“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” – Jack Kerouac
We rose early on our last morning at Manuel Antonio not really wanting to leave but ready for our next adventure. We had planned a morning sloth tour at the Tulemar property before heading north to Arenal. We were grateful that we had forgone the idea of driving ourselves and instead hired a driver again from Morpho Vans to take us there. Our driver was to meet us immediately after the sloth tour and it was going to be another very long day on the road again.
Morning breakfast on the veranda of our villa at Tulemar
The sloth walk is one of the benefits of staying at Tulemar as it is only offered to guests of the property. Over the course of 90 minutes you have the opportunity to see a ton of sloths, monkeys and birds right in the heart of Tulemar’s own private reserve. The sloth walk is offered every day except Tuesdays at 9 am and books up fast given its popularity. The tour begins up at the top of Tulemar and meanders down the steep road towards the beach.
Each sloth walk is hosted by a Sloth Institute Researcher who carries binoculars for guests to get an up close view of both two and three-toed sloths. Over the course of the next hour and a half we saw a total of 12 sloths including a few babies. It was a cool experience but nothing could ever beat our private tour at Manuel Antonio National Park. Still, I’m glad we did it.
By 11 am, our driver Juan Carlos was waiting with a 12-person van for our family of four. It ended up being a good thing that we had an extra large van given how carsick we all were on our five-hour bumpy, winding drive from Manuel Antonio to La Fortuna. Little did I know, I’d be using the entire back row to lay down and try to sleep away the Dramamine and the feeling of unease. (On map below, we traveled from B to D, a total of over six hours).
Our route
The drive was long and arduous yet fascinating given how much the landscape and topography changed. We left the hot tropical jungle of Manuel Antonio, passing through the beach town of Jaco and then headed north to the mountain town of San Ramon and the cloud forest near Los Angeles where we were engulfed in misty cool fog. It was such a dramatic difference from where we had just been that it seemed unimaginable that we were only about three hours away from where we left that morning.
Juan Carlos told me that the clouds come from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and hang over the mountains that divide the nation into the hot, dry western coast along the Pacific and the green, wet eastern coast along the Caribbean. It was amazing literally seeing the massive transformation within the landscape when we returned to Liberia on our last day in Costa Rica. The colors went from verdant green brilliant with flowers to dry, brittle brown along the Pacific Coast. I had remembered last April in Nicaragua that the dry season along the Pacific Coast also means brown. I preferred the green so was thrilled we had decided to spend our entire vacation within the jungle.
Inside the cloud forest of Los Angeles up in the mountains.
After we passed through the highest point of the mountains in the cloud forest, we were almost fully out of Dramamine. My head was pounding and my stomach felt quite nauseous but thankfully once we were out of the mountains the roads become straighter and it wasn’t too long until we had reached the tourist town of La Fortuna, the jumping off point for all things adventurous given its proximity to Arenal Volcano.
One of my favorite shots of the family at a road side stop along the way.
Juan Carlos dropped us off at the tiny National Car Rental outlet in La Fortuna where we picked up our heavy-duty SUV for the next two days. We were going to be staying at a remote farm high up in the mountains surrounding Arenal so we would be needing a four-wheel drive SUV equip with GPS. It was the one and only times we were renting a car in Costa Rica and for that we were thankful.
We found Parrot Hill Ranch through good friends of ours here in Minneapolis who had stayed at the Air B&B rental property a few months prior to our trip. They have two children the same age as ours and they said that this stay was one of the memorable of their entire trip. The only hard thing about the farm would be finding it. Our friends had warned us to download the GPS coordinates to find it and after twenty minutes of trying to figure it out at the car rental place, we finally were ready to go. We never would have found the place without the GPS!
Parrot Hill Ranch is located about a forty minute drive from La Fortuna near the village of El Castillo. As you head out of La Fortuna, you pass all of the world-renown hot springs and spas as well as the turn off to Arenal National Park and the Lake Arenal. Most tourists choose to stay at one of the many resorts however we wanted to try something a little bit different and off the wall. We craved a bit of adventure and we certainly got all we bargained for at the farm.
After we passed the dam at Lake Arenal, we drove along a very bumpy gravel road to the tiny town of El Castillo. There we hung a left and began our long, treacherous journey up the gravel road to the top. At that point, we all wanted desperately to get out of the car and as common with long journeys the final stretch felt like an eternity. As we climbed through jungle and farmland, we knew that we were going to be in for a lovely surprise. It was absolutely serene and magical.
