheaper. We ate lunch (chicken, rice, potatoes, etc.) for $1 each in a local restaurant. I was also thrilled to be able to get water for 20 cents. I thought we were going to go broke buying water in CR.

We walked to a local craft market near the hostel and looked around. They seemed to have a lot of the same stuff they had in Otavalo for a similar price, so if you don’t have the time/inclination to make the 2 hour journey to Otavalo you can still get some Ecuadorian crafts to take home with you.

Day 3

Otavalo

We took a taxi to the bus station ($2.50) people here seem to drive in a safer manner than they did in San Jose, CR. I’ve heard the Argentinians are crazy too. We’ll have to see.

We stepped out of the cab and a guy was yelling, “Otavalo” and it was written in giant letters all over the bus, so it was comforting to know we were definitely in the right place.

Bus ride ($2 each for 2 hours). The bus was comfortable and the tout only let about 3 people on for standing, so we weren’t all crammed in there. They showed a bad Jean Claude Van Dam movie dubbed in Spanish on the way back

Rincon Del Viajera

Price - $22 for a double with a private bath and a light breakfast. ($19 for a shared bath)
Cleanliness – Everything is very clean and tidy
Comfort – Nice mattress. The bathroom only had a half door, so that could be a little awkward if you are with people you don’t know well.
Character – They painted pretty designs on the walls and it was cute. They also had a random room with couches and a fire place. It was really tiny, but could be cozy if the weather got really cold.
Amenities – breakfast, hot water, short walk to el Mercado, hammocks on the roof with a nice view.
Recommended? – Yes, It was cute and comfortable. I enjoyed my stay there.

A new pretty restaurant opened right next to the hotel. We ate dinner there, and it was very good and not too expensive for what you got. They had a variety of types of food on the menu.

We enjoyed wandering around the markets and looking at all the interesting clothes, food, art work etc. they had. There were quite a few things I would have liked to buy for myself, but since we are on such a long trip, I can’t carry it all around with me for so long. So, we just bought presents for our families that we will ship back to the US. We only got lightweight and small things, so I am hoping it won’t be too expensive to mail. I’ll post how much it cost after we go to the post office because I know this is a topic that comes up on TT frequently.

Day 4

When we returned to Quito we were picked up by our host family. We are going to study Spanish at Academia Latinoamerica.

Day 12 

Tortuguero – San Jose

San Jose is the central location for buses. There was a shuttle bus for $35 (one way including the $10 boat ride) that took a group of people from Tortuguero to :La Fortuna. If you are short on time, it is probably a good option. We returned to San Jose, spent the night at a different hostel this time before we headed out to La Fortuna/Arenal.

 

Bekuo

www.Bekuo.com

Price - $26 for a double (actually triple. All rooms have 3 beds) and shared shower. $28 for a double with a private shower. They have dorms too. Light breakfast is served.

Cleanliness – Everything is very clean and tidy

Comfort – The slats on the bed made the mattress a little wonky. It was fine, but could be problematic if you have bad back problems. It is MUCH more quiet than the other hostel we were at. I actually slept through the whole night.

Character – The feeling of the place is very comfortable and relaxed. The place isn’t hopping with people and it is more of an older crowd (25+). One family even.

Amenities – breakfast, hot water, shared kitchen, living room with cable and a dvd player, and games room with a pool table. 2 computers to share and wireless access. 1 block away from the grocery store and a 5 minute walk from the big mall San Pedro.

Recommended? – Yes, this may not be the place to hook up with others for unplanned adventures, but if you know what your plans are and want a quiet chilled out stay, then, this is a great place.

Day 13

San Jose – La Fortuna

 

Taxi to bus station ($3 for 15 minutes)

Bus to La Fortuna at 8:40 ($3 each for 4 ½ hours)

The government really subsidizes the buses.

I don’t know if there was a direct bus to take to La Fortuna, but having to stop and let people on and off frequently added at least an hour to the trip. If you have a choice, take the direct bus or as you can read about why later. I recommend renting a car for the Arenal area.

 

La fortuna was nice, but very touristy. The main business was tour companies. It was our anniversary. We had saved up some money to have a wild splurge here. Believe me, it was really easy to do. Our main goal was to go to Tabacon Hot Springs. We looked into hotels that were more in the $80 - $100 range, but then we found out that the entrance fee to the springs was $45 per person. Then we decided to just go for it and stay at the Tabacon hotel because it included the entrance fee to the springs for 2 days.

