Day 11 San Jose to La Fortuna

This morning we set an alarm for 5:50 AM. We had to have bags outside our room for pick up by 6:15 AM. We then headed down for breakfast and had to load the bus by 7:30 AM.  Traffic was quite heavy as we pulled out in this Mo day morning. 

Some details Laura shared with us about Costa Rica. 6% of Costa Ricans live in extreme poverty. These are the people building houses out of scrap metal and placing that structure in the ditch near a roadway. 26% of Costa Ricans have an income of 300,000 colones or $600 US per month. People don’t pay income tax until they earn at least $1,800 US per month. Above that a person pays 10% tax. Once a person earns a high middle income of more than $8,000 per month they pay 25% taxes. 

For property tax they pay 0.25 % per year. Homes worth more than $200,000 US have to pay 0.75 % property tax. There is a 13% sales tax on most everything. If you buy a drink or food in a restaurant you are taxed 23% and 10% is a gratuity. 

We stopped in a small town called Zarcero after about 1.5 hours of driving. We got to get out and visit a non touristy town!!  We saw the beautiful Catholic Church. 

San Rafael Arcangel pictured above. 

Cypress plants above smelled beautiful in the city centre!  We stopped in a supermarket and bought two small bags of cassava chips (like potato chips) and a chocolate bar just to try some local products. We then went to an ice cream shop and each bought a single scoop cone for $1 US. 

We then drove another two hours and learned more about the education system in Costa Rica. (It is free and required - and it includes a meal for kids ages 5 to 18). 

We had a buffet lunch at the sloth park which is situated near La Fortuna, a town of 15,000. La Fortuna is perhaps most well known for Arenal Volcano. It last erupted in 2010, coincidentally the year our family of four was visiting Costa Rica and we saw lava flowing from the volcano. 

After lunch we broke up into 3 smaller groups and had guides walk us through the wilderness area and use his scope to point out sloths in the trees.

Aitour Gonzalez was our tour guide and he was actually the controller of the whole park!

This is a sloth photo taken through our guide’s scope. Mama is evident on the left and baby is on the right side of the trunk. First time we have seen a sloth in the wild!!  Though this is called a sloth park - there are no cages holding them here - the vegetation is just desirable!

We learned that sloths stay up in trees for 6 to 10 days and the only thing that brings them down is the need to go to the bathroom!  They eat leaves up there!

We then boarded the bus and headed to Los Lobos Hotsprings. They had a number of different pools with temperatures varying from 84 F to 110 F to enjoy water naturally heated in the Arenal volcano. I indulged and drank a virgin pina colada from a pineapple!!  No pictures because I left my camera securely on the bus. 

We then drove to Magic Mountain Hotel - our accommodation for this evening. 

This is the wonderful view from our first floor hotel room. Pool on the right and Arenal volcano in the centre behind the palm trees!  Supper was delicious!

We have to have bags out at 6:15 AM again so will sign off!!

Day 10 San Jose Touring

Today we woke up in the Barcelo San Jose and will sleep again in the same hotel but we did a driving tour to see sights in and outside the city. Caravan is good about staying two nights in the first hotel. It allows guests to catch up with the tour in case they are delayed by flights. 

At 7:20 AM we met our guide Laura in the lobby with all the Caravan guests from our tour. She escorted us to our bus - a Mercedes and we all chose seats at random. After today, Laura will assign seats and we will move on a rotational basis to a new seat each day. 

Laura is an excellent tour guide who shared all kinds of detailed information about Costa Rica. The city of San Jose, Costa Rica is 44 square km and has a population of 350,000. Costa Rica got its independence from Spain in 1821. They celebrate Independence Day along with the rest of Central America on September 15. The population of the whole country is 5 million people. 

This building, yellow in colour, used to be a prison and then in the 1990’s it became a children’s hospital. 

Once we left the city of San Jose our first stop was at a small coffee plantation which we had stopped at for lunch when we toured Costa Rica in 2010. 

