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13
Around the Volcanoes
or
All of Costa Rica in One Day

Buses for Zarcero and San Carlos leave hourly, or more frequently, from the Coca-Cola station, Calle 16, Avenidas 1/3, San José.

Hotel Conquistador, tel. 460-0546. 30 rooms. $10 to $15 per person, depending on day of week and time of year.

A pleasant, colonial-style building. Rooms are plain, with private bath, good for the price. Protected parking. On the edge of town, along the street that leads toward San José.

The Hotel Central (tel. 460-0766, 49 rooms, $15 to $25 per person, subject to negotiation), on the square, is a concrete, unadorned building with plain rooms that will do for the night. And there are other, lesser hostelries.

From San Carlos, you can go on by bus toward Arenal volcano, fast becoming Costa Rica's adventure center (see page 438) and around Lake Arenal; deep into the low-lying tropical forest north of Poás and Irazú volcanoes, and back to San José through Braulio Carrillo National Park; or even to remote Los Chiles, near the Nicaraguan border at the eastern end of Lake Nicaragua, where you can commence a river journey along historic routes of conquest (see page 436).

Some schedules, as recently posted:

to Fortuna, 6 a.m., 6:30, 9:30, 10:30 a.m., 1, 3, 3:30 and 6 p.m.

to Arenal and Tilarán, near the Pan American Highway, via Lake Arenal and Fortuna, at 6:30 and 9:30 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m.;

to Puerto Viejo and Río Frío, north of the volcanoes of the Central Valley, about every two hours from 5 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

to Los Chiles, about every two hours from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To San José, buses depart every hour from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A paved branch road runs northward through mostly flat, hot, sugarcane and citrus country, to Los Chiles, near Caño Negro Wildlife Reserve and the border with Nicaragua. You need not stop at the border. You can keep going all the way to the shores of Lake Nicaragua, and across it toward Managua.

La Quinta Lodge, 18 kilometers from Ciudad Quesada on the road to Los Chiles, is a roadside family-style stopping place with pool, snack bar open weekends, hammocks, basketball court, and guest facilities in a large house and cottages. The rate in bunks in the cottages is about $15 per person up to eight persons accommodated in each. In the house, a large family room goes for about $45. The River San Carlos, alive with tarpon, runs alongside the property, and you're welcome to drop a line down the steep bank (strictly catch-and-release). Caimans sometimes stop and sun themselves on the rocks. Call 460-0731 in Ciudad Quesada or fax 475-5260 to reserve.

Muelle is a farm center and crossroads in the rolling citrus and sugar-cane country northwest of San Carlos. If you're driving, you'll find eating houses, among them La Subasta ("The Auction"), a name sometimes given to steakhouses in Central America. Nearby are Hotel La Garza country lodge, tel. 475-5222, fax 475-5015, as well as the more formidable Tilajari:

Tilajari Resort, Muelle de San Carlos (P. O. Box 81, Ciudad Quesada), tel. 469-9091, fax 461-9095, www.tilajari.com. 54 rooms. $100 and up double.

Amid the sugarcane fields of the vicinity, along the San Carlos River, Tilajari is a full-fledged country club in facilities and appearance, except that the golf links haven't yet been installed on the acres of lawn. But you will find racquet ball, lighted tennis courts, a large pool and kids' pool, sauna, and a restaurant with a shaded terrace overlooking the River San Carlos. Rooms are in pantile-roofed villas, and are on the plain side, with quiet central air conditioning. Suites, for only slightly more than the regular room rate, have a loft, separate bedroom, and television and refrigerator. Riding horses are available, and trips to Arenal volcano and Caño Negro reserve, jungle walks and boating are arranged. About 21 kilometers from Ciudad Quesada.

[ These are more substantial facilities than anywhere else in the area, but the nicest part is the river that winds through the property, along which you might chance upon a crocodile taking a break.

! With sports facilities and such, Tilajari caters more to the tastes of Tico families than of foreign visitors. There are few dining or amusement alternatives adjacent.

Río San Carlos Lodge, P. O. Box 354-4400 Boca de Arenal (tel. 469-0766, fax 469-0391, $85 double with breakfast) is a lovely country house with wood-panelled rooms (one with tub inset in the floor), arched windows overlooking the San Carlos River, swimming pool, and views of Arenal volcano. The grounds are covered by trees and cultivated flowering plants. An attractive stopping point, indeed, 9 kilometers north of the junction at Muelle, but the sugar mill across the road could be a distraction at harvest times.

To the north, the lands that roll on toward Nicaragua have being opened to settlement by new roads, constructed as part of development schemes that have led to the destruction of forests and animal life.

Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge was set aside to save some of the native bird species. Lake Caño Negro, frequented by migratory birds, covers 800 hectares in the rainy season, but dries up to a fraction of that size from February through May. Rare species here include the Nicaraguan grackle. There are also anhingas, ibis, northern jacana, roseate spoonbills, rare jabiru storks, and cormorants. Puma, jaguar, ocelots, and monkeys (spider, white-faced and howler) are found in the dry parts of the reserve. With fishing equipment (arranged through a travel agency or Arenal Lodge), Caño Negro is the place to go to catch and release huge tarpon, as well as guapote and snook.

