My recent Costa Rica trip report

[Fermion]

I don’t know if folks here are as fascinated by tectonic plates as I am, but the two plates (Cocos and Nazca) subducting under Central America which create these stratovolcanoes such as Arenal, are remnants of the Farallon Plate which has been almost completely overrun by our North American plate. This overrunning is what created the Rocky Mountains and more all the way to the West Coast. Another Farallon Plate remnant is the Juan de Fuca plate which subducts under Northern California (Cape Mendocino) up into British Columbia, causing our spectacular string of stratovolcanoes such as Mount Hood and Mount Ranier. Those volcanoes are much larger than Arenal.

I'll be fascinated when/if Rainier erupts again. Then I will hit you up with questions like "How do you dig your car out from 10 feet of ash" in addition to the interesting plate tectonics.

Oh, when you were in Costa Rica, did you ever stop at the little roadside restaurants? They were cheap back in the early 2000s and always had deep fried plantains on the side, which were quite good and I have not had since.

 

[FD1000]

We just came back from our one week CR vacation from Dec 6th to 13th.
I did the usual, planned the trip in advanced and booked the vehicle, hotels, and what to see.
It was based on other organized tours, but we paid about 40% staying in similar or better hotels and seeing more stuff because we hike too. All the hotels included breakfast, mostly a buffet.
There were 2 airlines who fly directly from ATL.
Delta was at $840, but Frontier was at $293 which included assigned seat and a free carry on.
For the first time ever we used Frontier and it was more than OK. I selected the 4th row from the end.
The last 5 rows had 6 rows with one person in 3 seats, and the other 4 three seaters had 2 passengers.
CR has bad roads and terrible slow driving in San Jose and that's how I want to experience it like the locals.
We had 4 guided tours. IMO the best were in La Fortuna (Crater, Mistico hanging bridge, and Rio Fortuna water fall), Manuel Antonio park and the FREE 3+ hours walking in San Jose.
Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve wasn't impressive.
Food is as expensive as in the USA, but the locals make 15-20% of US salaries. The locals eat at SODA restaurants, and we were there too.
Dec is considered the dry season and cooler. In La Fortuna it was 85-90 degrees, and in Manuel Antonio it was 95-100, both with high humidity. If this was the cooler season, the rainy, hotter season is hell.
We had light rains several times, but never during the day when we hiked/walked.

 

[audreyh1]

I'll be fascinated when/if Rainier erupts again. Then I will hit you up with questions like "How do you dig your car out from 10 feet of ash" in addition to the interesting plate tectonics.

Oh, when you were in Costa Rica, did you ever stop at the little roadside restaurants? They were cheap back in the early 2000s and always had deep fried plantains on the side, which were quite good and I have not had since.

No, we were with a group. We did stop at restaurants several times at lunchtime, but I doubt these would be considered little roadside restaurants. Most of the restaurants/hotels served plantains including for breakfast.

A friend brought me a cool small carved owl out of Mt St. Helens ash not long after the 1980 eruption. I know that ash covering cars was a major issue back then because it’s quite corrosive.

 

[Fermion]

No, we were with a group. We did stop at restaurants several times at lunchtime, but I doubt these would be considered little roadside restaurants. Most of the restaurants/hotels served plantains including for breakfast.

A friend brought me a cool small carved owl out of Mt St. Helens ash not long after the 1980 eruption. I know that ash covering cars was a major issue back then because it’s quite corrosive.

Ah nice. The places we stopped were more for locals I guess. They would always have a piece of chicken or fish, rice, beans, a piece of cheese, and a deep fried plantain. I mean exactly that meal at every one but it was super cheap. I think around $2 US

 

[audreyh1]

Ah nice. The places we stopped were more for locals I guess. They would always have a piece of chicken or fish, rice, beans, a piece of cheese, and a deep fried plantain. I mean exactly that meal at every one but it was super cheap. I think around $2 US

Sounds like a casado, the “national” dish. Served just about everywhere. We had that a few times.

 

[skyking1]

@audreyh1 you'd enjoy chatting with my brother about tectonic plates and the like. He graduated from UBC's geology program in 1975, and loves to talk about things like the Siletzia terrane in the PNW.
I was downwind about 80 miles from the St Helens eruption and I am sure I told the stories.

 

[audreyh1]

@audreyh1 you'd enjoy chatting with my brother about tectonic plates and the like. He graduated from UBC's geology program in 1975, and loves to talk about things like the Siletzia terrane in the PNW.
I was downwind about 60 miles from the St Helens eruption and I am sure I told the stories.

I missed those Mt St Helens stories. Do you have any links?

 

[skyking1]

I missed those Mt St Helens stories. Do you have any links?

I'll start a thread. I searched and apparently did not tell it here.

EDIT: St Helens Stories link

 

[Sorcerer]

Friends brother went to CR a couple years ago. Their rental car broke down. Some locals rolled up and robbed him, stole his camera equipment. Seems like a nice place to vacation.

 

[1242Vintage]

Costa Rica has become our “let’s disappear for a while” place.

Last winter after the holidays we hung out in the Osa Peninsula in southwestern CR. Osa Peninsula is a very biodiverse place.

We are headed to CR in January.