This is the view from the steep embankment where they are growing coffee!  Laura told us that Nicaraguans come and pick coffee in Costa Rica. For a basket of coffee beans picked that would weigh 20 pounds, they would earn $3 US. A really good, fast picker might be able to pick 8 to 10 baskets in a day in tough conditions. Nicaraguans then send much of that money home to their families. 

We then had the privilege of receiving a cup of coffee and a sweet bun. For people like me who do not drink coffee we received a hot drink made from sugar cane called Agua Dulce. It was flavourful but sweeter than I would have liked. Many people (J included) bought coffee to take home!

We then headed to Rescate, a wildlife rescue center. The main goal of Rescate is to heal wildlife and return them to the wild. For some animals that is not possible. 

We had about two hours to walk through the Rescate on our own. These were some of the animals we saw:

Green McCaw above. 

Scarlet McCaw above. 

Close up of iguana that just run wild in the Rescate. 

White faced spider monkey. 

Of the above cats we saw jaguar (first time ever!), puma (or cougar), a manigordo or ocelot and a caucel or margay. Pretty exciting because they were all awake and moving if not particularly active. 

We then went and enjoyed a buffet lunch at the Restaurant which was lovely. 

After lunch we went to an ox cart artisan workshop. They have been in existence for 102 years. 

A sample ox cart here with a mural of the original production centre depicting the set up a century ago. They still produce the wheels for the ox carts with simple technology and have artists paint the fancy designs. It takes 100 hours to make the cart and 120

hours to paint them. They sell for between $3,000 - $4,000 US. 

On the drive back to San Jose we saw fire in the ditch. Farmers burn sugar cane to get rid of the leaves and then it is easy to chop down the cane that is left. 

I guess a fire got out of control!

Back at the hotel I wrote this blog and J played games on his iPad. We will have supper shortly and pack our bags for tomorrow’s departure!

Day 9 San Jose, Costa Rica

Last night we arrived at the Barcelo San Jose in Costa Rica by midnight. When we checked in for our flight with Avianca they asked how long we would be staying in Costa Rica. We told them our departure date, twice, and then they asked for proof of our departing flight. Then we understood - our return home would be with United - and the only flight Avianca could see was our incoming flight from Guatemala!  They were just making sure we weren’t trying to plan an extended stay in this beautiful country!

Officially today is considered Day 1 of our Costa Rica tour with Caravan but in reality it is a relaxing day by the pool with only an organizational introductory meeting with Caravan participants at 8 pm tonight. 

It is currently 27 C and we have found a couple of hammocks in the shade by the pool to enjoy. 

J enjoying the relaxing hammock in the shade. 

Pool view. 

We did go for a walk right after breakfast in the beautiful gardens of the hotel. 

Doing a little bird watching. 

I was always planning to do a load of laundry today as the midway point of our trip and I knew I could have that done at the hotel. The hotel room cost is quite reasonable - $113 US per night. But the laundry cost was incredibly high. $4 for a pair of underwear!!  So I elected to hand wash my delicates and send only a few essentials off to be laundered by the hotel!

This is our tour planned with Caravan. 

In 2010 our family of four actually did a Caravan tour to Costa Rica that included a lot of these sights but it was two days longer in Tortugero National Park. I really enjoyed that component of the trip so I am sorry we didn’t think to incorporate an additional few days of this trip so we could visit Tortugero Park again. 

This is our day by day itinerary:

https://pdf.caravan/Caravan-Day-by-Day-Itinerary-Costa-Rica-2025a.pdf

We received a call from Laura at Caravan in our room around 5 pm advising us to go to the front desk to officially check in with the Caravan tour so we would receive wristbands to identify ourselves at the hotel. This would let the hotel know that our meals would be complimentary to us. 

So with green wristbands in tow and a complimentary drink ticket in hand we met the group for supper. We sat at table with Lisa from Boston and had a nice visit. 

We then moved to the lobby and listened to an accomplished pianist play a variety of songs. For sure he was a paid performer!!

We then went to our orientation meeting for the Caravan tour and found out the names of the 38 people on our tour!  Once again we were the only Canadians and the rest are Americans. It will take some time to get to know folks. The youngest is 15 I believe, travelling with his grandparents. 