Caño Negro is located southwest of the village of Los Chiles, which can be reached by paved road in a couple of hours by bus, less by car, from Ciudad Quesada (San Carlos). A dirt road continues southwest past the lake, and onward toward Upala, but the going is difficult even in the dry season. A better bet is to take a boat up the Río Frío and Patos River from Los Chiles. One can be hired for the day for $50 or less.

In San José, Sertur is one of the travel agencies that operates excursions to Caño Negro, or get in touch with Servitur in Los Chiles (see below).

Basic camping facilities are available.

There isn't much, at first glance, in the frontier village of Los Chiles, but a closer look reveals adventures galore on and off the beaten track if you don't have to adhere to a schedule. Within reach are Caño Negro Wildlife Reserve; Medio Queso Wildlife and Marsh Reserve along the border with Nicaragua (nobody goes here); Arenal Volcano; the little-visited Solentiname Islands in Lake Nicaragua; the even-less-visited colonial fortress of El Castillo de La Concepción deep in the jungle along the San Juan River; and the colonial city of Granada on the far shore of lake Nicaragua. For details, read ahead.

With the more usual restraints, such as a plane to catch to get you home, you can well employ the services of the Servitur adventure travel shop in Los Chiles (tel. and fax 471-1055) to whisk you to adventure and back on a schedule. Prices run about $33 for Caño Negro (less for a large group), to $180 or less for a two-day visit to Solentiname.

Staying in Los Chiles

Servitur has a grip on travel arrangements in town, but fortunately, it's a benign one, and their Hotel Jabirú is a modest facility with hot water, ceiling fans, green space, and even a reading room. The rate is about $25 single/$35 double, and meals are served for $6 or less.

Buses run from Ciudad Quesada (San Carlos) to Los Chiles about every two hours from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. One or two buses a day run between Los Chiles and Upala, passing the refuge; or,it's a walk or taxi ride of about 15 kilometers.

The Smugglers' Route to Nicaragua

No roads lead from Los Chiles to Nicaragua, but it's easy, convenient, and not too expensive to backtrack along the river routes followed over the centuries by British invaders, pirates, smugglers, rebels, and contras. No signs of such past conflicts are visible today, and in fact, traffic is so sparse, that it will be easy to believe that you're the first gringo ever to venture this way.

On most days, long riverboats (pangas) leave for San Carlos, at the head of the San Juan River on lake Nicaragua, at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. From Ciudad Quesada (the Tico San Carlos), you can make the connection if you take the first bus of the day for Los Chiles. Boat fare is a relatively high $10 per person, and departure is by no means guaranteed if there are not enough passengers to make the run worthwhile.

If you're taking the boat, stop in first at the Costa Rican immigration office, a block up from the river landing, and declare your intentions.

The border itself is at Reserva Esperanza ("Hope Reserve"), a jungle landing of primary forest dripping with vines that trail into the water, and resounding to the complaints of howler monkeys. Stay aboard, while the pilot's helper carries identification papers up to the shack to be officially stamped—and don't fail to give your papers in. It will be costly to come back on your own or to tip an official to overlook your omission.

Beyond the reserve, the river opens up, and the jungle gives way to banana plantations, subsistence corn plots, and scattered plank huts. Finally, the banks part to a great expanse of water, the San Juan River, San Carlos huddling in on the far side, the flat expanse of Lake Nicaragua spreading out to distant volcanoes. This hidden metropolis of the hills and jungles is only 45 minutes from Los Chiles.

Entry to Nicaragua officially takes place in San Carlos, a dusty and muddy town with limited facilities for visitors, for fees ranging from $7 upward, depending on your nationality.

Lodging in San Carlos is available for $18 double with bath at Cabinas Leyko in hardwood-panelled, breezy rooms, toward the western edge of town. An alternative is Paradero Turístico El Desaguadero, tel. 83-20084. Closer in, basic rooms are $4 to $8 per person at the Hotel Río San Juan, with a terrace overlooking the lake. Cheaper, and less desirable, is the Hospedaje Peña a block from where the boat stops.

From San Carlos in Nicaragua, you can board the daily river diesel boat and sail downriver as far as El Castillo, four hours distant, with its great and little-visited Spanish fortress, where Horatio Nelson was once captured in a sideshow to the imperial struggles of the nineteenth century. Basic lodging is available. Departures are at 2 p.m. for sure, and some mornings at 8 and 9 a.m. The return boat leaves from El Castillo at 5 a.m. Beyond El Castillo, rapids and shallows make regular navigation impossible. On Tuesdays and Fridays, a steamer heads at 3 p.m. for the large lake port of Granada, in central Nicaragua, with a stop at Ometepe island. On other days, it's a long and bumpy ride by bus to Managua.

Return boats for Los Chiles leave reliably on most days at noon and 2 p.m., though on some days there are also trips at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

For more details, see my Nicaragua Guide, available from Passport Press, P.O. Box 1346, Champlain, NY 12919, travelbook@yahoo.com.

