I Spent One Week in a Rustic House in the Rainforest… Here’s What I Learned.
This is a three-part series about traveling to La Fortuna (Arenal) Costa Rica.
If you’re into personal growth, challenging yourself, and learning about new things, read on. When I travel, it’s to expand my worldview, and that can only be done by putting yourself in spaces outside of your comfort zones. It requires talking to strangers, not knowing what’s next, getting a little dirty, and trying new things that slightly scare you. So if you’re into resorts, having everything handed to you, and comfort, this article is NOT FOR YOU.
Before this trip I had never been to Central America. I certainly didn’t know any Spanish (but not for lack of trying! I’m language-dumb.) I chose Costa Rica for it’s short flight from Los Angeles and minimal time shift/jet lag. Plus, a few of my friends had been there and reassured me it would change my life and that I can definitely do this. By writing this article, my aim is to encourage you in the same way. My husband and 16 year old son accompanied me on this trip, but they do zero planning or procuring of anything so you can also feel confident doing this trip alone, or with a friend.
rent the car
This flight was supposed to be an easy 6-hour overnight trip to San Jose, Costa Rica from Los Angeles. Through delays and gate changes, we did arrive a rough 9 hours later, got through customs, and onto the rental car shuttle.
Insurance
Something that you read about visiting Costa Rica, but are never sure what’s the right answer is, you DO have to buy special insurance as a foreign person renting a car and yes it’s expensive. There’s no way around it. That is why you might want to go through an all-in-one rental car company like Adobe so you know up front what kind of costs you will be dealing with. If you show up at Hertz thinking you got a sweet deal, they will hit you with the info that the insurance fee is unavoidable and you will not get your car until you sign up for the insurance. You might as well know what you’re in for ahead of time.
No shuttle
That said, the cost of renting a car is comparable to or actually cheaper than all the shuttles you’ll need and the time spent waiting for and procuring them. The shuttles might not even provide access to the more remote places you really want to see. I would factor renting a car into your travel costs.
Get the 4×4
Roads in Costa Rica can be pretty rough and you’ll probably want to make sure you get a 4×4 to get up and down the roads that lead to the more secluded spots. 4x4s don’t necessarily have to be big. Our car was quite compact and all around good enough.
check your phone plan, check again
As soon as we got in the car and tried to access Maps, we quickly found out our international phone plans weren’t activated like we were told they would be but we were already on the road and the road was crazy! So…we’re driving, fast, somewhere, no left turn here! Stop!… no data, no maps, foreign country. The traffic moved fast and we didn’t understand all the signage. We were constantly being honked at, but soon our usual savior, McDonald’s free wifi, came to our rescue and we were able to call T-Mobile through wifi and get our phone plans working. Having access to Google Maps was extremely important, even though there aren’t very many real addresses here to input. I had heard this about Costa Rica, how people don’t really have addresses. I thought this couldn’t really be true, but alas! Somehow it is.
Have maps, will travel
Once we had access to Maps, nothing was found to be impossible. On the winding roads through the countryside, I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the lush landscape as we worked our way three hours north to La Fortuna.
There are a lot of “public” dogs in Costa Rica. We were travel-exhausted by the time we arrived at our rustic cabin in the rain forest, but there were dogs waiting to become our new friends. These particular dogs belonged to this rental property. For me, dogs always make everything better. (Sound up on the hammock video below!)
a rustic house in the rainforest
In the afternoon, we arrived in the rain at our rental named, “Pineapple House”. It was a rustic cabin tucked away in a rainforest canyon. I pride myself on living simply back home; less electronics in the kitchen, no clutter, living small but well. What I do own I make sure it’s of good quality. When we arrived at Pineapple House I knew that it would be rustic, but I wasn’t prepared for the level of simplicity I was in for over the next week.
Spigots came roughly out of the walls into simple brick sinks. no hot water in the kitchen because the water is always temperate, like the air. The soap you use for everything was a kind of green, gritty paste kept in a tupperware container. Some walls weren’t even walls, but made of screens. Every crumb invited an army of ants so all food needed to be prepared and eaten outside. The kitchen had a few pots and pans that were of the quality that you would normally take camping. Actually, there were a lot of similarities to camping.
Fortunately, there was a coffee maker but it was not a “cook’s kitchen”. That’s for sure.
Thoughts of a Nervous and Annoying American Woman:
I wondered if I was going to like it, if I was going to be ok with hand washing my clothes with the gritty paste soap. Would I be wishing that I instead chose the hot tubs and fluffy white towels of the local resorts by day 2? Probably not, I’m not a resort person. I like a challenge… but I was grumpy from traveling. The sun was setting soon. I am embarrassed to say, I felt uneasy. Did I just sign up for spending my week, and my money to work hard and be uncomfortable?
indescribable beauty and grumpiness
To distract myself from my unease I took a little walk around the grounds with my son. The plants were bountiful, colorful, breathtaking. Plants grew on top of plants. Water everywhere. Birds everywhere. Everything was gorgeous. At the bottom of the trail was a beautiful, clear blue natural pool fed by rain water, the kind you see in Instagram travel posts. I stood looking at it. Looks cold, I thought. I dipped my hand in. Beautiful, but not warm.
