Friday, March 16, 2007
9 March, 07
We woke up in Quepos and made our way to the bus terminal for an early 6am bus back to San Jose. The journey was really pretty and the countryside is so green and lush- what a gorgeous country! We decided to stay in a town called Alajuela (outside San Jose). We found a little hotel called ‘Hotel Cortez Azul’ and a friendly chap called Eduardo checked us in. We dumped our luggage and got a bus to San Jose. From there we had to swap terminals to get another bus to Gaupilles. The bus driver forgot to let us out at a certain stop and so we had to wait for a bus coming in the opposite direction to drop us off where we wanted to go. What a schlep! We finally got to the Braulio Carrillo National Park and we bought our tickets for the aerial tram ride through the rainforest. Hymie was our guide and he was very good. We saw an amazing strawberry- poison frog with blue legs- very fascinating and really tiny but very dangerous and we also spotted an anteater. The frog apparently secretes a fluid that can be very fatal to mammals and humans. We didn’t try to pick it up- obviously! The views from the tram were beautiful and we were literally above the trees with views of Volcan Arenal. It was so lush and green and fresh and then we did a walk through the forest but we didn’t see too much. We got back to San Jose on the bus and stopped for a coffee and a bureka before getting back to Alajuela (another bus). Eduardo sent us to an amazing restaurant and we had excellent fish. I spent some time chatting to a few travelers on the patio before getting to bed, finding out where we should go and where not to go! Rich was fast asleep and got mad with me when I told him there was a change of plan and he must reset the alarm clock. I didn’t want to wake up at 5h30am!
We woke up in Quepos and made our way to the bus terminal for an early 6am bus back to San Jose. The journey was really pretty and the countryside is so green and lush- what a gorgeous country! We decided to stay in a town called Alajuela (outside San Jose). We found a little hotel called ‘Hotel Cortez Azul’ and a friendly chap called Eduardo checked us in. We dumped our luggage and got a bus to San Jose. From there we had to swap terminals to get another bus to Gaupilles. The bus driver forgot to let us out at a certain stop and so we had to wait for a bus coming in the opposite direction to drop us off where we wanted to go. What a schlep! We finally got to the Braulio Carrillo National Park and we bought our tickets for the aerial tram ride through the rainforest. Hymie was our guide and he was very good. We saw an amazing strawberry- poison frog with blue legs- very fascinating and really tiny but very dangerous and we also spotted an anteater. The frog apparently secretes a fluid that can be very fatal to mammals and humans. We didn’t try to pick it up- obviously! The views from the tram were beautiful and we were literally above the trees with views of Volcan Arenal. It was so lush and green and fresh and then we did a walk through the forest but we didn’t see too much. We got back to San Jose on the bus and stopped for a coffee and a bureka before getting back to Alajuela (another bus). Eduardo sent us to an amazing restaurant and we had excellent fish. I spent some time chatting to a few travelers on the patio before getting to bed, finding out where we should go and where not to go! Rich was fast asleep and got mad with me when I told him there was a change of plan and he must reset the alarm clock. I didn’t want to wake up at 5h30am!
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 7:50 PM 
