Costa Rica
September 2005
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On September 14th, Norma and I drove to San Francisco to catch a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. Our long time friends, Walt and Becky Kindergan had successfully bid on the use of a Condo for a week and asked us to join them. |
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We flew TACA Airlines Flight 561, from San Francisco to San Jose, (with a stop in San Salvador) leaving at 1:30 AM and arriving mid-morning. Since we left San Franciso on Flight 561 and were scheduled to arrive in San Jose on Flight 561, my impression was that we would on the same plane for the entire flight. WRONG!!! We landed in San Salvador and everyone got off the plane except for a half dozen Americans, who believed, as I did, that the plane would shortly take off for it's final destination of San Jose.However, the Flight Attendant said we were wrong and that Flight 561 from San Francisco to San Salvador was on one plane and that Flight 561 from San Salvador to San Jose was on a different plane! Oh well, we headed down the terminal and found out that we were able to board for the last leg of the flight |
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A brief word about TACA; the planes are good, the meals (Breakfast: warm ham and cheese on a cinnamon bagel, a cup of yogurt and a fruit cup was certainly not worth more than the $5 they charged but the Britt coffee, the banana bread and the chips and soda they served gratis were great! - On the return flight the pasta dinner was well worth the $5 considering that a Whopper or a Schlottski's Deli sandwich at the San Jose airport is $7.50. One other word of advice on TACA - if you plan to sleep on the 8 hour flight bring your own pillow since TACA supplies neither pillows nor blankets on their flights between the US to Costa Rica. A plus was the free headphones and ten channels of music but the downside were the movies: "The Bad News Bears Visit Japan", and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" |
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We waited for Walt and Becky to arrive from Atlanta on Delta . A piece of information on the San Jose Airport; after you arrive get some Colones (local currency) from the ATM in the baggage claim area and also purchase a phone card just before you go through customs. A $10 phone card is good for 400+ minutes of calls within Costa Rica and 40+ minutes of calls to the US. Since our cell phones don't work with their system, the phone card is a great comfort as you travel in Costa Rica. One more word of advice; the arriving flights come in on the lower level of the airport and after you go through Customs and pass the rental car booths, you are on the street - no restaurants, bars, chairs - nothing - you are on the street! Also, the airport is not IN San Jose, but instead 23km northwest of the city, near Alajuela. |
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Our $75/night room (tax and breakfast included) was well worth the price. (Speaking of tax, be careful in Costa Rica because many businesses fail to tell you that their prices do NOT include taxes, which can add up to 23% to your bill). |
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After a glass or two of wine it was time for dinner at one;of the two restaurants on the property The first night we opted for therestaurant near the pool which is also where the breakfasts are served. Dinner was excellent and the meals averaged about $15 |
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The following morning we headed down to the all you can eat breakfast which included bacon and sausage, potatoes, lots of fresh fruit including pineapple and papaya, plus yougurt, granola, bread coffee and made to order eggs - a really good breakfast!! |
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After 14 cable runs we were really tired and although our hearts were still pumping rapidly, it was time to hit the bar at the pool! So, it was back to the Volcano Lodge, on with the swim suits and down to the pool. The swim up bar was very comfortable (expecially with a couple of Mai Tai's). But we needed fluids, not just fruit, so we swithed to beer. There are three main beers in Costa Rica, Bavarian (which is a good Costa Rican version of a German Beer), Pilsen (a good Costa Rican version of a European Pils) and Imperial which is just a good beer. So we did the pool, did the spa, had a wee bit of the local brews and it was time for dinner at the other restauant at the Volcano Lodge. |
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This restaurant is at the other end of the complex, near the office and is the one they show on the web site. It's more upscale and meals at this restaruant we more expensive than the pool restaurant. I had a sea bass smothered in a seafood sauce containing shrimp, scallops, crab, etc. It was remarklable and priced around $20 We had a bottle of wine, which was pricier than the other restaurant but very enjoyable. One night cap and it was time for some sleep before our cross country journey to the Jaco area on the Pacific coast. |
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By the way we had to stop and ask where the Pan American Highway was since it's not really much different from the other roads. The Pan American Highway is many shades of asphalt (looks the the road patches vary from year to year). The road is wider than most and is also very heavily traveled by trucks which are making the trip South from Mexico or the U.S. We stopped for lunch along th |