Everything was just outrageously overpriced about the whole thing, but I tried to ignore it and enjoy myself. I was doing a pretty good job until I tried to find out about going to see the Volcano or go to the park itself. This town is arranged for high class tourism not budget folk. There are only 3 ways to get around. 1) in your own car 2) in a taxi (17 miles between La Fortuna and Arenal equals about a $40 cab ride both ways) 3) on an arranged tour (min $35 per person). It was very rainy and cloudy when we were there, so we were told that it was unlikely we would be able to see anything anyways, so we gave it a miss, but I would recommend renting a car for this portion of your trip because you get kind of stuck at your hotel otherwise.

 

Tabacon Hotel and Restort

 

Price - $175 per night for a king standard room includes a vast breakfast and 2 days entrance to the hot springs

Cleanliness – Spotless. They were even repainting walls that looked fine already while we were there.

Comfort – It had better be for that price.

Character – It was a very nice room. Beautiful wood and tile, but it still had that fancy American hotel feeling. When you were in your room, you could just as well have been in California.

Amenities – Delicious breakfast, welcome drink, shuttle to hot springs, and all sorts of other odds and ends. You had to pay extra for internet use.

Recommended? – Of course it is a amazing place to stay. Especially if you are on a honeymoon or some other special occasion. I just don’t usually have that kind of money to throw around, so I felt a little bit of a fraud. Like when the lady is telling me about the tour options. I almost said, “Sorry, I can’t afford all those things.” But, then I thought, who is going to believe me when I am staying at a place like this.

 

I met other people later who went to Baldi hot springs. They had a great time for $18. I didn’t go, so I can’t compare.

Day 14

Arenal – Canopy Tour

There are brochures everywhere for Canopy tours. Originally, we were looking into going on a day trip to one from San Jose. It was aprox $75 per person regular and $62 with a student discount. I saw a poster on the wall at our language school for a hotel that offered the canopy tour, a double room and 3 meals for $67 (student discount). I asked the travel service people at school about it and they told me it is on the way to or from Arenal. You just have to go a different route.

 

Local bus to San Ramon from La Fortuna ($2.50)

ask the driver to drop you off at San Lorenzo Canopy tour. It is hard to miss. There are lots of bright signs about what they offer.

 

Lands in Love Hotel

http://www.landsinlove.com/

Price - $67 per person (student rate) for double room, 3 meals and a canopy tour

Cleanliness – Everything is very clean and tidy

Comfort – The best nights sleep we had on our whole trip. Good mattress and pillow, comfy couches in the lobby. You are in the middle of a forest, so the only noises come from nature.

Character – The natural surroundings of the cloud forest provide a breath taking backdrop to the hotel. The hotel itself is a little eclectic with nice touches such as murals and little daisies painted on the toilet seat. The people who run the hotel were very interesting and friendly. They are a group of Israeli friends who joined together to make their dream of living and working together come true. The sense of community that they have spills over into the way they treat their guests.

Amenities – 3 delicious meals (vegetarian of all sorts e.g. Pasta, Chinese, Israeli, sandwiches etc.), swimming pool, will pick you up and return you to the highway, arrange tours, laptop to borrow, wireless access.

Recommended? – Yes! This was probably our favorite place we stayed on the whole trip. The scenery was gorgeous, the hotel was nice and the people were so helpful and welcoming.

 

San Lorenzo Canopy Tour - ($35 I think) There are 2 choices, the adventure tour and the canopy tour. I preferred the canopy tour because you were in the trees, so you got to see what it looked like from the top, there were more zip lines and the Tarzan swing was the most scary. Also, there was more opportunity to talk to the guides. They were very helpful in teaching us the Spanish words for things.

The adventure tour has the world’s longest cable and it goes a little faster, so that is the advantage for that one.

We had a great time. It was beautiful and a little scary, but not terrifying.

Some other guests at the hotel went repelling in the waterfalls. The girl said she preferred that to the canopy tour. I guess you just have to take your pick.

 

Return to San Jose

stand on the highway for the bus to pick you up (2:15 or 5:15pm) and take you to San Ramon (75 cents)

San Ramon – San Jose there are both direct and stopping buses. ( $1.50)

 

The buses that drive around San Jose are easy to figure out if you are just going up and down around the Avenida Central area. You can pretty much get on anything. If you are doing anything more complex than that, you probably want some good, clear instructions.

