C.R. QUESTIONS
 

WE ARE GOING TO C.R. MID NOV. TO GET MARRIED AND HONEYMOON. WE ARE STAYING AT LOST IGUANA, MAKANDA BY THE SEA,AND THEN OUR LAST 2 NIGHTS IN SAN JOSE. WE KINDA HAVE AN IDEA OF EXCURSIONS THAT WE WANT TO DO. BE WE LIKE TO GO DANCING AND LOVE GOOD FOOD. IS THERE ANYWHERE THAT YA'LL RECOMMEND THAT WE SHOULD GO. THANKS!

wE JUST RETURNED ON 9-11-04 FROM C.R., STAYED IN SJ SO THAT WE COULD ACCESS WHITEWATER RIVER RAFTING ON THE PACUARE.

STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU PLAN YOUR EXCURSION DEPARTURES AT DAWN, AS IT MAY RAIN FROM 2PM - 7PM. IT ALSO MAY NOT RAIN IN NOVEMBER AS IT DID IN SEPTEMBER.

ARE YOU FLUENT IN SPANISH?

REGARDING YOUR FINE DINING IN AND AROUND SAN JOSE, CR : WE ATE AT LA MONASTERE, WHICH WAS FORMERLY A MONASTERY, IS SITUATED ON A HILLTOP, OFFERS FRENCH CUISINE AND 270 DEGREE VIEWS OF THE LIGHTS OF SAN JOSE. VERY NICE FOR HONEYMOONERS.

WE ALSO ATE AT INKA, A PERUVIAN RESTAURANT I'M ASSUMING IS NOT FAR FROM LA MONASTERE, HOWEVER, WE OPTED FOR THE HOTEL SHUTTLE INSTEAD OF DRIVING AT NIGHT, KNOWING THAT WE WOULD HAVE WINE / COCKTAILS WITH DINNER.

I'M CURIOUS WHY YOU ARE SPENDING YOUR HONEYMOON IN SAN JOSE.

Sunspot Grill at Makanda has wonderful food, service and atmosphere! Lucky you for staying there! In Quepos, Caio has great Italian food and Tropical Sushi serves the very best sushi around. On the Manuel Antonio Road, Karolas is very good (just up the road from Makanda and down into the jungle to the left). Bruno's at LaColina is great and has live entertainment on Thurs. and Saturdays. MarLuna's restaurant is excellent esp. for their fresh seafood. Dos Locos in Quepos has live music on Wed. and Friday nights. Congrats on your wedding! Email or repost w/ more questions.

Lisa in Manuel Antonio

TripleSecDelay,
No we can not speak a word of spanish!!! And we are only staying in san jose for our last 2 days so we can go whitewater rafting. We are going to Arenal for 3 days (staying at Lost Iguana) then to Quepos to stay at Makanda by the sea for 5 days and then back to San jose for our final 2 days.

latitude9lisa,
Thanks for those suggestions, I have wrote them down and will defintly look for them while we are there. I see that you are in M.A., are you familiar w/ the hotels that we are staying at? If so what do you think. Also, while we are in M.A. we were going to go horseback riding to the waterfalls. Any suggestions on where to go and other excursions that we should look into.

danmin,
We were in CR in August and loved it!! You will have such a great time!

I can recommend a FABULOUS tour for horseback riding in the MA area. The name is La Finca Valmy. This was the highlight of our trip!! They picked us up at our hotel at 8:30am, picked up other passengers, then we drove inland to the ranch (about 45 minutes from MA). They gave us a few minutes to use the restrooms, then saddled us up on our horses. You can request a fast horse or easy horse. We spent 3 1/2 hours horseback riding through BEAUTIFUL RAINFOREST, FIELDS AND THROUGH STREAMS!! We stopped at a waterfall to go swimming and for a snack.

When we returned to the ranch, our guide let us sample fruits from the trees, such as coconut, starfruit and cinnamon. Then we went to the owners' beautiful ranch house for a GOURMET LUNCH, which consisted of chicken & mushrooms with a sauce, vegetables, rice, salad, dessert, wine and drinks. We also had time to swim in their swimming pool; I didn't because it started to rain but some of the people did.

