A Broad In Costa Rica

What To Do On Weekends

Jane wrote to me this morning:

Hey, Saratica:

My Son has visited your site many times and loves all the info you give. He and I are coming to CR this weekend. We are enrolled in a language school in San Jose. We will have the afternoons and weekends free. Can you give us advice on places to see and things to do?

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply,
Jane

I don't always have time to write back, although I certainly mean to... But sometimes days and weeks go by (right, Arp?) while the email languishes in my inbox. This morning, timing was perfect for a reply and my mind was actually clicking along - probably because I went to the gym yesterday and took my vitamins. I replied immediately:

Hi Jane,

I would not miss Arenal. That for me has been the most amazing site. And it's just been spewing tons 'o ash... That is a long day trip and if you just spend a day, you might not get to see it out of clouds, something which may only happen at night during the rainy season. So I'd spend the night. We stay at Arenal Observatory Lodge, around $130/night including breakfast. There are MUCH cheaper places to stay but they are on the wrong side of the volcano and you don't get the view.

There is also Poas Volcano and the La Paz Waterfall Gardens - my second favorite place and that's a day trip. Butterflies, hummingbirds and amazing waterfalls.

At Arenal, there is a snake place that is pretty amazing, right near the Lodge: on the gravel road leading to the lodge, you come to a fork. You go left to the lodge, right to the snake place. Even if you are not a snake person, we had a guide that was a certified mad-scientist snake-o-phile. Fascinating. Plus they had a live Rhino beetle. Creepy.

[Click here to see those frog's eggs!]

There is Zoo Ave [sew AH-vay] in La Garitas, a bird zoo with other animals, but mostly birds. I have not been but will go soon. I've heard people rave about this and Zoo Ave is actually conservationist-minded.

There are two botanical gardens: the Else Kientzler Garden and the Lankester Garden. Have not been to either, but will soon. Friends have raved about Lankester which is southeast of the city, a day trip. Haven't met anyone who's been to the other which is on the road to Arenal.

On all your day trips, GO EARLY. It rains in the afternoon, starting anytime after 12noon. It's usually sunny and lovely in the mornings. Get up early, arrive at the opening hour, wear sandals or flip flops and take an umbrella.

Also, search the Costa Rica Living Group for "day trip" or even "San Jose day trip"... Someone was asking just recently and there were several good recommendations.

Have fun - thank you for asking!

Pura vida!

P.S. Pick up a copy of the Tico Times, too. That comes out on Fridays and has a listing of all the events for the coming week. Tons of theatre, dance, music. TONS.

Mayan Palace Sucks

Big time. And the cretins who run the place are immune to Whoop Ass. So far, I am left with name-calling. But I'm not done scheming for a bit of tasy revenge. I don't need much. Just $520 worth. Not even including the $50 for the bus ticket they told her to buy that she could not use. Not including the $200 for my plane ticket to come rescue her. Not including anything for her pain, stress and suffering which was plenty and plenty unnecessary. Nope: just $520 worth.

Because $520 is the amount mom had to spend seeking shelter from the storm in Playa del Carmen. The G.M., after listening to the complete picture of how his and his staffs' irresponsible actions directly affected mom and us in the face of the oncoming cat 5 storm, turned down my request for a credit in this amount to my mom for food and services (gym, internet, massage, etc.) incurred after these morons threw her out onto the street.

He did the open-palms-up-I'm-helpless-here thing... while telling me how the 700 guests who had already checked in got to sleep in their beds! I threatened a plague of locusts or something scary and left. A bit later, he sent up a tiny fruit plate on a silver metal platter with a note: "Sorry for the inconvenience, enjoy the rest of your stay."

I sent the platter back with one of my own:

Dear Mr. Hernandez and Ms. Warnholtz,

Please take back the fruit plate and give us a credit for its value against our bill. We kept the fruit so we would have something to eat.

If either of your mothers are ever in Costa Rica and need help in any emergency, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will make sure she has shelter from any storm and is as well taken care of as if she were my own mother.

Pura vida.

I'm not going to waste another second worrying about it, though. Not till I get home to my plentiful hi-speed internet. I'm typing as fast as I can. The internet here is it NOT $5/hour. It is $4 for 1/2 hour, $7/hour. You pay up front so if you go one minute over 1/2 hour, you pay another $4. Their internet must be more expensive than mine is.

