February 11, 2010
Ow!
Yeah, sleeping last night was not a treat. The beds are nice here at the Hotel Balmoral, but my sunburned back made it nigh impossible to sleep well. Never have been a stomach sleeper and I can sleep on my sides but eventually I turn on my back…ouch.
Anyway, our wakeup alarm was not to early so while the sleep was sporadic there seemed like enough. Upon waking we saw that DC and most of the NE had a major blizzard going on. So even before we got to the airport we figured we would make it to our first stop in Houston but that would be about it.
Our last bit of fun driving was getting the SUV back to the rental agency, the 12km trip took almost an hour with all the crazy traffic. The agency was very efficient and we were on their shuttle to the airport in no time.
Once there we confirmed that pretty much all airports in the NE part of the US were shut down. Our flight to Houston was on schedule so that went easily. We met up with several of the other Gate 1 package people at the airport and started exchanging stories. For the most part everyone had a great time and couldn’t wait to come back. One couple did have their rental car broken into and one of their passports stolen, but they were very happy with how quickly the US Embassy got them a new one.
The flight was uneventful, it was a new 757 that had the video screens on the chair backs with multiple movies, tv and games to choose from. Certainly made the flight go by quickly.
When we arrived in Houston we spoke to Continental and they got us a distressed traveler voucher that allowed us a cheap hotel rate nearby. So we were able to stay at a Marriott Fairfield for $60.
After dinner we found that our new flight to DC in the morning had been cancelled already. So after speaking with the airlines on the phone we were able to secure a flight later in the day. This allowed us to sleep in and I know Bob was certainly happy about that!
Today came and went very quickly, the flight was on time and even not very full. So we reached National Airport before 5pm and Sheila’s brother-in-law Rey came and picked us up. I was very surprised about the roads being so clear. I guess the news had gotten us pretty spooked as to what we were to find.
Even our cars in Dulles weren’t that piled under with snow. After just a couple of minutes we had them shoveled out and on our respective ways home. A great vacation with some great traveling companions. Next up, I will write a summary as to all the places and experiences in more detail. Can’t wait to go back to Costa Rica!
February 9, 2010
Last night was a crazy night. Its been to long since I have slept so near the ocean…all night I was hearing thunder and it woke me up…but it was actually the surf crashing on the shore. This happened about 4 times, each time with the same thought ‘oh no, thunder will ruin our plans in the morning’ then realizing it was the waves.
We had an early and busy morning ahead of us, and of course Bob was the last to be roused. Me and Sheila had a light breakfast while Bob copped a few more zzzz’s.
Next stop is Playa Flamingo and meeting the boat for our snorkel trip. The name of the company is Boos Adventures, pronounced Bose. Our skipper was Vincent Boos the owner. A local that knew the waters well and took us to an excluded area called Honeymoon Beach. Pristine sand with two long outcroppings of old lava flows in the water to snorkel around. We spent nearly 3 hours there enjoying the perfect weather and all the lovely fish.
Vincent carved up a Pineapple for us and we relaxed on the boat. Shame that we only have this short time here on the water, this afternoon we are off to San Jose for one more night before flying out.
Once we got back to Playa Basilito we had a little lunch at one of the local places where everything was in Spanish. Me and Sheila ordered the Arroz con Pollo but we were a little shocked when Bob ordered blindly off of the Carne section of the menu. But he was pleasantly surprised when he got basically a meat sampler with ribs, steak, wings and shrimp. It came with this brown sauce that he just loved.
On the wall of the restaurant was a poster for a festival that was going on in town the following weekend. One of the words that stood out for me was Torro. And after seeing the rather rudimentary ring and stand I put two-and-two together and figured the bull fights were coming to town. Still have yet to see one and we will miss this one as well.
Next up was the almost 6 hour drive to San Jose. Not a lot to talk about there, it was just a long drive over what seemed to be fairly recognizable territory. The roads are fairly well-maintained, but you can tell that the Pan American highway has major Semi Truck traffic…not only because we were stuck behind dozens on a two lane road, but the pavement was rippled from the trucks having hit their brakes over the years.
We got to San Jose after dark so the driving was even tougher to navigate…once again our GPS saved us. We made it to the hotel and by that time me and Bob realized that our sunburn from that morning was a lot worse than we thought. So the first stop after checking in was the Farmacia next door for some lotion.
For dinner we went back to Mama’s Place since Sheila was insisting she have the dessert again. We were so tired that after dinner we just headed to bed…its been a long but great day.
