Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Anyone from Central America?

I do get down there quite a bit, doing research in the rainforest (mostly Costa Rica and Panama, though). Unfortunately I can't bring my tour. Rarely do I ever get to Honduras, though. I'm usually out of the country once or twice a month...Caribbean, South America, Australia, Southeast Asia, Africa...all over. If I ever get to Honduras, I'll look you up.

I have not been to Costa Rica , but my sister and brother in law live there. they have a Dodge neon and they say that the roads over there are really bad.

Actually, our roads are not bad at all unless you want to go to rural areas up in the mountains.

Hector David Salinas
San Pedro Sula, Honduras

I came within a few months of being born in the Panama Canal Zone when my dad and mom lived there.

2 years back it took me 6 hours to travel approximately 70 miles heading from Lake Arenal to Monteverde. I had it in 4-High most of the way doing 20-25 MPH at best. Some places we did end up shoving the Pathfinder in 4-Low and CRAWL about at 5-10 MPH, though these were few and far between...

I've gone "mudding" in farm trucks and taken a John Deere farm tractor places that were less of a challenge than some of the roads I've tackled down there.

You know the roads are bad when you are tring to get a SECOND spare from the rental agency to slap on top of the truck...

Actually, Monteverde is where I do most of the research/guide work at...up in the "cloud forests"...heck of a "climb" up to there. Yeah, usually 4-high is fine in our Nissan pick-up we usually use, but if you don't have a winch, you can be in for a WHOLE lot of trouble in just a few minutes of rain. Found that out REAL fast.

Quick question:

Are there any good places to stay around Monteverde that you are aware of (say within 10 miles of it)? As you are well aware, it's a heck of a hike to it, then after all the tours and fun on the zip lines, it's a ride in the dark back to the Arenal region or West over to Liberia or any spot on the Nicoyan Peninsula. I nearly took out a native on hoseback the last time heading away on a 180 degree switchback and given the lack of signs and unmarked roads (trails, actually), I'd rather not have to glance at my GPS every 10 minutes while driving at night around there!

I'm not looking for 4-star (as I don't think they exist around there), but I'm not fancy on an "eco-lodge" with cold-water showers and dirt floors, either. Something in between.

Any thoughts?

Well, we actually stay up in the preserve only because we have research permits to stay overnight, but IMO, the nicest "decent" place to stay near Monteverde is here . I stayed their twice and it was very nice. Book a bit in advance because it's not a HUGE place, but they usually have rooms. I haven't been their since 99, but it's about as good as your gonna get if you want decent hot water and decent smelling rooms. The food's good, too. HTH.