Just for kicks I looked up Mayan Palace Sucks.com. It's already taken. By Mayan Palace. Looks like they were expecting a little Whoop Ass. Ahhh. That gave me a chuckle. Most of the fun is in the scheming!

Mom loves it here and it is beautiful. We are going to have a lovely time these next few days. Going to Xel-Ha tomorrow, her favorite place. I may not post much till we get home, though. Need money for food.

See you all - pura vida!

--

Ok. I did not send the platter back with the note. Mom was a) mortified and b) afraid they'd blacklist her. Besides, it wouldn't do any good. He wouldn't get it. So...

Mom and I just had a GREAT dinner at a place called Yaxche on the main drag in Playa del Carmen. Dinner for two $60, excellent service, incredible flavors, beautiful restaurant. Perfect. Time for bed. Need sleep for scheming.

Hot Like In Hell

Our little Royal Family was not happy in Parismina and we left as soon as humanly possible. The day after our forced march, we were so exhausted that doing a patrol that night was out of the question. And this first day, our only full day there, we were stolen from left and right. Very discouraging.

But the straw that broke the camel's back and drove us from Parismina was the heat.

I'm a Straw-That-Broke-The-Camel's-Back kind of gal. There may be loads of reasons to do or not do something, but there is always that One Determining Factor: the Straw. Because I can rationalize anything to suit my need du jour, I like to whittle excuses down to the Straw. Keep it simple, keep in touch with my motive. Have a much better chance of making the next right move.

In Parismina, the heat was the Straw. Not just hellishly hot. With NO relief hot. Zero. None. Unless you count a dip in the warm ocean or a plunge under the cold shower. Neither of which gave relief for more than a few minutes. There is no shade unless you stand under a tree. There are no verandas, no tourist venues at all, no hammocks swinging under any trees. No breeze, not a whiff. The soda where they stole from us was the only restaurant, place to hang out with a cold drink. There was one pavillion with a dirt floor and stone benches scattered around. Or I could have sat on the low stone wall outside my door (photo right). At least I'd be sweating in the shade.

The boys went to the only place they could go: the pool hall. They were the only ones there and it was stifling. I went and sat next to the door. Two times I felt a slight breeze for which I was so so grateful. There was nothing else to do and no place else to go. Not a store of any kind except for pulperias. No TV. Too hot to read. Hot.

I spent some time laying in my bed under the mosquito net with the one box fan, the only fan in our room, blowing on me. The button was broken off and it only worked on low. I balanced it on my bed under the mosquito net. So I felt air blowing up to my knees.

Tico houses are not made to let heat out. The low tin roof was right over my head and right under the hot sun: it was like an oven. And the mattress was like a sponge, soaking up all that heat, then sharing it back up into my body.

Here's how hot it was that day: I was too hot to eat. I skipped two meals. That is unheard of. I NEVER miss a meal. EVER. I was desperately hot to the point of feeling nauseous. Now, I like my drama and I'm sure I was not ill, just unbearably hot and uncomfortable. But I COULD have been ill.

The boys were pretty miserable as well. Fortunately, they are young and strong and like playing pool, so they were saved from my misery. All four of us wanted to get the heck out of Parismina. None of us wanted to do any more turtle patrolling nor did we care to spend another day in that heat. As guilty as we felt about bailing, we had to escape. I found Vicki that evening and told her we were leaving the next morning. She was lovely about it, of course. I offered extra money for the homestay family and she was appreciative of that. She said they buy extra groceries when they have guests, so money to cover that would be helpful.

You have two options leaving Parismina: a ferry at 5:30a to Caño Blanco where you catch a 6am bus to Siquirres (2 hours) where you catch a bus to PV (2 more hours). This entire operation costs under $10 each. A bargain.

OR we catch the ferry to Limón at 10:30am for $20-$25 each, then a bus to PV for $2/each. My immediate problem was that I was down to my last $100. There is no ATM on Parismina; the closest is in Siquirres... but, hey, Jacob has $40. Between the two of us, we have enough to get to Limón and an ATM. Not only will Option № 2 be faster, the ferry was bound to be more fun. Wow. A plan.