The main route from San Carlos for visitors is to the northwest. A good paved road winds and curves downward, then runs through humid, cattle-grazing lowlands, toward Arenal volcano, the Tilarán mountain range, and Arenal lake and dam.

Currently, a section of road after the dam is unpaved, and passable during the rainy season only by bus or in a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Beyond this difficult stretch are several water sports facilities on Lake Arenal; the town of Tilarán, and the Pan American Highway at Cañas.

FORTUNA

Hotel Rancho Corcovado, tel. 479-9300, fax 479-9090. 30 rooms. $55 double, $15 per extra person. Weekly packages available.

Located about eight kilometers east of Fortuna at a hamlet called Tanque (TAN-keh), Rancho Corcovado is a modern roadside lodging place with clean, tile-floored rooms, each with two or three beds with good mattresses, bedside lamps, and overhead fans, and, as they say here, a very good attention from the family headed by César Romero. There are two small t.v. lounges, and children's' and adult pools. The veranda restaurant and bar at the rear overlook a river and pond where caimans pass the day, and howler monkeys and assorted other small mammals frequent the site.

Las Cabañitas, tel. 479-9400, fax 479-9408, cabanita@sol.racsa.co.cr

30 cottages. $85 double.

On the eastern outskirts of Fortuna, Swiss-appearing cottages of wood and stone with tile roofs, a restaurant, pool, attractive gardens, and second-story lookout for volcano observation. Add $30 for three meals.

! Attractive, but overpriced for motel-level facilities, on the wrong side for the best volcano views.

Cabinas El Tucán, tel. 479-9048, is a great value for no-frills lodging if you're travelling by car: six plain, neat, clean rooms in two cottages, at about $14 per person, sharing bath. From the eastern entry to town, turn right, right again, and go 300 meters through a cow pasture, to where you can lodge just as if your were in the middle of the campo.

Hotel San Bosco (27 rooms, tel. 479-9050, fax 479-9178, fortuna@racsa.co.cr), two blocks off the main street, is the most substantial lodging place right in town. The newer section has large rooms with accoutrements such as shower doors, which raise the price, if not the comfort, to $50 single/$60 double; while the older part is good enough, with little extras like headboards on the beds, at $16 single/$28 double. And there is a third-floor observation platform for viewing Arenal's fireworks on clear nights.

Hotel Fortuna (13 rooms, tel. 479-9197), to the left side entering town from the east, has clean rooms with tile floors at $14 per person with private bath, less if sharing bath. Good value.

Hotel Central, tel. 479-9004, on the main street, is a neat wooden building with restaurant attached, with rooms under $10 per person or less. Like everyone else, they'll help with arrangements for horseback riding and volcano trips.

Albergue Burío (Burío Inn, P. O. Box 1234-1250 Escazú, tel. 479-9076, or 228-0267 in San José, 8 rooms, $22 per person) enfolds a gardened alleyway opposite the plaza. That's a modest situation, indeed, but management counts for something here. The owners know everything about the area and can arrange cave and volcano trips and fishing ($30 per hour on Lake Arenal, $300 for a group on the Río San Juan in Nicaragua). Rooms have private bath and are clean and modestly attractive, with stuccoed and panelled walls and overhead fan, and a single and a bunk bed. Breakfast is included in the rate.

Hotel Las Colinas (tel. and fax 479-9107, 21 rooms, $16 single/$30 double), half a block off the main street from the Hotel Central, has plain rooms with private bath. They also run their own Arenal volcano and cave tours. Credit cards accepted, which is not the case at many hotels here.

And there at least half a dozen other hotels and cabinas in town. Cabinas Carmela, on the main road opposite the church (tel. 479-9010), has an enclosed parking area, and rooms for $25 double.

Out of town to the west, toward the volcano:

Finca de Cito, one kilometer past Fortuna, has camping space in a pasture.

La Vaca Muca (tel. 479-9186), farther down the road, has basic rooms.

La Catarata Ecotourist Lodge, tel. and fax 479-9522, a sort of summer camp for grown-ups, is two kilometers out of Fortuna, with six rooms with private bath sleeping up to three each. Rates are $22 single/$32 double/$47 triple, less for students and groups. Meals are $3 for breakfast, $7 for lunch or dinner. Excursions emphasize organic farming, horseback riding, and medicinal plants, as well as the volcano. To reserve, call 283-8975, fax 283-9116 in San José, wwfcii@sol.racsa.co.cr.

Casa de Campo, about four kilometers from Fortuna, has camping.

Centro Campero Las Palmas, tel. 479-9106, just farther on, also has camping space, as well as plain rooms with private bath at $15 per person.

La Choza del Laurel ("Hut of the Bay Tree"), west of the church on the main road, is a folksy eating spot with long wooden tables set up under a rough-shingled roof, set with home-style pottery ware. You'll be ushered into the kitchen to serve yourself from pots of rice and beans, chicken and rice, tamales, and other simmering country specialties, and charged according to what you consume, from $4 upward. Fruit drinks and herbal beverages are also served. You won't do better for wholesome fare, and you can arrive as early as you wish for breakfast.

