|
|
Sat, May 7 th, Lacsa Flight 2651 (American # 2167) 5:22 pm – 8:19 pm DFW to San Jose, Costa Rica, non-stop. Return Sun, May 15 th. Lacsa Flight 2650 (American # 2166) 9:14 am to 2:22 pm. Non-stop. 1 hour time difference. Costa Rica on CST instead of CDT.
Friday, May 6th, 2005 6:30pm checked online last minute reservations with Travelocity and discovered that our trip was cancelled!?!! Immediately got on the phone to Travelocity and to make an EXTREMELY long story short, I was on/off the phone with one Indian representitive after another, supervisors, etc., until 11pm that night. Ultimately Travelocity said our flight was cancelled 'by the airline' and it had to do with a one minute schedule change that occurred. Lyndon got on the phone with American Airlines and they confirmed that we were indeed on their flight and advised us to just hang up on Travelocity. This was a travel nightmare which promted a 3 page letter with detailed documentation to Travelocity after our trip. (Travelocity did come through for us on our complaint... they refunded one of the two tickets, so they must care and I'll give them kudos for that) *if you care to read the letter, click here to open it in another window.
Saturday, May 7 th, 2005 Recovering from the Friday Night Travelocity disaster. Left around 8:30 am for Arlington to catch a flight out of DFW. Arrived at our friends (Paul and Phillips) around 11:00 am. Ate lunch at Cheddar’s in Arlington. Paul & Phillip dropped us off at DFW around 3pm. Flight left around 1.5 hours late. Our scheduled plane had mechanical problems and they had to find us another plane. We were schedule to leave at 5:22 pm but left around 7:00pm. Arrived at around 10 pm in San Jose. Our driver Jonathan Sedo picked us up at the airport and drove us to the Hotel Don Carlos ( corner of Calle 9 & Avenida 9) http://www.doncarloshotel.com/ to check in. We paid 2000 colones ($4.25) for his parking at the airport. Left airport at10:26pm. Jonathan drove to to Asseri high above San Jose’s south side to a Mirador overlooking the city to have a light dinner & Imperial Beer and look at the lights of San Jose from high above the city. People in parking lots ‘watch your car. All you do is tip then some colones when you leave and your car is safe. Back to hotel around 1am.
Sunday, May 8 th, 2005 Up at 6:45 am. Sun comes up early around 5am. Ate breakfast buffet at Don Carlos We ate Gallo Pinto (national dish of fried rice and black beans), fruits, toast, ham, etc. Then walked around Central San Jose down to the National Theater and the Plaza De La Cultura and back to the hotel by way of Parque Morazan. Explored area roughly bordered by Calle Central to the west and Calle 9 to the east. Avenida 9 to the North and Avenida 2 to the South. Jonathan picked us up at the Don Carlos around 9 am for our drive to La Fortuna and Arenal. First stop was in Alaljuela. We saw Juan Santamaria Statue, ate ‘shaved’ ice from street vendor at Parque Central where a band was playing classical music, walked into the cathedral where a funeral was taking place. There were quite a few people in the church, tourists, etc., and it didn't seem to matter one bit there was a funeral going on. People were taking pictures, milling around, local people there praying...a bit strange to us.
Prior to the next stop in Grecia we passed the “World of Snakes”, but didn’t stop. We figured (wrong) we'd see enough on our hikes to take care of this :)
in Grecia (famous for its rust-red, twin-spired metal church made of steel plates imported from Belgium in 1897, walked around park in front of the church which had a domed music temple).
Sarchi, just drove through. Naranjo, just drove through.
(just past Naranjo stopped at a fruit stand on the side of the road and bought Mangoes, Papaya, and Little Apples)
We ate lunch at around 1pm at Restaurante El Mirador Del Llano between Naranjo and Zarcero. Mark had a Casado Pollo (1,750 colones-$3.72, and Lyndon had a Casado Lomito (Fish) (2,200 colones-$4.68), arroz leche for desert 400 colones-85 cents and coca-cola 500 colones-$1.06). Very nice view from the restaurant.
Next stop was Zarcero (approx 5695 feet elevation, cool air). We stopped at the Parque Francisco Alvarado in front of an off pink and blue 1895 Iglesia de San Rafael. In the park in the 1960s gardener Evangelisto Blanco turned the bushes into topiary. Very interesting and worth the diversion if you're in the area.