The next morning, actually getting off the island turns out to be way more complicated than one would think possible. Three different people told me three different times and three different places to catch the boat to Limón! At one point, I am directed to The Storekeeper I Do Not Trust (TSIDNT). Surprise: she sells ferry tickets. She tells me I have to give her $25/person for the ferry and she will pay the boat driver. I ask her if I will get a ticket when I give her my last $100. She says no but - hahahahaha - I can trust her.

I don't. I say I will be back just before the boat takes off and buy my ticket then. She shrugs. I go to one of the two hotels on the island and the owner calls the ferry company. She finds out the tickets are $20 each, reserves four spots on the boat for us and says I pay the driver. I am SO relieved.

We arrive at the ferry dock at 11am. I ignore TSIDNT. The boat comes, the driver goes up and talks to TSIDNT but never asks me for a ticket or money. We join the other 10 passengers from Tortuguero and head off to Limón. It is a two hour boat ride, uneventful and unfortunately raining so we cannot see any wildlife. But a nice COLD breeze!!! HEAVEN.

Upon arrival in Limón, I go up to the ferry driver and offer to pay. I know EXACTLY how this conversation is going to go because I am now an educated princess. He says $25/person. I say: "No. $20/person." He say $25. I say $20: "My friend called the ferry company." I hand him $80 and walk off. He does EXACTLY the same thing the cab driver did: looked off in the distance like he is so martyred, then shaking his head in disbelief at the thievery to which he is subjected, pockets the money and gets back to boat business.

He and TSIDNT were going to split the money. Let them split someone else's money. Apparently tourism is down in Parismina. Small wonder.

Pura Vida Hotel

Well, I did it again. I invited myself to someone's house for dinner. Conveniently, this person's house is a Bed & Breakfast. And their dining room is a restaurant. Finally! I get it right!!!

Really right: this was the best meal we've had in Costa Rica. The Pura Vida Hotel is owned by Berni and Nhi (knee). Berni is the man in the photo next to Xavier who is now bald. Sigh. What is it with guys and shaving their heads? The woman next to me is Loretta, a frequent visitor and an instant friend. She was sitting at the table next to us but we couldn't stop talking so she moved over to sit with us.

Nhi, meanwhile, was in the kitchen working magic. She also gets it really right. From soup to nuts, dinner was superb. The bread was so so good: that heavy warm sourdough you get in really good restaurants. Served with real buddah, of course. Xavier had a lovely merlot. All the glasses were sparkly. The first course was teriyaki chicken wings with an arugula and parsley salad. Delish.

The main course was trout with capers, such a good combo. The trout was fresh and perfectly cooked, very tender. With those skinny green beans... they must have a name besides skinny green beans... and brown rice on the side. Presentation was simple and appealing, dishes were interesting, colorful and not matched - I love that. X says my favorite color is confusing.

Desert was a sweet, chewy coconut bar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream with toasted coconut on top. And fresh El Rey coffee. Which is why I'm typing here at 11:43pm. Normal bedtime was at least an hour ago. Last night, I fell asleep during Boston Legal which should be a crime. Denny Crane and Alan Shore and Shirley Schmidt are ever so interesting and funny. If you are over 50 and not watching Boston Legal, well, you will just have to be arrested.

Coffee also decreases my already itty bitty attention span.

After our scrumptious dinner, Berni, showed us around. It was dark, so we couldn't see the landscaping, but the grounds are lush and sprawling. The rooms are delightfully appointed, GREAT PILLOWS, fluffy comforters, local art covers the walls. We could be very comfy there. In fact, I was tempted to crawl right in... but I'd had too much coffee.

If I was coming to Costa Rica for a visit, I'd definitely stay at the Pura Vida Hotel with Berni and Nhi. You couldn't go wrong.

Jungle House Review

This just in from Robert, Randi, Jacob and Willow. I want to go here:

"Jungle House is a peaceful escape from the crazy world where you will re-define 'awesome' several times a day.

The road south from Quepos is rough and the bridges are scary, but after you travel it a few times, it's just another road.

We stayed at Jungle House for a week in late December 2006 and we hope our next visit is not long in coming. We have two children, 5 and 15, and they share our delight. The beach is about 50 yards away and is the best beach we have ever seen. The water is clear and the long and gradual slope of the beach made it perfect for the five-year-old. We body surfed in huge waves for hours and then relaxed in the shade in the hammocks.

Leave your North American hotel ideas at home because this is not your mother's Holiday Inn. We watched the sun rise over the mountains and then sat on the porch and watched the white-faced capuchin monkeys play in the trees. We had great views of the sun sinking into the Pacific every evening.

