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April-May 2000
Santa Elena, Arenal Volcano, Montezuma, San Jose
Brett Voegele2005-11-13 10:23:30
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Santa Elena
I had decided to try and get to Costa Rica for Semana Santa (Easter) rather than hanging out in Nicaragua, so I left at 3:45 in the morning. Had to catch a bus to the other side of the island, a 1 hour boat ride to a small town, and another couple of buses to the border. Exiting Nicaragua was easy, but I should have known it was going to be a long day when I had to show my passport 4 different times between the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican border posts. Many countries state that you can't enter unless you have an onward ticket or sufficient funds, but that stipulation is rarely enforced....Costa Rica decided to enforce it that day. I was forced to buy a bus ticket back to Managua (cheapest I could get, and one which I had no intention of using) before immigration would allow me to enter the country. With the huge line of people and the additional hassle, it took over 2 hours to get through the border. From there it was a 2 hour bus ride to Canas, a half hour bus ride to Tilaran, and because there were no more buses that day going to Monteverde/Santa Elena, I ended up hitchhiking the last leg. Ride was beautiful, and view out to the coast was spectacular. Santa Elena itself was a very small town, and quite touristy, but centrally located in the mountains (considerably cooler) with a lot to do in the area - a good place to be holed up for 6 days. Spent most days taking hikes through the cloud forests, seeing many birds, monkeys, etc., though one day was spent on a different type of tour. Sky Trek was a 2 hour tour through the cloud forest, but most of the distance was covered via 'zip' lines - cables stretched from one platform to another. A climbing harness was attached to a pulley, which was placed on the cable, allowing a person to ride through the treetops. There were about 11 different lines, with the longest being about 1/4 mile in length and 35 stories off the ground. It was a lot of fun and offered a
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