February 8, 2010
This morning started pretty typical for us, me getting up at dawn, Sheila waking soon after craving a cigarette and Bob sleeping till we just made too much noise (2 hours later).
Today we are winging it to the greatest degree…heading to the Pacific coast with no big plans other than snorkeling. We still have another night paid for here in Monteverde but with how far it is to the coast we just decided to find someplace there to crash.
Researching the areas in my Frommers guide I decided on Playa Brasilito. There are many beach areas along the northwest Pacific coast to choose from, but this one seemed the least touristy. It took us almost 4 hours to get there and we were all amazed how much the landscape changed. The northern part of the country is flat with occasional hills and hot with grassy plains and cactus. Quite the departure from the high altitude rainforest we had just left.
We reached our destination just afternoon. Our hotel turned out to be a beach flop, 13 rooms with very basic amenities, but also cheap at $58 with AC. Oh, and it was right on the beach. Yay! It is owned by an Aussie who also owned the bar/grill next door Outback Jacks. We had lunch there and the fish I had was amazing!
For the rest of the day we setup our snorkel excursion for the next morning and hung out on the beach. Me and Bob were both slightly under the weather so we took it easy, guess we got some local water the night before. Definately not the worst bout I have ever had but enough for me to cut back on the Casado’s (traditional platters) for the day.
That night after dinner we walked along the beach and marveled at the stars. There really is no town here, so no ambient light to spoil the night sky. The water was nice and warm on our feet. One of my favorite experiences of the trip was that night sky.
February 7, 2010
Surprise surprise, I was not the first person up today…Sheila actually was up at 0600! I was in a little shock and actually napped a little more as she showered. Bob was…well he was Bob, we had breakfast and I ran to town for gas before he begrudgingly woke up and got packed. Today we leave La Fortuna and head to Monteverde.
To get there we got to drive around Lake Arenal. And the first leg of the drive was great…small road but in good condition and it was a lovely view over this man-made lake. We stopped for several pictures and my companions took advantage to grab some cat naps.
Then the next leg started and we entered the highway that Heaven forgot about. The road was a lot like the previous days, looking like an old river bed. I am certainly glad at this point that we got the extra insurance as it feels like the car is going to fall apart sometimes.
I have to say that was about the longest 2 hours of driving I have ever done. We only stopped once on the drive for drinks otherwise we just wanted to get to Monteverde. And our expectation of what we were getting into was mounting pretty bad at this point…until we crested a hill and LOW AND BEHOLD we saw asphalt!! Turns out that the town of Monteverde is a little tourist town with lots of shops and restaurants. So while we were still in the boonies it was a lot better than I thought it would be.
We arrived at the hotel Montana Monteverde and found excellent accommodations. 
The rooms were small but we got a corner unit with an excellent view of the rainforest. The weather was also on our side, high in the low 70s with a constant breeze…its almost chilly!
After dropping off our stuff we spoke to the receptionist, Silvia, and she recommended the Selvatura Park for our rainforest walk. And luckily we were able to grab a shuttle of the day to the park.
The park was amazing, we walked 3km on a trail that included many elevated walkways putting you at the top of the trees. I think that due to the time of the day we missed out on much of the wildlife, but we did get to see a bird that is part of the turkey family, stark black with a blue head.
After the hike we headed back to town for dinner. We ate at a restaurant that Silvia recommended, Don Juan. This establishment is owned by a local coffee grower and had several coffee influenced menu items, including a steak with coffee sauce that Bob had. We did a little souvenir shopping in town then headed back to the hotel.
Looks like we arrived just in time, the Superbowl was just starting in the bar. All the Americans congregated around their spacious 29 inch TV for the rest of the evening. Glad that the Saints won…time for bed, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow!
February 6, 2010
Once again I awaken FAR before everyone else and way to early to boot. I do this on my non-vacation days also, but it is most frustrating on vacation time. True, perhaps I am just excited about seeing all the amazing things in my temporary new home, but when traveling with others it would be nice to sync our schedules.
Anyway, it’s our second day at the Arenal volcano and its going to be a pretty busy one. First stop this morning is the Sky Tram overlooking the lovely Lake Arenal and right at the base of the volcano.
The road there I can only call a road out of courtesy to the locals. It is far more in line with a dried riverbed than a road. I am certainly glad I got full coverage insurance for the car.
We reach the Sky Adventures facility and it is a very modern and sleek-looking place stuck on the side of the mountain amidst the rainforest. Sheila and Bob will be doing the zip line tour and I will be doing the gondolas.
