Leaving Barranco, Lima to head to the airport gave us a few extra heartbeats. There was a lot of traffic, and we went to a wrong address before finding our way to the airport. I was horrified because I thought it was a major hub and the security lines must be horrendous — but luckily it was a smooth cruise once we finally got there.
The flight to San José, Costa Rica took about 4 hours and there was no drama. Sometimes when there's turbulence, our son actually gets excited for the “homppupomppu” — like Tigger in Winnie the Pooh. I, on the other hand, tend to grab Matias by the leg and squeeze tight 😅
Once we got off the plane, I noticed that this time the junior was missing his cap, and we had to wait a few minutes to get it. This meant we were the last in line for immigration. And the line was a loooong one :/ There were also no restrooms anywhere along the corridor, which made the waiting even more uncomfortable.
I suggested the junior run around a bit to burn off steam — and also kind of hoped he’d be noticed by airport staff. Luckily someone did notice all the little kids in the line, and soon enough we got moved to the kids’ priority line. A very smooth and easy way into the country, luckily.
We had booked two nights in San José, and the idea was to explore one full day, visit travel agencies and book transfers to the destinations we had chosen. (We also pondered renting a car, but then weighed how much we actually wanted to drive around…)
We found two agencies that actually had offices, just like the good old days — but sadly, no nostalgia here. We were knocking on the doors but there wasn’t anyone there to welcome us. Matias WhatsApped one or two places, but the prices were high and the shared transfers weren’t leaving at a reasonable time.
So we turned to our hotel receptionist — Joseph, or something — and he was a gem. He really helped us out and asked around. He went above and beyond and finally got us a driver named Marlon from Costa Rica Transfer.
But before our road trip began, we did visit the city. I felt a little bit uneasy walking through some less crowded areas before reaching the city centre, but all was good — and once again we got our daily steps in.
We wandered around, visited the San José Central Market and bought some souvenirs, and enjoyed the vibrant music and colours of the street.
There were two sets of three to choose from, and we actually didn’t get the one we wanted, which was a bummer because the reviews kept saying how great the Henry blend is. But luckily they made our own Henry-style tasting for us to try. It was interesting — almost like iced tea in coffee form. Not bad at all!
 |
| Coffee, coffee, coffee!! |
After that there was more walking and wandering ahead. We almost ordered an Uber, but we had a deal with the kid: 10 minutes of YouTube/TV screen time per 1 km walked, so after a discussion we got the steps in again. This tactic really helped us along the way :)
Road trip: San José to Manuel Antonio
After a meaty breakfast with gallo pinto, we were ready to get the road trip going. We were greeted by our driver Marlon in the lobby, and we were pleasantly surprised when we saw the ride: we had a spacious van all to ourselves! We hopped in the van and started our way to the southern side of the country. Marlon spoke some English and we spoke some Spanish, so this was a great trip for both of us to practice and learn some more.
 |
| The wheels are here |
The drive was smooth and we enjoyed the scenery and Marlon’s insider stories about his country.
We stopped to eat some empanadas and to see a big, chunky crocodile at Puente Tárcoles. The journey took several hours and the roads can be scary — one lane in many places, and unfortunately a lot of people die on the roads. But Marlon was a great driver and we didn’t need to worry. We also stopped shortly for groceries and saw some toucans nearby on the tree.
When we arrived at our hotel, Villas de la Selva, it was around sunset and wow — what a view we had! It was astonishing. Our balcony had a hammock and it was so lovely to bask in the sun and really enjoy the beauty this country (and this world) can offer. We were told that near our balcony there was a “monkey highway”. So cool! This was the first real indication that we were properly in nature now.
 |
| Manuel Antonio stunning balcony views |
We stayed in Manuel Antonio for 4 nights. The first full day was more for exploring: seeing the nearby beach and enjoying the warm water. And we did see monkeys — smaller ones jumping from branch to branch, heard howler monkeys roar, and also saw a couple of the bigger ones too.
But the closest we got to them was when they entered our balcony! We had a staring competition with them, and after losing that game one monkey… well… sh*tted on our balcony. Thanks, mate... After that we made sure not to leave the door open.
 |
| White-faced capuchin monkeys were our regular visitors |
The main reason to come here was Manuel Antonio National Park. We hoped to see wildlife (sloths in particular), waterfalls, and enjoy the beautiful beaches.
When we visited the national park it was a hot day and we decided to first walk 1.3 km to the entrance of the park and then start the journey inside. Many people had guides to help spot wildlife, but we opted to save the money — Costa Rica was turning out to be quite an expensive country. But whenever crowds stopped, we sometimes stopped too and listened to their explanations. One nice guide even took my phone and made a video of a sloth to show our son, because it was quite difficult to see anything clearly.
We did see a tiny waterfall too — but after Iguazú, what’s the point anymore, right? Still, we appreciated it, and the step count (and junior's YouTube timer) kept climbing. On the way we saw a deer, some bright red legged crabs on the ground, monkeys, birds etc.
Inside the park there was a cafeteria so we could refuel before heading to the beach. There were two sides of the beach: the first (Playa Manuel Antonio) was crowded and a little dirty (maybe just leaves, but anyway), so we decided to walk just a tiny bit more — and that paid off. The other beach (Playa Espadilla Sur) was less crowded and very beautiful.
 |
| Playa Manuel Antonio inside the national park |
Our son loved the ocean and built sandcastles, and I swam, floated and enjoyed the water and the view of the beach from the sea. I really tried to take “mental pictures” to return to later. I loved it there.