Heading up the gravel road to the farm
We were so glad we had a heavy-duty 4WD SUV
The farm with Lake Arenal in the background
The lush green property is lined by thick jungle
We arrived at the end of the road just as the sun began its descend into the horizon. We had lucked out. After checking in and exploring a bit of the farm, we would be able to catch another Costa Rican sunset. But this time over a lake and a volcano with the howler monkeys roaring, the cows mooing and the entire collection of dogs and cats trying to add in the fun. We could hardly wait!
Author’s note: This is a continuation on our spring break family trip to Costa Rica. To read the previous post in this series, click here.
Wow Nicole, what an adventure you’re were having. Beautiful photographs, especially that opening shot – it’s gorgeous.
Alison
Thanks Alison! It was a wonderful trip that is for sure! 🙂
So beautiful.
Thank you so much! 🙂 I miss Costa Rica. A very special place!
Hello Nicole,
What a wonderful adventure for your last day. Your family must have been so excited to see the sloths in their habitat there.
As always, your photographs are stunning.
It’s so hard to spend a final day somewhere you have become very attached to so hoping you can all return again very soon…
A lovely post and series of posts about your family adventure 🙋🏻🌹
Oh thanks Di! More coming soon! 🙂
Breathtaking scenes of water and mountains, Nicole, and I don’t think I’ve ever been taken on a sloth tour before. 🙂 🙂 Thank you very much!
Thanks Jo! I love sloths. They are so fascinating. The best part of all was when I saw the mama and baby sloth on the beach. They were just hanging out in a tree. So wonderful!
Awwh 🙂 🙂
You really do take such fabulous shots Nicole. Car sickness oh blah, yuk. So it was hard earned views then. Yor poor things . If i was there I would be being sick with you. What month is this again? So this is a two season place, wet and dry , right? Louise
Thanks Louise! We went the first week of April. I am behind in writing so finally getting around to it now. Yes the car sickness is no fun. Whenever I am on winding or mountainous roads I get it.
What an adventure…
It was fabulous and such a wonderful memory Sally.
Wow! Nice pictures! Costa Rica is a beautiful place!
Yes it is a divine place! I love it there. So much beauty!
Some really stunning sky shots and looks like great place with unspoilt nature
Yes Costa Rica is quite beautiful Arv.
That’s evident from pictures Nicole
Costa Rica is a great vacation place with family.
Yes it is! Loved it Lulu! Hope you are doing well!
My comments today are so random … first of all, I absolutely love that opening shot of breakfast on the veranda. I could have stayed there forever! Also, my daughter used to get very car sick, and we bought her some elastic bands (like stretchy bracelets) with little magnets that touched the insides of her wrists. It’s entirely possible that they were total scams or placebos, but she never got sick when she wore them! Maybe worth a try for you?
Thanks Lexi! Yes actually I do have those elastic bands as I bought them when I was on a cruise. I was horribly seasick the entire time. I have never tried them in the car though so next time I will give it a whirl and see if it works! Hope you are well! 😌
this is the second post today and the fourth or fifth this week that did not arrive via email notification… after reading today’s post, i noted this one… it’s obviously a wordpress glitch…
oh yes, those winding roads can be challenging, especially in rain or fog… it’s always good to reach that destination!
Oh that is not good. I did notice a few of my recent posts had hardly any comments and was wondering if people missed them or just honestly didn’t like them. Hopefully WP will resolve this issue as that is how I too know if new posts have been published! I love getting them in my inbox!
Ha.. I understand about ‘…or honestly didn’t like them.’ —- I’ve wondered that before as well. Then there’s the fact that most everyone juggles lots of balls!
Yes so true Lisa! 🙂
The pictures are stunning! You must have had some awesome experience!
Thank you so much! Yes it was quite the adventure and so fun to share it with my kids!
We loved our time at Arenal and La Fortuna. Our little cabana in the jungle looked out over Arenel, where we delighted in watching the boulders spewing out of the volcano and rushing down the mountainside. I feel your pain with the motion sickness.
I bet that was amazing LuAnn! When did you go? The volcano isn’t active anymore. I bet it was a sight to see. When I was in Guatemala on a hike when I reached the top the neighboring volcano erupted out ash. I will never ever forget that moment!
It has been at least 10 years since we were in CR. It is time for a return trip.
Definitely LuAnn!
We are leaving the US tomorrow and making the same trip you did. We will head from Manuel Antonio to La Fortuna, we are staying at Parrot Hill and from there, will move on to Tamarindo. Great to know about the drive and Parrot Hill! I am going out to buy more Dramamine tonight.
Wow so wonderful! How did you find the Parrot Hill Ranch? It is really amazing! GO to Neptune, the restaurant a few minutes down the hill. Only four tables and we ate there every night. It was very special. Have a fabulous time!