The new Caldera Highway - Yeah that’s just a wall of dirt, what happens when it’s rainy season?????
We finally made it to Jaco Beach on the Pacific coast today. What used to be a 2 to 2 1/2 hour, white knuckling, stressful drive thru hairpin turns over and thru the mountains is now a much more enjoyable, relatively flat, 90 minute drive on the new Caldera highway from San Jose. It's amazing and makes day trips like this, way easier to do. Apparently the highway was a 30 year project from inception to finish (construction only started in 2008) and they even opened the highway this February which is a few months earlier than expected. Work done early? That’s pretty much a miracle in Costa Rica!
But unless you’ve driven the old road to the coast, I’m not sure you can really appreciate how amazing the new highway is. The tolls are worth every penny!!!
Spent the day similar to the one we spent going to Jaco last year.
Stopped and saw crocs at the Tarcoles bridge. Honestly, after the gators and crocs we saw up close in the everglades, these were not such a big deal now.
Hiked in Carara National park again, but did a different trail, nearer to the Tarcoles river. Sweat off at least 5 lbs each, super hot and humid in the jungle. Saw quite a bit of wild life including a troop of about 20 white faced monkeys with babies! You just can't beat seeing them swing around in trees in the wild.
Drove another 20 minutes south to Jaco Beach. Returned to Clarita’s beach bar where we rested and fueled up after that hike. It’s way too easy to replace those lost lbs with nice cold cervezas while you’re relaxin’ and watching the waves. Could have sat there ALL day! Hot but with a nice ocean breeze.
Went for a swim in the ocean, again warm but not quite as warm as last May. Had a blast playing in the waves. Dave was wishing he had his boogie board!
Anyways, here’s some pics from today’s adventure.
Oh yeah, lots of Canadians on vacation here right now and we all LOVE talking about the Vancouver Olympics and the awesome US vs. Canada gold medal mens hockey game this past Sunday. The Americans....not so happy about “Winning” silver!