Our Experience in Costa Rica January 20-28, 2025

So we just spent a week in Costa Rica. This was our first visit to this lovely central American country.  We had briefly toyed with the idea of going about 5 years ago, but when we discovered, at that time, that tickets to the UK were actually less expensive and less hassle, Costa Rica got put on hold.  My son had an almost 6 week break from school in January of this year, so I brought up a few possibilities for a short vacation.  Given that no  one had any interest in going anywhere cold, the decision was made to head south.

Planning was an extensive process, as there are many beautiful places to go, and given the conditions of the roads (more on that later), it is not so easy to get from place to place.  My lovely goddaughter, who spent several years living in Costa Rica, offered her recommendations and soon it was decided, we would spend four nights each in La Fortuna, near the Arenal Volcano and, following a day trip to the famed Monteverde area enroute, four more nights by the beach in Tamarindo. I'm going to give you a bit of overview of both places, and then share a few observations and surprises!

LA FORTUNA/ARENAL:

At 7:10 am, we arrived at Liberia airport, which proved to be a better location given our itinerary.  From here we drove to La Fortuna via a stop in Parque Nacional Volcan Tenorio to do some light hiking in extremely rainy weather (thank God we brought and accessed the $8 rain ponchos, which saved our lives) before having some lunch and tubing on the rapids of Rio Celeste with Onca Tours.  The roads and navigation thereafter to La Fortuna were frustrating until I finally had to call our hotel and get directions from the very patient English speaking man at the front desk!  We finally arrived at the absolutely lovely Arenal Springs Resort and Spa in La Fortuna as the sun was setting, tired from the overnight flight and bedraggled by rain and humidity.  The staff offered a smile and a complimentary welcome drink, and I nearly burst into tears!

Hanging out at our Hot Springs

La Fortuna is an inland city that lies in the shadow of the majestic Arenal Volcano, which in turn lies under a blanket of clouds.  La Fortuna gets a lot of rain, especially during the night and in the morning, which makes the area very lush, green and humid with daytime temperatures reaching to about 80.  My hair was complete frizz the whole time, with nothing to be done except to try to blow dry it straight!  There is a lot to do using La Fortuna as your base, especially if you have a car at your disposal. Thanks to the volcano, there is an abundance of hot springs in the area.  Many hotels have their own hot springs, and many of these hotels offer a day pass option for non-guests.  After experiencing the beauty and comfort of the hot springs at our own hotel, we opted out of paying $50 for a day pass elsewhere.  The hot springs are fresh water, and gratefully, do not have that sulphur-y smell that I have experienced before.

From La Fortuna you can drive one hour out to Sarapiqui and raft on the river there.  We had a thrilling day with Aguas Bravas over the class 2 and 3 rapids.  Also within 20 minutes are the Mistico Hanging Bridges Park, the breathtaking Catarata Rio Fortuna and more light hiking at the Parque Nacional Volcan Arenal.  We also mountain biked around part of Lake Arenal and braved the rope swing, "El Salto."  Basically, there are all types of adventures offered.  Ziplining (called canopy tours) is omnipresent.  Jet skiing, rapeling, ATV tours, birdwatching, nature tours, cocoa tours, coffee tours, sloth tours--it's all near La Fortuna.  You just have to get out of your hotel.

Rafting on the Sarapiqui River

Mistico Hanging Bridges Park

Catarata Rio Fortuna

Mountain Biking at Lake Arenal

MONTEVERDE:

The Reserva Biologica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde (the Monteverde Cloud Forest) is the single most visited place in Costa Rica.  The area is also replete with adventure operations ready to zip you, Superman style if you like, over the trees and through the clouds.  We started our day in Monteverde at 9am with a 7 line ziplining adventure with TreeTopia Park.  Despite the excitement of flying 300 feet above the ground with only a few harnesses, a carabiner and some rope preventing you from certain death, the howling wind and rain nearly killed us.  Who knows, maybe better to go in the afternoon.  Anyway, after a quick soda lunch in Santa Elena, off we went to the cloud forest where there is light hiking through the wet reserve.

