Costa Rica - but now for real (31.01.2022)

Yes, the time difference is a tricky thing. I never thought that my wife would ever sympathize with the 5 am club (book recommendation by Robin Sharma) at least when it comes to the start of the day. Traveling also does that, so we are already slowly starting the day at that time. Having breakfast at 07:00 seems a bit late in this context. Emails to the car rental company in the hope of an exchange have already been written and a name for our Daihatsu Bomber has been found - it will be called Horst for the time being.

First encounters with breakfast culture in Costa Rica are positive, served breakfast, in our case fresh fruits (you can quickly get used to the quality) and then beans with rice, avocado toast, and of course plantains. In the planning of the day after breakfast, we receive the good news that our car rental company takes our feedback seriously and immediately agrees to a car swap including an upgrade. Goodbye Horst, hello new Korean favorite (brand Ssangong) that we creatively named Kim Lee (the Maier and Huber in Korea). May it take us through the country for the next 3 weeks.

We start with the first real tour with a stop at the Poas Volcano. On the way there, we already recognize that road construction is more ambitious than in Austria and steep roads can sometimes lead to not being able to go up even with 4x4 all-wheel drive and a lot of momentum. The direct route is not always the fastest or safest. With a small detour, we still manage to reach the park access at the reserved time. The walk around the area shows the forces that such volcanoes contain, even in 2017 during the last eruption, the appearance of the volcano changed significantly. Since neither of us has ever been on an active volcano, it is a very memorable experience.

La Fortuna is the next destination and the approximately 110 kilometers are fine, except for a small detour along endless pineapple plantations on a "direct path". The direct path, suggested by our offline navigation app and strongly advocated by my wife, causes some minor disputes. Driving at 20 km/h on an earthen road with massive holes and rocks, we fought our way back to the correct main road after about 25 minutes. To find something positive about this detour, the car alias Kim Lee holds up and the extent of the pineapple growing areas is impressive.

Arriving in La Fortuna, a small town near the Arenal Volcano, we look for a bank and a mobile phone shop to organize cash and a SIM card. We only realize after a short thought why there are queues of people in front of the banks, it is the last day of the month and many locals want to withdraw parts of their monthly income. This is quite understandable and we also experience that even Visa/Mastercard are not as widely accepted as assumed and cash (local currency Colones) is of the highest importance. As EURO is not really accepted as change (only US dollars), we end up withdrawing Colones from the ATM. Getting a mobile phone SIM for the old iPhone is less complicated, which makes it easier for us to have internet access on the go, oh and to finally throw our "creative" navigation app in the trash.

The last stop of the day is at the Hotel Arenal Manoa, where we will spend the next 3 nights. An extremely spacious complex with a large variety of plants and its own bungalows. The room offers a direct view of the volcano, even if it is still hidden in the fog on this day. It quickly becomes clear that the main target group of the facility is US Americans, everything is accessible by car, and the room and sanitary facilities are unmistakably influenced. Two queen-size beds in the room provide unexpected freedom of choice for which bed to choose. After a good dinner directly in the hotel restaurant (with solid cuisine and unexpectedly large portions), the combination of a full stomach and jet lag becomes noticeable, so it doesn't take until 9 pm for us to fall asleep.

The Daily Two:

Realization: Google Maps remains the more reliable navigation tool, today's stress test showed that there are indeed more direct routes, but these are less recommended for tourists, unless you want to push your car and your nerves to the limit. And common sense is still there too..

Moment of happiness: Car swap in the morning without much effort and with maximum goodwill. Asking paid off and since we will be on the road a lot for the next 3 weeks in the country, it feels good to have a reliable vehicle here. Unfortunately, Horst didn't convince us.