With only two days left, we had breakfast at the Herradura in San Jose and repacked our bags. At 8:30 am our driver Carlos picked us up from the Herradura for a transport to the Peace Lodge located about and hour's drive from San Jose. We asked him to stop at a local grocery mostly for gifts to bring back to the states (Costa Rican coffee and Lizano sauce). What local grocery? Yep, Walmart.
Similar to what we have at home, but a few differences. Although it was 9 am, very few people were shopping. It was busy as stocking was taking place. We got supplies including a couple of bags of Lawton's favorite local chip here - Bolitas de Queso - cheese balls.
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| Cheese Balls |
The drive was essentially uphill the entire way. Curvy mountain roads - I'll be glad to return to the flat, straight roads of Louisiana. San Jose is at 3500 feet elevation, the Lodge was another 2000. The temperature and humidity were such a contrast from Tortuguero. A cloud forest with temperatures in the 70's, the area is relatively rural as we passed a lot of dairy farms on the drive.
Arriving at the Peace Lodge at about 10 am, we checked in, but our room was not ready. The Lodge is part of La Paz Waterfalls, a park in the woods complete with 5 large waterfalls and a zoo created all from animals seized from people illegally raising animals from the wild. Costa Rica's laws to protect animals are impressive. Essentially, there is no such thing as hunting in Costa Rica and the animals have more rights than the people. As tourism is there #1 source of revenue, the laws make sense.
We began to explore the park. Incredible. Although there are a lot of stairs (the park is built along the slopes of the Psoas Volcano), you start at the top and descend down the mountain where a shuttle brings you back to the top.
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| Stairs galore! |
The animals were really impressive as were there enclosures. Well maintained with healthy animals. As most of them were tame at some point, they were very used to humans in their previous lives. The monkeys were ok, but we were amazed by the hummingbirds. The area is home to 30+ species of hummingbirds. They have an area where feeders are kept out and the total number of birds was amazing. They were like insects buzzing everywhere. It seemed like hundreds were in this small opening in the hillside forest. The coloring of these birds reflected from the sun was a spectacle that cameras just can't fully capture.
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| Ocelot |
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| Puma |
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| Boys with the ocelot |
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| Jaguar |
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| Poison dart frog (Blue Jeans) |
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| Green and black poison dart frog (A.K.A. Army Frog) |
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| Nocturnal Frog Sleeping |
Of course the serpetarium excited Davis. At least 20-30 of the snakes of Costa Rica were present from multiple types of boas to vipers.
Just around the corner was a representation of a typical Tico home from the days of old. Ox drawn carts for transporting produce was outside. A wood burning stove and the most uncomfortable looking beds were inside.
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| Tara and Davis ready for the harvest |
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| That's a lota bull |
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| Typical house |
We took the ever descending stair and viewed the waterfalls. Nice, but after seeing so many in the last 2 weeks, it is sad to say that they have somewhat lost their luster.
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| Waterfalls |
Into the gift shop at the end of the staircase (yes, they have learned from Disney), we picked up a few gifts. Lawton, still in the phase of wanting "stuff", loves gift shops. His favorite are key chains. He hangs them from his backpack as badges of honor. I did have to talk him out of a Harley logo key chain - he settled with a key chain with multiple representations of important Costa Rican symbols like an ox cart wheel and coffee.
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| Lawton upset we had to stop for a picture. |
We came back up and had lunch at the Trout Bar. This large swimming lake complete with waterfalls, was filled with rainbow trout. The water was cold, but you can swim and fish. While waiting for the food, Davis caught a few trout. He used a reel, but a gentleman was fly fishing at the same time.
