I equate a bus tour with a cruise. You are dealing with a variety of different people, you have orientation and you must have an endless amount of patience.
Day 1 - Depart from Dallas, change planes in Miami and Arrive in San Jose. The temperature is amazing; it probably never got above 80. We got on our bus shuttle to Aurola Holiday Inn, downtown San Jose (65.00 a night). http://www.aurolahotels.com/en/index.php We checked in our room. The view was great, beds were comfy, and indoor pool/hot tub area awesome, gym offered us a scale to check in weight before the trip started and the hotel was nicely decorated. We were very pleased and it was time to hit the pavement. We needed to purchase the essentials to start our vacation, get us some colons, food in our bellies, postage stamps and postcards. I always like to do this in the beginning of vacation, because I find that it always takes the entire trip to get them completed and mailed.
There are so many people. It reminded me of Korea on steroids. The cars were showing no remorse for the pedestrians and the pedestrians no concern for the automobiles. We were prepared and being the half hazard tourist we are we tried to walk in sync with the stop light color. It started to rain; thankfully I had a poncho and Jason a hat. He opted to man it up and appear as a local. I was the only one with a cover other than a few umbrellas. It took us almost all day to get some lunch ordered (Wendy's), stamps purchased from the post office (we could have got them at the hotel), money exchanged at the bank, drinks and postcards. We gave a high five and felt accomplished.
Orientation wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Our tour guide was dressed sharp and we were impressed. We made our way to the dinner buffet; it was seafood tonight and was provided as part of the tour. I can't even begin to describe what this food looked and smelt like. We were just thankful that we had Wendy's earlier. We tried to be optimistic, but the food wasn't going anywhere fast. If anything we felt bad that the waiters were picking up untouched plates from our table to trash. Jason was even trying to hide some it to make it looks as though we weren't being so wasteful. We decided to pass, make our way to the bar and only hope tomorrow would be better.
Gabriella was our bartender and she was a delight. We fell in love with her instantly. She was cute, full of energy, spoke good English and had a great voice. She was jamming out to 1053.0, I think it was. She made a point to emphasize on the .0. The bar was a welcoming sight with a great view of the city. We ordered us some drinks, pulled out the skip bo cards, post cards, address books and stamps. We had some stuff to get taken care of while enjoying ourselves. Jason managed to find a menu. We decided to order some chicken nachos that were fabulous. We were happy campers and off to bed to get ready for an early start in the morning.
Day 2 Depart from hotel, head to Poas Volcano (7.00), lunch, Cafe Britt Tour (10.00) and back to the Hotel. Breakfast at the hotel buffet wasn't much better than dinner, but that was okay since we don't really eat breakfast anyhow. Poas was amazing; we got some great pictures and enjoyed the walk. http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/poasvolcanonationalpark.html Jason lost is sunglasses. The views from the lunch venue were picturesque. There is something about the feel of the rain in Costa Rica. I was standing out on the covered terrace looking over the most beautiful country site when all off a sudden here comes the down pour and lighting. It comes and then it leaves. The coffee tour, tasting and sampling was awesome. http://www.coffeetour.com/ The tour guides were hilarious, the information was interesting and we managed to purchase enough products that we got free shipping, so gifts were being sent home with no hassle to us.
We got back to the hotel and the buffet didn't appear to be any better than the night before. Thank goodness lunch was okay and now we know we have the menu at the bar. We make our way back to hang out with Gabriella, have some drinks, order some food and listen to some great tunes on the radio. After we finish up here we decided to hit up the pool and hot tub for a night swim and hit the sack. It was time to pack up and head on to our second destination.
Day 3/4 Leaving San Jose, having lunch at a butterfly garden and heading to Tortuguero Pachira Lodge (289.00) Turtles (30.00) Zip Lining (30.00 & C.D 20.00). http://www.pachiralodge.com/lodge.html We were driving through the continental divide on our way. I have never witnessed so much green. Pictures can't even begin to capture the awe in the scenery on this drive. I was probably jaw dropped and on the edge of my seat the entire time. Saying it was beautiful doesn't even begin to grasp what amazing views we got to see.