Elsewhere, Rancho La Cascada, on one corner of the square, serves a standard assortment of "international" chicken, steak and fish main courses for $5 to $7 under a high thatched roof. El Jardín, on the main street opposite the square, also offers plain food in soda-shop surroundings. Rancho La Pradera, on the way to Arenal volcano, serves country fare in a thatched pavilion.

You will probably have arrived to Fortuna to get a closer look at Arenal volcano (see below), but while you're here, numerous other adventures are available within easy reach of your hotel base. The most distant is Caño Negro reserve, about an hour's drive north. Other easily reached destinations are the Venado caves, just north of Lake Arenal; Lake Arenal itself, for fishing (but there are few points where you can get right down to the water); and the surrounding countryside for horseback riding and walking and birding. With some guidance, you can set out by foot for Monteverde, about 20 kilometers and several mountain ridges away.

The Fortuna River Falls (Catarata Río Fortuna) are about 5.5 kilometers from town, from a turn from the main road by the church. Follow the washboard road for 1.4 kilometers through rolling pastures, then turn right and continue another 4 kilometers. If you reach a bridge on the first road, you've gone too far. A short path leads to a viewpoint from which you can appreciate a narrow chute that plunges from the forest into the valley below. It would be a long walk out this way, but it makes for a pleasant horseback excursion or motoring detour.

Tabacón, 12 kilometers past Fortuna, where the road drops into a lush river valley, is the site of several hot springs gushing out from near the base of Arenal volcano.

Tabacón Resort, once a low-priced getaway, has been rebuilt into a colonial-style country club and spa with luxuriant landscaping of palms, pools, and pleasures such as massages and assorted treatments both expected and surprising, all of which might well draw comparisons to the Garden of Eden or Shangri-La. Many tours to Arenal volcano stop here, though you can also stay the night, and more, at about $100 single/$120 double with breakfast. Call 222-1072 or fax 221-3075 in San José, tabacon@sol.racsa.co.cr, for details.

Across the road and down a short path, you can enjoy no-frills bathing in steaming pools along the river for about $2.

ARENAL VOLCANO

Mount Arenal (1633 meters), which overlooks much of the San Carlos plain and the northern Pacific lowlands, has the distinction of being the volcano in Costa Rica that most looks like a volcano, with its characteristic conical shape. It also acts like one, having erupted spectacularly in 1968 and spewed ashes over a wide area.

And it hasn't stopped since. On most nights, clouds of iridescent gas cling to the summit. The earth rumbles, and boulders the size of a house explode a thousand feet into the air, to a resounding orchestral accompaniment of pops and crackles and booms, and arc and fall a thousand feet back to the crater, to bounce and shatter their way down. Lava in red and orange and yellow spews and slithers along the slopes.

Nobody in his right mind climbs Arenal. Several people who have attempted to do so in recent years, including at least one tourist, have been killed. But there is no peril in observing the fireworks from a safe vantage point in the valley below, or even hiking on the lower part of the slopes.

Arenal National Park, covering almost 3000 hectares, protects waters that drain into Lake Arenal and propel hydroelectric turbines. Characteristic trees are rosewood, chicle, balsa and guayabo; common forest mammals are tapirs, coatis, sloth and paca, or tepezcuintle, while the elusive jaguar is said to be spotted occasionally. In additional to Arenal volcano, the collapsed Chato volcano holds a green lake in its crater in the middle of a forest.

Facilities in the park include a visitors center, with coffee shop and gift shop, and explanations of the life-cycle of volcanoes, the ethnology of the area, and the energy-generating potential of volcanoes.

Staying Nearby

Several lodges in Fortuna or closer to Arenal offer safe ringside seats, with a view from the porch of your room and across an intervening river valley to the nighttime show; others sponsor day or night excursions to favorite lookout points, and almost every travel agency in San José organizes volcano-watching excursions—just make sure before you go that recent activity has been reported, and that the weather has been clear.

Arenal Observatory (tel. 257-9489, fax 255-3529, $100 per person, book through travel agencies) is a research station and set of cabins that offer ringside views of the fireworks on the volcano—at a safe distance of about two-and-a-half kilometers, separated by the valley of the Agua Caliente river. Canoes available, fishing arranged.This facility may be closed at times to the public; or inaccessible except with four-wheel-drive vehicle. Taxi fare from Fortuna is $25 or more. Comparable accommodations are available at Hotel Montaña de Fuego, and Arenal Vista Lodge, tel. 220-2121 in San José. Again, as these hotels mainly serve tours, make arrangements through a travel agency.

Several travel agencies in San José operate day-long volcano-watching excursions to Arenal, with stops in Sarchí and at hot springs, at about $85.

About 60 kilometers from San Carlos, the road drops to beautiful, mountain-girt Lake Arenal (see page 299), crossing the earthen dam that separates the lake from its natural drainage, the Arenal River.