This was a tough choice for me, I really wanted to do the zip line but everything I had read about the activity pointed that I was about 40lbs to heavy for a safe and comfortable ride. The guides told me that they could “rig” a special harness but if something went wrong it’s not a 20 foot drop but in many areas closer to 300! So I will just have to come back in the future when I am lighter.
After the adventurers were geared up we all rode the gondalas to the top of the mountain. Our guide was Jeffry who spoke very passable English. He set the zippers up with their ‘catchers’ and ‘launchers’ and they were away! The rest of us pollos did a short hike through the rainforest where we found out our guide was a Botany major at University. He pointed out tons of flora and what their purposes were in native life. We unfortunately did not see any fauna other than one animal that was a member of the racoon family…kinda looked like a cross between a racoon and a monkey. We did get to see the volcano have a minor burp of an eruption with gas, smoke and some rocks tumbling down the side. That was very exciting.
After taking the gondola back down the mountain I hooked up again with my companions and we had a lite lunch at the site.
Driving back down the hell road we got some good photos of the volcano. Luckily it is a very clear day at least here on the southern side.
Our next stop was at the Arenal National Park. This allowed us to get much closer to the volcano and hike up to some of the old lava flows. It was a hot day but I felt it was well worth the hike.
But afterward we only had one thing in mind…the hotel pool. And hey, it was just about dark and happy hour was upon us. The pool was quite refreshing and certainly took the dust and grime off of my old bones.
We ran into two friends who were also from our area, Liz and Elaine. We had run into them at the rental car agency the first day. They had gotten the same package as we had but were kinda winging it when it came to the hotels. They hung out with us and even joined us for dinner in town that evening.
We ate at La Brasitas for dinner and I had one of the best steaks ever. Never want to go back to corn-fed beef…ever!
February 5, 2010
Our morning started out very slow, I think we were just exhausted from all the travel yesterday. The hotel had an excellent buffet breakfast included with the room. We feasted then started the 4 hour drive to La Fortuna.
I didn’t quite understand why a 120km trip would take so long, but I quickly figured out why…
First the traffic in San Jose was insane. To many vehicles on to small of roads with no signage. So between the buses, trucks, motorcycles zipping in-between lanes, accidents and touristas that had no clue where they were going it took us over an hour to get out of the city.
Next were the roads themselves, while decent in construction they were still 2 lanes that were switching back up and down the hills. Combine that with all the bridges being only 1 lane made the drive slow but not terrible.
During our drive to La Fortuna we stopped at two Soda’s. The first was nothing more than a shack on the side of the road with local baked goods and drinks. The second was a bar and grill type cafe where we had lunch. The food was excellent and very inexpensive. They didn’t speak English at either but we got along just fine.
Next stop was our hotel, the Volcano Lodge. A sprawling resort of small duplex style cottages, each with a patio viewing the Volcano Arenal. It was late enough in the day that we just settled into the pool and enjoyed some relaxation while gazing upon the cloud covered volcano.
We met a nice couple from Ottawa, Canada while enjoying happy hour…Blair and Andrea. Good conversation ensued and eventually we headed in La Fortuna for dinner. The town is a bit of a tourist dive but it had some excellent restaurants to choose from. We went with the Lava Lounge that came recommended by the hotel and it was very good. In fact Sheila said it was the best meal she had in weeks!
Tomorrow we explore the area some more, should be fun!
February 4, 2010
Our journey to this tropical paradise was uneventful. We started off at the Dulles airport at 0430 for our very early flight. It was 18 degrees when we took off. Changed planes in Houston and arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica at 1330 in the afternoon…it was 82 degrees.
We picked up our rental car. along with a local GPS and headed toward downtown San Jose. I knew in advance that they did not tend to use signage for their roads very much, so it was very lucky that we had the GPS.
We stayed at the Hotel Balmoral right in the middle of downtown. It’s a nice older hotel with comfortable if rather no frills rooms. We wandered around the area that evening finally stopping at Mama’s Place for dinner. It was a good and inexpensive meal, when we were done the owner came over and gave us a desert on the house. I didn’t partake, but both Bob and Sheila raved on it. It looked like an ice cream sundae, but had a shot of espresso and a shot of Scotch in it…they want to go back when we return to San Jose.
We enjoyed a local bar and our hotel bar for the rest of the evening. The local CR beer, Imperial is a very tasty brew and between the three of us I think they had to open a new brewery. 
A good night rest and breakfast got us prepared for the road to La Fortuna!