Costa Rica: A Volcano, Monkeys and San Jose

Capital: San Jose

Largest City: San Jose

Population: 5.2 million

Currency: Costa Rican Colón

Language: Spanish

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Situated between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, Costa Rica is a Central American Country known for its beaches, abundance of wildlife and tropical rainforests.

In November of 2023, my husband and I flew to Costa Rica. My main goals for the trip were to do two wildlife tours -- one day and one night. I also had high hopes of seeing many monkeys and sloths.

First View: Alajuela and La Fortuna

Our first stop on our Costa Rican vacation was in Alajuela, which is a suburb of the largest and capital city of San Jose. We had a brief overnight stay in Alajuela where we had dinner at McDonalds and explored the neighborhood before we left the city to go to La Fortuna.

Upon leaving Alajuela, we took a taxi to a hotel where an Interbus driver would pick us up. While traveling around the country, we used Interbus several times. They are white vans that are similar to taxis. They pick-up people at hotels or other locations and take you to your next destination. Along the way, they stop for restroom and food breaks. It is a very easy and convenient way to travel around the country.

We spent a few days in the town of La Fortuna. La Fortuna is situated at the base of Arenal Volcano. The town is a well-known tourist destination in Costa Rica with ziplines, waterfall hikes, sloth sanctuaries and multiple resorts with hot springs.

First glimpses at La Fortuna with Arenal Volcano towering above

In La Fortuna, we spent time at Arenal Volcano National Park. After visiting several national parks in the United States, I was not sure what to expect. We did a hike in the park, which went through a forest and gave great views of Arenal Volcano. We spent two hours in the park and it was plenty of time without feeling rushed.

Once finished at the park, we were picked up for our next tour. The driver was an hour early, but it was fine as it gave us plenty of time to grab lunch and refill our stomachs after the hike. The next tour was at Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges where we did a guided tour to see animals. The tour included walking paths, hanging bridges that hung high in the forest and a tour guide who pointed out animals to see. We saw a few animals including a rare bird and snake. We saw spider monkeys at the end, which was unfortunate as they had to rush us back to our return transportation.

Viewing Arenal Volcano at Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges

The last tour we did was a chocolate tour. Several coffee tours are available in the area, but neither one of us are big coffee drinkers. We do love chocolate, though! We walked to the tour from the center of La Fortuna. It was a nice way to see the area surrounding the town. Despite the fact that Costa Rica is not known for having chocolate, it still was a fascinating tour that explained the whole process from it growing on trees to roasting to mixing with sugar and other seasonings to create the flavors that we love. The best part of the tour, though, was the multiple free samples! For two chocoholics, it was well worth it.

Learning about chocolate in La Fortuna

Before leaving La Fortuna for our next destination, we decided to grab breakfast from our hotel. We placed our order with the waitress. We sat there and waited for nearly 45 minutes. She never came back to us. Luckily, our lovely Interbus stopped and we got breakfast.

While I enjoyed La Fortuna and the tours, it did rain a lot. We were near the end of rainy season. Because of the rain, it was also very, very humid.

Manuel Antonio

Our next destination in Costa Rica was Manuel Antonio. Manuel Antonio is located on the Pacific Ocean. Nearby the resort district is Manuel Antonio National Park. Prior to booking hotels, I did not research properly. The park is closed on Tuesdays. We came late on a Monday, so we only had a couple of hours in the national park and I tried to make the most of it.

While we had a short time, this is the only time that I ever saw a sloth. Hanging in the distance, the sloth was spotted by a tour guide's group and tourists helped point it out to us. I also enjoyed seeing several white-faced capuchin monkeys climbing around. Looking back on my trip, I wish I did a guided tour in Manuel Antonio rather than Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges as the wildlife I saw without a guide was excellent.

Finding monkeys in Manuel Antonio National Park

Since the park was closed the next day, we started with a relaxing morning at the hotel. Our hotel claimed to have upgraded us to a beach view, but palm trees blocked the view. Still, it was nice to step outside of the hotel and have the beach only a short walk away.