At kilometer 61, a rough branch road leads over hills for two kilometers to:

Posada Arenal (Arenal Lodge), (P. O. Box 1139-1250, Escazú, tel. 383-3957, arenalodge@centralamerica.com). 11 rooms. $75 and up single/$85 and up double, higher in suite.

Arenal Lodge is a ringer for a white summer cottage that you might find near a lake in New England. Mostly, it's a fishing lodge, and boats with guides for lake fishing are available at $150 per day for two. They'll also arrange tarpon fishing near the Nicaraguan border, and lake, hot springs and volcano-watching expeditions, and horseback riding. The suite is a huge room with dark wood panelling, large tub, and a privileged view of Arenal volcano from its private balcony and through floor-to-ceiling windows. Though it can be continuously rainy in this area, there is a large patio hung with plants and birds in cages, sheltered by translucent roofing, and with a fireplace to chase away chills. Geese run around on the grassy hills, under the palms. Billiard table available. December and January are the rainiest times here, when Caribbean clouds reach this area. Call the lodge before you visit for current fishing and volcano-viewing conditions (in English).

Hotel Los Héroes (P. O. Box 6083-1000 San José), tel. 692-8012, www.hotellosheroes.com. 12 rooms. $100.

This is not an imitation of a Swiss chalet, it is a Swiss chalet (or several of them, actually), perched on a hillside farm above Lake Arenal, about 10 kilometers past the dam, dedicated to Juan Santamaría and Arnold von Winkelried. Rooms have wall-to-wall carpeting, and plenty of hot water.

The restaurant at Los Héroes serves fondue, of course (about $10), and has the most extensive wine list in the area.

At kilometer 17, from the dam, an unpaved road leads northward to the village of Venado, near which are caves that are open for viewing.

Past kilometer 20, the road deteriorates to a rocky and muddy bed, requiring extreme respect for water-filled potholes. The fifteen kilometers or so to the village of Nuevo Arenal, where the pavement resumes, take well over an hour to negotiate, even in a vehicle with high clearance.

There are several additional lodging places between this point and Tilarán, on the south side of the lake. See page 301 for more detail.

The paved road that runs east from San Carlos gradually descends through an area combed with hot springs. Nine kilometers away and just north of the highway is:

El Tucano Country Club, Agua Caliente de San Carlos, tel. 460-6000, fax 460-1692.

40 rooms. $70 single/$85 double/$100 triple.

[ El Tucano is a tropical spa and rain-forest country club, on an absolutely lovely estate of colonial-style buildings. There are few places like it in Costa Rica.

The grounds are traversed by a river of warm mineral water (said to be curative for arthritis and degenerative diseases), which feeds the medicinal Jacuzzi. There are also saunas, three swimming pools (including one for children) and a warm-water swimming hole, a miniature golf course, mini-zoo, horses ($5 per hour), nature trails, tennis and volleyball courts, miniature golf, and carefully tended gardens, all at an elevation of 950 meters. And, oh yes, a casino.

And if taking the waters in Eden-like surroundings is not sufficient a pastime, you might just stay for the food. Fettucine Tucano, with mushroom and tomato, is excellent. italian specialties alternate with Bombay shrimp and such "international" specialties as chicken cordon bleu. Meals are served in a huge dining room, decorated with woven mats and paintings of toucans, to the soothing accompaniment of the rushing stream just beyond the lattice. Prices are moderate, at about $9 for most main courses.

Anybody can dine at El Tucano, and non-guests may use the facilities for a small fee. Round-trip transportation from San José can be arranged. If you're driving, look for the large white gate on the north side of the road to Puerto Viejo.

Just east of El Tucano, at Marina de San Carlos, is a small Zoológico (Zoo), opposite the gas station, where boas, parrots, jaguars, spider and white-faced monkeys, coyotes, raccoons, ocelots, jaguars, macaws, toucans, and a rare albino peccary, among others, are kept in an informal barnyard setting.

The Marina zoo started as the hobby of a local woman who took in wounded squirrels and other small animals. It has now been formalized, but not too much so, and it makes for a fun place to wander around as a break from your journey.

In addition to the animals in chicken-wire enclosures, the property has a small pond and dam, and a nature trail through an adjacent forest area. An admission fee of a couple of dollars is collected.

Juan Castro Blanco National Park, east of San Carlos, is one of Costa Rica's newer natural reservations, covering 14,000 hectares of primary and recovering forest that is home to brocket deer, monkeys, curassows, and the quetzal. Here also are the headwaters of the Aguas Zarcas and Toro rivers.

From Marina, the paved road continues over hill and down dale, gradually heading into lower country. Each town is a cluster of clapboard or tongue-and-groove houses, on concrete foundations, with red tin roofs, modest and neat. There are a couple of more substantial dwellings with carport, and, in the case of Venecia, a sprawling, tan, tin-sided church with red roof, surrounded by well-kept gardens.

About five kilometers to the north of Venecia are the ruins of Cutris, a pre-Columbian city that shows signs of having been well ordered, with wide streets. The road from Venecia comes to within two kilometers of the site, which has not been restored and has no visitors' facilities.