The guides were very professional and friendly, and the owner (Michelle) was very warm and gracious. We absolutely loved this tour and highly recommend it.

The horses are in good shape and obviously well taken care of. The trails were wide. You don't have to worry about getting scratched by trees (I think someone mentioned this was a problem with a trail ride in Arenal.)

We returned to our hotel around 4:00 or 4:30pm. This is a full day tour.

The cost is $65.00PP, which is worth every penny.

I think their website is www.lafincavalmy.com
If that doesn't work, maybe it is www.fincavalmy. com or something like that. If you have problems finding it, let me know & I will look for their business card.

Danmin :

Are you rafting the Pacuare? We were quoted $95 per person by nearly everyone for the one day trip. This included shuttle to/from our SJ airport hotel, breakfast & lunch. Simple, but authentic CR food.

While my Spanish is not strong, my spouse speaks zero Spanish and absolutely loved the English-proficient staff at the Hampton Inn Suites across the highway and the next exit from the airport. You can hear the infrequent planes indistinctly. Or maybe I should have my hearing checked.

You really should stay at authentic CR lodging to get the texture and flavor of the culture. Costa Ricans are gracious and honest people. They really do want you to enjoy your stay - no matter whom you encounter.

Anyway, for $91.00, we had a room with A/C, TV, fridge, microwave, good-sized bathroom with decent water pressure in the shower, Queen sized bed, free shuttle to/from restaurants, English-speaking front desk, free high speed internet on 2 shared/communal computers, pool, voucher for a large pizza delivered, voucher for 2 cocktails at the hotel bar from 5-7pm (we didn't use). Christina, Mariella, Everyone was reallllllly helpful there.

There's also several car rentals on the same driveway. Check other travelers' postings for company names and good pricing.

You could also locate a "honeymoon" hotel that is nicer. We had zero disappointments at the Hampton. Not my idea of a Costa Rican cultural exchange - but, if this is your first marriage, you'll soon learn to keep the peace by acquiescing that which is truly unimportant.

We did the Pacuare river on September 5th and it was excellent! I posted these tips for another person, and have copied/pasted here :

13. For the Pacuare river, bring a $10 waterproof camera - we gave ours to a kayaker who accompanied our raft - "so he could shoot us as we shot the rapids". Without giving away the secret, there are several waterfalls and one in particular for which you want a camera. Ask your guide to give you advance notice. You could also put your "real" camera in a ziploc or a dry bag and have better quality pix. I left my $XXX camera in the hotel and wished I had brought it with us - - in a drybag with silica gel packets to absorb the moisture that will eventually fog the lens.

13. Rite in the Rain is a brand of waterproof paper notepads that were totally valuable on all our trips in CR. I also used a pressurized pen (some say Space Pen) that allows for consistent writing quality at any angle, and in the rain.

14. When we travel, we take our 2-way radios for a little more warm n fuzzy feeling when separated on the resort grounds. Same thing we use at ski resorts or camping.

11. Bring your favorite CDs for the rental car, and be sure to request one with a CD player and automatic. My feet are also on vacation and don't want to be shifting gears.

3A. If you have waterproof and breatheable technical clothing, that is best for outdoors. Breatheable.

4. You might try using the hair dryer in your room to dry a few clothes if you do not use the hotel laundry service (which has time limits for pickup and return).

1F. Please use sunscreen, even when cloudy. Somebody in our group had a sunburn from one day of forgetting.

1D. There is a 10% service charge added to nearly everything in CR and a 13% gov't sales tax. We tipped anyone that provided excellent service. I am told that our waiter shares the 10% with the kitchen, busboy, etc. If your waiter took your picture or whatever, let him know your appreciation with a $ propina (tip). I know that you knew that - I say it for other people.

Congratulations on your impending marriage!!

may I suggest that if you stay at the lost iguana you stay in the "owners villa. it is on the other side away from all the construction, mud, noise they have going. they were really tearing up the rainforest when we were there and the bulldozers can be distracting and an eyesore. maybe it has calmed down. there were zillions of bugs at night too but the owner said they will start spraying the area hard nightly. the "resort" is isolated 25 kilometrs or more from Fortuna, but there is a good food restaurant nearby at the hanging bridges.