For lunch, we went to El Avion, which is a unique restaurant that was made using an airplane from the 1980s Iran-Contra Affair. The United States left an airplane and it was dragged through the jungles to Manuel Antonio to create the restaurant that stands today. The restaurant also had gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean.

To end our relaxing day, we had an educational night tour in the nearby city of Quepos that of course involved seeing more animals. It was fun to see the different bugs and frogs that hangout at night. The most interesting sights were a caiman and poisonous snake ready to strike.

San Jose and Tortuguero

We had a six-hour Interbus ride back to San Jose from Manuel Antonio the following day. Once arriving at our hotel in San Jose, we discovered ants in my suitcase as we were unpacking from the previous hotel we stayed in. We took care of that prior to exploring San Jose.

Once finished, we had the chance to explore San Jose. While San Jose is not the same tropical jungle as La Fortuna or Manuel Antonio, I still wanted to see what the city had to offer. Our favorite stop was the National Museum of Costa Rica, which provided history of the country. In 1948, the country went through a Civil War. The museum was used as barracks for soldiers during the war. Since the Civil War, the country no longer has a military. After the museum, we went to the market to search for a souvenir license plate. Unfortunately, the search failed. We also went to the National Cathedral.

Viewing Civil War history at the National Museum of Costa Rica

Our final day in Costa Rica was with a guided tour to Tortuguero National Park. Upon getting picked up, we learned we were the only ones on this tour. The park was about three hours from San Jose, so we had plenty of time to talk to our driver and learn more about the country. The tour of the park began with driving by banana plantations. We then went to the Tortuguero River where we took a boat tour. We saw a number of animals including birds and basilisks.

Spotting a basilisk as we were wildlife spotting in Tortuguero

Once leaving the boat, we stopped at the island that is only accessible by boat or plane. While the park is in a remote location, it is the third most visited national park in the country. The park is mostly known for sea turtles who come to lay their eggs. We were not in season, which helped explain why we were the only ones on the tour! We enjoyed lunch, explored the small island and my husband got to stand in the Caribbean for his first time. We obviously did not see any sea turtles, but we did see the only macaws of the entire trip.

The Food

Costa Rican food is quite ordinary; however, I still managed to find dishes I enjoyed.

Their traditional dish is a casado which consists of rice, beans, side salad, plantains and a meat. It does not have much spice. I had casado a few times, including one with beef and another with chicken It was good, but it is a very ordinary dish.

Getting a taste of one of Costa Rica's national dishes -- a casado

The Most Remarkable Dishes I Had Were:

Fish Ceviche: Next to the ocean in Manuel Antonio, I saw that fish ceviche screaming my name from the menu. Given the beach vibes of the town, it was a perfectly fitting appetizer to start the meal.

Banana: I have a banana almost every single day at home, but the ones in Costa Rica tasted so much fresher. Even though many bananas in the United States are transported from Costa Rica, there was something about it that was just different. I highly recommend to eat a banana or two, or maybe even get a banana smoothie!

Chicken Soup: After a long day of walking in the on, off rain in La Fortuna, I stopped at a soda for a chicken soup. Sodas are local restaurants all around Costa Rica with cheap food. The soup was delicious, and being entertained by my husband feeding a stray dog while enjoying my meal made the meal even more worth it.

Gallo Pinto: I had this traditional Central American dish a few times for breakfast. It consists of rice, beans and spices. It was a great, hearty way to start the mornings and is definitely not cereal.

Eating a hearty Costa Rican breakfast with gallo pinto

Caldosa: This is a cheap meal that you can get in Costa Rica. We got ours in La Fortuna at a restaurant that spoke little English. It a dish with corn chips and comes with a serving of ceviche on it. It is the perfect salty and savory dish for less than $4 USD.

Final Thoughts

Costa Rica was a pleasant surprise. They are a beautiful country with a lot going for it. I loved all the new wildlife that I saw, especially the monkeys. However, they certainly do know how to cater to tourists. Prices are not cheap for the tours or activities. I would like to return one day, though, I do feel like we had a nice overview of the country for the time we spent with the water on both sides of the country, wildlife tours, and the volcano. My only disappointment was I wanted to see a toucan and did not get to see one.