Farther north, and east, is Pital, at the end of a paved road, serving banana, sugar, and cattle-grazing operations in formerly remote lowlands where there are still stands of uncut rain forest.

Laguna del Lagarto Lodge, Boca Tapada, accessible from Pital (about 25 kilometers by unpaved road), is a German-owned rain-forest lodge, with 20 cottages, a great thatched recreation and eating pavilion, and activities that include jungle walks, canoe trips, and horseback rides on the 500-hectare property. They'll also go into the details of their small plantings of pineapples and peppers, and the trees, plants, birds, and red and green poison dart frogs. Rates are about $60 per person with meals. Of course, this being rather off the beaten track, you should reserve (telephone 289-8163, fax 289-5295), and, preferably, ask for comments from a recent visitor.

Past Río Cuarto, at San Miguel, the road from San Carlos joins another road from San José via Heredia, through the saddle between the Barva and Poás volcanoes. Along the way are the dramatic La Paz falls, at Vara Blanca, just after the Poás turnoff. According to a report in Costa Rica Today, the travellers' newspaper, the 4500-foot drop of water through rocks and vegetation, and the effect of sunshine, naturally produce ionized air that is said to relieve stress and promote well-being.

Gradually, to the north of San Miguel, the towns become less neat, with much recent, ramshackle construction right along the road, and vigorous, disorderly vegetation. The wrinkles of the land become fewer, and finally fade, and groves of orange trees appear among the flat pastures. Barva volcano, often shrouded in mist or downpours, looms to the south.

This is the San Carlos plain which, despite its proximity to the Central Valley, is a frontier area, where a waterlogged terrain and assorted pests and illness until recently obstructed settlement. Even now, hardly a road penetrates the jungle, and rivers are still important transport routes. The San Juan River forms the northern border of the region with Nicaragua, but it is hardly a barrier. People and goods circulate freely and without formality between the two countries along the many waterways, much to the consternation of political authorities. And in troubled recent times, some of the movement has been far from innocent.

At La Virgen, Rancho Leona offers jungle kayak tours, one for beginners, with lazy paddling, and bird- and animal-watching; and an outing with a reforestation theme: participants plant seedlings in denuded and eroding areas. Trips start at $80, and can include staying as a guest in bunkrooms in the home of the operators, which has assorted porches and nooks and crannies, and exquisite stained-glass and other hand-crafted details, and a hot tub overlooking the river where you can soak after a long day and talk to the frogs. More formal accommodations are nearby. If you stay longer, they'll point you toward (or guide you to) locally famous falls and swimming holes, or places to rent horses. Transport from San José, and whitewater trips, and excursions to little-known falls and the Caño Negro reserve, can be arranged to order. Telephone 761-1019 to reach Rancho Leona directly, or see www.rancholeona.com. English is spoken.

The roadside Rancho Leona restaurant (look for the cupola), offers home-style soups, sandwiches, salads, eggplant Parmesan, granola, home-baked bread and fresh fruit drinks, all made from scratch. The open dining area features toadstool seats, and polished hardwood tables with inlaid chessboards and kayak designs. This is not your usual roadside stopping point.

Next door, Cabinas Tía Rosita, tel. 761-6475, takes in the overflow from Rancho Leona.

At Bajos de Chilamate, a couple of kilometers from Chilamate, is Islas del Río (tel. 761-6898, 233-0366, fax 233-9671 in San José, 34 rooms, $100 double with meals, slightly less in shared-bath rooms), a woodsy lodge and concrete outbuildings buildings on landscaped grounds amid 13 hectares of primary and regenerating forest along the Sarapiquí River, part of the reserve corridor that extends northward from Braulio Carrillo National Park. Rooms in the main lodge, with its terrace overlooking the river, are large, with hot water and fans, and some have tubs.

A trail protected by a thatched roof leads to the river and the islands for which the project is named, and you can wade through, or cross in a metal basket attached to a cable. Common mammals here are sloths, anteaters, and nutrias, and birding is good, especially for aquatic species.

Meals are served in the open, overlooking the river. Horses are for rent for $10 for a couple of hours. Rafting trips (class II and II) can be arranged, along with boat trips and excursions to La Selva. Sleeping facilities are planned for four nearby forest areas of different types, at lower rates than in the main lodge.

Beyond La Virgen, near the farthest point that you can go from San José on this road, is:

Selva Verde Lodge, Chilamate, tel. 766-6077, fax 766-6011 (220-2121 in San José), www.selvaverde.com. 50 rooms. $85 single/$130 double in River Lodge; $130 double to $192 for four persons in bungalows, including meals and taxes. U.S. reservations: 3540 NW 13 St., Gainesville, FL 32609, tel. 800-451-7111, fax 904-371-3710.

Located on a 500-acre farm and private reserve, with both well-manicured gardens and wild areas. The River Lodge, with most guest rooms, consists of several buildings on posts, connected by elevated walkways, projecting guests into the forest canopy. A building with shared baths accommodates groups, and conference facilities are available. Across the road from the check-in area, and up a hillside, are five secluded bungalows, with space for up to four persons in each.

