COSTA RICA 2023

DAY 7 – HEADING TO MONTEVERDE FOR SEMANA SANTA

Today was an exciting day for everyone – we were heading through the mountains to drive to Monteverde but first stopping off to the Tarcoles River for a boat ride to see the wildlife.

This required everyone to be in front of the church ready to board the bus at 6:50am!

And everyone was ready and waiting to go – we loaded up the bus with our small carry-on bags and we pulled away from the church ahead of schedule – at 6:57 a.m.

As we headed onto the main highway and passed the airport, the dreaded traffic soon appeared in front of us. We knew before today to expect traffic because thousands of Costaricans pack up their families in their cars and head towards the beaches for the weekend.

Thankfully, our bus driver, Braunier, knew the back roads to try to avoid some of the traffic.

Sadly, though we hit a line of traffic that we could not avoid – there were no other shortcuts. What was supposed to take us 90 minutes to get to the river, took us about 4 hours. We stopped off at EL JARDIN for a bathroom break and then headed another 20 minutes to the river.

We arrived at the dock for the Crocodile Man Tour on the Tarcoles River. There we boarded a 12 seater boat and had a veteran tour guide and boat driver take us up and down the river showing us crocodiles and many native birds. One of the crocodiles came about a foot from the boat and we were able to get pictures.

Costaricans were also seen on the shore trying to catch fish for their meals this weekend.

From the boat tour it was back to El Jardin for lunch! The buffet spread consisted of chicken, beef, fish and every side you could imagine from potatoes and salads, to arroz con pollo and plantains. It is a good thing we walk a lot because we sure to eat a lot!

El Jardin is also a souvenir store so we were able to buy a few things to take home to our family and friends to remind them of Costa Rica.

By now it was 3:30 and we had another two and a half hour drive to Monteverde. The roads continued to narrow and we got a firsthand experience of the Bahamian potholes Costarican style all the way up the final 20 minute drive. We were able to stop and take a group picture as the sun was setting – a beautiful background for a beautiful group!

Finally we arrived in Monteverde to chilling breezes – quite the opposite to earlier in the day when it was quite humid. Thankfully everyone brought their jackets and were ready to stay warm. It was into our rooms for a few minutes and back out again to head to dinner 2 minutes away. We had placed our meal orders earlier in the day so when we arrived our food was ready!

Tomorrow, we go on a tour of Monteverde and experience the Skywalk!