I had been wanting to go to Costa Rica for the last two years. Last December, I finally found the courage to book my Yoga Teacher Training and it happened to be located in Costa Rica!
How amazing it was to do two of my favourite things together: explore a new country and learn more yoga! Even more extraordinary, I convinced my friend Maxine to join me for one week before the training. I remember making beds on the boat we used to work on together, thinking about the day we would go travel, and how much we talked about going to Costa Rica… it seemed so far and so impossible to make it… but we talked about it so much!
Because we were short on time, we decided to focus on only two destinations: Tamarindo Beach and the Arenal Volcano. To travel around Costa Rica, we rented a 4×4 car. The roads were actually mostly in good conditions, but having a 4×4 seemed like the safest option. We got the car delivered to us at our hotel near San Jose (so easy, right?), the first morning, and headed straight to the beach.
We really enjoyed our time in Tamarindo. We liked the long beaches, friendly atmosphere and nice coffee shops. Although we had a nice time in Tamarindo (famous for its surf), we preferred the quiet and wilder Playa Langosta. We were also happy to find a market on the Thursday night, with music and fire show.
After sunbathing for a few days, we went to The Arenal Volcano national park, which offers a beautiful ride all along the lake. We absolutely loved the lush landscapes, the beauty of the volcano, the wild fauna, and the activities around.
We stayed for 4 nights at an eco-friendly lodge, nested in the middle of the rain forest, the Finca Luna Nueva. I definitely recommend this place, for its organic food, kind staff and bio-dynamic farm with a free-tour that taught us a lot!
We did a horse riding tour that we enjoyed very much. Our horses were very brave to go through deep mud and steep slopes. Our guides were so kind and really tried hard to find more and more cool things to show us (birds, monkeys, even a tarantula!). The view of the volcano from the hill were the horses took us was breathtaking!
On our last day, we went to thermal pools of “Eco Termales“. What a stunning place! I let you see for yourself… we almost had the whole place for ourselves (better go on a week day).
Is one week in Costa Rica enough? Of course not! But it’s better than nothing, and we actually felt like we did a lot and really got to relax. So if you don’t have much time and are looking for an easy, safe, lush holiday, Costa Rica is the right place.