We recommend Jungle House and can't wait to return on our next trip to Costa Rica."

Wishin' and Hopin' and Sweatin' and Dreamin'

Sweatin' my butt off in Manuel Antonio, dreamin' of my cool mountain. YIKES. You forget how HOT and WET it is at sea level!!! Beautiful, though.

We just fed squirrel monkeys at our hotel La Posada which is great: comfortable and clean.

But here's the real reason for today's musings: after Monday's post about breast cancer, I got requests from two people to post info on the click-to-donate sites.

The first request is from my adoption godmother, Sherry Read. She literally handed my two boys to me (one at a time). I do whatever Sherry says. She says this:

"Hi Sally,
I read your blog everyday and your breast cancer piece is the reason for this. From the site below, you can get to the Breast Cancer Site, click and give free mammograms.  I click all the sites everyday.  Makes me feel as if I am doing a little something to help the world.  And their shopping is wonderful.  Where else can you give a goat, bunny or cow to someone for Christmas?
Love, Sherry

Click here: The Hunger Site : Give Food for Free to Hungry People in the World."

The second email is from Robert, a reader thinking of moving to Costa Rica, part of an adoptive family, one personally in touch with breast cancer. He writes:

"Sally,
I'm enjoying your stories. My wife just finish chemotherapy for breast cancer. Thank God that part is over. She feels great and we hope for the best. I saw your mention of some family members fighting the Big C and thought you'd be interested in the following. We are also adoptive parents (daughter from China). Wish we had done it earlier and more often! [Ditto that!!!]

A favor to ask, it only takes a minute....

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today. The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammograms in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
AGAIN, PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10 TODAY!"

So I'm doin' my part. Breast cancer is not a death sentence. Sounds like clickin' will get more done than wishin'. Click away! And shoppin' the site does even more - that's where the big bucks are. Please join in. And thank you!

Volcán Arenal Travel Tips!

Roca Negra Inn 011-506-479-9237
Pet friendly, Volcán Arenal.

My friend and fellow blogger Jennifer wrote about her recent trip to Volcán Arenal and recommended Roca Negra. I googled it and found a year-old LA Times article written by an Arthur Frommer (THE Arthur Frommer?) which is the only info I found - ACK, no website??? I'm always completely surprised when this happens. Which it does quite frequently here in Costa Rica. Jen was comfortable there and it was $30 for the four of them and Bear. That's good enough for me!

Travel Tips #2

Costa Rica is a vacationer's wonderland. I've had several visitors and everyone is wowed as we were! So fun to show "new" (like we are "old") visitors around! On the forums and on the blog, future visitors write asking about Places to Stay and Visit, hence "Travel Tips" was born. Following are my answers to questions asked by a future visitor on the CRLGroup forum:

Q: Looking for some info concerning a 3 week trip. Is it easy to cash $100 dollar bills there? What about travelers checks? Is one type of travelers check more easily cashed than another? Is it worth bringing my laptop computer? I'll be fishing for 4 days, then taking George Lundquist's tour for 4 days, attending the ARCR seminar, and spending several days in San Jose sightseeing. I have several days currently unscheduled. Any ideas? I'm hoping to retire in Costa Rica in April. I would appreciate any help or suggestions.

A: Do NOT bring $100 bills. Half of ours, they would not take at the bank… they read each serial number. At that time, if it started with “C” they wouldn’t take it. Now, I wouldn’t bring anything larger than a $20. I also wouldn’t bring travelers checks, lots of places won’t take them. Bring some cash and an ATM card/credit card. (They can charge high fees so use the cheapest ones, but at least you have money, and it’s safe.) Get your cash changed to colones when you get here. Colones are pretty easy: if something is 500 colones, that’s $1 basically. If something is 100,000 colones, that’s $200. It’s just simpler to carry colones.

There are internet cafes everywhere. I’d bring my laptop, but that’s me.

Don’t miss Volcán Arenal. Everything is beautiful here, but Volcán Arenal took our breath away. Even my teenage boys were impressed. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge at the foot of the mountain. Get a “volcano view” room no matter where you stay (if they don’t have one, don’t stay there). Arenal Lodge sold us half price tix to the hot springs at another hotel, the Tabacon Resort. Tabacon is hugely expensive, but my friends stayed there and loved it. So if you want pampering in the jungle AT the hotsprings with volcano view… Tabacon.

