Costa Rica 2010

esc2476

My wife and I returned to Costa Rica once again-this time with friends. It is my fifth time there (which includes a one day stop on a cruise) and my wife's forth time there.

We headed to La Fortuna/Arenal for the hot springs/volcano, then to Monteverde for the cloud forest, then to Islita on the Nicoya Peninsula for the beaches/sunny weather and finally to the Peace Lodge near the airport which boasts a "waterfall garden."

Post 1 of 4: La Fortuna/Arenal

Here we stayed at Tabacon because staying at the hotel entitles guests free entry into their hot springs. The hot springs are created by the magna from the nearby Arenal Volcano. Arenal Volcano is in a state of constant eruption. However, it is cloudy there often, so you usually can't see it erupt even if you can hear it. Unfortunately for me, I have been there three times now and have never seen the top.

The hot springs are real and they are spectacular:







Not sure who of us came up with this idea for a picture:



The hot springs are extremely difficult to shoot because the steam fogs up the lens and the viewfinder. Good night shots are even more difficult to come by, though I did come across a few:



There are constant reminders that we are near an active volcano:



Plenty of nature too. This little guy was found on our friends' hotel room door.



We also hiked down to the La Fortuna waterfall (which is not hot):

Niepce

I like your first and last shots best.

The light in the first one really conveys the heavy and humid atmosphere, while the trees in the last one make a perfect frame for the waterfall. Nice job.

esc2476

Post 2 of 4:

We then made our way to Monteverde/Santa Elena. To do so, we had to drive around Lake Arenal which is a dammed lake that provides hydroelectric power to Costa Rica and meets 60% of its power demands:



We stopped for lunch and had an extra guest (our friends are pictured):



We stayed at the El Establo:

From the hotel, we witnessed a beautiful sunset:







The next morning we headed to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. It has an interesting history which can be read about here.

hanging bridge:






One technique I learned on this trip was to lower the exposure inside a forest to -2/3 or -1 or so to get a bluer sky that is not washed out. usually the detail in the forest does not suffer too much.

esc2476

Niepce wrote:

I like your first and last shots best.

The light in the first one really conveys the heavy and humid atmosphere, while the trees in the last one make a perfect frame for the waterfall. Nice job.

Thank you

I should note that post-processing is not a string suit for me and I have not subjected any of my photos to post-processing yet.

esc2476

Post 3 of 4
We then headed to Punta Islita, which is pretty much heaven on earth.

I was the driver throughout the trip, so when I wanted to take a picture of the countryside, I had to do so quickly.

I know these needs a little photoshop help:



There is a lot to say about Punta Islita-all good. It was me and my wife's third time there. It is an oasis on the Pacific Ocean. The best way I can describe it is that it is the type of place you expect to see a celebrity hiding out in because it is luxurious and remote. Luckily, the prices are not completely outrageous, though it is expensive.

The four of us shared a three bedroom villa there with out own plunge pool and a hammock:







The grounds are amazing and practically deserted because they are much bigger than is needed for the amount of guests to resort can accommodate:







Their restaurant puts out amazing fresh food which is even more incredible based on how remote this place is:



The cherry on top is that the hotel works in partnership with the town it is located and has built numerous buildings for the town and even provides free daycare for the children of employees who are not old enough for school.

Unfortunately after three nights, we had to move on....

wirehunt

Those sunsets shots are stunners. Some good stuff in there you'd have to be happy with.

esc2476

wirehunt wrote:

Those sunsets shots are stunners. Some good stuff in there you'd have to be happy with.

Thank you so much. My photography is coming along, albeit more slowly than I would like.

esc2476

The Peace Lodge was the last stop. One hour north of the airport, it boasts a waterfall garden and an array of animals-most rescued from poachers, etc.

The Peace Lodge:



Waterfalls:





They had a butterfly area that was far more interesting than I imagined it would be:



We finally visited the tucans and one flew into the back of my head causing my wife to scream.





Thank you all for looking. The entire galleries are here: http://esc.smugmug.com/Vacations-Travel/Costa-Rica-2010

C+C welcome of course.