We then headed back to our room to pack a day bag for our 7:20 AM departure. Lots to see tomorrow!

Day 8 Barcelo Guatemala City

Today we gathered for breakfast in the Barcelo Guatemala City restaurant for our final buffet breakfast on the tour. We enjoyed visiting with about 8 other people from our tour in the dining room. 

We then enjoyed our last few hours in our hotel room before having to check out at noon.  Then we moved down to the main lobby and had comfortable armchairs and a sofa to sit on. What made it a delightful afternoon was having the opportunity to visit with American friends Lynn and Alan (who were also waiting for a late flight) talking about a variety of interesting topics. 

Front lobby at Barcelo Guatemala City with piano player in the background. 

We were unwilling to pay $55 US for the buffet lunch, so instead J and I walked 100 m outside the hotel gates and bought lunch at McDonald’s!

Just beyond the auto detailing car wash (and a tent covered taco place) you can see McDonald’s!

Our Big Mac, cheeseburger and medium fry cost 72 Quetzales or $10 US. 

Then at 6 pm we boarded the free airport shuttle to take us to the airport. Our Avianca flight to San Jose Costa Rica doesn’t depart until 9:20 PM so we wanted to spend more time in the comfort of the hotel rather than at the airport!

The next time you might hear from me is when we are in Costa Rica early tomorrow morning!

Day 7 Antigua to Guatemala City

This is our last full day on the Guatemala bus tour. With a late departure of 11:45 AM we had a more relaxing morning. What is nice about Hotel Soleil is they had a coffee pot in the room - only the second time we have had that option in Guatemala. Of course I don’t want to drink coffee - but I appreciate the option to boil water so I can have a cup of tea using the tea I brought from home. Coffee and tea are more difficult to come by at dinner time and really not an option as we travel during the day so we have been drinking less tea. I am not  a tea addict - but as a person who doesn’t drink alcohol, tea just gives one more option to drink besides water. 

We had the usual buffet breakfast that included the option of having an omelette custom made for you. Then J went off to seek out the arch to get a picture of the volcano - about a 15 minute walk away, while I reorganized my suitcase. 

We met in the lobby and boarded the bus for our final drive. We drove about 30 minutes to Finco La Azotea, the same coffee plantation we visited two days ago. This time we heard a musical performance with three musicians who played traditional Guatemalan music. 

It is unusual to have a woman perform formal music - as traditionally it was the men who were the musicians. One of the songs they performed really replicated natural sounds - birds singing, rain falling etc.  J bought a clay whistle shaped like a bird - a replica that was similar to what the musicians used. 

We then spent 10 quetzales (about $1.40 US) to buy a six inches tostado with guacamol and sprinkled with cheese for a light lunch. I was still hungry so I bought a freshly made two black bean tortillas with guacamol and cheese to augment the meal!!

Then it was time for the final leg of driving back to Barcelo Guatemala City. We thanked our driver and gave him a tip for his amazing driving - managing to clear many a corner by just an inch or two! 

Our farewell dinner began at 6 pm with a video produced by Caravan, reviewing the places we visited (and some we did not) on this Guatemalan tour. 

Appropriately we said farewell to the new friends we made. We may see them at breakfast tomorrow , but many people leave for the airport at different times tomorrow!

We have plenty of hours to fill during the day tomorrow as our flight is after supper!

We are halfway through this wonderful trip! Tomorrow we fly to Costa Rica to continue the adventure. 

Day 6 Antigua

Today we met in the hotel lobby to begin our walking tour. It was definitely a day to wear orthotics in running shoes to minimize the chances you twisted an ankle on the cobblestones. I got in over 11,000 steps which is quite a few for a bus tour!  

We walked about one kilometre towards the city centre. 

This is Oscar ahead of me on the single person sidewalk and the cobblestones are wearing the cars and motorcycles travel.  

The entire liturgical season of Lent (the 46 days before Easter), people walk along Turno Street on Saturdays and Sundays re-enact the Stations of the Cross. 

This little chapel represents station #6 of the cross. 