Then it was time to head back out of the park. We knew we still had a fairly long walk ahead if we headed back up the hill towards the restaurant cluster near our hotel, so we were happy to spot a nice-looking place by the beach not far from the park. Matias had been dreaming of eating lobster somewhere, and Restaurante Marlin turned out to be the perfect beach side stop. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was spot on.
 |
| Yummy seafood |
Then more walking up the hill and we were back at our hotel, enjoying that beautiful view once again.
Road trip to La Fortuna
We had been weighing different options for getting to La Fortuna, but our first drive with Marlon had gone so smoothly that the choice started to feel obvious. We messaged back and forth and ended up booking him not only for the ride from Manuel Antonio to La Fortuna, but also for the later transfer back to San José where we had our flight out.
So the next morning Marlon picked us up again, and as always, the drive wasn’t just “getting from A to B” — it came with spontaneous stops and little surprises along the way.
We pulled over at random viewpoints just because the scenery demanded it. At one stop Marlon casually turned the whole break into a mini jungle mission.
He disappeared down a little path and into the bushes like he was on a secret assignment, moving around for a while as if he knew exactly what he was looking for. We stood there half amused, half curious, watching him rummage through the greenery.
And then he reappeared holding a tiny, exotic red frog in his hands.
Even better: the junior bravely held it too, and we got some great photos before the little guy was safely returned back to the jungle.
The roads climbed and twisted through the mountains, and the landscape kept changing. At some point we stopped for a tasty lunch at a buffet-style place that also had a butterfly house and some bigger animals on the backyard.
Little stops like that made the long drive feel easy. Instead of just counting kilometres, we kept collecting small moments, and suddenly five hours on the road didn’t feel like a big deal at all and soon we found ourselves in La Fortuna.
La Fortuna itself felt like a classic Costa Rica postcard: warm air, lush surroundings, and the famous Arenal volcano watching over everything in the background. Once again it was around sunset when we arrived, so the timing was spot on and almost immediately after getting in to our Airbnb apartment we left to check out the neighborhood.
 |
| The Arenal volcano seen from La Fortuna |
The apartment itself was interesting too. Every now and then we’d hear faint rustling behind the walls because, as it turned out, there were bats living in there. From what we understood, bats are protected wildlife here, so the “just poison them and be done with it” option wasn't an option for the owner. On top of that, the upstairs air conditioner kept acting up. A repair guy even came by once, but the Spanish conversation was short and efficient and the AC still shut down again after a while. At least we learned where the fuse box was located and which fuse we needed to reset to make the AC work for another 30-60 minutes at a time.. All in all, a very authentic stay, for better or worse.
There were tour guide stands all over the town. We chatted with one guide just next to our apartment and booked a sloth spotting tour (Tour Mundo de Perezosos, we highly recommend) for the next day and a chocolate & coffee tour (Don Olivo Chocolate tour. Also nice, but the kid got bored there) for the day after that. In hindsight the commission was a bit much considering the sloth tour was a short walking distance away. If you're around, just check Google Maps and go straight to the place or check their website to book.
The next morning after breakfast, we walked to the sloth tour place. Besides us there was an American couple and a guide. The first stop of the tour was just around the corner. There were some sloths in the trees, and the guide set up a telescope so we could get a better look — the sloths were high up. He explained that sloths usually stay up in the canopy and only come down to ground level about once a week. Even though they were far away, we got a surprisingly good look through the scope.
After a while we took a small path leading into the rainforest. We saw a long trail of ants, big birds, hummingbirds, termites (did you know some species smell and taste like peppermint? We do now…), and all kinds of plants and trees.
The tour ended at the same place where it started. It was a little disappointing that the sloths were all so far away, so after the tour we decided to take one last peek around the corner where they’d been in the trees. On the way, the junior called out excitedly. Matias turned, half expecting he’d found a nice rock or something similar — but to our very big surprise, there was a sloth right in front of us on the ground, slowly making its way towards the trees!
I ran back to the tour office to tell the others, and soon the guides and the American couple came with us to see this rare sight. We stood there for a good while and the sloth seemed unfazed by the little crowd watching it and taking pictures.
.jpg) |
| Perezoso |
Next day we did the chocolate tour. There we got to sample different fruits covered in chocolate, homebrew rum, coffee and chocolate and learned about the process of chocolate making. The junior was not so interested though, I bet he would have enjoyed running in some playground more. He did like the chocolate though.. After the tour we just lingered around the town a bit, and got ready for the car ride next day.
In the morning when it was time to move on, Marlon picked us up once again and we started heading towards Alajuela. And yes, more stops again. A stunning waterfall, views all the way back towards San José, and a moment where Marlon got his well-deserved thanks for being such a great driver and guide.
 |
| Marlon & Matias |
In Alajuela we still had the evening to explore after checking in at the hotel. We found a nice, affordable restaurant, a good playground nearby, and a generally easy, friendly atmosphere — it was a good place to slow down for a moment before the next chapter.
-Sini & Mateo