[ I couldn't think of a more delightful place in which to get acquainted with the jungle. High thatched roofs, wooden decks, meandering covered walkways, trees dripping with ferns and vines, wicker chairs and rockers in fantastical shapes of animals both real and yet-to-evolve, comfortable beds, wraparound terraces, gleaming hardwood floors continually polished and mopped . . . yet all accessible, since Selva Verde is right on the main road through this once-remote region. Relax in a hammock all day with a cocktail, listen to the buzz of insects or the croak of frogs or the downpour beyond the thatch. There are no forced marches here, but if you wish, you can take a solitary walk or guided one (at a fee if you're not a guest), ride a horse, swim in the river, or go birding or fishing or rafting. And, of course, they have a trendy butterfly garden.

! Idyllic as it is, Selva Verde is a mere islet of virgin rain forest threatened with degradation by surrounding cleared lands.

And the food, in my experience, is horrible. Unless your tastes and needs run to oatmeal, softened meats, overcooked vegetables, no spices please, and rice, you'll want to order out (which you can't), or bring your own victuals. Too bad. Bugs are plenteous (of course) and rooms, constructed of appropriate local materials, are not soundproof.

Buses operate to Puerto Viejo from Avenida 11, Calles Central/1, San José, daily at 6:30, 9, 10 (express) and 11 a.m. and 1, 3:30 (express), 4 and 5:30 p.m. Other buses taking the longer route via Heredia depart at 6 a.m., noon and 3 p.m.

Here at what was a short time ago the end of the line (unless you planned to continue downriver to fight in Nicaragua), visitors' accommodations are sprouting, and by the time you pass through, travel shops should be in place to provide excursions on the Sarapiquí River from town, in addition to those offered by nearby hotels.

Hotel Mi Lindo Sarapiquí, tel. 766-6074. 6 rooms. $16 per person. On the entry street into Puerto Viejo, small, modern rooms with overhead fans, perfectly adequate.

Hotel El Bambú, tel. 766-6005. 9 rooms. $55 single or double with breakfast. A substantial white concrete building across the street from Mi Lindo Sarapiquí, more attractive in the lobby (wicker furniture, plants) than in the rooms, but you get large windows, television and fan.

Lesser accommodations for about $10 per person include Cabinas Monteverde, next to El Bambú; and Hotel Gonar, near the dock.

El Gavilán Lodge (P. O. Box 445-2010 San José, tel. 234-9507, fax 253-6556). 15 rooms. $60 single/$75 double. Meals about $25 daily.

El Gavilán is just north of Puerto Viejo on a turn from the road to Guápiles, between the Sarapiquí and Sucio rivers, a riverside former farm with extensive stands of uncut forest on the property and nearby, operated by a German-Costa Rican couple.

Sleeping accommodations could be better. Eight of the rooms are adjacent to the farmhouse, crowded with three beds, with basic bathrooms. Four larger rooms are in an outbuilding. Bathing is available in river and whirlpool. Guests should bring their own alcoholic beverages.

Day trips from San José, for something under $100 per person, are the bread and butter of the operation, including a birding trip aboard a boat, an orchid walk, and a hot-water soak.

On From Puerto Viejo

Buses depart for San José at 4:30, 6:30, 8 (express) and 10:30 a.m., and 2, 3 (express) and 4:30 p.m. Slower buses via Heredia depart at 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Be at the dock (next to the car-repair lot) to catch the 11 a.m. boat down the Sarapiquí to the San Juan River on the border with Nicaragua, calling on the way at jungle river outposts. Fare is about $5 per person, You can sleep at the basic Oro Verde Station (call 234-9507 in San José for information) and catch the boat at dawn to return upriver.

To keep moving in one direction, you can also charter a boat here. The fare for four people to Barra del Colorado is about $200, and for slightly more, you can get to Tortuguero National Park.

Or, barter with any boatman for a trip down the river and back up. For about $20, I recently rented a 20-passenger vessel for myself and two of my kids for an hour (from Enrique Guzmán, tel. 766-6296)—long enough to float quietly through banana plantations and uncut forest, spy on a howler monkey mother and child, pick out almond and purple heart and wild fig and Spanish cedar trees, wend around whirlpools, spot eagles and iguanas and swallows darting for insects, pick out caimans on half-sunken tree trunks, slide under cables that provide chair-car connections between remote villages in the absence of roads, bridges and ferries, and rock in the wake of speedier boats heading for more distant destinations. Local kids along the way take it all in as they swing on vines from lechuga trees. Who needs a water park?

Just south of Puerto Viejo is La Selva Biological Station, operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies, which takes in 1508 hectares (3700 acres) of lowland rain forest, most of it never disturbed by agriculture. Unlike most other parks and sanctuaries, La Selva is reserved mainly for scientific investigation. Its natural diversity is notable even in Costa Rica, with 2000 different plant species, of the 12,000 in the country.

