Part 2 of our Costa Rican Adventure

 

Days 2-4:  La Cameron Resort, Puerto Viejo

Our stay in Puerto Viejo was nice.  Kevin spent the 1^st full day looking at properties.  Driving around we met a few people who all had land and land/houses for sale.  One woman that we met actually stopped her trip to town to show us a couple of places near her.  Too far from the beach and a pretty good car ride to town.  Nice though.  Most of the property owners were Polish except for her.  She was Bulgarian.  Nearer the beach and further south we met a local who had quite a few friends who had property so we had a nice look.  Everyone we met was more than happy to help us.  Kevin has lots to think about.  The scenery in Costa Rica is amazing, much like Belize.  Lots of beautiful flowers and trees, majestic hills (actually low mountains) and volcanoes, rainforests, animals everywhere, everything you can imagine.  There were were days that the screaming of the howler monkey woke Kevin early in the morning.  We stopped more than a handful of times on the side of the road for hom to photograph different animals.  Since arriving in Costa Rica he’s taken well over 1200 pictures (he’s a photog junky anyway).  When he’s done working on his photo albums I’ll point you to the URL where he’s posted them.  He’s an excellent photog and does some stunning editing of pics.  I think he could sell them myself.

Day 4-6:  Pachira Lodge on the Rio Sueto near Tortuguero

We left our hotel at 5am for a 2-1/2 hour car ride, a free breakfast where we were to meet the bus, a 1-1/2 hour bus ride to the boat, and 1 hour boat ride to the resort.  On the river we saw a 6-7ft croc and a troop of white faced cappuccino monkeys.   We finally got to the Pachira Lodge on the Rio Sueto near Tortuguero on the Caribbean side and I think 1/2 the people we've met were from France.  Quite a few Germans too.  Had a great time there.  Kevin was surprised by the hotel.  We got to the room and it didn’t have windows, only screens, and no a/c. Well open to the eliments but covered by a porch that kept the rain from hitting the windows.  Welcome to Central America Kevin!!!  LOL.  Belize is full of places like that because the a/c is too expensive and the breezes are enough to cool the room.  It certainly was here. 

We did a couple of nice tours.  The 1^st was a short while after we arrived and to a small village was located almost directly across the river.  It was so small they had no cars or golf carts.  We wandered around for a while looking in a few of the shops then heard lots and lots of drums a few blocks away.  It turned out to be the local high school drum corps.  We listened to them for a while then headed to the beach.  We were told of a tour that took people to see baby sea turtles hatching and running to the sea so we thought we’d schedule that. While we were on the beach I met up with a local fisherman and we spent about 30 minutes talking about fishing local to both of us and what our catches were.  Kevin was off taking hundreds of pictures of various flora and fauna.  A few minutes later we came across a local who had found a baby turtle wandering in his yard.  So we watched him bring it near the sea and set it free.  A couple girls walked up to watch so he picked the turtle up and did it again further back.  As the turtle got to the waters edge he’d pick it up and move it back.  Finally we all yelled at him and he let it go. At 5pm Kevin went on the turtle tour.  I decided to skip it because I’ve seen it a couple of times in Florida.  He LOVED it!  He said they watched about 30 turtles unbury themselves from the sand and head to the sea.  Bad thing about turtles is that only 1% of them survive.  Almost everything that lives on land or in the sea or flies eats them when they are tiny.  But it was an adventure watching them start their sea life.

The resort was all inclusive and dinner was ready when he got back. Dinner was always served at 7pm.  Most of the food was good but not very imaginative.  Buffet style with some form of beef and chicken, rice and beans at every meal (including breakfast).  We both went to sleep and woke early, although Kevin always woke up earlier than me.  The 2^nd day was hike in the rainforest right alongside the resort and in the afternoon a river and canal tour.  Lots of different birds, howler monkeys, and plenty of crocs sunning (in the cloudy weather) on patches of weed.