First some ziplining into the clouds

then some hiking in the Bosque Nuboso
de Monteverde

These experiences in Monteverde are remarkable, but here is the rub my friends, getting  there is just awful.  The distance from La Fortuna to Treetopia Park in Santa Elena is a mere 105 miles, but it took us 3 hours and 15 minutes to get there, meaning we travelled at an average of about 32 miles per hour.  We left La Fortuna at 5:30 am to arrive by 8:30am.  Though only two lanes and windy, the road out of La Fortuna starts nicely enough.  The last half, however, is a painful slog of dust, potholes and gravel.  After leaving Monteverde, we drove nearly 4 hours to Tamarindo, a distance of only 102 miles.  Grueling.  Had we not taken the side trip to Monteverde, we could have taken the main road the whole way and likely saved a lot of time and agony.  Worth it?  Not sure.  You better have a driver you trust.

TAMARINDO:

Pretty much every evening
in Guanacaste

Tamarindo is a totally different ball of gallo pinto.  Tamarindo is a city in the Guanacaste Province that fronts the Pacific Ocean.  We were told that first timers going to the beach in Costa Rica needed to come to Tamarindo, ok, so we came.  On the coast it is very warm, bordering on 90 degrees daily, and dry.  Henceforth, the area is much less green overall AND my frizzy hair went away immediately.  We actually were not in Tamarindo but rather just south in Playa Langosta, which is about a 20 minute walk from anything you would want to do in Tamarindo. Tamarindo is caustically nicknamed "Tamagringo," and while we did see more North Americans here and hear more English spoken, we did not find it to be a commercialized town full of chain restaurants and high end stores, like, let's say, Waikiki.  As it is a 20 minute walk, and it can be quite hot, you can drive to town and park in a lot all day for $10.  Good deal and safe.

But really, in three days we spent very little actual time in the city of Tamarindo.  We mostly drove through with our car on our way to beaches, activities, and restaurants out of town.

There are a lot of great beaches within driving distance of the city, but you have to be cautious, as the oceanside does seem to be teeming with dangerous rip currents and almost none of the beaches have lifeguards, so you really have to do your research, and never go out alone or without someone watching you from the shore.  The coast near Tamarindo is also famous for surfing, and many beaches lend themselves far more to this activity rather than actual swimming.  Two great beaches we found to be at least reasonably swimmer friendly were Playa Conchal and Playa Flamingo. Both have a sandy bottom, some shade on the beach, and the water is refreshing but not too cold. 

Playa Conchal

Playa Flamingo

The beach experience in Costa Rica is different than what we have experienced in other places.  Lots of families go to the beach on the weekends.  They bring the whole business with barbeques and coolers and music and all the things.  There are a LOT of vendors on the beach.  We were particularly grateful to the guy that sold us the use of a pop up tent for the day for $20.  People wander up and down the beach selling jewelry, massages, fruit, snacks, cocktails, and dessert.  One guy even sold us three of the best empanadas we had ever had.  The sell in general is not a hard one.  If you are not interested, the vendors usually move on.  

20$ for all day use of the EZ-up tent

on Playa Flamingo

In Playa Conchal, you actually have to park in Brasilito and walk along the beach about 15 minutes south, hauling all your gear, to get to the much more desirable area.  Everyone, is doing this and it's actually funny to watch the steady stream of beachgoers seeking more favorable waters.  It is very obvious when you get there.

There are a few beach bars in the area where you can go, rent an umbrella and a chair, and have use of their facilities all day long.  Lola's in Playa Avellana rents two beach chairs and one umbrella all day for 54$.  It seems that most of the drinking holes up and down the beach in Tamarindo offer some kind of similar arrangement, probably for a little less.  If you don't want to rent equipment, it is no problem to plop your beach towel or your foldable chair down anywhere and enjoy the beach, which is public.  You likely can also walk into any bar and buy drinks to take out onto the sand with you.  Stay for sunset.  The Tamarindo sunsets are unmatched.

