Arrival into CR and our jaunt to Arenal
Oct 29th, 2004, 05:46 PM
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Arrival into CR and our jaunt to Arenal
Beware - I have already changed my methodolgy of reporting my trip to you. I ain't even gonna talk about Arenal in this post yet. Sorry. Move along if you want specifics on Arenal and Monteverde. They will come just be patient. See another post after this one. This is probably why I never posted one in the first place because I just know I can't say anything in brief. Here goes....
Since we are from the Los Angeles area, our travels started at LAX. We bought (2) non-stop round trip tickets to SJ CR for about $550/each. We thought we were flying on American but when we got to the airport, the plane was being flown and serviced by TACA airlines. Not that it made a difference, but wow! what a difference it was from the year before when we flew New Zealand Air. Checking and the waiting area was a calm as still waters. With TACA, you would have thought they were giving things away for free. It was so hectic and at 10:30pm, neither of us was prepared for the hustle and bustle. But, we got through it and were happy to finally board the plane.
When we went to the Cooks, we just landed and hoped that the people who owned the bungalows we were staying at showed up. Wrong. They forgot. So, when we went to CR I made sure we had some transportation lined up. It wasn't cheap, but let me tell you, we had a nice van with a great English speaking young man waiting for us. Worth every penny. Someone huffed our bags to the van, a few bucks tip and we were off!
I think the driver's name was Carlos. Anyhow, he was to drive us to our first destination - Arenal Lodge. The ride took about 2 or so hours if I remember correctly. We stopped off for breakfast at a great little place off the side of the road. We had some eggs, fried plantains with some white cheese sprinkled over the top and something else that escapes me now. I mention this because my husband loved the breakfast. He talked about it for days after the fact. What was really great about having a driver to yourself, is that they stop whenever and wherever you want. We bought some great trinkets roadside that we didn't see anywhere else. We also were introduced to this fruit (I can't for the life of my remember what the name of it was) The shell was long and brown with big fuzzy seeds inside that were so sweet. Some of you will no right away what I am talking about. Mmmmm....
Now, I am the queen of stumbling and slipping so it wasn't but maybe 2 hours into my vacation and CR was to get inducted into the Lynne peeling out hall of fame. I was exhausted from the flight, had a full belly and was just settling in when Carlos suddenly pulls the van over to show us a roadside vendor. Well, I wasn't prepared for the slippery moss on the cement and when I jumped down from the van -you got it. I ate it big time. Oh well. It was going to happen eventually, but the first day for goodness sake? Well, at least we got that out of the way.
Okay, so we've eaten, I've slipped and have a bloody big toe (but am playing off the throbbing but so what, we're on vacation)and I have my first trinkets from another country. I'm all set. Now, where the heck is this gigantic volcano? and I better see it from my room or someone's going to get a bloody toe too. Just kidding. I was just happy to be traveling.
We finally make the 2 hour climb up the hill to Arenal Lodge. No, its more like 15 minutes but when you know you're minutes from your destination it seems like hours. See the next post.
Since we are from the Los Angeles area, our travels started at LAX. We bought (2) non-stop round trip tickets to SJ CR for about $550/each. We thought we were flying on American but when we got to the airport, the plane was being flown and serviced by TACA airlines. Not that it made a difference, but wow! what a difference it was from the year before when we flew New Zealand Air. Checking and the waiting area was a calm as still waters. With TACA, you would have thought they were giving things away for free. It was so hectic and at 10:30pm, neither of us was prepared for the hustle and bustle. But, we got through it and were happy to finally board the plane.
When we went to the Cooks, we just landed and hoped that the people who owned the bungalows we were staying at showed up. Wrong. They forgot. So, when we went to CR I made sure we had some transportation lined up. It wasn't cheap, but let me tell you, we had a nice van with a great English speaking young man waiting for us. Worth every penny. Someone huffed our bags to the van, a few bucks tip and we were off!
I think the driver's name was Carlos. Anyhow, he was to drive us to our first destination - Arenal Lodge. The ride took about 2 or so hours if I remember correctly. We stopped off for breakfast at a great little place off the side of the road. We had some eggs, fried plantains with some white cheese sprinkled over the top and something else that escapes me now. I mention this because my husband loved the breakfast. He talked about it for days after the fact. What was really great about having a driver to yourself, is that they stop whenever and wherever you want. We bought some great trinkets roadside that we didn't see anywhere else. We also were introduced to this fruit (I can't for the life of my remember what the name of it was) The shell was long and brown with big fuzzy seeds inside that were so sweet. Some of you will no right away what I am talking about. Mmmmm....
Now, I am the queen of stumbling and slipping so it wasn't but maybe 2 hours into my vacation and CR was to get inducted into the Lynne peeling out hall of fame. I was exhausted from the flight, had a full belly and was just settling in when Carlos suddenly pulls the van over to show us a roadside vendor. Well, I wasn't prepared for the slippery moss on the cement and when I jumped down from the van -you got it. I ate it big time. Oh well. It was going to happen eventually, but the first day for goodness sake? Well, at least we got that out of the way.
Okay, so we've eaten, I've slipped and have a bloody big toe (but am playing off the throbbing but so what, we're on vacation)and I have my first trinkets from another country. I'm all set. Now, where the heck is this gigantic volcano? and I better see it from my room or someone's going to get a bloody toe too. Just kidding. I was just happy to be traveling.
We finally make the 2 hour climb up the hill to Arenal Lodge. No, its more like 15 minutes but when you know you're minutes from your destination it seems like hours. See the next post.
Less than one hour in MA & boom! Ah well, live & learn. Look forward to more of your report.
Nov 1st, 2004, 05:25 AM
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Pat is a great guy and can help with any part of your trip from transportation to hotel reservations. http://lovecostarica.com/
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