The butterflies were fun, we saw our first red poisonous frog and lunch was okay. We had started rating our food after the horrific Holiday Inn episode. Today got a rating of 4 out of 10. We based our numbers on the amount of items offered to eat and then how many we collectively liked. I was so excited to load our luggage up on the boat and head out to sleep in the rain forest. There was going to be no air conditioning, telephones, internet (or so I thought, but thankfully J didn't find it until the last day) or televisions. I don't have the option of turning my phone to wireless, so I turned mine off when we left Miami and didn't turn it on until we got back to Dallas. However, Jason was always looking for the Wi Fi and even paid for it. (tisk task)
Finally we arrive. I almost had an incident on the boat ride to the lodge. (no restrooms) I knew that beer was a bad idea. The food was great; there were so many animals, beautiful flowers and natural nature occurrences that my adrenaline was on high the entire stay. You could ask for a wakeup call in the mornings which consisted of someone knocking on your door to see if you wanted some coffee or hot chocolate. That is if the howler monkeys didn't wake you up first. We loved it all. We took boat tours, we saw the turtles laying her eggs on the beach at night, we zip lined, we spent countless hours with our flashlights looking for wildlife in the woods that our cabins were built in, and we went to the little town to shop and visited the Tortuguero National Park.
My favorite moments while we were here: Watching the spider monkey's making bridges for the babies to cross. If it wasn't her baby she would snap her tail up and the baby would have to wait for his/her momma to make a bridge. It was the cutest site ever. Jason paying to go to the restroom while we were in town. You would think if anyone would have to pay to go it would be me. The Cayman (part of the alligator family) in action trying to eat some fish and the rain pouring down on us while on the boat tour without our ponchos. The one time we forget to bring them and our camera because we were rushed from the zip lining tour. The amazing green back turtle laying her eggs. I will admit at first I thought it was a little gross and intrusive to her privacy, but then I got caught in the pure amazement of nature and wildlife. Did you know that a turtle will come back to the same beach she was born on to lay her eggs? It doesn't matter if it is 25 years later. They are so big, 200 to 300 pounds. The eggs are like a hardboiled egg. They lay up to 120. If one doesn't make it then none of them make it. This was probably the best 30 bucks I spent on the trip. The drunken late night conversation with J and me out on the dock. These are priceless in the content that is being shared. The tour guides were amazing. I did not like zip lining.
Day 5/6 Leaving Tortuguero, stopping at a banana plantation, a snazzy restaurant (that had some dancers with awesome costumes, a unique big tree(that we didn't look at) and a pretty river flow through the side), pineapple plantation and ending at La Fortuna and staying at Arenal Springs (145.00 night 22.00 meal). http://www.arenalspringshotel.com/ We learned that you should always buy the largest banana. It grows from top to bottom. The larger ones are at the top and provide the most nutrients. Ticos (that is what Costa Rican's call themselves) sale bananas on the level of which the banana is. The larger ones are the most expensive even though they are sold to us in the U.S. by the pound. In order to keep them longer you should tear them apart and separate them, so that the natural gasses produced from a banana don't spread on to the next one causing it to go brown quicker. Banana bunches are referred to as hands, cause they do resemble the shape of them and it is NOT a banana tree. It is a banana plant.
The pineapple plantation we went to was ironically enough owned and created from Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, TX. http://www.collinstreet.com/pages/finca_corsicana_home Finca Corsicana (which simply means Corsicana Farm in Spanish) is Collin Street Bakery's ambitious pineapple project in central Costa Rica. It was founded in 1991, to guarantee only the highest quality pineapple and papaya for our baked goods. Now we need to make a day trip on over to Corsicana to try out this bakery. They distribute the pineapple through Dole. We learned how to pick out a ripe one and got to taste almost anything you can make out of pineapple. It was great fun.
Moving on to the resort. I found it was the excitement and anticipation of each adventure, finding out what the next place would be like. This breathtaking serene palace of beauty is just what we needed after a few days of "roughing" it in the rain forest. We had the most amazing view of the Arenal Volcano from our "front porch". There were two rocking chairs that were just perfect for sitting in and admiring the volcano. I had no true concept at how enormous a volcano really is. I am not really sure you can grasp it until you are around it. I thought it was so cool that the pool at the resort was filled with hot springs from the Arenal Volcano. They have to empty it out every night and clean it, so no late night swims, but the all natural warm water is good for your skin.