The Sunset view from Lola's

Activities in Guanacaste are the same as the ones available inland, though I would venture to guess that the inland activities are a little more beautiful.  We road horses through some rather meh terrain with Black Stallion Ranch and went on a fabulous catamaran cruise (billed as a snorkeling cruise, but we are thinking the snorkeling was pretty mediocre and we didn't go) with Marlin del Rey.  The latter I highly recommend, as you could drink all day long and finish your excursion up with a great meal and a breathtaking sunset.

Aboard the Marlin del Rey

and the sunset from the boat

We thoroughly enjoyed two meals we had, the previously mentioned Lola's on Playa Avellana and at Fish and Cheeses, only a four minute walk from our condominium.

DRIVING:

Now this could be an entire blog post in and of itself.  THE COSTA RICAN ROADS HANDS DOWN ARE THE WORST ON THE PLANET AND TICO DRIVERS MAY ALSO BE THE WORST ON THE PLANET.  In 2018, 1 in every 1000 Ticos was involved in a fatal or serious traffic accident.  That same year one in every 25 was involved in a traffic accident requiring the involvement of police.

If you are lucky you are driving on a two lane road.  At no time in the eight days we were there do I remember driving on anything but a two lane road.  You will share this road, which is the highway mind you, with slow trucks, parked cars, pedestrians, horses, bicycles, and lot of motorcycles.  Passing is rampant, basically anytime you think someone is going too slow, because there is no way that slow truck is going to pull over to let people pass.  The roads are pocked with potholes, some of them literally the size of VW busses, and if it has been raining, you can't see how deep they are. If you don't have potholes to slow you down, the speedbumps will. They are everywhere...

Believe me this is nothing..
I have videos with bicycles towing horses!

Another big problem is the regular appearance of the gravel road.  We drove miles and miles on gravel roads to get to Monteverde, to get to activities, and to get to dinner--it's just the price you pay.  Driving on a dirt road is a slow and dusty business, oh, and the gravel roads have potholes too.  Waze is an effective tool while in Costa Rica, but do keep in mind that it is going to take you the way it thinks is fastest, even if it's not really the best choice.  It is also hard to orient yourself on Waze, relative to the other roads around you, so Waze may be taking you on a yucky steep gravelly short cut, when it might have been less painful to just stay on the road you were on.  TWICE we were directed onto closed roads and other times we were just directed to the center of town rather than to the actual destination.  We got so lost on our way from raft tubing to our hotel in Arenal that I had to pull over an call the hotel.  I can't believe we ever made it.

A 4WD is essential.  There's no way around it.  No timid drivers either.  Avoid driving at night.  Pray.  Bring a real live map-the kind you hold in your hand.

FOOD:

The food in Costa Rica is AMAZING!  Super fresh and healthy. The smoothie is a staple, and when you try the fresh fruit, you will know why.  Lots of vegetables, beans, and rice. 

A little outdoor cafe serving typical Costa Rican food is called a "soda."  The typical Costa Rican plate lunch is called a "casado," which means married man.  It is so named as it represents what a wife might feed her hungry man at the end of a hard work day--salad, beans and rice, meat, and vegetables.  We had these whenever we could, with chicken, fish, or beef.

PEOPLE:

The people in Costa Rica are kind and helpful and hospitable.  They are welcoming to tourists.  Most speak some English and like to try to practice as much as they can.  We felt very safe at all times, including when we parked our rental car full of luggage.  No stink eye in Costa Rica.  We could not say the same the last time we went to Hawaii...

Anyway, quite sadly I will not be travelling for quite some time!  My fun run has come to a pause.  Sit tight!  I am hoping in a few months to be back out on the road again

Once again, do not forget to follow me on Instagram!

Las Vegas Never Disappoints January 11-13 2025

Well, I think by now you know that we go to Las Vegas a a lot.  Actually, I'm pretty sure that over the last five years we have gone once per year.  It's easy to go to Vegas a lot because Vegas is constantly changing, so there is always somewhere new to eat or drink and there is always something new to experience or do.