Quesada, just drove through. Angeles, just drove through.
La Fortuna. Arrived into the Arenal area and checked into the Montana de Fuego. http://www.montanadefuego.com/ Nice breakfast included in room rate with omelets made to order. Upon arrival, clouds most of way down Arenal obstructed the view. Went to see Laguna de Arenal (lake Arenal), ate dinner in La Fortuna (Choriza Del Laurel. Early evening we spent some time in the Las Fuenta Termanles Hot Springs, which are directly across the road from the infamous Tabacon Hot Springs. The water comes from the same tributary but it is 'slightly' cooler in these hot springs and therefore the price was only $10 per person. Later we headed back to the hotel, checked out the pool and hot tub and then hit the sack!
Monday, May 9 th, 2005 Breakfast at 8 am. Jonathan picked us up at 10 am.
Did an almost 4 hour Hike at Arenal. Park hours 8am – 4pm. Parked by reception area. We took the Sendero Heliconias Trail 1km, up to Mirador view point (?? Km), then caught up with the Sendero Coladas (2km) through the base of the volcano and the Sendero Tucanes (2km) for a total hike of just over 10k (6.2 miles). While we were walking back and into a clearing you could hear the vapors come out of the volcano (sounded like a jet plane going overhead), and there was was sounded like firecrackers going off in the distance. After the firecracker sound, you could see big boulders falling down the side of the volcano. Saw busy leaf cutter ants and also a coati (member of the raccoon family).
Went to the Hanging Bridges http://www.hangingbridges.com/ and ate a late lunch there. Rained hard most of the time we were on the trails. Total walking distance 1.9 miles in 600 acres of protected rainforest. The Hanging Bridges project consists of eight (8) fixed bridges, ranging in length between 8 and 22 meters, and six (6) hanging bridges, built with the latest techniques and designed with an eye for both beauty and safety. The hanging bridges are between 48 and 98 meters long. All the bridges are made of galvanized steel and high-strength aluminum. Hanging Bridge Names: Tayra Bridge- 326 ft long, Fer-De-Lance Bridge-160 ft long, Ant Hill Bridge- approx 290 ft long, Waterfall Bridge 305 ft long, Pilon Tree Bridge-183 ft long, Arenal View Bridge-250 ft long.
After that we did a boat ride on Lake Arenal and saw various forms of wildlife including some beautiful birds. We were the only ones on the boat, no other tourists. Later we had drinks by the hotel pool and went to Tabacon Hot Springs http://www.tabacon.com/ (if you go after 7 the price drops considerably). The springs were very hot and the facility is much nicer than the one we were at across the street the night before. We met some guys from our hotel there, a couple from North Carolina.
Tuesday, May 10 th, 2005 We had a nice breakfast at the hotel at 6:30am. Our guide/driver Jonathan picked us up around 7 to for the drive to Manuel Antonio via Puntarenas. We walked on the pier in Puntarenas. The beach was dark grey, not very pretty. Town was very poor. Guide said Puntarenas was the 2nd poorest area of country behind the Carribean area. We brought a bunch of small toys and dropped them off at the local Catholic Church. Started drive to Manuel Antonio from Puntarenas, via highways 17,23, and 34. Stopped at bridge that crosses the Rio Tarcoles to see the crocodiles which bask on the mudbanks below the bridge. Jonathan wanted to take us to some resort in Punta Leona but we declined, deciding that it was best that we got to Manual Antonio without further delay. Stopped in Jaco for Jonathan to stop at a bank, we took advantage of the stop and used an ATM to pull out Colones.. Stopped briefly at Play Hermosa to take pictures then on to Manuel Antonio where we ate a restaurant overlooking the water. Jonathan stopped in Quepos and bought us a bottle of Lizano sauce. Checked into Villa Roca, http://www.villaroca.com/ where we had apartment 1. Jonathan left us at this point to go back home. We are on our own now until he picks us up our last day in M.A. on Saturday. Met lots of people by the infinity edge pool. Around 13 people or so? Went to Happy Hour at TuTu’s (nice rooftop deck view). Mark and I were the only one’s there. Went walking and to dinner at 8pm with the group of people. The Tapas bar we were going to was closed, so we walked way down the other direction to another restaurant that was to busy. We ending up eating at El Avion, a Fairchild C-123 transport plane which was used by the CIA to run arms to the Contras in Nicaragua. The dinner was ok and we were with our 13 new friends so it was nice to get to know everyone. We headed back to the room around 10:30 pm.
