Last Updated on December 21, 2023 by PowersToTravel
The year was 2013, relatively early in our traveling history. I had not yet developed my enjoyable, time-consuming vacation planning analysis (described in my post Amazon Dreams on my first day of Retirement). I had not yet gained a level of confidence in international travel that would allow me to combine my own plans with that of a local agency to create a more cost-effective trip, or even to plan and execute the trip myself.
In 2013 we moved from Hanscom, MA to Newport, RI. In that year we sold off half of our belongings in order to fit our two combined lives into a small townhouse in Newport RI. Harbor views of Newport town from Fort Adams made the transition worth the effort. We had already booked a summer vacation on a small boat in the Galapagos, Greg’s son was graduating from college in Virginia, and I was occasionally traveling locally, spending nights in Massachusetts due to work requirements. The bottom line is that we were very busy.
July came and I realized that we had not yet made travel plans for Christmas. I purchased an excellent Costa Rica book, Costa Rica The Complete Guide – Eco-Adventures in Paradise by James Kaiser, and searched the Internet for Costa Rican-based travel agencies. I stumbled upon Costa Rica Expeditions.
Costa Rican Expeditions offers an online guided personalized itinerary planner. From the info provided about interests and travel style the agent develops a customized itinerary. I chose Photography as a primary objective, not because I am particularly good at it, or because I spend a great deal of time doing it, but because places which are photogenic are most likely to be interesting to me. I chose private travel, as we do not enjoy traveling in shared shuttle vans.
Corcovado National Park was on my short-list of parks to visit. I dreamed of seeing a tapir in the wild, and was quick to learn that one particular hike, from the San Pedrillo Ranger Station, offered me this opportunity. This one hike was within my endurance limits – a boat would deliver the hiker relatively close to the ranger station, and a guide would accompany the guests throughout. Most advanced hikers were offered the opportunity to hike in and out, as well as camp at the ranger station. This was too daunting a prospect for me. The other alternative was boat delivery to the Sirena Ranger station, which involves a much shorter boat ride, however the station offers less diverse mammal wildlife.
One single lodge in Drake Bay offered the longer but do-able San Pedrillo excursion via boat. Every other Drake Bay resort offered the Sirena hike. The Sirena hike emphasizes bird life; San Pedrillo potentially includes tapir and wild cats. I was hooked.
The Costa Rica Expeditions planner was quick to point out that the accommodations options are limited in Drake Bay, that Christmas is a very popular season, and that there was one room left in the recommended lodge.
The pressure was on! I crammed for the occasion, reading the rest of my guide book in one night, in order to be able to confirm the itinerary that was offered to me. Costa Rican Expeditions could not make the reservation at the one lodge until I had committed to the entire itinerary!
One day later, with a gulp and a hope, I committed and our adventure began.
Our twelve day itinerary would take us from San José to a lodge in Tortuguero, on the east coast, known for its wildlife and proximity to the Tortuguero National Park. A scheduled flight from San José on a small airplane would be our mode of transport, since we had declined the shared van drive across the mountains. (My stomach just lurches at the thought of that!) After two nights, we would return by air to San José, and fly immediately, commercially, to Drake Bay, in the southwest corner of the country. After a few nights there we would fly back to San José, and be picked up for a private driving transfer to the Monteverde Cloud Forest northwest of San José. Finally, we would complete the trip with a few nights on the west coast, about mid-way, at Herradura, near Jaco and the Carara National Park.
At the time all these names were just that, place-names to us. The itinerary seemed to include a lot of transfers, and a lot of flying up and flying down, however we had only twelve days to spend, and wanted to see it all.
More importantly, these place names represented several areas of great bio-diversity:
Aracari at Tortuguero
Tortuguero National Park is a mangrove area near beautiful northeast beaches. That visit would be punctuated by colorful birds, monkeys and reptiles. It is also a prime turtle nesting site, however we would be traveling off-season for turtle nesting.
Peccary at Corcovado
Near the beaches of the southwest, Corcovado National Park is a large area of pristine primary rain forest. It is the most likely location in Costa Rica in which to see larger animals, such as peccaries, anteaters, tapir, monkeys and even wild cats.
Female Quetzel at Monteverde
Monteverde National Park is a cloud forest. This means that it is situated on mountains, and covered by a jungle of extremely tall trees, such as the ceiba. The views are tremendous, that is, when not filled with the clouds for which they are named. Birds such as the quetzel make their homes in the cloud-forest.
Macaws at Carara
Carara National Park is a small park on the west coast. A visit to this park could be combined with some relaxation at the beach, which this itinerary led us to believe we would need!
After the deposit was made, I went to bed with dreams of seeing Tapir, Wildcats, Anteaters, Trogans, Toucans and Quetzels.
