Just back - Trip Report (1)
Mar 4th, 2004, 05:52 PM
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Just back - Trip Report (1)
I just returned from a two week trip - our first - and loved every minute of it! I am already planning our next trip to CR. For those who don't want to read all the details, I've summed up some observations on some of the things that seem to be asked about frequently.
Air Transportation - We flew Lacsa roundtrip from Miami. It was a very nice,,short flight, one of easiest we've done. For our local flights we flew Sansa - flights left and arrived exactly on schedule. We had heard that we needed to limit our baggage to 25 pounds each, but several other travellers were flying with tons of luggage.
Car Rental - We rented a Terios for a week from Adobe. We got an excellent rate by booking it through discovercostarica. The Adobe agent was very professional - he picked us up at our hotel and we were quickly on the road. The Terios is small, but is adequate. We were definitely glad we had an SUV for the high clearance - we only needed 4 wheel drive for about 90 seconds on a very steep hill in Dominical. We saw many regular sedans, but they had a much tougher time on the bad roads around Lake Arenal and south of quepos. The roads are terrible, some locals say they are the worst in years. Not scary, just slow goin'. We enjoyed having the freedom of driving ourselves and had no trouble with directions - we were never lost except in San Jose.
Eating and Drinking - We ate salads and drank the water every where we went with no problems. The food was much better than we expected and in some cases (OSA) exceptional.
Inssects - We saw only a few and NO mosquitos! We slept with open doors and windows in some cases. Never had to use our repellant, but that may have been because of locations we visited and time of year.
Crowds - Not bad at all. Our tours weren't full - flights weren't full, no problems at restaurants. We got into Manuel Antonio as soon as it opened and out before all the crowds arrived so it wasn't too bad. I expected much worse.
Highlight - Our favorite destination was the Osa peninsula and Bosque del Cabo. It is fantastic! We stayed in 8 places over two weeks and we liked them all, but loved Bosque. Part 2 will go into details of itinerary and places we stayed.
Air Transportation - We flew Lacsa roundtrip from Miami. It was a very nice,,short flight, one of easiest we've done. For our local flights we flew Sansa - flights left and arrived exactly on schedule. We had heard that we needed to limit our baggage to 25 pounds each, but several other travellers were flying with tons of luggage.
Car Rental - We rented a Terios for a week from Adobe. We got an excellent rate by booking it through discovercostarica. The Adobe agent was very professional - he picked us up at our hotel and we were quickly on the road. The Terios is small, but is adequate. We were definitely glad we had an SUV for the high clearance - we only needed 4 wheel drive for about 90 seconds on a very steep hill in Dominical. We saw many regular sedans, but they had a much tougher time on the bad roads around Lake Arenal and south of quepos. The roads are terrible, some locals say they are the worst in years. Not scary, just slow goin'. We enjoyed having the freedom of driving ourselves and had no trouble with directions - we were never lost except in San Jose.
Eating and Drinking - We ate salads and drank the water every where we went with no problems. The food was much better than we expected and in some cases (OSA) exceptional.
Inssects - We saw only a few and NO mosquitos! We slept with open doors and windows in some cases. Never had to use our repellant, but that may have been because of locations we visited and time of year.
Crowds - Not bad at all. Our tours weren't full - flights weren't full, no problems at restaurants. We got into Manuel Antonio as soon as it opened and out before all the crowds arrived so it wasn't too bad. I expected much worse.
Highlight - Our favorite destination was the Osa peninsula and Bosque del Cabo. It is fantastic! We stayed in 8 places over two weeks and we liked them all, but loved Bosque. Part 2 will go into details of itinerary and places we stayed.
Mar 5th, 2004, 07:48 AM
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Great report - can't wait to hear more.
We lv on 3/19 and will be in the Guanacaste area -The Sanctuary Resort & Spa is our home for 7nits - Am concerned about clothing - shorts?
Long Pants?? Shoes?? What did you find best to use? Any suggestions are welcome. Oh we also have 2nts at Arenal Volcano Lodge -Then our inbound and outbound flight have us 1 night each in San Jose. We are at Hampton Inn Suites by the airport for those nights.
Paulette
We lv on 3/19 and will be in the Guanacaste area -The Sanctuary Resort & Spa is our home for 7nits - Am concerned about clothing - shorts?
Long Pants?? Shoes?? What did you find best to use? Any suggestions are welcome. Oh we also have 2nts at Arenal Volcano Lodge -Then our inbound and outbound flight have us 1 night each in San Jose. We are at Hampton Inn Suites by the airport for those nights.
Paulette
Mar 5th, 2004, 01:29 PM
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Waiting for Part 2. We leave on March 16 for 2 weeks. Do we really need to be at the Miami Airport 3 hours before flight time. (also Lacsa) That would put us there at 4:10 AM. Not a happy thought but we will do it if necessary. Would also like to know what kind of clothes to bring. (Is it cool enough in the evening to need sweats or a jacket)
Do we need plastic rain gear for the rain forests? Thanks and looking forward to your answers.
Do we need plastic rain gear for the rain forests? Thanks and looking forward to your answers.
Mar 5th, 2004, 01:31 PM
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I have told a lot of people about Bosque del Cabo and every one of them has come back and said they loved it. I am going to have to stop telling people if I have trouble getting a cabina there next year LOL.
Can't wait for a more detailed report.
Can't wait for a more detailed report.
Mar 5th, 2004, 01:50 PM
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We arrived about 3 hours early (for a 4 PM Lacsa flight) and wizzed through check in and security. Don't know how bad it would have been closer to the flight. I would think 2 hours ahead would be fine especially so early in the morning. I think the need for warmer clothes depends on where you're going. We took layers - no heavy jackets or sweats, but a light rain jacket which we never needed for rain. We did use it as our top layer up at the Trogon lodge - it got down to the 30's there at night. We only had to walk from our room to the restaurant for dinner so we were fine. Also, except for San Jose, every place was super casual. I took more nice "casual" clothes than I needed. Take more t-shirts and shorts than you think you need because they will get dirty and sweaty fast.
Oct 15th, 2004, 12:08 PM
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