Wednesday, May 11 th, 2005 Went to Manuel Antonio National Park via cab after we had breakfast by the pool. Cab ride should have been about $2 (around 1000 colones but we were charged higher. Bought a map for approx $2 Paid $1 to 'walk' on a boat to cross water. Saw squirrel monkeys, howler monkey, sloths, colorful crabs, iguanas. Walked to beaches. After entrance walked the Main Trail 2.2 km. Saw Playa Espadilla Sur Beach. Continued on trail,saw lots of squirrel monkeys and walked to Play Manuel Antonio. Walked the Punta Catedral Trail 1.4 km. Which is an island linked to the mainland. The hike was at times steep & muddy, with lots of colorful crabs. Saw a coati. Walked the Playas Gemelas and Puerto Escondido Beach Trail 1.6 km out and 1.6 km back. Saw Playa Puerto Escondido Beach. Walked out of the park on the Vehicular Offical Road 1.3 km where we saw some more sloths in a half barren tree. Total hiking 8.1 km, approx 5 miles. Ate lunch on second floor of a restaurant that overlooked Playa Espadilla Norte. Took bus home. Went to the pool for about 1 hour with some of the guys. Walked down to Playa Espadilla down steep hill, about a 30 minute walk, then walked down beach to the other end and caught bus back instead of walking back up steep hill. When we were at the beach, a movie was being filmed, saw banner on set that said “ High School of Costa Rica Surfing Championship”.
Thursday, May 12 th, 2005 Up at 7am. Lyndon showered but Mark was still in bed at 7:40 am with an upset stomach and feeling queasy. Lyndon went by pool briefly, then started to feel sick too. We both were in bed all day and all night and opted to skip the maid service. Had them give us fresh towels only. The bathroom was very busy that day and the next day there was a truck parked next to the hotel cleaning out the septic tank. (We found out later that most of our party had eaten at the same restaurant later that night and also came down sick) We weren't hungry this evening but Mark did manage to get out and walk down the street to a local pizzaria and pick up a couple of sandwiches we picked at for our dinner.
Friday, May 13 th, 2005 We are both feeling much better this morning, almost normal. Breakfast at Café Milagro in Manuel Antonio easy walking distance from our apartment. Banana pancakes were very good. Later we walked down to the gay beach, La Playita. Have to catch it during low tide or you can’t get back over the rocks. After that we walked to Manuel Antonio on the beach down Playa Espadilla which was a nice walk. Mark ate from a street vendor because he said it looked so good. Lunch and 2 cokes cost approx $6. We took the bus back to the hotel instead of walking up the steep hill and very narrow road. Went to pool and rested up and then took the Bus to Quepos which is a nasty little town of around 11,000 people. Bought some coffee at Café Milagro. We ate at Restaurante El Gran Escape around 5:30 pm. (raining again) We had 2 bottled waters, approx 98 cents each. Mark had Nachos (nasty) at $8.60 and Lyndon had Pollo Chipotle at $9.67. Remember restaurants add a 15% sales tax and a 10% service charge to the bill. Total tab included tax around $24.86. Paid in dollars, change in colones. Bus back from Bus Station in Quepos. Fare 105 colones, approx 21 cents. Thunderstorm during ride back.
Saturday, May 14 th, 2005 Phone rang before sunrise (around 5am). Lyndon went to answer phone that was in the other room and forgot about the 1 foot drop between rooms. Landing on right ribs and right side of head (tile floor!). Probably had a concussion and didn't realize it since his vision was blurred after the fall.
Sunday, May 15 th, 2005 Jonathan picked us up at 6:30 am for the 20 minute ride to the airport. At Airport there is (currently) a $26.00 Departure Tax per person. Check in lines were manageable but they don't have fancy screening equipment so much of the 'security' involves random opening of suitcases and thorough searches of contents. Flight back was good and we were back to DFW approx 15 minutes early (around 2pm). Paul & Phillip picked us up, went to their house, freshened up, then drove home. Home around 6pm.
|