 

Day 15 

We stayed at Bekuo again and now we are at the airport waiting for our flight to Ecuador.

Pura Vida

www.theprudhommes.net/photos/thumbnails.php?album=3

Click on the link for pics of Tortuguero

Day 10 - 12
I really wanted to see the turtles lay their eggs. I heard that there is a great place to see them near Tamarindo, but when I read the guide book, it didn’t sound like this was their high season. I knew there were also turtles on the Caribbean side, but I hadn’t planned on going there, so I didn’t know anything about it. The language school organized their schedule so that people go to school 4 days a week and then have Fri-Sun to explore the country. People were heading off in all different directions, including Tortuguero. I decided to read a little more about it and discovered that August is the height of Turtle nesting season, so off we went.

 

Method of transportation

Nicer bus from San Jose to Cariari (2 hrs $2.50)

Local bus from Cariari to the boat in the middle of a banana plantation (1 ½ hours)

Boat from plantation to Tortuguero (2 hrs $10 including local bus)

The boat ride is partially transportation and partially like a tour/activity. You are driving on a river next to a rain forest. It was beautiful and we saw sloths, a crocodile and many different birds.

 

We (8 language school students) got off the boat and were immediately met by a very official looking man named Roberto. He gave us some instructions about where to go and how the canoe and turtle watching activities are organized. He was standing in front of a tour office, so it looked like he was part of that operation. He then took the group of us to the place we were staying, helped us check in and told us to meet him at the table outside so we could decide if we wanted to join him on any of the tours he offered (you CAN’T go onto the beach at night to see the turtles without a guide, so we had to hire someone). Everything about him seemed legit, well organized, he spoke great English. He even helped us get some money changed so we could pay him for the canoe trip and the turtle watching we were going to do the next day. He told us he would meet us back at our hotel the next day at 9:50 to take us on the canoe.

9:50 showed up – no Roberto 10:00 – no Roberto. 10:05 and then we asked the lady who owns the hotel where we could find him. There were 2 guys hanging around, so one of them took us to the park entrance thinking he might be there and the other went off to look at Roberto’s house for him.

He was not at the park entrance. At 10:30 or so he finally showed up looking like he had just woken up and then he told us unfortunately he has other matters to deal with. He wants us to go with this other guy. So we did. He was very nice and full of information about his town, but he was not a naturalist and knew only a little about the plants and animals we saw. I am glad we did the tour, but I would suggest you do some investigating to find a guide who is knowledgeable about the natural surroundings.

Roberto told us that we had to meet him at our hotel at 5:30 so he could tell us what time we would be able to see the turtles. The park doesn’t want everyone on the beach at once, so each group gets a schedule. Roberto pointedly looked at me and said that we must all please be on time (this was right after he was 40 minutes late for our canoe trip). HA. So, at 5:30 we are all sitting there waiting for him – no Roberto, 5:45 – no Roberto, 6pm – no Roberto. Finally, at 6:15 we were all pretty fed up with this guy and feeling a little foolish about ourselves for trusting him and giving him the payment for the trips the day before. Thank goodness one of the other people in the group had seen him hanging out at a house earlier that day, so they went back to see if he was still there, and yes, they found him completely drunk and maybe more. They demanded our money back. He wouldn’t do it, but he did manage to stumble out of the house, down the street and find someone else who would take us on the turtle trip

I guess that is the advantage of being in a town of 800 people. You can’t hide for very long. If it had been a larger town, we would have just been scammed. I would suggest 1 of 2 things if you visit here. Make arrangements at a building. That way you can go back to that building and it will still be there. Or, you could try paying a deposit for half the tour. I don’t know if they would go for it as we foolishly just paid the whole thing in advance without asking for other options, but you might give it a try.

Watching the turtle lay its eggs is amazing, though. Now, I really want to go back in 2 months and see the little hatchlings make their way to the ocean.

 

Tortuguero is a very interesting island. Other than the whole Roberto debacle, we really enjoyed ourselves. It feels very safe and is a fascinating place. I don’t think I have ever been anywhere quite like it before.