Good Friday (the Friday before Easter Sunday) is a big deal that is celebrated continuously for 24 hours. These enormous wooden floats are carried down the street by 110 people - 55 on each side. 

J is squatting under the huge float on display at San Francisco El Grande Temple. You can see little padded sections (three in front of J) to cushion one’s shoulder. People carry this enormous float for one block and then others are very keen to step in and relieve the previous marchers and carry it a block further. Evidently it is an extremely emotional (and exhausting) experience. 

UNESCO has awarded the Holy Week of Guatemala with the title of “Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage”. 

We made our way to the city centre and had 30 minutes to explore independently

This was a view of what I will call Central Park!

A number of vendors selling hand made crafts sought us out - nothing too crazy. 

We made our way to a convent “Capvchinas” established in 1736. 

This was the second story of the convent overlooking the courtyard. 

Same fountain featured in the above photo but taken from the main floor. 

We enjoyed a plated lunch at Restaurant Las Antorchas. 

I had chicken with lemon sauce. What looks like a swirl of pink icing is actually potatoes. 

After lunch finished around 2 pm, individuals were free to return to the hotel or continue exploring independently. I had joints that were not happy so I returned to the hotel. J hiked to Cerro de la Cruz, the mountain of the cross. He then went to the National museum of Guatemala Art, which he enjoyed. 

After I had a an hour and a half of relaxing, J returned to the hotel and we both went for a swim. While there fellow traveler, Ro, mentioned a group were going to an Italian Restaurant and we were lucky enough to get our names added to their reservation. 

We had a group of seven people who went and ate Italian at Carlos & Carlos Antigua. The pasta was just excellent! What a lovely group of seven to enjoy our second last night in Guatemala!

Day 5 Lake Atitlan to Antigua

This morning Lake Atitlan looked nice and come and the volcano was clear in the distance. 

View of Lake Atitlan on our final morning at Hotel Atitlan. 

I should mention that temperatures are very similar to him in the summer. The morning is about 15 C when we wake up and go to a high of 25 C in the afternoon. With much of our visiting in Guatemala taking place at 5,000 feet, it is not stifling hot. I find it quite comfortable. Dressing in layers is the key!

We boarded the bus and started our journey towards the coffee plantation, situated in the Antigua region. There were lots of twists and turns on the road and a number of people were feeling unwell by the time we stopped for a bathroom break about 1 hour 45 minutes later. I was pleased not to be among them. And of course J has a strong constitution so he had no issues either. It was tricky for people to figure out if it might have been food they ate or the winding roads. Fingers crossed they are all feeling better tonight. 

We carried on to Finco La Azotea, a family run coffee plantation. Since our guide Oscar grows five coffee plants in his own yard for personal consumption he was extremely knowledgeable about the process. 

Along the trail. Oscar pointed out a little building that was a sauna!  One of the group members asked if it was a child sized one - indeed it was for adults. So J demonstrated how one could fit in it!

From signage at the coffee plantation:

“La Azotea Estate is located in the valley of Antigua Guatemala, surrounded by three volcanoes that provide a stable microclimate and a rich volcanic soil ideal for growing superb coffee.”

Planted at an altitude of 5,000 feet under a canopy of shade trees the finest Arabica coffee beans ripen slowly to bring out their rich and complex flavour”

You can see the low coffee plants and the tall shade trees above. 

This is a coffee plant that will grow to be about 8 feet tall at its largest.  The plant takes 2 to 3 years to bear fruit and remains productive for about 30 years. 

It rains in April. Fifteen days later blooms appear on the coffee plants. The white blooms last for 3 days.  Ultimately red berries appear on the plants in October, and the berries are hand picked by a method called selective picking between December and March. Pickers only choose the red berries and come back to each plant to pick the red berries several times. 

Interesting to see one coffee plant yields about one pound of coffee. The process is one tree produces or = 6.5 pounds red berries = 1.5 parchment (beans with thin skin) = 1.25 pounds green beans = 1 pound of roasted coffee. Depending on how strong you like your coffee, that can provide 32 cups of coffee (though J would say one pound of coffee  yields 15 cups of coffee for him!)

