I've booked it now - we depart on the 24th Feb next year. Will post a review when we get back!

It's now only 5 weeks until we go! Has anyone been since I last posted?

And finally, here is my trip report!

Voyages Jules Verne ‘Central America's Garden of Eden' Tour - February 2011

We spent 11 nights on the VJV Central America's Garden of Eden Tour during February-March 2011. Here follows an account of our trip:

The Journey

We flew out from Heathrow Terminal 3 via Madrid to San José with Iberia, with a total flying time of 13 hrs on the outbound leg and 11 ½ hrs on the return flight. Our outgoing flight was subject to minor delays but we were delayed for an hour on the way back. Luckily the plane made up this time and we didn't miss our connection at Madrid. The in-flight food service was actually quite good and drinks were available at all times from the galleys. The in-flight entertainment was disappointing though as there were only a handful of overhead TVs scattered through the cabin. We were able to check in online the day before departure and passed through bag drop and security very quickly at all 3 airports. We were also lucky enough to get emergency exit seats on 3 out of the 4 flights. Unfortunately one of our suitcases was badly damaged on the outbound leg but Iberia accepted the damage and we are waiting for it to be repaired/replaced.

The Weather

We had specifically chosen to go to Costa Rica in February/March to take full advantage of the dry season and were hoping for hot and sunny weather. Unfortunately our arrival coincided with a tropical storm in the Caribbean and so our time at Tortuguero ended up being extremely wet. That said, it is a rainforest do I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised! Temperatures for the rest of our trip varied with the altitude - it was lovely and hot at Arenal but much cooler in Monteverde and also in San Jose at night. If you are doing this tour then it is best to pack for all weathers!

Language

Obviously, the official language of Costa Rica is Spanish - but we weren't sure if English would be spoken widely as well. I speak basic Spanish but it's always a great help if we can fall back on English if necessary! In general, we found that people who were used to dealing with tourists spoke enough English for us to get by, plus menus often had English translations. This wasn't always the case though, so a small phrasebook with a menu reader would be useful, particularly if you are planning to go to less visited areas.

Currency

In terms of money, we were a bit confused about whether to take dollars with us or just get colones out of the ATMs while we were there. In the end, we did a bit of both! Dollars are definitely widely accepted, but they will only take low value notes - very few places will accept 50 or 100 dollar notes so take lots of smaller notes. I think the official rate was 486 colones to the dollar while we were there, but most places tended to round bills up so that a dollar was actually 500 colones. There are lots of ATMs around and many of them will let you withdraw dollars as well as colones. We also found it easy to pay for restaurant/hotel meals etc with our credit and debit cards. We found eating out to be quite expensive unless you ate in the Sodas - expect to pay UK prices or higher in many places.

The Hotels

Hotel Fleur de Lys, San José (INVALID URL

We stayed at this hotel for a total of 3 nights at the start and end of our tour, staying in 2 different rooms, and this was the worst out of all the hotels we stayed in. Voyages Jules Verne have used the Fleur de Lys on their Costa Rica tour for a while now, but are moving to another hotel from April, which implies that we aren't the only people who haven't enjoyed staying there. The location is a mixed blessing - it is certainly very close to the centre of San José, but even closer to a local railway line which has very loud trains on it from 5am during the week. Even with earplugs it was hard to block out the noise of the train horns, resulting in some poor nights of sleep. The outside of the building is covered in pink corrugated plastic, which isn't particularly attractive, but the inside of the hotel has more character. Unfortunately, when it comes to the rooms, character does not equal comfort and both of the rooms we stayed in were dark and cramped and needed refurbishing. Breakfast was basic but adequate - we certainly didn't see any of the muffins and pastries described by other reviewers when we were there! Most of the staff were pleasant and helpful though and the free internet access was very useful. There are quite a few restaurants/cafés nearby - turn right out of the hotel and then right at the next corner and you will come to Café Urbano (good for cheap snacks) and Nuestra Tierra (nice food but rather expensive). All in all, the location is the best thing about this hotel - but if we ever go back to San José then I think it's unlikely that would be enough to encourage us to stay there again.

