There is a new friend of mine who I fed a couple of times on the balcony of the apartment in Tamarindo. Meet uraka.
Such a beautiful and curious bird which is, unfortunately, hated by all the locals. They have their reasons; as we were told, the uraka likes to try all the possible fruits and vegetables like mango, papaya and tomato but never finishes one fruit before going onto another. As a result, the fruit is damaged with no benefit for anyone.
Even so, I still enjoy looking at my uraka 
.
Barra Honda National Park does not seem to advertise at all in Costa Rica. Even in Tamarindo, from where it only takes an hour and a half to get to the Park; no-one offers a tour and tourists don’t seem to know that Barra Honda Park exists!
The park is situated not far from Nicoya and it has one important advantage which I really appreciate after visiting many other parks – good roads! You will only need to drive on an unpaved road for a maximum of 5 km (even this unpaved road was not the worst I have seen), the rest of the journey is on a nice, fast and quite empty road and there are brown signs close to the park saying when to turn.
The Barra Honda National Park was absolutely amazing. The dry tropical jungle is home to many birds, butterflies and, of course, iguanas! There are also 42 caverns in the park, only 19 of them have been explored and only three are open to the public.
You are obliged to have 2 guides with you in order to go to caverns. One of them will stay on top, while another will go down into the cave with you. Please, wear good shoes and the clothes you are not scared to lose, we got quite dirty. Surprisingly, the temperature in the cave always stays about 26C so don’t wear too much. How bizarre!
We were very lucky as one of our guides Jenny (she told us it is a normal Costa Rican name!) spoke a bit of English while the other, Saturno, knew nothing but, even so, with our basic Spanish we could understand most of the time what he was talking about. We were glad to hear that during the 20 years that Saturno has been working in the Park there have been no accidents involving tourists. In addition, every guide in Barra Honda has to have special first-aid training so while we were walking to the caves Saturno entertained us by showing different types of leaves and told us what each of them is used for. So, if you feel bad or about to faint, they will know what to do . I personally fell in love with a garlic plant. The leaves taste of garlic with a touch of spiciness; Costa Ricans actually use them for cooking and I want to too!!!
The caves were astonishing; we were really impressed, and it is really easier to see than to explain. It took us quite a long time to do the tour, which cost $26 (not bad as you have 2 guides just for you) so allow yourself at least 4 hours to spend in the park. I would also advise to come as early as possible,the park opens at 8am and the last tour starts at 2pm. Additionally, there is a nice picnic area in the Barra Honda National Park, where we, tired tourists, decided to have a break and have a melon. There were dozens of iguanas and some of them were impressively big … so we fed them with what was left from our melon! No waste at all!!!
How to get to Barra Honda Park by Car:
The Barra Honda National Park is 12 km away from the Tempisque Road (Hwy 21) and the drive is fairly easy. After you have crossed the Tempisque Bridge (a really nice and long bridge) continue for 15 km until you see a sign to your right to Barra Honda. You will pass through the village of Barra Honda from where it’s another 4 km to the park.
Alternatively, coming from the Tamarindo area, follow the road to Nicoya, then go straight at the Nicoya turn off, turn left for the Tempisque Bridge and after another couple of kilometers look for a sign to turn left again towards Barra Honda National Park.
The Langosta Beach Club is situated on the road between Tamarindo and Langosta right on the beach. It positions itself as an upmarket restaurant which leans to French cuisine. We only went there in the late evening to get a desert and we were a little bit overwhelmed by the attention of the staff (maybe because not many people were in the restaurant?). We were not surprised though to feel all those mosquitoes around us .
The average cost of a main course is around $20 which is a little bit more than dining in a casual restaurant in Tamarindo. It is also comforting that the Langosta Beach Club includes the 13% food tax, so you will only have the 10% obligatory service charge on top of your bill. As for deserts nothing can beat French crepes, they were amazing. I also liked the area with a pool and the ocean and stars view.
P.S. Do not forget to bring a torch with you; maybe it will help you to read the Langosta Beach Club menu. The waiter left us his one so we could choose what we wanted .
You can find the Langosta Beach Club dinner menu here
Paddleboarding is something I have never tried before arriving in Costa Rica. I would describe it as something in-between surfing and kayaking. We decided to try it for the first time and go to the nearest island in the Tamarindo area.
We were given a board (the only difference from a surfing board is that a paddle board has a hole for your hand in the middle of it), a paddle and it included a guide, all for $35 pp. Ok, it was not easy, but not too difficult either especially if you decide not to stand up and keep close to the board. I think it is at least worth trying. Who knows maybe you fall in love with this sport?
You can also check out their web-site. They are called Paddlesurf
Apparently, the tree which I have been looking at outside of my window for the last couple of months is the national tree of Costa Rica. It is called a Guanacaste tree. It is mostly known for its large trunk and its expansive crown. Its wood is also commonly used in Costa Rica.
Interestingly enough, there is one more use of the Guanacaste tree – its seedpods. The seedpods are often used in the schools of Costa Rica to teach children how to count. Schoolchildren climb up the tree, get the seedpods and then learn basic mathematics. Why not? People also call the Guanacaste tree an “ear tree” because the seedpods resemble the shape of an ear. It looks like an ear, doesn’t it?
