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Costa Rica 2026
  • Janine Westlund
  • Mark E
  • Janine Westlund
  • Mark E

Costa Rica 2026

A 22-day adventure by Janine & Mark E Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 9, 2026
  • Costa Rica 2026
    1
    Pathways around the resort.1Sometime beauty lies in a simple new bud.34It was like watching 'recess'.Our fearless guide, Chris, & us his followers.A twofer!We were soon reminded that we are in a rainforest.Poisonous red dart frog.1

    Tortuguero National Park: Day 2

    May 11 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    Some of us began the day with a 6a morning nature walk around tge property to see what wildlife we could find in the surrounding forest.
    After breakfast we all then boarded our boat for a nature cruise to see what we could find on the water.
    For the afternoon we simply enjoyed the resort.
    In the evening we were given a presentation on the myriad ways you can use a coconut. Way too many to count, but we got to sample some of the presentations.    Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
    Morning view from our room in Evergreen.
    Turtle-shaped pool 🐢Life on this river cannot be easy.Fun to watch our wake & see how much of the 'shoreline' is actually floating.1Those are the initial, raw cacao seeds.5Liquid cacao; pretty tasty.Cool frog 🐸Suspension bridge near the plantation.In a couple days we will raft under this bridge1Our welcome towel critter.

    Cacao Plantation @ Tirimbina Rainforest

    May 12 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    Last little am walkabout the Evergreen Lodge grounds, then back to the boat for the ~90 min ride back to our bus. We visited a cacao plantation where we learned the process of converting cacao seed from bean to bar & got a few interim tastings along the way.
    We then checked into our lodging: Tilajari Eco Resort along the San Carlos River in the province of Alajuela where we'll stay for the next 2 nights.    Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
    The farmhouse.The kitchen where our snacks were prepared.The lower level seating area of the farm house.Our guide let me take his kayak for the 2nd leg of our journey -- fun!Some of our fellow travelers captured some magnificent pics, like this one.This was our transportation to the forest reserve.Our guides were able to find this bat in the tree.Rainforest Hognosed Pitviper: ~2' long, only mildly venemous (but still somewhat intimidating).Taken through a telescope from about 15' away: a sleeping red-eyed tree frog, about 2" long.

    River Safari, local farm

    May 13 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    Peñas Blancas River Safari: we paddled & floated down this peaceful river looking for wildlife. Along the way we visited a local finca (farm) that has been in the family for generations. The family elder recently passed away at 102. (!) They shared stories of the farm along with homemade banana bread, local coffee, brahma cheese and fried plantains. All good.
    We ended our day with a walk through a virgen forest reserve -- beautiful trees and some fun critter-finds.    Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026

    Leaving Tilajari

    May 14 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    Breakfasts here were always supplemented with beautiful birdwatching made possible by the treats places on the tree-like structures installed near the restaurant by the hotel. Capturing some of our entertainment before we leave...Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
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    Natural beauty

    May 17 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    Early-morning videos taken from the patio of our room/cabin with a (faint) view of the Arenal Volcano in the background.
    Just enjoying the sounds of nature.
    Later in the day we admired some of the beautiful foliage around the resort property.Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
    1Beautiful Evangelical church in Zarcero.
    11The music of Sunday services.Zarcero Central Park just outside the church; the topiary gardens were amazing to walk through.1A young woman having pictures taken for her Quinceanera (15th bday).The plantation grounds were beautiful.1Mark was one of the volunteer bean-picking demonstrators.It's not 'season' yet, but these beans will be picked when they're larger & red.It seems the 'pourover' process is the recommended way to make coffee.The oxcart for which Sarchi is known.1Looks like a canvas painting; it's all wall-art.1Same.This Marriott is pretty cool....A little scaled welcoming local beneath our deck.View from our room.

    Zarcero, Coffee & Sarchi

    May 17 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Zarcero is in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. We visited 2 primary spots:
    -- San Rafael Church: founded in the 18th century. We were able to view a bit of Sunday services; beautiful.
    -- Parque Francisco Alvarado: beautiful topiary gardens created by Evangelista Blanco Brenes, a local gardener. Beginning in the 60's, he transformed ordinary shrubs into a collection of amazing living sculptures that has been maintained to this day.
    San Rafael Church.
    We took a tour of a coffee plantation, then visited Sarchi: a little artisan town known for its colorfully painted oxcarts that are made here & sold across the country.
    We checked into our lodging at Los Suenos Marriott: it's a stunning property & our home for the next 2 nights.    Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
    Lots of potential walks in this park.3Evacuation map in case of a tsunami. Hmm...🤔This guy was monitoring all who entered the park.21Sloths only come down from their tree 1x/wk to relieve themselves. (they don't eat or drink much)Once done, begin the return ascent; breakneck pace.Tons of these little crabs.This little crustacean appeared terrorized by my presence. (So I had to follow him for a bit.)1The profile of our hike.Views from the peak.Manuel Antonio Beach -- today the waters had tons of jellyfish, courtesy of recent El Nino activity.3Lunch @ El Avion. That's a real plane in the restaurant.1The inside of the plane has been converted into a bar. The cockpit is way up there...... & you can climb in & sit in the pilot's seat.Ending the day in a local eatery w/ our new friends: Spencer & Debbie (from CAN) & Anne (from TX).