Evergreen Lodge, Tortugeuro (INVALID URL

We stayed here for 2 nights as part of our tour of Costa Rica and it was certainly an experience! We arrived by boat in blazing sunshine and were swiftly checked into our room, which was one of the older individual cottages on stilts. The bedroom area of the cottage was quite big, with a double and a single bed and lots of storage space. The front porch had two rocking chairs and there was also a back porch for a different view of the rainforest. The bathroom let things down a bit - it was small and dingy but to be honest we were just happy to find out it had hot water! When staying here, you do have to bear in mind that you visiting a living rainforest, not a zoo. Tortuguero is a mecca for wildlife viewing - therefore you should expect that wildlife to be evident at the hotel as well. This means that you are likely to hear odd noises at various times of the day and night and will also probably end up having ants, spiders and mosquitoes in your room. We found that a good pair of earplugs and some bug spray dealt with most issues and quickly felt at home in our little cottage. As we were only staying there for a short time, we didn't have much chance to make use of the facilities there, but there are 2 pools, a bar (with WiFi), a jungle walk and a canopy tour ($30 approx) available on site. The food choice in the restaurant wasn't particularly extensive but it tasted very nice - but it is best get there at the start of mealtimes as some things did start to run out towards the end. Our stay included a visit to Tortuguero village and its Turtle Museum, a sunset cruise and 2 wildlife spotting boat trips. We had lovely sunny weather for the visit and the cruise, but then the rainforest really lived up to its name for the boat trips and we got absolutely soaked. Because of the humidity levels, it was very difficult to dry things at our room so we ended up having to pack some of our clothes wet, which wasn't nice. We found out later that the hotel had a dryer which we could have used - shame this wasn't advertised anywhere! It would be fair to say that this did put a bit of a ‘dampener' on things, but rain, along with noise and insects, are just something you'll have to put up with if you want to visit Tortuguero. All in all, we did really like this hotel and enjoyed our time in the area, so would recommend it to others.

La Quinta, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui (INVALID URL

This was the third hotel on our tour and we really enjoyed staying here. The rooms were not particularly luxurious, but the hotel in general had a really nice atmosphere to it. Our room was a good size but there wasn't much storage space and we weren't able to get much use out of the terrace due to mosquitoes. Instead we spent quite a bit of time exploring the grounds & looking for wildlife - we particularly liked the butterfly house and were very excited to spot a caiman in one of the pools. The bar and restaurant area were nicely designed and we were quite happy with the food we has there (dinner was $19 approx per person). Internet access is cheap and there are plenty of sights/activities in reach of the hotel - some of our group went on a Chocolate Tour and others went Rafting. Although we only spent two nights there, we enjoyed our stay and would be happy to go back some time.

Hotel Arenal Springs, La Fortuna (INVALID URL

This hotel was the 4th on our tour and it was a real shame we only got to spend one night here. Our room was large and comfortable with 2 double beds and a great view of the volcano. The bathroom was also large and has a rather unusual ‘garden area' in it, which was pretty but also meant that there were lots of little ants in there. At least it made a change from the mosquitoes we'd had in other hotels though! As we were there for such a short time, we weren't able to make use of any of the facilities apart from the restaurant and bar. Drinks in the bar were more expensive than at the other hotels we had stayed at, but were still a reasonable price. There was free internet access in reception though. The food at dinner and breakfast was good, but the choice was quite limited which is not what we'd expect from a 4-star hotel. The location is great - directly in front of the volcano and near the thermal pools and apparently there are lots of things to do in the area so this would definitely be a good place for a weeks' holiday. We would definitely go back.

