Sat Aug 19

Today we embarked on a canyoning and zip lining adventure! After we packed up our things and checked out, we drove about 20 minutes away to La Roca Lodge. We started off with a typical Costa Rican lunch (fish and bistec casados) and some fruit juice.

Then we piled into a little van and drove about 15 minutes into the wilderness. We were a group of 7 (a dad and his two kids from England, and a couple about our age from Mexico City) and 4 guides (Jose, JC, Caesar and Byron). After an in-depth talk on safety and a basic how-to rundown, we set off on on foot through the jungle. 

In total we rappelled down 4 waterfalls and did 2 small zip lines in about 3.5 hours. We got completely soaked as there were times where we had to jump from a considerable height into the water and also times where we swung through waterfalls. The water was cold but not overly freezing. 

It was an incredible way to experience the jungle in the Arenal area, you really get a different feel for the jungle than when you walk the trails. I was surprised we didn’t see any wildlife but I suppose I am happy that we didn’t come across any water snakes. 

I was trying not to think about our upcoming drive to Santa Elena in the Monteverde area. Google Maps showed it as a 2.5 hour drive. Since we were leaving after our excursion, it would be dark. There probably would be some potholes. 

We started our drive just before 5pm. We drove around Lake Arenal and saw a beautiful sunset. Driving around the lake is really enjoyable, there are smooth, windy roads and gorgeous plants and views of the volcano. We even saw a coati on the side of the road!

After driving the length of the lake, we turned onto a different road towards the town of Tilarán. It was still somewhat light out when we got to Tilarán. Our route through town was blocked by some sort of sabanero (cowboy) festival.

There was music, people completely dressed up in cowboy attire, and so many horses! It looked like a lot of fun and we considered actually staying the night here, but we decided to press on. After a little detour we got on highway 145. And this is where the easy, paved drive ended and the rough, pothole-riddled journey began. 

The drive is probably very scenic in the daytime but at night (6:30pm!) you couldn’t see a thing past your headlights. When we passed through little towns there were some streetlights but a lot of the journey was illuminated only by our car. Thankfully, there were always cars behind us, also slowly and carefully maneuvering potholes, so we were never truly alone on the road. This gave me a peace of mind, if something were to happen and our car broke down we wouldn’t be stranded in the darkness.

Potholes, completely torn up roads, pitch black darkness- now add heavy mist to our wonderful night drive. We were driving through cloud forest territory, so even though we experienced some mist and fog before in our two weeks in Costa Rica, this was another level. At times we could barely see more than 2 feet ahead! It was completely black darkness all around us where our headlights didn’t reach and thick white mist made visible by our car.

A few long hours later, we finally arrived to our Airbnb, met our host and checked in. It was only a few minutes away from the main town area but the house was a little off the beaten track. It looked decent and modern inside with a nice big kitchen, brand new appliances and tasteful decor. It was a two bedroom, one bath and boasted a large terrace with a mountain view. It seemed great for the price! Because it was new to Airbnb, there weren’t any reviews. We knew we were taking a risk but the price was too good to pass up and communication with the host prior to booking had been great. 

We started to unpack and unwind after our slightly stressful drive. Our Airbnb was on Calle Insectario, and yes, there were some bugs: small spiders, daddy long leg type spiders, a few moths, and other insects. We killed them or shooed them out. There were quite a bit more bugs than we had expected, but we are in the jungle after all, pura vida. That’s when we noticed the not so little spider perched in a corner in one of the bedrooms. It was black (or very dark brown) with thick dark legs and an oval body. It was big. With its legs stretched out, it spanned about the diameter of a tangerine. You could clearly see it’s powerful looking pinchers. 

After working up some courage to deal with it, we unsuccessfully whacked it with a shoe. It was just a little out of our reach and moved fast, avoiding the shoe. Just writing about this now is making my heart race. We decided to just let the spider have that spare bedroom, so we turned off the light and closed the door. We began the inspection of the other bedroom. We continued to find alive and dead bugs on the walls and even in the bed. And the bed was not clean. It seemed as if the bedding was stored in an attic for a long time then taken down and put on the bed without shaking out dirt and dust. It was pretty gross… But there were some spare blankets that looked clean so we swapped some of the bedding. 

At this point we saw another large black spider crawling across the floor towards us. We successfully smashed this one with a shoe. 

Then another spider appeared on the wooden beams above us. We realized there was a large open hole, like an open door to an unfinished crawlspace/attic above in the two bedrooms. There was probably a whole colony of these giant spiders living there! We sat in the kitchen, knees to chest, perched on the chairs, terrified and paralyzed, as we scoured the internet for other places to stay. We even considered sleeping in the car. 

Admitting defeat, we decided to just drive into town and look for a hotel, so we quickly and nervously gathered our things and left. Yep, that’s right, the spiders chased us out of our Airbnb. 

We drove into town where there were plenty of B&Bs, however there weren’t any with a 24/7 reception. We tried phoning one of them but no one picked up. Finally we found a place with a light on, so we pulled in and parked out front. We went into the lobby/kitchen/common area where it was lit up and unlocked, but no one was there.

Eventually an older couple heard us and came down. After chuckling at my spider story, “Estamos en Monteverde, hay arañas.” the woman showed us the available room upstairs. It was a basic, two bed, 1 bath unit, but most importantly it was bug proof and impeccably clean. After moving in our things and letting the woman know what time would be good for us to have breakfast, we collapsed into bed. What a night!