Flying over beautiful Costa Rica on our approach to San Jose
Monday, June 17 – Friday, June 21
Our first week in Costa Rica, we chose to explore the volcanoes and lush jungles of the Lake Arenal region. We stayed in an Airbnb between the lake and the cute town of Tilarán. The set up was perfect! This is a sustainable community with full time residents who live in a variety of eco-friendly housing, mostly shipping containers but also some incredible cast-concrete structures. There is also a hotel and brewery on site with a fabulous restaurant which we had either breakfast, dinner, or both at every day!
Our fantastic Airbnb, The Playhouse , located in a friendly, sustainable community
The community we stayed in had a skate park
And a pool with amazing views
Local friend someone brought into The Brewery for us to meet!
Tuesday, June 18
Arenal Volcano
Wednesday, June 19
It rained a lot so we decided to have a more chill day and go into Tilarán for lunch, grab some fresh produce, and cook dinner at our cute house that night! Plus, with the Brewery just down the road, you can always pop in for a bit of socializing and a glass of wine!
The small, family-owned place we stopped for lunch is only listed as “Restaurant” on Google Maps but it’s worth a shout out! It was healthy, fresh food and great location–there were so many local doggos walking by outside! 5 stars for the entertainment!
Delicious food & cold beer to beat the heat
Thursday, June 20
It was a very “Costa Rican” drive from The Playhouse to Rio Celeste. The dirt road below meandering through open countryside represents the condition of about 75% of the roads around the country. Things aren’t very far apart distance-wise, it just takes forever to get there because the infrastructure is so minimal.
Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and the waterfall at Rio Celeste wasn’t its usual brilliant turquoise color, but it was raging with much more water than usual! We had a great hike anyways and loved all the crazy plants and insects we stumbled on during our journey.
After Rio Celeste we found a cacao plantation that was giving free tours! Our guide was so great and he hiked us around this big mosquito-infested property (mosquitos apparently fertilize the cacao buds!) for over an hour. It was interesting and extremely itchy.
Fresh cacao with water. Unbelievable!
I cannot express how delicious their chocolate was. The 70% bar is probably the best I have ever had! I wish I would have bought many, many more bars. If you ever see Tree Chocolate anywhere, BUY IT, and then call me and tell me where you found it!
Another highlight of heading to Lake Arenal Brewery are all the local doggos that hang out! The bartender, owner, and several residents have dogs that come and go as they please. Heaven for a girl like me!
Our final night at The Playhouse, the chef at The Brewery made us the most amazing ceviche I think we had of the entire trip! We definitely left on a high note! The people of this community made our trip so special. I cannot recommend staying here enough!
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