Hotel Belmar, Monteverde (INVALID URL

Temperature-wise, the hotels in Montverde are at an immediate disadvantage compared to many of the other hotels in Costa Rica as it is noticeably cooler up there. It is also very windy! The Belmar is situated in an elevated position, with views over the Gulf of Nicoya, and comprises of a main building and an annex. The hotel looks a bit like a Swiss chalet, with lots of wooden panelling and balconies. Our rooms were in the annex and the first room we were given was very dark and the door to the balcony wouldn't open. The staff couldn't open it either so we were transferred to another room, which was only slightly less dark. The interior wood panelling made the building very echoey, which meant that we could hear every footstep from the room above, plus we could also hear the wind whistling though the building at night, so neither of us slept well. The shower temperature and pressure were very variable and it was cold in the bathroom. The room itself was also quite cold and there wasn't much storage space. Breakfast was pretty good though, and the one evening meal that we had there was excellent, if expensive. The little Jacuzzi in the grounds was an added bonus, as was the free internet access. All in all, it's not a bad hotel, but I think we would stay somewhere that was a bit more comfortable if we ever go back to Monteverde.

The Tour

The tour lasted 10 nights and included 3 lunches, 3 dinners and most of the sightseeing that we did. Here's a day-by-day summary of some of the things we got up to:

Day 1 - San José - Our guide, Ricardo, picked us up at the hotel at 9am and we started off our day with a bus tour of the main sights of San José. Unfortunately, many of the original colonial buildings have been replaced with more modern edifices, but we still saw some interesting architecture. We were then dropped off at the National Theatre for a short tour, followed by a trip to the Gold Museum. Both of these were extremely interesting and well worth a visit - although we could have done with longer in the Gold Museum. Afterwards we went to the Jade Museum, but didn't spend much time there as everyone was getting quite hungry and some of the displays were very similar to those in the Gold Museum. The tour ended here and we headed to the ‘Spoon' café on Calle Central for a sandwich lunch, before spending the rest of the afternoon at the National Museum. Unfortunately part of this is currently closed for renovations, but we still enjoyed looking around and particularly liked the Butterfly Garden.

Day 2 - San José to Tortuguero - We were picked up at around 7am for the 4 hour drive to Tortuguero via the Braulio Carrillo National Park. Unfortunately, as soon as we reached Braulio Carrillo, the weather became rainy and misty so we weren't able to see as much of the Park as we would have liked. We stopped for a second breakfast at a hotel in Guapiles at around 9am and were lucky enough to see a sloth and baby in the hotel grounds. It took a further 2 hours along some rather rough roads before we finally reached Caño Blanco. We had a brief rest stop there before boarding the boats for the final 1½ hr stretch of our journey. This was great fun - the sun was shining and we saw quite a lot of wildlife on the journey. The sun was also shining for our post-lunch trip to Tortuguero Village and the Turtle Museum which everyone enjoyed. A good - but long day!

Day 3 - Tortuguero - After the good weather the previous day, we were really hoping our second day in Tortuguero would be sunny and dry as well. Sadly, the rainforest lived up to its name and we woke up to the sound of heavy rain. Our first boat trip of the day was at dawn and luckily the rain did let up a bit which allowed us to see birds and other wildlife, but our second boat trip in the afternoon was frankly rubbish - we all got soaked, despite the heavy ponchos and we hardly saw any wildlife. Thankfully the weather did clear up just in time for our ‘sunset cocktail cruise' which made up for the earlier disappointments.

Day 4 - Tortuguero to Sarapiqui - The weather stayed mainly dry for our boat trip back to Caño Blanco and we were even lucky enough to see some turtles en-route. We stopped briefly at a banana factory to watch the bananas being picked and processed before setting off on the bumpy roads again. We had lunch at the same hotel in Guapiles and were pleased to find the sloth was still sat in the same tree. After a lot more driving, we finally arrived at the hotel where some of the group did some bird watching. In the evening, Ricardo gave us a talk on the history of Costa Rica, which was very interesting.