Canoe trip - $10  for 2 1/2 hours

Turtle watching - $10

 

Cabinas Aracari (707-8006)

Price - $14 for a double room and private bath with hot water
Cleanliness – The room was clean. There was an ant problem, but I asked for some bug spray and it cleared right up.
Comfort – ok. There is a fan. Even so, it is a hot and muggy climate which makes being inside 4 enclosed walls uncomfortable.
Character – Nothing in particular. The garden was pleasant.
Amenities – bug spray if you ask for it
Recommended? – Yes, you can’t get much better price than $7 a person. In order to compare, I stopped 2 of the other hotels recommended by lonely planet that were $20 (Miss Miriams) and $25 (Tortuguero cabanas(not sure if that is correct)) for a double. They had a couple extra square feet in the room. The $25 one had hammocks, which I would have really enjoyed. Other than that there wasn’t much difference.

 

I don’t remember the name of it, but right across the soccer field from the place we stayed is an open air restaurant. The food was good (not incredible), but I loved eating there because it was so comfortable. You could sit in a hammock while you were waiting for the food. It didn’t feel stuffy like everywhere else because it didn’t have any walls.

 

Day 5

 

Manuel Antonio – San Jose

They have nice grocery stores in San Jose. You can buy most everything you need there. We walked to the grocery store to get some things to keep in the hostel fridge for breakfast.

 

When we were in the States, I booked a room in the same hostel we stayed in the first night for the duration of our language course. If it wasn’t already reserved, I think I would have found a new place to stay. We are spending 5 nights here because we are taking Spanish classes at a language school in San Jose. The hostel had different room types and I went with the superior double room at Costa Rica Backpackers because it said it was quiet and romantic (or something of the sort). Well, we could hear the people in the room next to us getting’ their groove on, so it certainly wasn’t quiet, but it must live up to the romance part of its name.

 

Costa Rica Backpackers – Superior room

Price - $26 for a double room (King sized bed) and shared bath

Cleanliness – It is in a different building right across the street. They are renovating it, so everything is new and clean, but there are many parts of the building still under construction.

Comfort – ok. The room and bed were nice, but I had a hard time sleeping with all the noise. Like I said, the walls aren’t sound proof, we even heard suitcase zippers and normal conversation through the walls. There are loud trucks and motorcycles driving by and the door bell rings loud and frequently until about midnight to let people in and out. It wakes me up every time.

Character – This room has some character: bright walls, bamboo bed frame and cute little lamps.

Amenities – wake up knock, free internet , a communal kitchen, movies, left luggage etc. All these are across the street.

Recommended? – For $4 a more a night, this place is MUCH better than the regular double across the street. If you are a heavy sleeper – go for it.

 

Day 6 - 9

 

San Jose

 

One of our main goals is to learn Spanish while we are here. People have various opinions about the best way to learn a language, but I think we need a formal school to help us progress. I did a TON of research to figure out what school we should attend. I used the website 123teachme.com recommended on lonely planet thorn tree (Central America FAQ). It was very helpful. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in San Jose because everyone speaks so poorly of this place, but it seemed to have the best school for the money. We are attending Costa Rica Language Academy (CRLA).

www.learn-spanish.com

Price – varies (based on hours a day, days per week and home stay or not) see website for details.

Education – I am in the beginning class. I think beginners really need to be up out of their seats, interacting, role playing, using pictures etc. but we are really just reviewing the information from a well made book.

My husband is in a higher class and he is enjoying it and his teacher’s methodology more. I think it really depends on the teacher you get.

But, even after day 1, both our Spanish has improved.

Extras - This is where the school really shines. They have so much to offer. Cooking classes, dancing classes, conversation hour, soccer, etc.

Amenities – Going to this school is saving us a ton of money on our excursions. They have a full time travel helper on staff. The prices there are about 30% less than the prices at the hostel for excursions and they have discounts for activities etc. and you get a student card that you can use to get discounts at the museums etc. They also have about 20 computers with free internet, wireless internet, and a little cafe that sells really cheap lunch. They are a couple blocks away from a nice mall where you can go watch a movie or get something to eat after school. Oh, and they will even buy your bus tickets for you!

Recommended? – Most definitely, they take good care of their students.