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After a very adventurous journey of five or six hours we pulled into our residence for the next five days, Nativa, just North of Jaco. Nativa is a Dutch development which, when finished, will include the "quad condo's" where we stayed, three 6 story apartment buildings, a hotel and 50 home sites on 250+ acres. Although there were plenty of workers there, only two units were occupied while we were there! |
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| The Nativa development sits along the coast near the Tarcoles River, famous for crocodiles and near the Carara National Reserve, famous for it's scarlet macaws. The macaws fly between the lowlands (where they spend the night) to the highlands (where they spen d the day) at about 5:00 and they fly in pairs in front of the tiki hut at Nativa! |  |
We spent a number of evenings at the tiki hut listening for the noisy buggers to make their appearance and then trying to get the cameras to catch the birds in flight |
| We ventured out several times from the condo - twice to Jaco (pronounced ha CO) for groceries at the Mas y Menos (Costa Rica's Supermarket chairn), I had read that Jaco was like Daytona Beach with kids surfing, drinking beer and generally just partying. However, trust me, there is NO comparison between Daytona and Jaco! Jaco was a small cluttered little town that catered to a lot of young people who had nevert read GQ. There were a number of American style restuarants and hotels but the ocean was not clear and beach did not possess the white sands of Florida. Having said all of that, it looked like a great party town is you're in your late teens or 20's, don't have a lot of money and don't worry about what tomorrow brings....Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, that time was a lonnnggg time ago for me. | ||
| We did find some great places in the area including Los Suenos, a Marriott Resort and development a couple of miles down the road. It's a huge development on the water with houses, condos, shops and restaurants and of course the obigitory golf course. | ||
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We also discovered a GREAT place to eat, the Villa Caletas, which is perched on a 1,000 foot cliff overlooking the Pacific. The food was great, the service superb, the prices reasonable and the view breathtaking. It's a small hotel with personalized service (and great martinis too!). I highly recommend it for viewing sunsets! |
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We had a great time exploring the area and found another can't miss place - Pura Vida Gardens. It was a long (15 minute) drive u[ the road to the gardens, but well worth the time. The flowers were beautiful, the views of the waterfalls were breathtaking and the opportunity to have our picture taken with Toucans and Parrots was absolutely, priceless. |
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We also had the opportunity to head further South, to a town called Quepos. Quepos is famous for at least four things; Cafe Milagro Coffee (some of the best in Costa Rica), hand made Cuban cigars, Manuel Antonio National Park and Martec Seafood. On the way to Quepos, in addition to experiencing several more one lane bridges, you pass miles of African Palm trees which are a major crop in the area. |
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fter some coffee it was time to try to find a friend of a friend, who is a partner in Martec, a very large fresh fish processing operation. Martec supplies Costco, Red Lobster, Outback (?) and many other large clients. Bob Miles gave us a great tour of the facility and we watched as several hundred employees processed tuna, orange roughy and who knows what else - but it sure was clean and it sure was cold! |
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Then it was on to Manuel Antonio where we had a great fish lunch on the beach at the Sopa Marlin. |
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The weather was pretty nice in Quepos but the closer we got to Nativa the worse the weather! It was torrential rain and numerous mudslides but we made it home in one piece. |
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The next day it was time for our final adventure, a jungle tour in Carara Nastional Park. Our Guide, Victor, was born and raised on the property before it was a park and new just about everything about the area He pointed out a baby crocodile, lots of monkeys and birds (including the rare cousin of the Quetzel), and unique plants and trees. It was a great hike and by the end of it I needed a drink! One more stop before we went back to Nativa - a visit to a semi tame Macaw that had been stolen from a nest as a baby and then rescued before being shipped out of the country. The five year old bird is free to fly away but comes back to be fed daily |
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| We paid our respects to the resident iguana and headed back to the condo to cool off! |
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The next morning we made the two hour trip back to the airport and thought about our wonderful experience, made even better by the Ticos, who are a very gentle and kind people.When we return to Costa Rica it will be in the dry season sdo that we can compare the two seasons. By the way, the rest of the trip was uneventful even though flight 561 was two different planes between San Jose, San Salvador and San Francisco. But this time we were prepared and the plane switch went off without a hitch! We arrive at SFO at about 12:10am and after clearing customs and retrieving our bags, we decided to drive home. That was a mistake that we will never make again. After being up for many hours and flying for eight plus hours, driving home is pretty silly. We made it home safely at about 4:15 but won't be so foolish the next time. We'll stay in a motel and drive back the next day.. |
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