I knew ahead of time this was a natural pool with no heating. Why did I choose this place if swimming in a nice, warm pool is my favorite back-home activity? But it was all so beautiful. I felt like I was reacting like a child. Why was I being so lame about cold water and hand-washing clothes? Why did I actually feel afraid of the ultimate simple living when that’s always what I aim for in my own life? Am I actually a poser?!
More Thoughts of a Nervous and Annoying American Woman:
We got back to the house as it was getting dark. We were damp. Everything is so moist. How would clothes ever dry here? I guess I’d find out. You would think that with all the incredible beauty I just saw, I’d be in a better mood but I was a little concerned. I texted a friend, “I think this is going to be a learning experience” then Iaid down in a hammock and then began learning an important lesson for a week straight.
mornings on the porch
I woke up for the sunrise and had my coffee on the porch. It was not a spectacular sunrise due to clouds, in fact, every morning was cloudy (the way of the rainforest), but I enjoyed this alone time in my rocking chair and could hear a lot of roosters and howler monkeys in the distance. All sorts of birds visited, including toucans. Sleep had really reset me and I was ready to attempt to enjoy the simplicity this place was offering. I was going to be open-minded and optimistic! Yes!
The joy of random dogs
That’s when this little white dog showed up, looked directly at me and excitedly howled like it was an announcement. It was.
She dropped what looked like a nut at my feet and nudged it towards me with her nose. I love dogs but I’m not a dog owner so I didn’t know what was happening. I nudged it towards her with my foot. She put it back and nudged again. It felt like some kind of ancient, language-less communication. What are you trying to tell me little dog? Oh it’s a game?!
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out she wanted me to throw it. Fetch. That’s what this is. I was very entertained with how single-minded this dog was with the game. She wouldn’t stop. I retreated to my hammock on the lower patio and threw it further and further as she returned it and nudged it into my hand. I watched her fluffy white butt disappear around the bends of the unpaved road. I laughed with absolute delight. This was my new favorite thing in the world. Eventually she sat down on the ground next to me and crunched the nut up into nothing and we laid there listening to the sounds of the trees.
The host of the property walked by and I told him I had a new best friend. He looked at her and said, “Who, Lucy? She’s cray-see.” Oh, so this is Lucy! I was kind of tickled at the thought that I love this dog named Lucy, and he sounded just like Desi Arnaz when he said that, but this reference is making me sound ancient, so let’s move on. I could have played the fetch game all day, but we had a lot of exploring to do before the afternoon rain came in.
volcano town
On this trip, I wanted to be less structured. I wanted things to just happen naturally so I did almost no planning ahead of time for activities. We needed to get going to find out what we wanted from this place so I hoped Lucy would come visit me again later. She walked us to the car then disappeared. We bumped down the rocky canyon road listening to 80s tunes on the radio. Everywhere you go here they are listening to 80s music, which I love but… I found that strange. Everyone! Listens to 80s music?! All the time! In the restaurants, in the car, in the stores! 40 years later! Everywhere you go you can see the Arenal volcano looming in the distance.
lifestyle
The town is called Arenal, after the local volcano, but was renamed La Fortuna after the 1968 eruption didn’t devastate the place. A lot of locals live such natural lifestyles that as you drive past their house you see they don’t have exterior walls and you’re looking directly into their living rooms, or they might be cooking outside over a fire, or their chickens and children are sitting in the road as if it were part of their house. I found the lack of barriers fascinating and enviable. It’s not new information, but as anyone will tell you, the phrase you will hear and see everywhere is the mantra they live by, “Pura Vida”. The pure life. I can dig it.
food and rain
As we drove around town deciding what we wanted to do and see that week, we decided that the easiest daily plan was to get out in the morning for an activity, eat a large lunch, usually “casado”, which is your average Costa Rican meal consisting of rice, beans, plantains, veggies and/or meat at one of the small “sodas” (restaurants), pick up some fruit and vegetables to have for dinner later and get back to the cabin before rain. Always rain, every day. You don’t want to be driving in it and you certainly don’t want to be out on a horse or in the middle of your hike. (See below!)
fruit as you've never seen it before
You can stop in any market and get the most delicious fruit. The fruit cannot really be explained but I’ll try: perfectly ripe, massively flavorful, huge, cheap, and plentiful. You can’t really tell in the pics how large everything was. That mango was the size of my head. The passionfruit, the size of my palm. You would think that because the carrots were so large they’d be flavorless but they were the tastiest carrots I’ve ever had. Unlike the US, you can find soursop juice on most menus. It’s thought to have cancer fighting properties so I don’t understand why Americans can’t have this magical fruit regularly. Another thing unlike the US, they’re doing it right in La Fortuna where every establishment had a sink outside to wash your hands before going in. Hygiene is always a good thing!
back "home"
When we returned to the house in the afternoon I was more than thrilled to find that Lucy was waiting for us. I took the groceries inside and when I came back out my son shouted, “Mama! Lucy brought me a whole avocado!”
So THAT’S what that nut was. She would find avocados, eat the flesh and have a nice, new, bouncy ball in the middle. I tell you what, an avocado pit really is a great ball for fetch. Smart girl, my best friend, Lucy. We enthusiastically played fetch until the rains came. Every day we would settle more and more into this relaxed life and learn more and more about rain…