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gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Costa Rica

Vanessa · Kate Spade

I just went there for my birthday last month. I absolutely loved it!
We got a package deal via www.jetawayholidays.com
They are affordable and I was really happy with the accomodations.
We chose the Mountain and Beach adventure, which was two nights in the city of Arenal (site of Arenal volcano, one of the most active volcanos in C. America). We stayed at Arenal Paraiso there and it was simply a beautiful place with in-house spa, swim-up bar, steakhouse, and plenty of natural hot springs. The view is beautiful. They offer canopy tours, horseback riding, hiking, etc. etc. right from the hotel. Pretty affordable.
Then we spent three nights on Flamingo Beach (Pacific coast). We had a 4x4 rental included which is how we got from city to city. We also drove to Monteverde Cloud Forest one of the days. Be warned though that the roads and road signs are absolutely awful, so you might not want to tackle driving there. Speaking Spanish definitely helped.
Here is a review I wrote before. HTH. Let me know if you have any questions! It was a great time and I definitely plan on going back someday.

Vanessa

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A few of you asked me to report once I returned. I must say I had a blast! The country is so beautiful.
The first day we flew into Liberia. Our car-rental operator picked us up at the airport and so we gassed up and drove into town. Had lunch at the Paso Real, great seafood and Costa Rican food - recommended. Started driving toward Arenal Volcano, one of the most active volcanos in Central America. Arrived 3.5 hours later - the roads were horrible and we were not forewarned. We stopped once because we thought we must've taken a wrong turn, the roads were so bad. Alas, that's the way it is and we were on the right track. We stayed at the Arenal Paraiso, which truly was like paradise. It was worth the crappy drive once we got there. This place is secluded but has an in-house spa, and our cabin was fabulous, with a glass balcony and view of the volcano. It's also one of the few facilities with hot springs, so we didn't even have to leave the property to go into the hot springs! We spent quite a bit of time at the pool and heated pool that led to the swim-up bar. We even had dinner at the swim-up bar.
The next morning we were lazy and just walked around till noon and had lunch at the hotel restaurant/steakhouse. We both had the grilled tilapia and it was awesome! That afternoon we went on a canopy tour. Canopy tours seem to be quite popular around there. We strapped on a harness and clipped on a pulley that helped us glide and slide above trees and a river. The view was beautiful and the activity was just thrilling enough for me.
That night we scheduled spa services. I had a nice massage and a pedi, and we went back to the swim-up bar for dinner and drinks. We also spent quite a while in the hot springs.
Next morning after breakfast we checked out and started our drive to Monteverde Cloud Forest. I had never seen a cloud forest and was dying to visit. The roads were even worse than the ones to get to the volcano, but the journey was again worth it once we were in the forest. Cloud forests, due to their high humidity, makes them excellent habitats for epiphytes - plants growing on other plants - so there were about 400 different orchids there. It was great to see the vegetation. We even saw a couple of quetzals!

We spent the rest of the day there, spent quite a bit of time shopping at the gift shops and town grocery store and proceeded to our next destination - the beach!

We spent the next three days relaxing at the white sand Flamingo beach. At this point I was tired of driving so we stayed around town, shooting hoops in the pool and laying out, in proper tropical vacation form. We went for walks around town and of course sunset walk along the beach. I read and worked on my tan. We ate twice at local spot Marie's - great food. We dined late at Amberes, good food and we found out this place turns into a disco after 10. The music was good and the people were overall very, very friendly.

The last day we drove back to Liberia and spent time at the local mall, then to the food mall (yes, food mall!) for lunch. That's about it. I should have some pictures soon.