The site I use to find recommendations on a new spot is TripAdvisor. Travelers write reviews on places they've visited, so you get first hand accounts. This is an excellent resource when planning a trip to anywhere.

Costa Rica Travel Tips

A friend from the states just emailed me, asking for recommendations for his son's honeymoon in December. Well, he came to the right person for info… I am an information junkie, left-over from my Buyer Agent shopping days!!! So here's what I have to recommend so far:

For places to visit within an hour's drive of San Jose, see my Weekend of Oohs and Awes post.

I have two contacts for travel here, Viajes Atlantico, Karen, 506-232-8888 and the Costa Rica Travel Store (recommended by the ARCR, a local company that helps with moving to Costa Rica). I haven’t used either agent for much, but the CR Travel Store helped us get to Nicaragua. And Karen got us GREAT tickets to the states. We will definitely use her again.

You can definitely rent a car here and drive everywhere, no problem. After 3 months, I’m just now getting comfortable driving – the roads are HIDEOUS. But if you ONLY drive during daylight and keep your eyes on the road at all times, you can get everywhere. Potholes are huge and unexpected, there are deep gullies on the sides of the roads, the pavement often ends for long stretches… sounds scary, I know. But we are so used to it now, we hardly notice. Roads that look like they will surely end in a pile of rusting refrigerators actually lead to Office Depot! By December, the rainy season will be over and the roads will be freshly potholed, but it will be beautiful here. It’s beautiful now and we are right at the end of the dry season! Need rain, which we are starting to get now.

The buses go everywhere and they are dirt cheap, so that’s an option. I would have my own car – I like going on my own schedule. But driving can be so stressful on a long trip on these roads, that when you go from town to town or area to area, you may want to take the bus so you can enjoy the scenery, then pick up a new car in each place. Also, the country is so small, really, and places to stay can be so inexpensive, that you may want to have a home base hotel and travel out from there…

By December, I will have more recommendations to make for places to stay. Here’s what I have so far:

- On the east coast: La Costa de Papito - have not been here yet, but recommended by my Key West motorcycle world-traveler buddies… Also, down below is info that I copied from Andrew's Travelblog who made some recommendations for the Caribbean coast.

- On the southern pacific: The Hotel Mono Azul – we stayed here, it was cheap, clean, older, comfortable – we’d stay again

- Near the Arenal volcano: The Chalet Nicholas – we loved this place (make sure you ask for a room with a door that closes. We stayed in the loft room, not a lot of privacy but we were with the boys so didn’t need it!) Great for being close to the lake for windsurfing – Lake Arenal is THE windsurfing spot.

- At the base of the volcano: The Arenal Lodge. We stayed here, it was great, make sure you ask for a volcano view room!!! Unfortunately, the volcano is shrouded in clouds most of the time. But if you get a clear day or even a clear hour, it is worth every second, every penny. You can also hike trails up the side of the volcano – sounds like just the ticket for an active traveler! We took a short hike to a waterfall and saw a coral snake slither off thru the rocks. Don't ask me why, but Sunny Eymann's voice rings in my head when I hear talk of a coral snake, much less see one: "Red touches black, step back, Jack. Red touches yellow, kill a fellow." Good to remember in the tropics!!!

- For a more elegant volcano stay, Tabacon Hot Springs. It was $500 a night, we talked them down to $250 for a last minute deal but then couldn’t even stomach that amount… Arenal Lodge was $120. But Tabacon has THE hot springs. You can stay other places, like the lodge, and then visit the hot springs at Tabacon. The lodge had tickets for us for $16 for the day at Tabacon.

- On the Nosara coast: The Gilded Iguana – haven’t been here either but this is owned by my Key West buddies and we are looking forward to being there. Remote, monkeys, surfing, the whole nine yards!

The other place I’m dying to go but haven’t made yet is the cloud forest at Monteverde. They are reported to have the best canopy trip in the country, butterflies, wildlife, the works. And good ice cream.

Don’t know about rafting places, but by December, opportunities for that will surely abound.