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| The Trout Bar |
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| Fishing |
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| Rainbow Trout Trophy |
After lunch, we were able to check into our room - named the Monarch Villa. This is maybe the nicest room I have stayed in in all my travels. Greeted with our name on the door with wooden blocks, every detail was perfect. The huge greeting living room was adorned with the first of 3 fireplaces made with river rocks. A small kitchen was under a loft with two beds and a bathroom. The master bedroom had a large canopy king bed, a panoramic set of windows with a couch to take in the view of the mountains, another fire place and a sliding credenza for storing clothes. The bathroom features a large tub with a fireplace next to it and a huge shower with two waterfalls inside to use. The balcony had a jacuzzi tub with a hummingbird needed no more than 5 feet from the tub which has constant activity. This place is the perfect place to wind down after a long 2 weeks of activities.
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| Door to the villa with our name |
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| The Monarch Villa |
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| Wet bar and breakfast nook with loft |
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| Master bath river stone tub with fireplace |
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| The waterfall shower |
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| Fireplace and tv in master bath |
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| Master bedroom |
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| Sink in the kids bathroom |
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| Jacuzzi tub on the patio with humming bird feeder |
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| View from the balcony and master bedroom |
After a short rest, it was time to go to the feeding times in the park. We started in the aviary where we fed the toucans. Almost immediately, Davis had a rainbow billed toucan on his arm eating from a bowl. A black billed landed on his shoulder and produced a grin that pushed his ears to the back of his head. Lawton, who was a little nervous of these rather large birds with equally large beaks, decided to assist Davis by holding the bowl next to him. Even dad got into the action.
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| Brown Bill Toucan |
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| Davis feeding a rainbow bill |
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| Shoulder buddy |
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| Lawton gets into the action |
Next hummingbirds. The tree hanging feeders were covered up and Davis and Lawton were given hand held nectar filled "flowers" and the feedings began. The birds were landing on their hands and feeding. Lawton let out a shriek of excitement that tingled my spine. He must of exclaimed a thousand times "look, look dad (mom), I've got one!"
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| Hummingbird |
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| Hand feeding |
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| Lawton finely has one land |
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| Close up of hand feeding |
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| Shiny feathers in the sun |
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| Here comes the purple one |
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| Landing on his hand |
After 20 minutes of non-stop buzzing, one of the properties workers asked us if we would like to hold snakes. Davis' eyes looked like two sunny side eggs. "Uh-huh" was said with a little trepidation. Off to the serpetarium again.
Davis, and surprisingly Lawton, first had a rather large boa constrictor placed around their neck. With a nervous giggle, they became confident they were not on the menu, and asked "what other snake can we hold?" A series of different types of boas were produced and held with increasing comfort. This time Tara got into the action as well.
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| Latwon takes on the boa |
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| Davis the herpetologist |
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| Smaller boa |
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| Really getting comfortable handling the serpents |
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| Davis and brother (and snake) |
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| Tara gets into the action |
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| Rainbow boa |
Ascending and descending the grounds all day (this is not a handicap friendly place), we returned to the room where the outdoor tub was filled and Davis, Lawton and I enjoyed a soak. Relaxing for me - it was not. Splashing, teasing and horseplay ensued - I got out. The boys on the other hand stayed in for an hour while I returned to my blogging.
Dinner was just a 100 yard walk to Vista Poas Restaurant. Risotto, pasta, french onion soup, and Lawton's go to food, cheese quesadilla were consumed as we talked about our favorite parts of the day and of the trip.
Lawton's favorites included the beach, the 727 plane, and "gift shops." With a little prodding of his memory, he was glowing when describing his hummingbird experience. Lawton liked flying on the small planes as well.
Davis' cheeks flushed a little as he described the turtle, Casa Corcovado, and the toucans. He then went on to state, Casa Corcovado was his favorite hotel, but he excluded the Monarch Villa because "obviously, this place is phenomenal."
Tara described her turtle experience and the boys interactions with the animals. For me, he highlights of the trip were the individual times the boys and Tara mentioned to me "thank you for arranging the trip - it is awesome." Yes, I have enjoyed all the experiences I have had, but seeing the ones I love most having such fun is the vacation I hoped to have.
