U.S. travelers and has been mentioned a lot on CB, so for those considering CR as a destination, here is what we did and what we learned on our recent trip to Costa Rica.

Rental Car info: We got a Hyundai Tucson SUV from Economy Rental Car. Third Party Liability insurance is required in Costa Rica. Many rental car companies do not include it in their quotes and then surprise you with it when you pick up the vehicles. This insurance cost us $20 a day and was included in the quote when I rented online from Economy. Often, you may hear that a 4x4 is required for some roads. This may be the case in the rainy season or for some out-of-the way places, but during the dry season (December to April) we did not find any roads the Tuscon could not handle and we went on several dirt/rocky roads.

Don't worry about not speaking Spanish in Costa Rica. All the popular sites are staffed by English speakers and you can get along just fine in Costa Rica speaking English. I would speak Spanish to them and they would usually respond in English. They like to speak English.

7 full days in Costa Rica - it was one of our shorter trips but allowed us to see and do quite a bit . You can easily spend more time there.

- Day 1, San Jose (the capital) to La Fortuna: Get out of San Jose as soon as you can. Traffic is absolutely horrible and there is really nothing to see in San Jose. The only thing we did there was to stop at Walmart to buy a case of bottled water and see the San Jose temple on our way to La Fortuna. It is a long drive to La Fortuna even though the distance is not that far. Went to La Fortuna Waterfall and took a Chocolate (cacao plantation) tour. La Fortuna waterfall is worth the visit although you walk down 500 stairs to get there which means 500 on the way up after your visit. You can swim there.

Note on bottled water: Single-use plastic water bottles are banned in most touristy areas of Costa Rica, but we used them to fill other multi-use water bottles and to drink in the car.

- Day 2, Arenal Volcano National Park: Good and mostly easy to moderate hiking trails. We saw white-faced (cappuchin) monkeys, a sloth, coatis and a lot of currasows. Arenal has great views of the now dormant volcano (last erupted in 2010) and Lake Arenal. At the end of the day, we spent some time in some of the many hot mineral water springs heated underground by the lava.

- Day 3, Mistico Hanging Bridges Park: About a 40 minute drive from the town of La Fortuna. Good trails through the jungle that cross over 20 total bridges, 6 of which are hanging bridges. Lots of wildlife to spot, mostly birds, snakes, lizards, and frogs. Drive to Santa Elena, the gateway to Monteverde. A large section of this drive is over nasty dirt roads. I can see why a 4x4 may be recommended in the rainy season but we had no issues other than needing to take it slow.

- Day 4, Monteverde Cloud Forest: Stop at the Calibri Cafe at the entrance to see the hummingbirds. They have lots of hummingbird feeders that attract many different species of hummingbirds. The hot chocolate at the cafe is excellent. Get here early or you may have to get your name on a waiting list. Entrance to the park is capacity controlled. We had to wait until 10:30 even though we got there at 8:30. It opens at 7:00am. It is a cooler, high-elevation location which can be covered in clouds and could rain. We were threatened with rain in the afternoon but it never materialized. Great hikes with some good views at the top. We saw the fabulous Quetzal birds here, an agouti, a coati and some monkeys high in the trees

- Day 5, Drive to Quepos on the coast: This was the location of our accommodations close to Manuel Antonio National Park. We stopped in Puntarenas to attend church at the local branch. We stopped at Tarcoles bridge where you can see many crocodiles sunning on the sandbar below. We saw about 10 of them; a couple of them were huge. We also stopped by the JACO letters (large colorful block letters on the side of the road that spell the name of the town) on the outskirts of Jaco. There are several pairs of Scarlet Macaws which live in the trees adjacent to the letters. We saw six birds when we were there. They mate for life and are often together in pairs. Also got copos here. Copos are Costa Rican shave ice and they are sweet and delicious. In Quepos, we went out to Nahomi park on the ocean and watched a really gorgeous sunset.

- Day 6, Manuel Antonio National Park: About a 20-minute drive from Quepos. Enter as soon as it opens (7am) and get a guide. We did not get a guide anywhere else, but get one here. We saw sloths, white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, toucans, baselisk lizards (the so-called Jesus Christ lizards because they can walk on water), morpho bright blue butterflies and many birds. We swam at Manuel Antonio beach. This is the warmest ocean water I have ever been in, warmer than Hawaii; no cold water shock at all when I dove in.

- Day 7, Nauyaca Falls: About an 80-minute drive south of Quepos. A fantastic two-tiered waterfall. You can swim at the lower falls. Some guides showed up and rigged ropes in the falls so you can climb higher and dive off into the pool. They were divers, the tourists were cannonballers and belly floppers 🙂 The water is a very nice temperature and not too cool. There are two entrances to the falls. We booked through Nauyaca Falls Nature Park. A large section of dirt road to their location. They let you spend as much time as you want at the falls. The other one (Don Lulo's) only gives you 2 hours. After the falls, we drove back to San Jose. Supposed to be a 3.5 -hour drive normally but took us 5 hours. Have I mentioned traffic is horrible in Costa Rica?

On the last night, we had dinner with one of my former assistants and his Colombian wife (also served in our mission) and their two young boys. It was great to see them after 8 years. They are a great young couple.

Came home to cold Utah and wished we were still in Costa Rica.