Don’t bring or wear any jewelry. I wear a thin gold wedding band and sometimes junk earrings. Other than that, jewelry is out. San Jose is really the only place to be worried about having it actually stolen off your body. But the rest of the time, you just look out of place and rich, no matter how teensy the diamond. And wear cheap sports watches. Don't bother with make-up either... lipstick because the need for lipstick has been genetically implanted. Otherwise, I don't wear any. After my facelift, no one will care. But that's another blog.

I take my computer everywhere and my digital camera in my purse. Most hotels are safe, I hide my computer under the bed (don’t tell anyone) just to be safe and sometimes the hotel will have an actual safe where you can keep a laptop or cash. We have ATM cards that work everywhere, never had a problem and don’t carry much cash on us. Don’t think travelers checks are the way to go here… cash is best and always accepted.

The local money is pretty easy to get to know: 500 colonnes = $1. By December, it will likely be 520 colonnes per $1… colonnes practically disappear before your eyes. But easy to translate.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. If you take any of my recommendations, or have others to share, please comment or email me and I'll share those. As I think of more, I will pass that along. In the meantime, here are the notes I took from Andrew's Travelblog:

Puerto Viejo
Bungalows Calalú, run by a French family. It was a terrific place! It was within walking distance of both the center of Puerto Viejo and the beach. It had five really well made and designed bungalows surrounded by a large variety of tropical trees and plants. The pool was very well done with interesting, large rocks all around the pool and the rest of the pool area was enclosed with tropical plants and shrubs, providing both an interesting enclave of sorts, and importantly, privacy. The price was reasonable and the best gauge of a hotel is that I slept well! The rate didn’t include breakfast.

We found several terrific restaurants in the Puerto Viejo area. For breakfast, we found a couple of very cool, funky places. One was called “Bread & Chocolate.” I liked the feel of this place and the ex-pat owners and wait staff were very friendly. They made excellent coffee and I really enjoyed their eggs and potatoes. Café Rico, also run by ex-pats, was quite good as well. Beth asked me to mention that they make the best fried potatoes in Costa Rica. I agree! We also came home with a few bottles of their honey and Beth liked their ginger lemonade.

At lunch, there was a Mexican restaurant I really like and for dinner we ate a good deal of Italian, and even some Asian/fusion. In fact, one small dingy-looking restaurant sitting atop a small convenience store had excellent Italian food, prepared by what I would call a typical Italian mother—and as it turns out, she was from Roma! I think we were spoiled in the Caribbean because of the many food choices.

Punta Uva
We traveled down the coast towards Panama on our way to Manzanillo, the last “big” town before a national park that runs along the Panamanian border. We came across Punta Uva on our way. I’m not sure if it is actually a town, though I guess it is, as I did see it listed on my map. However, there wasn’t much here except a few convenience stores and one or two guest houses. As we were driving along, we peered to our left and saw a narrow dirt road heading to the ocean. So, always wanting to “take the road less traveled,” we headed down it and came upon the beach at Punta Uva. This is one of the nicest beaches I’ve seen in Costa Rica. White sand, clear water at just the right temperature—warm but not too warm—and a long beach front with barely anyone on it. I am not a good judge of distance but I would guess it was 1.5-2 miles long and I don’t think I counted more than 7 or 8 people on the whole expanse of beach. The beach angled out towards the ocean with a huge rock formation, covered in trees at its precipicewith the ocean wildly thrashing it.

...in Puerto Viejo, is a place called “Agapi” or Greek for “love.” Whenever I see something like that I know a Greek must be involved and being of Greek descent myself, we had to investigate. Agapi is an adorable hotel right off the main road (some parts paved, some parts not!) heading a few kilometers south of Puerto Viejo. Consisting of two wood buildings with a number of large rooms, some with kitchens, it was right on the beach. When we arrived we met a portly woman of African descent who was the co-owner. I’m always impressed with the hotel was very nice, inexpensive, clean and one cannot beat falling asleep to the sound of waves! I’d definitely recommend it to anyone traveling to this area.

Weekend of Ooohs and Awes

When you visit Costa Rica, be sure to bring your wallet. And a debit card. God made Costa Rica breathtaking; she didn't make it free. And before you return home to report on your visit, arm yourself with every synonym for fabulous, breathtaking, amazing, magical, unbelievable and incredible you can find. You'll need them.

