Costa Rica 2017 ~ Arenal National Park

We hired our drivers Danny of CostaRicaDrivers.com to handle all our transportation needs while in Costa Rica.  His company was highly recommended on Tripadvisor.    We signed up for two tours.

Our tour today was to Arenal National Park and La Fortuna Waterfalls and tropical gardens.  We were picked up at 7:00am for our 3 hour drive to the Volcano.

 Once again, Danny stopped along the way so we could get our Costa Rica coffee fix at a place with jaw-dropping views, this time it was a coffee plantation.  We paid $16pp usd to enter the park and walked to the crater.  Unfortunately the ash was too thick for any decent photos.

Next we headed to the La Fortuna Waterfalls and tropical gardens.

 It was beautiful!  We were treated with tropical birds, frogs, lush greenery and huge waterfalls.

On the way home we once again stopped at a local cafe for dinner.  It was a small family owned roadside cafe and the food was perfect.  It was the end of another lovely day.

Costa Rica 2017 ~ Manuel Antonio National Park

We hired our drivers Danny of CostaRicaDrivers.com to handle all our transportation needs while in Costa Rica.  His company was highly recommended on Tripadvisor.    We signed up for two tours.

Our tour today was a full day at Manuel Antonio.  He picked us up at our San Jose hotel at 7:30am for our 3 hour drive to the park.   Along the way we made two stops.  The first was this lovely cafe for some delicious coffee with gorgeous views.

Our second stop was a place referred to as Crocodile River where we took some photos of these hungry guys.

We also purchased delicious Mango smoothies from roadside vendor.

Finally we arrived at the entrance to the park.  We were charged $16pp fees to enter.  The first hiking trail we took brought us to Playa Puerto Escondido Beach.  It was a difficult trail with lots of stairways built along the way.  At the end we were treated to this beautiful oasis.

The second trail we took brought us to Playa Espadilla Sur Beach.  It was short and ended at another beautiful beach.

There were changing room facilities and picnic tables for those who didn't mind the local pickpockets trying to steal their food and backpacks.

 These local residents were experts at stealing bags left unattended.


After a refreshing swim in the beautifully clean water, we hiked back to the entrance of the park where Danny was waiting for us.  We stopped for dinner at a local restaurant recommended by Danny.

The meal was as delicious as the views.

Finally we began the 3 hour drive back to our hotel.  It was a wonderful experience!

Costa Rica 2017 - Our Room

We booked our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in San Juan with points.  Our free hotel even includes a full made-to-order breakfast each morning!

The views of San Jose from the balcony of our corner room on the 17th floor of our hotel room taken our first night.

The hotel pool from our balcony 

Costa Rica 2017 - Getting There

Free Airfare

We are lucky to have a Southwest Companion Pass for all of 2017, which means a companion can fly free with me, making our flights free for both us since I'm using points.  Choosing Southwest for our flights was a no-brainer.

We connected from New Orleans to Houston Lobby to San Jose.  We liked the easy friendly people we encountered at Houston Hobby.  The airport was not as hectic & crowded as other airports. Very Clean!

We hired a private driver (CostaRicaDriver.com) to drive us from the airport to the hotel. After we collected our luggage and cleared customs we headed out to the taxi area where Felix & Christian were waiting for us holding a sign with our names.

They deposited us at the door of our hotel 20 within 20 minutes.