Cabinas LikaAKA Lika BirdPuerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Cabinas Lika offers very nice accommodation for those on a budget; 10.000 colones (US$18) for a big room with a clean private bathroom, a double bed and two bunk beds.

Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Young person pissing on the beach. Apparently, many hotels do essentially the same thing, dumping their sewage into the sea, therefore Tamarindo can no longer boast the prestigious Blue Flag.

The Automercado in Tamarindo

We were in the neighborhood, and decided to drop by Tamarindo. We had the idea that Tamarindo was a gringo-infested, boring and slightly dirty beach, and this was empirically confirmed upon arrival. Some times, if you're prejudiced, it's better to follow your instinct and stay away. Although it's not as hideous as Jacó, it's still very silly to stay in Tamarindo when there are so many nicer options nearby.

Rest. Elena Brown, Puerto Viejo

Rest. Elena Brown boasts one of the purplest and most spacious ladies' rooms in Central America

Rest. Elena Brown, just outside town on the way to Cocles, appears to have changed quite a bit during the last months; new administration or something. The IWCRP restaurant inspectors feel that it has changed for the better. The menu is now quite interesting, and the chicken in green curry (thai style but less lethal) deserves special mention.

Volcán Barva

Enjoyable view at 2 p.m

Trails abound

The park's main attraction

The extinct Barva volcano is 2906 m high and a nice place if you like walking. From the park entrance to the first of three lakes it's a 45 min walk, approximately 3-4 km. It's probably a good idea to get there early (before 10), since thick fog tends to appear during the day and make the view somewhat less impressive.

The Barva is a better option than the more famous Irazú and Poas volcanoes for those who dislike crowds, since it's considerably less accessible. If you have your own car, you can drive to the park entrance (bad roads, 4WD recommended), but it's still quite exhausting to walk in the thin air. If you go by bus from Heredia to Sacramento, you have to walk from Sacramento, another couple of hours. The bus leaves from the market in Heredia.

Entrance fee ¢1.000 for nationals and residents, maybe 3-4.000 for tourists. The park closes at 4 pm.

Playa Sámara, Costa Rica

Playa Sámara is an OK beach, not too spectacular, we stayed for one night before moving on to Playa Guiones about 1 hour north.

Tutti Frutti, one of several bars / restaurants on the beach. This one is italian and has a nice outside area under a big tree on the beach.

Tutti Frutti ladies' room, thanks to MJ for valuable research

Rest. Las Brasas by the football field in Sámara. The food was not particularly good, and not as plentiful as we had hoped for. The service was just weird.

First and fanciest bar on the beach, we think it's called Snacks. They have a relatively impressive list of drinks, and prices are not bad compared to the alternatives.

Snacks WC

Bar Las Olas, perhaps the least fancy of the bars on the beach, but with a pool tables and a Fussball table which kind of works despite certain missing key players

We stayed at the Tico Adventure Lodge. Basic rooms with a/c and a balcony cost $40. The reviews at tripadvisor generally express satisfaction with the rooms and hatred towards the owner, who is claimed to be a very rude person. We talked to him for about 2 minutes, and although it was a very uncontrovertial conversation, he did appear to have a quite unpleasant personality. The rest of the staff were great, though.

Turrialba day 2: Pejivalle & Humo

Río Pejivalle @ el Humo

Río Pejivalle @ el Humo

Thriving automotive industry in Pejivalle

COOPEJIBAYE R.L.

Rio Pejivalle @ Pejivalle

Young baptists

La Cueva del Sapo, Clandestine bar in el Humo

La cueva del Sapo, interior details

La cueva del Sapo, WC entrance

La Cueva del Sapo WC

El Humo: cooking ladies and former football hero attending some kind of fund-raising.

WC @ el Humo

Little effort was made to find WCs on our second day in the Turrialba area. Partially because we spent a lot of time by the very clean Río Pejivalle, aka. Río Pejibaye, Río Pejiballe or Río Pejivaye. Spelling rules are somewhat diffuse, but it appears that Pejibaye is a fruit, Pejivalle is the town and that the name of the river can be spelled any way you like. The river is apparently a good one for rafting and kayaking, and the area is a new favourite of ours in Costa Rica.

Accommodation in Turrialba: Hotel Turrialba

Lost in translation:
WC = "odorless".

The famous odorless device.

10.000 colones for a very basic room with private bath and a fan. Not horribly expensive, but traffic noise was considerable and someone broke into our car during the night. Can't really blame the hotel for that, though.