This time there were four of us, my husband and I, one daughter, and our son, who recently turned 21, and was having his first experience with Vegas done the Temples Travel way.

We experienced a LOT of new things in Las Vegas this weekend and I'm gonna share them with you!

POPSTROKE:

Prior to planning this trip, I had never heard of Popstroke, but apparently there are about 13 locations around the country.  Popstroke opened in Las Vegas in April of 2024 and is located south of the strip at 6617 Las Vegas Blvd in the Town Square shopping area, so you do need a car or a rideshare to get there.  To put it simply, it is a mini golf course, with two courses, blue and black, with one being ever so slightly harder than the other.  But this is no ordinary golf course, no sir.  There are no windmills or chipped paint or water features or frustrating obstacles.  Each hole is designed like a putting green, complete with sand traps.  AND, here comes the big stuff, you can order beer, cocktails and snacks  while you are playing and have them brought to you on the course.  Definitely something about a beer or two that makes your game a little bit more relaxing and less competitive. The area is surrounded by big screen TV's so you can watch your favorite sports team while you putt all the while listening to the cool tunes pumping over the sound system.

There is a restaurant/bar onsite with some cornhole, ping pong and Connect 4 where you can relax between games.  Also quite cool is its location in the flight path of Reid International airport, so you can watch plane after plane make its final approach into Las Vegas.

Once you pay your 40$ day pass fee, you are free to golf as much as you want from 9am until closing at 12 midnight. No reservations. We spent about 3 hours here, from about 12:30 to 3:30pm and it was an absolute riot.  We can't wait to go back again.

I actually won the first round!!

Teeing up with the game in the background

FLIGHT CLUB SOCIAL DARTS:

One of the hardest thing about Vegas in the winter is what to do during the day!  Another fabulous find is Flight Club Social Darts located conveniently on the strip in the Palazzo shops.  Reservations are available but I think on this day and time (Saturday at 2pm) we could have walked in. A normal no frills reservation costs 20$ per person and allows you unlimited play for 90 minutes, which is about the right amount of time, though we probably could have played a bit more.  Like Popstroke, I had no idea this place existed before researching this trip.  Apparently it opened nearly two years ago, in April of 2023.

Everyone throws better after a beer!

So this is kind of how it works. On arriving, you are directed to a bay with seats, a dart board, and a digital screen.  Anyway, the server goes over the six or so different dart games you can play, takes your drink order and away you go!  All scores are electronically registered somehow by the dart board, so there is no need to keep track of score.  There is also a screen above the dart board that lets you know who is up and how all are progressing.  Some games are quite a bit harder and more frustrating than others, particularly ones requiring you hit a certain number, so for the sake of our delicate egos, we avoided these.

Also there is some kind of camera apparatus behind the dart board that records winning throws and replays them for you with great fanfare.  Nice touch!

Darts is hard work.  We were all sore the next day.  I had a great time but I really pretty much sucked.

Some exercise in frustration!!

The fun video screen keeps score..

ELLIS ISLAND CASINO:

Now the big reason we wound up here is because I was looking for a new place to go to breakfast on Sunday.  We had been to Hash House in the LINQ for the last three or so times we had been in town and I was ready for a break from the huge portions and the very very long wait.  Look no further than than Village Pub and Cafe at Ellis Island casino, located at 4250 Koval Lane, about a 15-20 minute walk from the Venetian.  The Village Pub is literally a no frills diner, but boy, is it a great value.  We were seated right away with no wait.  My California Omelette was $13.99.  There was an 8oz steak and eggs special for 14.99, and most of the heartier protein dishes were in this range, but you could also get pancakes for 9.99.  Our total bill with tax and tip (we didn't drink) was about $90 which was a far cry from what we had spent the morning before at Maxie's (which was also excellent and highly recommended).  Everything was delicious and the service was great and it was nice to not break the bank.

Speaking of breaking the bank, if you are here for the food, you might as well stay for the gambling.  Ellis Island Casino was the only place the whole weekend I found a 5 dollar Black Jack table.  I absolutely could not resist and sat down.  The only other players were a guy and his wife who he was teaching to play, so no intimidation whatsoever.  I don't play big so I doubled my money in about 20 minutes and left the table very satisfied.

