We landed at night. Everything seemed normal, until we picked up our luggage — then all hell broke loose.

Hundreds of men clamored for our bags, shouting their offers to deliver our luggage from the terminal to the street, a distance of 15 feet. They would also hail a cab, and for their trouble, expected 1,000 colones, about $2. Add a helicopter on the roof of the building, and it was the Fall of Saigon. Fortunately, we had hired a driver, whom I managed to find amidst the sea of frantic humanity. Hours earlier, our traveling party had left sunny, but cold, California for the mountainous jungles of Costa Rica. We were seeking adventure and relaxation.

We found both. (Here’s one big tip: Imperial, the local beer, is very good.)

The Adventure , Welcome to the Jungle

Costa Rica is located between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. Most tourists who venture here end up on a beach along the Pacific or the Caribbean oceans. But our group’s travel agent – my wife, Carrie – had other ideas. From the get-go, she had us trekking a death march through the tropical rain forest in a semi-eco adventure. Who wants to lie around on a beach, sipping a neon drink with a paper umbrella sticking out of it, anyway? During our nine-day stay, we hiked, we rode horses, and we white-water rafted.

At the La Paz Waterfall Gardens nature park, a one and one-half hour drive northwest of San Jose in Varablanca, we stared down poison frogs.

Sort of.

Before photographing the frog exhibit at the park, I asked my guide about the toxicity of its tiny amphibians. for safety reasons. It went exactly like this:

Me: “Can they make you sick?”

Costa Rican guide: “A little.”

Me: “Convulsions?”

Costa Rican guide: “Ah … maybe some …”

Me: “How about coma?”

Costa Rican guide: “Maybe some … but not that bad …”

I found out later that the frogs were not toxic at all. Maybe.

In Costa Rica, there are seven species of frog, three of which boldly display the bright, contrasting colors that are the family trademark of poisonous amphibians. In Columbia, the Choco Indians use the toxin, secreted from glands in the frog’s skin, to envenom their blowgun darts. Simply rubbing a dart across the frog’s body is enough to transform that dart into a lethal weapon. Costa Rica’s poison dart frogs aren’t nearly so venomous. Still, any animal that eats one is likely to suffer violent sickness or even death.

After a few days in the rain forest with poison frogs, we were off to the live volcano.

The gods were not angry with our party – at least they didn’t roast us alive as I had predicted. The mighty Arenal volcano, located near the town of Fortuna, was shrouded in clouds. You knew it was there only by the dozens of post cards for sale in the hotel lobby. Arenal is the only volcano in Costa Rica that has been constantly active since it awoke after 400 years with a huge eruption in 1968. It is considered one of the 10 most active volcanoes in the world, producing ash columns, explosions and streams of glowing read lava almost every day.

The Relaxation

Hiring a private driver was a smart move and took a lot of stress out of getting around. (We went with Costa Rica Shuttle, whose owner, Leonel, answered our hundreds of pre-travel e-mail questions, all within 24 hours, some within minutes.) In Costa Rica, we found, the skills of the local drivers far exceed anything you have seen at a NASCAR track. Their vehicles’ horns honked out morse-code type messages, warning other drivers of their location and intention. I picked up this much: Three short beeps followed by one long translates to, “I will now attempt to pass you on the sidewalk.”

Vehicle emissions weren’t fretted over. I saw one truck, which, I swear, was on fire as it lumbered toward us on the way to the rain forest of La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Our first hotel had been a beautiful restored mansion in the middle of San Jose that afforded us a good first-night’s rest. The Peace Lodge, located within La Paz Waterfall Gardens nature park, offered the best of two worlds: opulent comfort and raw nature. Plus, Peace Lodge guests don’t have to pay for tours and admission to the nature park, which is about $25 – or one bail of colones.

As well as the frog exhibit, the La Paz property also features a butterfly observatory, a hummingbird garden, orchid gardens, an authentic castia (historic indigenous dwelling), five waterfalls and miles of hiking trails. The Waterfalls Walk, in particular, is well worth your time. It’s all downhill, and a shuttle bus will drive you back up to the lodge at the end.

We left Costa Rica after nine days of taking in the lush tropical rain forest, listening to jungle sounds, lounging in hot springs, eating great food, drinking great beer and hanging 250 feet above the treetops. (That was the zip line tour).

We brought home fond memories of a very special winter vacation, spent in a beautiful country and full of sights, sounds and smells that we will never forget.

Online:

Our tours and activities (hikes, horseback riding, white-water rafting, zip line) were booked through www.centralamerica.com

La Paz Waterfall Gardens in Varablanca: www.waterfallgardens.com

Arenal volcano: www.arenal.net

Costa Rica Shuttle: www.costaricashuttle.com

Leonal, with Costa Rica Shuttle, can be reached at info@costaricashuttle.com