Day 1

Costa Rica
We flew into the San Jose Airport around 10pm. It takes about 1 hour to make your way through customs.
We arranged through our hostel to have someone pick us up from the airport ($14 for 2 people). I didn’t want to have to figure anything else out that late and on our first day

Accommodations
Costa Rica Backpackers

http://www.costaricabackpackers.com/
Price - $22 for a double room and shared bath
Cleanliness – poor. A 3 inch cockroach scurried away when we turned on our light. Everything looked like it needed a good scrub and some updating.
Comfort – ok.
Character – The room was about as bare bones as you could get. They had a nice little court yard with a pool and hammocks
Amenities – wake up knock, free internet (3 of the 7 computers weren’t working), a communal kitchen, movies, left luggage etc.
Recommended – with nothing else to compare it to in that price range, I guess it is fine, but if you have a little more money, I would not pick that as my first choice

Day 2

San Jose – Manuel Antonio

Our plan was to go to Manuel Antonio on the noon bus leaving from Coca Cola bus station at noon. I read from Lonely Planet Thorn Tree much advice about booking bus tickets ahead of time. That was apparently better advice than the guy at the front desk gave us. He said we only needed to be at the bus station ½ hour before the bus left. When we got there all the tickets were sold. We were told we could try to buy tickets from the bus driver. He ended up selling us tickets for standing room only. 3 ½ hours of standing is a long time. I found a seat. Chris stood for about an hour. He sat on the floor for about an hour ½ and finally got a seat for the last hour once someone else got off.
In other words, get your tickets ahead of time if possible.

Accommodations
Banana Tree Hotel

bananatreehotel.com
Price - $ 35 + tax for a double room, private bath with air conditioning and banana bread for breakfast.
Cleanliness – good. A bit musty, but that’s to be expected with all the humidity
Comfort – ok. The pillows are very lumpy
Character – good. Brightly painted and nice decorations. The best part was eating breakfast on their patio with the monkeys.
Amenities – a pool, tiny gift shop, swimming pool, hammocks, a cheap bus that stops 50 meters away that runs back and forth between Quepos and Manuel Antonio, internet that wasn’t working.
Recommended - yes. You can get things a little cheaper in Quepos, but the mountain is so beautiful and it is a lot closer to the beach.

Day 3

Manuel Antonio

Walked down to the free public beach. Gorgeous weather, nice big swimming waves, trees to sit under and read a book. Some guys were renting lawn chairs $6 for 2 chairs for 2 hours. That seemed like a lot to me, so if you are just on a short vacation, it might be worth it to bring your own folding chairs.

We spent most of the day hanging out there. We ate some delicious cosados – Costa Rican plate lunches right on the beach. I hadn’t heard much good about Costa Rican cuisine, but I’d say those are worth a try.

Day 4

Manuel Antonio

Woke up early to be at the park 1st thing as that’s when the animals are out. The hotel recommended hiring a guide for $39. That seemed like a lot of money, so we declined. I read over and over that it really is helpful to have a park guide as there is so much to miss if you don’t have someone pointing things out to you. So, it was great when we showed up at the park entrance and there were guides there offering their services for $20. That was still a little high for us, so we bargained with them a little and were able to get it down some. It was completely worth it. I would say either hire a guide or just go expecting a nice walk through some trees and a beach that isn’t quite a fun as the free one.
We were completely amazed at some of the tiny things he found for us. They carry around a telescope type thing to allow you to see everything clearly. You really can’t even see the sloths without it. They just look like a ball of fur really high up in the trees. He also told us some really interesting information about all the plants and animals we were seeing. I really enjoyed it.

We tried to snorkel at the MA beach as I had read you could there, but the visibility was horrible due to the runoff from the rains and it wasn’t clear where reefs even were. I think you probably have to pay to go on a boat to get good snorkeling, but I didn’t really investigate the possibility.

It started thunder and raining in the early afternoon, so we left to get our bus tickets for our return to San Jose and some other things organized.

Day 5

Manuel Antonio - San Jose

We had to go into Quepos to buy our bus tickets. They pick you up right in front of your hotel, but you can’t get on without the ticket.

Will be continued in next post

My husband, Chris, and I (Emily) are taking off on a year long trip to South America and hope to keep you up to date on the various events of our trip.

Our primary itenerary is Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. We will be traveling for three months through these countries and then we will ’settle down’ for most of the remaining time in the city/country that appealed to us the most. From there I’m sure we’ll do some side trips, maybe into Chile or Brazil…we’ll see.

When we were planning our trip I was obsessed with scanning the lonely planet thorn tree. I read many blogs by other travelers in Central and South America. Many of them were very interesting, but not always helpful with the details of planning because your friends and family at home don’t really care what the name of the hotel you stayed at was or what # bus you needed to take.

I wanted to create a log of our journey that would be helpful to people planning their trips. Of course the information here is from my limited perspective, but I hope it will be helpful to some of you.

So, read, enjoy, explore!