The economics of the coffee business is frightening for the producer. Out of each dollar paid for one cup of coffee, the producing country receives 16 cents and the consuming country receives 84 cents.  😮

The tour was highly informative and interesting for me, a non-coffee drinker!

We then had a plated lunch of chicken, tortillas, guacamole, and vegetables with hibiscus juice to drink. 

Our beautiful, tasty dessert of fresh fruit!

After lunch, we toured a musical museum called Casa K’ojom Centro de Rescate Cultural on the property, educating us on a variety of musical instruments. 

An early marimba on display here. 

Replica of an Indian couple being married in a Catholic service. 

We headed to Hotel Soleil to settle in for the next two nights. 

Above is the view from our room of the pool that we swam in, as soon as our swimsuits arrived with our luggage!

Once back in the room we heard a couple of loud bangs. J thought maybe it was fireworks. Tonight at dinner we learned that it was the sound of the Fuego Volcano erupting!  According to Google Maps, that volcano is 18 km away!

Tomorrow we will meet at 9 am for a walking tour of Antigua!

Day 4 Lake Atitlan and San Juan La Laguna

We awoke to sunshine and a clear view of Lake Atitlan. According to my weather app the sun was to shine until 11 AM before the clouds rolled in. 

This morning we posed for a group picture on the garden terrace (often used for weddings) to pose for a picture with the volcano and Lake Atitlan in the background. 

After breakfast and our photo we headed to a pretty simple wooden boat for the 25 minute boat ride across the lake to one of the villages called San Juan de Laguna. 

A view of the Volcano from the boat!

It was a steep climb uphill with an elevation change of 50 -100 m but what a pretty street it was!

They cleverly used umbrellas suspended on wires to offer colour and shade as you climbed the street. 

We headed to see John the Baptist church, which is only 10 years old. The church incorporates local Mayan custom and mixes it with Catholicism. 

In the stations of the cross this crucifixion scene you can see Jesus on the cross with a circular Mayan altar below the cross, as well as Lake Atitlan and the Volcano in the background. 

We then headed to watch a cotton weaving demonstration at Casa Flor Ixcaco (which translates to house of women with brown skin) - cooperative with 38 women working together to share the work and empower one another to earn a living.  The cooperative was legally established in 1996. 

Delfina demonstrated all the steps to make cotton into yarn. To clean it by hand, make the yarn, dye it, then make it into a ball of yarn. 

Products sold in the shop were based on how many hours it took to make something. J tried on shirts that took maybe 8 weeks to make were priced at $160 US. He wanted to support them but could not find a shirt that was the right length and still not too wide. He chose to give them a donation instead. 

We then went to a cacao demonstration. Cacao seeds are processed by hand to make chocolate. The seeds are placed in a bowl lined with banana leaves and left to ferment for a month. They are roasted for 10 to 15 minutes and then you peel skin - it is thin like a peanut. 

They then grind the seed with something like a rolling pin on a stone. 

For semi sweet chocolate they use 50% cacao, 30% molasses, 10% milk and 10% orange juice (which makes it easier to make into a paste and provides a shelf life of 3 months). I bought a couple of chocolate bars so we will see how they taste!

We then had a bit of free time in the town and we joined a few others for a simple lunch on the second story above a pretty street. 

This was painted right in the paving stones!

Above us are sun hats hanging from wires suspended. 

Our guide Oscar and J overlooking the festive street below while at lunch!

We returned to the boat for the ride back to Hotel Atitlan. The water was quite a bit rougher upon return so a few people were feeling unwell and welcomed solid ground. 

We headed to the pool and hot tub for an hour or so. 

We enjoyed the botanical gardens around the hotel and spotted a variety of birds. 

The scarlet Mccaw must have its wings clipped or be in rehab to stay on the property as it does spend some time in a cage. 

One of many roses in the gardens!

We enjoyed supper in the dining room and had great conversations with two other couples. Tomorrow we have to have bags out at 8 AM and depart on the bus by 8:30 AM. Another great day in Guatemala!