Dinner at 7 again.  Like a cruise ship all of our meals were at the same table every day. At least we were lucky there because we like everyone.  One couple from Spain (she’s a Brit and he’s Spanish and a newlywed couple from Spain as well.  There is also a lady, somewhere in her 70’s, named Martha who we jokingly talk about hitting on Kevin.  She’s a widow and has traveled to 36 countries on her own since her husband died.

Day 2 was a 2 hour rain forest hike at 9:30am, a 2 hour boat trip on some canals, and another trip at 5pm to the turtle nests.  I was pretty tired so I chose not to go on the turtle nesting tour.  I’d seen that in Florida so I didn’t feel bad about missing it here.  Kevin on the other hand was totally amazed at seeing them crawl out from under the sand and head for the water.  He said that there were about 30 of them all scrambling to make it to what they thought was a new life in the safety of the water.  The guide said that only about 1% of them actually make it to maturity though.  Early bed because we had a big ride the next morning. 

 

Day 5-6:  Tirimbina Lodge, La Virgen

After the boat/bus ride back to El Ciebo we headed toward the Arenal Volcano with a stop for a night at Tirimbina Lodge and the Reserva Biológica La Tirimbina.  We checked in and went for a quick hike over the suspension bridge and ended up at the cocoa plantation that we were going on the tour at the next day.  Not a problem though except that we ended up walking back in a torrential down pour.  After drying out we went out for a nice dinner, hit a grocery store for some supplies and then settled in for the night.  The next morning we went on the guided tour of the cocoa plantation and we were glad that we did.  The presentation took us through the process of picking, cleaning, fermenting, drying and processing of the cocoa beans and included turning the end product into drinkable cocoa just like the Spanish were introduced to in the 1500’s.  Really good tasting stuff!  After that we headed out to our next destination.

Day 6-8:  Los Lagos Resort, Frontera

Saturday we headed for Arenal which was about a 3 hour drive including time for lunch.  Kevin had his heart set on staying at the Los Lagos Resort in Frontera.  It has a hot spring on the property right at the pool bar.  Pretty pricey but REALLY nice.  So we sat at the bar, well I sat at the bar on the internet and Kevin went into the hot spring pool, and later we both went in.  The pool had a pretty big slide so like the kids we are we had to ride it.  We headed for dinner in town.  I’d been hankering for pizza so we chose one of the many pizza joints in town and had an almost acceptable pizza experience.  By that I mean it tasted good but of course didn’t satisfy my craving for a NY style pizza. I’ll be in Orlando in 10 days so will satisfy that craving during my 28 day stay.  We wandered a bit and Kevin found flavored cigarillos for 60 cents US in one of the stores.  I chose 5 chocolate and 5 whiskey flavored ones and they turned out to be quite nice.  A stop in a bar for a drink and then Kevin went across the street for a massage to finish his night.  I know what popped into some of your heads.  It was a real massage not one with a “happy ending”.  Sunday morning the sun finally came out and the volcano filled the horizon to the north of our hotel.  There was a cloud that wrapped itself right near the summit.  What a beautiful sight!  Breakfast at 8, followed by a 3 hour horseback ride up to a waterfall at 9:30.  The waterfall stop included an hour to swim.  Being the weakling with bad knees that I’ve become I climbed part way down and sat at a scenic overlook with a cigar and Kevin made the trip.  He tried getting into the water but it was so cold he said he was chocking on a double Adam’s apple if you get my drift.  We did enjoy the horsy ride though.  The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool and pool bar.  Dinner in town was a total disappointment.  We both opted for a mixed grilled seafood dinner which included ½ a lobster, half a huge freshwater shrimp, an octopus tentacle, 3 shrimp, and 2 crappy stuffed muscles.  All the lobster and shrimp was severely overcooked and the veggies that came with it were soggy.  Disappointment heaped on disappointment…