    Manuel Antonio Park

    May 18 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F

    CUTENESS ALERT!!!
    It'll be obvious when you get there...

  • Costa Rica 2026
    My scaley little friend waiting below our room to see when I got up.
    Decorative display in the hotel; each bottle on the side of the boat has a unique message.For our next adventure: crocodile hunting.Our tour guide extraordinaire.Kinda creepy to see....They're even creepier to watch moving.The Roseate Spoonbill: I think is is my new favorite fun bird to watch.A two-fer, thanks to some camera-savvy fellow travelers.And this is him in flight.Another two-fer: a hawk & an egret.We wish we could take credit for this pic; we thought those were seeds or berries in their beaks!So thankful we had someone w/ us (w/ a real camera) taking these 2 bird pics.So beautiful they don't even look real, but they are!

    Crocodile tour

    May 19 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    Time to leave our lovely resort by the sea & head back to San Jose. But first we go out looking for crocs; we found them & lots more.

  • Costa Rica 2026
    Views before & after the fogs clear -- a virtual 'night & day' difference.More before-&-after-fog pics.We walked up to the peak -- I'm sure there's a lot of beauty out there; we weren't here long enough.These large leaves are often referred to as the 'poor man's umbrella'.At times you can watch the cloud/fog cover move.And then the skies cleared!Botanic gardens -- tons of beautiful flowers & plants.The more 'usual' orchids.The 'exotics'.The 'oddball' orchids.Plants within a plants!And the 'just plain interesting'.View of Lake Cachi from our lunch spot.Watching a storm brew in the mountains.

    Day tour beyond San Jose

    May 22 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    We had a day tour that took us to a few farther-out sites of interest:
    1) Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Cartago: originally built in 1639, partially destroyed by an earthquake (not sure when), the current building dates back to 1939. It us one of the mist important churches in Costa Rica; an estimated 2 million people make an annual pilgrimage in August.
    Many walk for days coming from all over the country showing their dedication to their honored patron saint.
    2) Irazu Volcano: Costa Rica's tallest at 11,260'. A rather lunar-looking landscape with stunning panoramic views (when the fogs clear).
    3) Lankester Botanic Gardens: operated by the University of CR, it has a stunning array of flowers; it is also the major research center for orchids in Central America & the Caribbean.
    4) lunch in a coffee plantation that now serves as a hotel/restaurant. Located on Lake Cachi in Cartago.    Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
    The opening of the concert; the volume of the crowd's enthusiasm was beautiful to hear.We were also treated to a lightening show (w/ the concert crowd sounds in the background).A nice fireworks show at the concert's closing.Next morning: all cleaned up as if nothing even happened.

    Best seats w/o a ticket

    May 22 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Our hotel was just across the street from the National Stadium of Costa Rica. Tonight there was a concert with a musical performer named 'Chayanne', apparently a Puerto Rican superstar. We could watch the (backside of the) performance from our deck; it was fun hearing the volume of audience participation. It seemed like everyone knew all the words!Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
    Our catamaran.
    Transport to the snorkeling site.A few of us signed up for banana boat rides. (In hindsight, the helmut was NOT needed.)Returning to land.

    Tortuga Island

    May 24 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    We boarded a catamaran that shuttled us out to Tortuga Island, ~45 min ride.
    Once there, we had a great section of lounge chairs reserved for us on the beach. A fun day of snorkeling, boating via banana, great grilled lunch and overall beaching it with the unexpected benefit of our guides coming OUT IN THE WATER TO US to serve us beverages!Read more

  • Costa Rica 2026
    The surf team that helped us with our experience.
    After surfing, a little refreshment stop on our beach walk.View from our 1st-stop perch.Next stop: lunch. View from our table.Looking vack at our surf spot & the start of our beach walk.

    Surfing and long beach walk

    May 25 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F

    Instead of joining the group on their adventure-park outing, we decided to hang back & take some surf lessons. That was fun!
    After that, we wandered our way back to the hotel beachside, making a few stops along the way.Read more

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