Day 5 - Sarapiqui - Another fairly early start for our visit to La Selva Nature Reserve. This time we had a local guide who took us on a 2 1/2 hr walk around the reserve. We saw lots of animals and birds and the weather was warm and dry so it was a lovely morning. We ended up having lunch in a Soda in Puerto Viejo - which kept us nice and dry when the heavens opened and we were treated to a massive rain storm. In the afternoon, some of the group went white-water rafting and others went on a chocolate tour. We opted to stay at the hotel and had a lovely afternoon exploring the grounds and ended up spending ages in the butterfly house.

Day 6 - Sarapiqui to Arenal - Another morning on the road, with an intriguing rest stop at the Las Iguanas café. We arrived at La Fortuna with plenty of time to spare and so had a couple of hours wandering around the souvenir shops there and admiring the view of the Volcano. After finally getting into our rooms, it was time for a quick change into our swimming costumes before we headed to the Ecotermales Hot Springs. This was one of the highlights of the holiday - the setting was beautiful, there were no mosquitoes near the pools and the water was hot, hot, hot! Our 2 hrs there flew by and we were very sorry to leave. VJV had advised that plastic shoes were needed for the springs - but actually any pair of sandals or flip flops would do, as long as you didn't mind either getting them wet or taking them off when you were in the water.

Day 7 - Arenal to Monteverde - Yet another long drive - but the views of Lake Arenal on the way were definitely worth it. We were very glad to just flop into the Jacuzzi at our hotel when we finally arrived in Monteverde!

Day 8 - Monteverde - We started the day with a guided walk in the Monteverde Cloud forest. Luckily, the cloud stayed away and we were able to see quite a lot of wildlife, including some howler and spider monkeys swinging through the trees. The pace of the walk was a bit too slow though and, not being twitchers ourselves, we were starting to get a bit bored of all the bird-spotting. After the walk we went to a nearby café, which had feeders outside which were very popular with the local hummingbirds, leading to some good photo opportunities. In the afternoon, some of the group chose to stay at the hotel, and the rest of us decided to have a go at zip-lining. This cost $45 each and took nearly 3 hours - there are various places that offer this in the area but our guide recommended Selvatura Park as the best one. I am a bit scared of heights so was rather nervous about the experience, but you really don't have much time to think once you are up on the wires! It was definitely a great experience and something we would both do again, including the Tarzan Swing (which I found much less scary than the zip lines themselves). Afterwards we had a short rest at the hotel before heading out on our night walk in the Bosque Eternal de los Niños. We saw some interesting insects, including a tarantula and a ‘headlight' bug, but I started to flag a bit towards the end as it had been a long day. Definitely the best day of the trip though!

Day 9 - Monteverde to San José - This was the last proper day of the tour. We left our hotel and headed to Monteverde Park to do the SkyWalk. This is a series of bridges up high on the forest canopy and may therefore give you the chance to see some different wildlife. Unfortunately, we mainly saw nothing but birds, but the walk itself was still nice. Not great if you don't like suspension bridges or heights though! Afterwards we drove back to San José via the Pan American Highway - with good views of the Pacific Ocean during the journey. It was a real shame that the tour didn't include this area of Costa Rica as it looked like there was a quite a lot of sightseeing we could have done there, such as crocodile boat trips.

Day 10 - San José - Our final day in San José was mainly spent sorting out our packing as our cases were in quite a mess after 10 nights on the road. We did have time to do some last minute sightseeing and shopping though - the tourist market in the Plaza de la Democracia just by our hotel had a good selection of souvenirs at reasonable prices. Before we knew it, our time had run out and we were sat at the airport, waiting for our flight home. It's safe to say that we were very sorry to leave!

Overall, we had an absolutely marvellous time on this tour - you can see the full itinerary at http://www.vjv.com/destinations/central-america/costa-rica/central-americas-garden-eden/. Ricardo was a brilliant guide - his English was excellent and nothing seemed to be too much trouble for him, but his jokes were very cheesy! Diego, our main driver was also a star, he coped with some very demanding roads and lots of hanging around waiting for us but always seemed to have a smile on his face. We would be very pleased to bump into either of them again if we ever go back to Costa Rica.

Many thanks for the report Corinne.

luci