Photo courtesy of Alejandro Ariel, @colorsguy.
This is what we woke to on our first morning in San Jose. After goggling at the sunrise for awhile, we made ourselves up and headed down for breakfast, which had American favorites, plenty of sweets (including churros!), and desayuno typico, which consisted of eggs, beans and rice, and a fried plantain along with a yummy burrito. The coffee was excellent, as was the mimosa.
We ate typico meals a number of times during our trip, and there are versions for lunch and dinner as well, which basically swap meat for the eggs. None of the food is very spicy, and it’s what’s served at all the local sodas, which are little establishments that cook up wonderful roadside meals (you’ll typically see them named after their owner, such as Soda Diana).
The Hilton is the tallest building in the city, newly built and opened 15 days prior to our arrival. It’s modern and comfortable, a perfect way to insert yourself into the country, with a great rest in a really comfortable bed, great service and good food. It’s a good looking hotel both inside and out.
We drove directly out of the industrial city of San Jose and into farmland, followed soon thereafter by jungle, The roads in this country are great, and you will be assisted by your smartphones map app, because the cell coverage is good, too, even into much of the jungle. The roads are windy and slow: our trip to La Fortuna ended up taking about 3.5 hours. Try not to drive in or near San Jose during peak commuter times. A car is a perfect way to see this country. It’s small enough to drive across in a (long) day, and visually stimulating enough to keep you entertained. Renting a car and driving in country is easy, however, DO NOT PREPURCHASE INSURANCE. The Costa Rican government insists you buy from the agency. We were going to rely on the insurance provided by my American Express Platinum card, but were told in no uncertain terms that it was impossible- we wouldn’t be allowed to drive the car off the lot. The insurance cost $273, but the rental itself was only $40 for 8 days, so all in all it wasn’t worth fretting about.
We arrived in La Fortuna just in time to beat a tremendous storm. We literally crossed the top step and under cover at Pollo Fortuneno for lunch as the rain came pouring down, the wind blew at 40 mph, and the thunder and lightning crashed and flashed. We enjoyed our BBQ lunch as we watched nature rage, and as fortune would have it the storm was over as we were ready to leave. We found a tour guide for the next day (Jacamar Tours) and made a reservation, then had a cocktail at Lava Rocks Cafe -an on the house chilijuaro- tomato, lemon, cacique, pepper and salt- thanks, Lava Rocks!
Exhausted from our day of driving (honestly, what is it about sitting for 3 hours that’s so tiring?!), we headed to the Avenal Manoa, the hotel we chose for our stay in La Fortuna.
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