The next morning the tour was going on another boat road through Cano Negro, but we opted to stay at the resort. We wanted to sleep in, adventure around on our own and get some chocolate massages. We had breakfast with Angele; got her on her way for the daily tour and then we planned our day. I could probably write an entire blog on Angele. She was an 84 year old lady that was on the trip by herself. I kind of adopted her as my grandmother. Her husband of 43 years had died 3 years ago and this was her first trip to take. She was sad, lost and lonely. Jason was so kind, sweet and understanding to take her in with me.
Moving right along. We knew we wanted to get massages somewhere on the trip and this just seemed like the perfect place. I always like to do things that I wouldn't normally do while on vacation, so we thought a chocolate massage was fun and different. Boy was it just that. I am curious to get another one done somewhere to see how it compares. The Spa was divine. The room was part outside, part in, the breeze, the smell and well it was just the best 60 minutes of relaxation ever. Jason suggested I go first, so then I could lay out by the hot springs, relax and read some magazines. It was perfect.
We then hoped in a cab, headed to town for lunch and to meet back up with the group so we could go to Baldi hot springs hotel and spa for the rest of the day (27.00). http://www.fortunawelcome.com/hot-springs/baldi-costa-rica/#rates This tourist complex offers 25 different pools (differing in temperature from 35 degrees Celsius to 65 degrees Celsius), 3 wet bars, 2 restaurants, spa, sauna, private parking, changing facilities and a toboggan. They also have a pyramid with a most remarkable view of the entire Northern one of Costa Rica. We took Angele on a walk to the top and back, got her a place to settle in and then we got ready to hit the springs. We didn't even get settled in one before it started POURING down rain. It was thundering, lighting and gushing with floods. There is something about being partial naked, with no shoes or a comfort place to hide that sets in a little fear. I got scared. I didn’t' know if we should run for cover, for fear of being struck by lightning or stay put. The storm passed and we were fine. We got a good 30 minutes to enjoy the springs. It was an experience for sure. Time to head back to the resort for dinner. We had a full day pass for Baldi, so we could have went back. We decided to just chill out in our own hot springs at the resort, get a good nights rest, pack up and be ready to head on out to our next adventure.
Day 7/8 We said Hasta Luego to La Fortuna with another breathtaking scenic drive around the Volcano/Arenal Lake to head to do the hanging bridges, make a shopping stop in Liberia with ending at our day in Guanacaste at the J.W. Marriott. (225.00) http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sjojw-jw-marriott-guanacaste-resort-and-spa/ I really enjoyed the hanging bridges. This is in my opinion the best way to hear, see and feel deep inside the rain forest. We saw some more monkey's, a ton of the red frogs and some snakes. It is really cool seeing all the animals in their own habitat. Hacienda Pinilla, now this place was luxury at its finest. We felt like a queen and king. It was just spectacular. There was a nature trail walk with the tour, but we wanted to spend as much time on the beach as we could, so we stayed around the hotel the entire time we were here. The food was delicious and the room had everything you could have hoped for. The beds were like sleeping on a cloud. We combed the beach, ventured in and out of the rocks, played in the sand, looked for seashells and most importantly laid out and caught a few rays.
Day 9/10 We headed back to San Jose to the Holiday Inn to have our farewell dinner, event, pictures and say our farewells to our new found travel friends. On our way back to San Jose we stopped for a Crocodile tour. http://www.crocodilerivertour.com/ This was like national geographic live. My saying of the trip was, "it is like going to the zoo every day in Costa Rica, but much better." We saw so many birds and huge crocodile's to itty bitty baby ones. Just when I thought the trip couldn't offer much more they pull out one more incredible thing to witness. The tour guide hops of the boat, gets on this island of mud with some chicken breast to feed the crocks right in front of us. I don't think I will ever forget the loud snap sound of the crocks mouth when he chomped down for an attempt to catch the bite of food.
I was exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel. We made our last dinner on the 17th floor at the fancy dinning. The show was great; we took our farewell photos and said good-bye to Angele. We had an early start tomorrow and it was time to get back home. Buenos Noches Costa Rica - Until we meet again
Sounds amazing, exhausting, but amazing! lol
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