Most parts of La Selva can be reached by an extensive, well-marked trail system, along which trees are labeled. An arboretum holds most native species—over a thousand.

La Selva is accessible by river from Puerto Viejo, or by road—the entry is one kilometer from an unmarked turnoff about 30 kilometers from the junction with the Guápiles highway. Low-lying, concrete, institutional-style buildings are clustered in a clearing. The research center is reached by a steel cable suspension footbridge that dangles over the green, jungle-lined Puerto Viejo River.

Living facilities range from dormitories to rooms for two with shared bath. Researchers whose work is approved by the Organization for Tropical Studies are given priority. Outsiders are sometimes allowed to stay for about $100 daily for room and board. In response to growing interest in La Selva, a network of self-guided trails, and programs for guided visits, are being developed. Currently, you'll be allowed in for a day visit for $20, which includes a guide booklet to help you find your way on the trails.

For information on staying at the reserve, or day trips, contact the Organization for Tropical Studies, P. O. Box 676, 2050 San Pedro, tel. 240-6696, fax 240-6783; or P. O. Box DM, Durham, NC 27706 U.S.A., tel. 919-684-5774. Dial 761-6987 to reach La Selva directly. The station provides round-trip transportation three times a week from San José, and several daily trips into Puerto Viejo.

Caution: If you plan to walk any trails at La Selva, wear high boots as protection against snakebites, and never step or sit anywhere without looking first for snakes and stinging ants.

Ecoalbergue Sarapiquí (tel. 766-6122) is a run-down farmhouse adjacent to La Selva. There are four no-frills rooms with no other furniture than bunk beds. Bathrooms are shared, and the rate for all this is about $15 per person. Meals cost an additional $5 to $7 each. Horses can be hired, and there is a nice beach for river swimming. Call first, or you might find it closed.

Past Puerto Viejo, a good road heads southeast around Barva volcano. Much of the land to both sides is already cleared in a rather untidy fashion. Cattle are grazing, and corn is growing. You see signs at intermittent mud tracks that lead to clusters of shacks, announcing that so-and-so many farmers have benefitted from a distribution of land. And you understand the pressure to provide landless people with the means to make their own living, and the political payoffs therefrom, which in no way compare to the domestic benefits available from a policy of conserving the rain forest for future generations.

Rara Avis, P. O. Box 8105, 1000 San José, tel. 253-0844, fax 256-4876; or tel. 764-3131, fax 764-4187. www.rara-avis.com.

This 1500-acre reserve, on the site of a former prison colony, is oriented toward visitors who want to experience the rain forest with all its rough and muddy edges. Arrival from Las Horquetas, 15 kilometers distant, is by a jarring tractor cart ride over a barely passable track paved in part with rough logs. Mud boots are required for walking the trails, and formidable rain gear. Sleeping facilities are bunkrooms, though rooms with private bath are also available at a facility a sloppy hike away from the drop-off point. Numerous visitors are enthusiastic about the experience, but some complain that it's Devil's Island.

Activities at Rara Avis are birding, swimming in jungle streams and at the base of a towering waterfall, and guided hikes to learn about the complex interactions of plants and animals. Scientific investigations are sometimes in progress and there are programs to raise butterflies and export decorative plants.

The rate for accommodations is about $100 single/$170 double in rooms with meals and private bath, less with shared bath. From San José, add about $65 for a taxi to Las Horquetas (from where the tractor leaves at 9 a.m.), or take the 7 a.m. Río Frío bus. Reserve through travel agencies in the United States or by phone in Costa Rica, and verify that qualified guides will be on-site.

Southeast of Puerto Viejo, Río Frío is another small settlement, with basic accommodations, and a Chinese restaurant (not at all bad, surprisingly). If you come this way from San Carlos, you'll have some time between buses to stroll around, and examine town life: the latest Mexican soap operas, baseball, and news from Chicago brought to local eateries through satellite television; shop attendants engaging more in conversation than commerce; strangers on their way to scientific investigations; tractors pulling carts of produce along muddy lanes.

Beyond Río Frío are more dirt roads—and train tracks! Suddenly, you are no longer on the frontier, but in the former jungle penetrated by the railroad before it reached San José. There are great banana processing plants, with signs urging Standard Fruit workers to more productivity; banana tramways making their way through the vast fields, on bamboo supports; and papaya plantations. Places have names like Finca Seis, Finca Siete, Finca Ocho (Farm Six, Farm Seven, Farm Eight—romantic) and general-issue tan concrete-block housing. Where the banana plants do not come up to and lean into the road, eerie, tall, ferny bamboo stands lie to either side. Bananas on tramways and railroads have an easier go of it than people: it is not hard to lose your way in this world until itself, where one rutted, narrow, bumpy road branches from another much like it, without any signs.

The twelve kilometers from Río Frío to the junction with the paved highway to San José take nearly an hour to negotiate. (Paving of this road is in progress.) Then it's an easy ride back to the capital, through the high rain forest of Carrillo Park (see page 208), or to Limón on the Caribbean coast.