If you are going to stay for the gambling, you might as well stay for the football.  Ellis Island has an absolutely beautiful brand new two story beer garden, The Front Yard, which is ideal for a day of catching all the important match ups.  It is spacious, bright, and of course has all the big screen action you could hope for.  They run reasonable beer and food specials.  Apparently, this addition was made in December of 2019. I wonder where I have been all this time!

The games on at the Front Yard!

GO DOWNTOWN:

Ubiquitous with a weekend stay in Las Vegas is a trip downtown to Fremont Street and dinner in a great steakhouse.  We combined the two by eating at Barry's Downtown Prime located in the glittery adults only Circa hotel.  Barry's is a newer eatery, having opened in the Fall of 2020, and features the talents of Chef Barry Dakake, formerly of Scotch 80 Prime and N9NE Steakhouse (now closed) at the Palms.

Barry's was a great experience.  A friendly and helpful while still somewhat laid back staff coupled with delicious cocktails and tender steaks and yummy sides made for a sumptuous yet relaxing evening.  Barry's also has a DJ of sorts playing some upbeat modern music, but the music adds to the vibe and is at a volume level that does not impact your ability to have a conversation (a big pet peeve of mine).

We were dressed nicely, but a lot of people weren't-hoodies, shirts with logos, etc, mostly guys.  Lame and classless.  It was a nice place and people should show enough self respect to dress nicely.  Soap box.

Anyway, the four of us shared a 48 (or thereabouts) oz Tomahawk steak and a few sides and a bottle of wine we brought from home ($50 corkage fee).  We also had cocktails.  We refused dessert, but our darling server Edgar comped us a serving of sticky toffee butter cake simply because he felt like we couldn't leave without trying it.  Another nice touch, the chef came by and made sure we loved our meal.  Gosh, I love that!

We always have fun on Fremont Street

STRAY PIRATE:

Once again, prior only to preparing for this trip, I had never heard of Stray Pirate.  Well, maybe that's because it opened its doors in October 2023, not too long ago.  Stray Pirate is located in the Arts District at 1321 S Commerce St., sadly not walking distance from anything, so a rideshare is necessary. The storefront is not well signed and it is easy to miss.  Maybe a good thing because this place has the potential to be far more popular.

The drinks at Stray Pirate are inspired by award winning bartender Christopher Gutierrez, who has proven himself by showcasing his talents in other downtown Las Vegas establishments, and let me tell you the drinks are inspired! The four of us had a great time here, trying as much variety from the menu as we could muster, including "Goonies Never Say Die", a Mai Tai, a Zombie, a Stray Dog Grog, and an "Old Man and a Swizzle!  

The decor is darling.  Honestly I must preferred this place to another go to tiki bar- The Golden Tiki, which is well, er, cough, not very tastefully decorated.  The servers are great at the Stray Pirate.  No food except for popcorn and bar mix.  A little food would be nice.  Maybe this will come about some day, but if there is no kitchen, there is no kitchen.  

Try the Stray Pirate!

CONSTRUCTION:

One additional word.  As per always it seems, there is a lot of construction going on in Las Vegas.  There is always something new here.  The biggest thing going on is the tear down of one of our old favorites, the Mirage, which is making way for the new Hard Rock Casino.  The Mirage was a dang  big piece of real estate, so this big space is quite an eyesore and its right across the street from the Venetian, where we were staying. The first room we were given, an "upgrade" to a room with a strip view, was a strip view of the demised Mirage.  Yuck. We got another room, even though we had to wait for it.

The casino formerly known as

The Mirage

No more lights.  No more volcano.

The front of the Flamingo is being redone.  Also the Tropicana has been "blown away" to make room for a new baseball stadium, where apparently the A's are going to play.

OKAY, that's it for now! Thank you for reading this post.  We are off to Costa Rica now and of course I will post on that too.

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @ TemplesTravel.  Scan the QR Code below....

And here are some pictures!!