Hal's mom, Joni, and his Aunt Sally have been here for a week. [FLICKR PHOTOS] We visited every tourist destination within an hour's drive that caught our eye: the Rainforest Aerial Tram, the Café Britt tour, the La Paz Waterfall Gardens (which also includes it's own Hummingbird Area and Butterfly House), and a weekend at the Viña Romantica. Nothing too expensive on its own (except the Aerial Tram); all worth every cent. We oohed and aaahed so much our jaws ache.

Joni and Sally went to the Butterfly Farm on their own and that was their favorite attraction. Hal and the boys and I will go one day, but we've been to George and Sam's magical  Key West Butterfly Conservatory... Could anyone do it better? I can't imagine.

My favorite by far was the La Paz Waterfall Gardens [FLICKR PHOTOS]. A local told us "not to bother paying to go in. You can drive past the park, down the road and see the biggest waterfall for free." We did that and the view was so enticing, the walkways we could see inside the park so perilously close to the falls, that we drove back and couldn't slap down our $25pp fast enough!

Thank goodness we didn't miss this! There's a swell hummingbird garden where you can see hummingbirds up close and personal. Hal got this swell photo, but lots more of feeders just as the hummingbird flew away. Hummingbirds are FAST. [FLICKR PHOTOS] Their colors are amazing, and the garden was swarmed. It seems we have basically created a Hummingbird McDonalds.  There were feeders everywhere filled with vials of sugar water. Are we creating a generation of hummingbirds that can't feed themselves in the wild? Will they be obese? I'm a little concerned.

The La Paz butterfly house, billed as the largest conservatory in the world, is exceptionally ho hum. Old and empty, I was not impressed. There is a gigantic building going up right beside the old one which we presume will be the new butterfly house. With butterflies in it.

But the main attraction here, the waterfalls, are STUNNING. The owners have created an amazing walkway that takes you up close and personal. We (the boys and Hal and I) found it thrilling. Isn't that funny? Who knew getting soaking wet from a real live waterfall - five, actually - could make a body so happy??? But there you have it. We were all giggling and soaking wet and just awed by the power of all that water flowing over all those mountains for all those thousands of years. Or at least since the last earthquake. Can't wait to go again.

The other place we will definitely go again is the Viña Romantica. Perched on a hillside (ok, everything is perched on a hillside) with only three rooms, it is a perfect little getaway with fantastic pizza. Costa Rica is not known for its pizza. We have two teenagers - good pizza is important. Renee, the owner and chef, is a pizza expert. She makes her own crust, breads, fantastic soups and bruschetta, and has a good wine selection (so says Hal, my designated drinker). We'll be back.

We made two other real finds this weekend: one is the farmer's market in Alajuela.  It's a market as big as the Big Pine Flea Market, brimming with luscious fruits and vegetables, local herbal medicines, flip-flops, chickens, cheeses, and all SO inexpensive. A kilo of tomatoes is 100 colonnes. That's 20cents to us gringos. We feel like our lives are on hold till we can get there this Saturday morning to shop!

The other find is a bamboo farm waaaaaay out in the woods  near the Aerial Tram. The owner, Brian, makes furniture out of bamboo that he grows right there. Totally awesome. We are furniture shopping for our new rental home and his beds, lamps, benches are very reasonably priced and lovely to behold! He had some bamboo stuff there, too, but I'm not buying any stuff. I've sworn off. At least for today.

Rainforest Aerial Tram was quite the ride, literally 120' off the ground, gliding silently among the treetops. Amazing. My regret is that we were there at 1pm... so most of the wildlife, birds, snakes and butterflies were enjoying a siesta. Next time we go, we'll be on the first tram at 6:30am! If you are going to go all the way out there and spend $55pp, why not get up early for the show?

Being in Costa Rica is like being on a movie set for Jurassic Park. You expect dinosaurs to come crashing thru the trees any minute. The scenery, driving thru the barrios, the rainforest, the green, the mountains, driving thru the clouds, the fact Brian CAN grow bamboo like this... it is all totally inspired. God had fun making Costa Rica. And we haven't even been to the beach yet! Everyone says not to buy property until you've seen all of Costa Rica because you want to live everywhere you go. True for us!!!

Joni and Sally left today. They are a hoot! In their 70's and ready for anything, they were excellent first guests. Showing them our new little habitat made us feel like locals - we're gettin' the hang of this 3rd world country stuff! Trying to make do without Triscuits and natural peanut butter, but look what we are getting in return. Seems a fair trade. Hasta mañana. Miss you guys, more soon - xoxoso'b