Day 8: Leaving Frontera headed to La Cruz

We left Frontera and the volcano and headed for La Cruz in preparation for crossing the border into Nicaragua on the 12^th to visit Kevin’s “Compassionate Child” who lives near Managua.  The trip to Liberia took 3 hours and we didn’t get lost once!  Each time we’ve headed out to a new destination we’ve encountered various levels of lost.  The night we arrived in Costa Rica what should have been a 10 minute ride to the hotel took over 2 hours.  As a side note though the signage in all of Central America is atrocious and street name signs are non-existent so you are guaranteed to get lost.  When Kevin and I were dragging my trailer through Mexico we got so lost that we stopped at a cab stand to ask directions.  Since neither of us speaks Spanish very well (me not at all) the directions were lost on us so we hired him to lead us to the highway we needed to be on.  In CR I reminded Kevin of that so we immediately found a cab stand and in 10 minutes we were at the hotel.  The next morning we didn’t even bother trying to find our way to the highway.  We asked in the hotel registration office for a taxi, explaining what we wanted it for, and at the designated time he was in front of the hotel.  We were on our way to Puerto Viejo without a hitch.  Not sure if we’ll have to do that today but.

Day 8-9:  EcoPlaya Resort, La Cruz

Found a sort of nice resort called the Eco Playa Resort on the pacific side near La Cruz. It’s actually associated with one of the timeshare trading companies (RCI I think).  Bad thing of this place is that it’s infested with ants.  But we were only here for 1 night so we lived with it.  We’ve never had an infestation problem in any of our hotels to date.  Speaking with other guests they are infested too so I know it’s not just us.  Here on the west coast there are really beautiful rock strewn beaches but the water is lots cooler than the Caribbean.

Our next move is to be nearer the Nicaragua border tonight because tomorrow we are crossing over and heading to Managua to visit Kevin’s “Compassionate Child” who lives near there.  It about a 5 hour trip so we want to reduce the driving tomorrow by being at the border.

 

Day 9-10:  La Marida Hotel, La Cruz

Well we took our ride to the border but stopped at the National Car Rental just to check in and make sure the arrangements were in order for picking up the car in Nicaragua.  Truck traffic was atrocious!!!  All trucks are required to check in with their paperwork before crossing the border.  There had to be at least a 5 mile long line with trucks parked 3 lanes wide on the 1 lane road in places!!!  They filled every possible open spot and some were even facing in the wrong direction.  We got behind a bus and the bus drove in the wrong lane for long stretches, with us directly behind it.  We’re thinking that we are safe because the oncoming traffic had to move over for the bus because the was no place the bus, or we, could go.  Worked like a charm!  Just before we turned into the office Kevin decided to juke right to see what was ahead.  When he did the right front drive wheel left the pavement for a 1 foot drop, leaving the car sitting directly on the frame.  A few bad words were said and I hopped out.  A man was standing right on the side of the road and he and I lifted the front of the car while Kevin put the car in reverse.  That worked like a charm too and we were back on the road.  The good thing is that we saw the office not 25 feet futher up the road and on our side of the highway.  The bad thing was we didn’t know if they saw what we had just done.  Nope they were clueless.  We met the guy who was manning the desk yesterday in another office and found that everything was kosher. We also found out that there were no closer hotels at the border so we were stuck going back to La Cruz for the night.  On the way we decided to see if we could get a car in Nicaragua today and save the border crossing tomorrow.  No such luck though so Kevin got directions to a hotel that they guy recommended.  Turned out to be a nice little place owned by a couple who live in Spring TX.  We got 2 rooms for the night, with great a/c then took a walk into town for a nice lunch.  So that’s where we are tonight.  Tomorrow we head for the border again, turn in the Costa Rican rental, get driven to the border, walk 2 blocks to CR Immigration, cross the border, check in with Nicaragua Immigration, get picked up by the rental car people and then head to Managua, which is a 3-1/2 hour drive.  Kevin meets with the Compassionate Child people around 1pm to go meet the boy that he sponsors.  We found out that I can’t go with them because I didn’t go through the background check that Kevin did.  So I’ll sit at the Holiday Inn where we will spend the night. 

So we will see what tomorrow brings. 

And so, life goes on for the Fatboy in Belize in Costa Rica!!!  As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace.  I am!!!