Kahiki is a popular bar in the evening and a popular spot for breakfast, or brunch. It is situated on the road to Langosta beach 50 meters down from “Super 2001” supermarket.
My experience proved Kahiki to be number one in Tamarindo for its amazing breakfast. It took me two months to finally make it to Kahiki and I only regret that I didn’t find it earlier as getting a decent breakfast in Tamarindo is a problem. Whether you want something simple like a salmon bagel (me) or a big “Tucker” breakfast for big eaters (my boyfriend) you will be satisfied.
What I also liked was the free water (a simple American rule which I respect being from Europe) and quite good (for Costa Rica) service. Kahiki’s prices also include the 13% food tax, so you will only have the 10% obligatory service charge on top of your bill.
By the way, I notice that most of popular and better cafes and restaurants in Tamarindo include the 13% food tax in their price while the least successful places do charge it on top of your bill. Something to think about when you go out for a meal…
We went to see Arenal Volcano simply because Arenal volcano is one of the most famous volcanoes in Costa Rica. Full stop. It is also popular due to the fact that it is still an active volcano after its last eruption in 1968. We had amazing views of Arenal volcano while we were driving around Arenal lake. It looked absolutely gorgeous.
There are plenty of hotels situated next to volcano, most of them located near a town called La Fortuna. The closest hotel to the volcano is the Arenal Volcano Observatory Lodge. Unfortunately it was booked a month in advance, therefore we chose to stay in Mountain Paradise Hotel (my review of this hotel is here) which like many others offered volcano and lava view rooms. It is true that it is possible to see lava in the night BUT only if it is clear. Unfortunately, most of the time it is not clear, which is why we saw neither lava nor volcano as all of the area was covered in clouds during the whole evening and also the morning we stayed.
There are plenty of activities near the volcano: mineral baths, hiking and canopy tours. I was not too disappointed that I didn’t even have a chance to see Arenal volcano because I was aware of the circumstances. Maybe someone else is going to be luckier that I am?
It is rather a challenge to find a fruit market in Tamarindo. Endless attempts finished unsuccessfully. I even wrote an email to people who organized a fruit market in Tamarindo last year. I did get a response from them saying that the organic market will take place at Witch’s Rock Surf Camp (right next to the beach) every Saturday morning from 8 am to 12 pm starting February 2010.
I went there to have a look and it was only one table of organic produce: tomatoes, pine-apples, carrots, peppers, onions, potatoes, eggs, lettuce, rice and some other stuff. It was not something I have dreamt of but it is all we have in Tamarindo.
There is also a market in Villarreal which is supposed to take place on Fridays and Saturdays but when we went there a couple of times there was no sign of a market. We were lucky to find this market once and bought a lot of veggies and fruits though the prices were the same as in supermarkets. So why not to make your life easier?
Also called Dragon Fly Bar and Grill.
One of the more up market restaurants in Tamarindo and it was also the first place where we were asked if we had a reservation. The absence of a reservation did not hinder us in getting a table but the place soon became very busy. What I liked in Dragon Fly was the presence of a wine list and real flowers on the table. The price for a main course was around $15 to $18 and the cocktails were $6 as in any other restaurant in Tamarindo. The food, both mine and my boyfriend’s, was exquisite and very tasty, even though the portions were not big.
I have to say again that in Costa Rica some restaurants like Dragon Fly Bar and Grill do not include the 13 percent tax on food. There is also an obligatory 10 percent service charge. So the bill ends up a quarter more expensive that you would have expected. What I didn’t like is that in Dragonfly Restaurant I also saw on my bill a note “gratuity is appreciated”. It sounded like that the 10 percent service charge didn’t exist on the bill in the first place!!!
Overall, the dining experience was very pleasant.
Le Beach Club Restaurant’s best feature is its location. It is right on the beach inbetween palm trees offering lovely ocean views. We ended up going there four times mostly because it offers a good crème brulee. While the great location continues to help them to make money out of tourists the service there was below average. Every time we went there, something went wrong. Twice the waitress forgot to bring another beer, another time we were waiting for the food for more than an hour. Though this can be forgiven as you can talk and admire the ocean view, the generally slower Latin American service can be simply another way of living and enjoying it. The food there is also quite poor and rather tasteless but the portions are big. I would only recommend trying their Beach Burger, It actually tasted good.
The last time though was the worst. We directly ordered what we wanted as we already knew the place. We only saw the waiter once, while ordering… That was it… My crème brulee which was supposed to come after the food but never arrived. So I was trying to find our waitress for half an hour but she did not even bother to look around. In the end I decided to go to the cashier myself and asked not for my crème brulee but for the bill… I had to wait another ten minutes. No-one came to pick up the bill either, it was rather frustrating. My boyfriend went this time to the cashier and what is the funniest is that we still had to pay an obligatory 10 percent service charge!!!
It is a good time to find another place for crème brulee…
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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser