Finally CR in living color
Aug 14th, 2010, 05:18 PM
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Finally CR in living color
Hello Fodorites,
I finally have some time to post my trip report. I hope it will be imfomative for some people researching for their first trip as well as slightly entertaining for anyone else.
This trip report stems from my post of " Off the beaten path" That was my topic to gleem some info on CR as well as my intention when I arrived in CR. Although I was cincere with my topic being a first timer an choosing to visit places most common to tourist left little wiggle room to go" OTBP" Although I did choose to self drive so this decisiion alone allowed me the fun of wandering around the countryside on my way to an fro.
The fun all started the day I arrived back in LA after taking 8 days to visit family in Boston with a side trip up to the White Moutains of New Hamshire. We got in about 11am and had to be back at LAX about 12hrs later to go to CR. On a side note do not use Jonnypark near LAX because there service is really BAD! Anyway we unpacked and did laundry and repacked an tried to rest a bit, but the nervous excitement for our CR trip had been building for months so rest was not going to happen.
The planning an decision making and reserving was all done we just needed to get on that plane. I did all the reservations through Central America.com I just told them which hotels,tours and car rental I wanted and the did the booking. After that it was just one easy payment to them. It worked very well and I reccomend it to anyone who likes to do research, rather than have someone tell you were you shoud go ala a preplanned trip. The air tix I did seperately through TACA because I wanted a direct flight and found that one while preplanning.
This led to the first snaffu. TACA's online reservation system was down so I could not pick our seats or checkin online. So we got to LAX 3 1/2 hrs early for our flight. Much to my surprise there were no seats left together an no window seats as well. This to say the least was a real bummer. I had paid extra for a non stop flight and I really like the window seat, i really can't sleep without leaning on the wall. Not to mention I like sitting next to the person I'm traveling with, but there was nothing we could do. I thought this might be a bad omen of things to come. I had a very busy schedule set for the first day an was counting on some sleep time on the plane.
When we boarded our seats were about 3 rows apart. I was feeling grumpy but trying to stay focused on the good times just ahead. Then a gentlemen traveling with a group of kids asked if I wanted to switch to a window emergency exit. So the kids could be together. Heck ya, I moved back a couple rows further from Sally but was so happy the travel gods were already fixing there mistake. The flight was about 5 1/2 hrs and was pretty smooth. We arrived about 15min early at 9:15am July 20th. Immagration was a breeze an we were on the curb with bags in about 15min. We were so ahead of schedule that Mapche the rental Co. was not there for us yet. An airport worker seen us waiting and offered to let us use his phone to call Mapache. Ah some nice local good vibes right from the start. All in all like most people or everyone I do not like flying these days but it was a case of 2 steps forward an one step back an we made it safe an sound ready to start our adventure.
I will have to leave off here but will be back soon. Bare with my long winded description but I'm not a travel writer and I'm enjoying the details of my memories as I go. I hope you are too. Just let me know if I'm diong ok. I will appreciate the feedback.
I finally have some time to post my trip report. I hope it will be imfomative for some people researching for their first trip as well as slightly entertaining for anyone else.
This trip report stems from my post of " Off the beaten path" That was my topic to gleem some info on CR as well as my intention when I arrived in CR. Although I was cincere with my topic being a first timer an choosing to visit places most common to tourist left little wiggle room to go" OTBP" Although I did choose to self drive so this decisiion alone allowed me the fun of wandering around the countryside on my way to an fro.
The fun all started the day I arrived back in LA after taking 8 days to visit family in Boston with a side trip up to the White Moutains of New Hamshire. We got in about 11am and had to be back at LAX about 12hrs later to go to CR. On a side note do not use Jonnypark near LAX because there service is really BAD! Anyway we unpacked and did laundry and repacked an tried to rest a bit, but the nervous excitement for our CR trip had been building for months so rest was not going to happen.
The planning an decision making and reserving was all done we just needed to get on that plane. I did all the reservations through Central America.com I just told them which hotels,tours and car rental I wanted and the did the booking. After that it was just one easy payment to them. It worked very well and I reccomend it to anyone who likes to do research, rather than have someone tell you were you shoud go ala a preplanned trip. The air tix I did seperately through TACA because I wanted a direct flight and found that one while preplanning.
This led to the first snaffu. TACA's online reservation system was down so I could not pick our seats or checkin online. So we got to LAX 3 1/2 hrs early for our flight. Much to my surprise there were no seats left together an no window seats as well. This to say the least was a real bummer. I had paid extra for a non stop flight and I really like the window seat, i really can't sleep without leaning on the wall. Not to mention I like sitting next to the person I'm traveling with, but there was nothing we could do. I thought this might be a bad omen of things to come. I had a very busy schedule set for the first day an was counting on some sleep time on the plane.
When we boarded our seats were about 3 rows apart. I was feeling grumpy but trying to stay focused on the good times just ahead. Then a gentlemen traveling with a group of kids asked if I wanted to switch to a window emergency exit. So the kids could be together. Heck ya, I moved back a couple rows further from Sally but was so happy the travel gods were already fixing there mistake. The flight was about 5 1/2 hrs and was pretty smooth. We arrived about 15min early at 9:15am July 20th. Immagration was a breeze an we were on the curb with bags in about 15min. We were so ahead of schedule that Mapche the rental Co. was not there for us yet. An airport worker seen us waiting and offered to let us use his phone to call Mapache. Ah some nice local good vibes right from the start. All in all like most people or everyone I do not like flying these days but it was a case of 2 steps forward an one step back an we made it safe an sound ready to start our adventure.
I will have to leave off here but will be back soon. Bare with my long winded description but I'm not a travel writer and I'm enjoying the details of my memories as I go. I hope you are too. Just let me know if I'm diong ok. I will appreciate the feedback.
Aug 18th, 2010, 09:42 PM
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Day 1 July 20th
So we were on our way to pick up our Suzuki grand Vitara 4x4 an strat our trip. My first exsposure to the CR traffic was kind of scary because not far from the airprort we had to cross 3 lanes of oncoming traffic, with no aide of a signal lite. This was a nice baptism of the road rules and a show of how nice CR drivers do the honor system.
We got the car an a quick GPS lesson and were on our way. Although not well rested and still a little groggy from the air travel. This is what we waited so long for. We headed up to Poas volcano and would decide at the literal fork in the road if we had time for the La Paz Waterfall gardens. The ride there was nice but I have to admit I was preety nervous. This was my first trip out of the US an I was a stanger in a strange land. CR was just as beautifull as I imagined an driving up the mountain was a great scenic start.
The fog started to build at the higher elevation but not solid. We got to the parking lot an it seemed we may not get to see much of Poas. It was a short hike to the rim an lo an behold it was clear viewing. The view of the crater was excellent an well worth the 1 hour drive from the airport. I threw a small sacrifice into the volcano to appease the gods an bless the rest of our trip. Besides that crying kid was ruining the moment for everyone.
So off to La Paz Waterfall gardens. We were ahead of schedule an I felt comfortable we would make it to Arenal befor dark. Some people on Fodors thought I had to much planned for the first day an should scale back. I wont say they were wrong but this first day was awesome and I would do it all over again. Plus the drive times were preety accurate online and in no way had to be doubled as suggested. Of course any natural or manmade roadblocks negates that but without any extenuating circumstances I can comfortably recomend this route to anyone. Inclueding the semi closed road to San miguel.
The La Paz waterfall gardens were very nice an I thought it was advantages to see alot of the flora an fauna up close in captivity. Which might help spotting some in the wild later in the trip. They have the largest butterfly collection in the country along with most of the major land animals and birds. I almost decided to stay here when doing my initial planning but elected to push on to Arenal on the first day. This is an excellent day trip for anyone staying in San Jose during transition to other parts of the country. As well as maybe a last stop before heading back home. The trails to the waterfalls are well constructed and the waterfalls themselves are worth the trip. There still is some construction going on due to last years earthquake but for the most part everything is back to normal. Well almost everything?
I asked the workers if the road to San Miguel was open. If it was we did not have to dbl. back towards the airport an could just go along the top of the mountains an down to Arenal. I was told although not " officially open" it was indeed passible. They kind of said with a snicker. Uhm ok.... good enough for me. So off we went it was about 2:30 or so an we had a great day so far. The airport and driving to this point was no problamo. I figured ok some landslides from the earthquake last year have already been repaired how bad could it be. We snaked our way down a steep ravine right at the start. Turns out we ended up, as we passed the giant road closed sign, at the bottom of the last waterfall in the gardens. There was a nice temporary/permenant bridge across the river and then up a steep road on the other side. I seen a truck giong up this road from the waterfall trail. The truck supplied a nice scale to the size of the ravine. Little did I know that was the road we would be on when we left.
I let you know how bad this road really was later. thanks for your time.
Badbob
So we were on our way to pick up our Suzuki grand Vitara 4x4 an strat our trip. My first exsposure to the CR traffic was kind of scary because not far from the airprort we had to cross 3 lanes of oncoming traffic, with no aide of a signal lite. This was a nice baptism of the road rules and a show of how nice CR drivers do the honor system.
We got the car an a quick GPS lesson and were on our way. Although not well rested and still a little groggy from the air travel. This is what we waited so long for. We headed up to Poas volcano and would decide at the literal fork in the road if we had time for the La Paz Waterfall gardens. The ride there was nice but I have to admit I was preety nervous. This was my first trip out of the US an I was a stanger in a strange land. CR was just as beautifull as I imagined an driving up the mountain was a great scenic start.
The fog started to build at the higher elevation but not solid. We got to the parking lot an it seemed we may not get to see much of Poas. It was a short hike to the rim an lo an behold it was clear viewing. The view of the crater was excellent an well worth the 1 hour drive from the airport. I threw a small sacrifice into the volcano to appease the gods an bless the rest of our trip. Besides that crying kid was ruining the moment for everyone.
So off to La Paz Waterfall gardens. We were ahead of schedule an I felt comfortable we would make it to Arenal befor dark. Some people on Fodors thought I had to much planned for the first day an should scale back. I wont say they were wrong but this first day was awesome and I would do it all over again. Plus the drive times were preety accurate online and in no way had to be doubled as suggested. Of course any natural or manmade roadblocks negates that but without any extenuating circumstances I can comfortably recomend this route to anyone. Inclueding the semi closed road to San miguel.
The La Paz waterfall gardens were very nice an I thought it was advantages to see alot of the flora an fauna up close in captivity. Which might help spotting some in the wild later in the trip. They have the largest butterfly collection in the country along with most of the major land animals and birds. I almost decided to stay here when doing my initial planning but elected to push on to Arenal on the first day. This is an excellent day trip for anyone staying in San Jose during transition to other parts of the country. As well as maybe a last stop before heading back home. The trails to the waterfalls are well constructed and the waterfalls themselves are worth the trip. There still is some construction going on due to last years earthquake but for the most part everything is back to normal. Well almost everything?
I asked the workers if the road to San Miguel was open. If it was we did not have to dbl. back towards the airport an could just go along the top of the mountains an down to Arenal. I was told although not " officially open" it was indeed passible. They kind of said with a snicker. Uhm ok.... good enough for me. So off we went it was about 2:30 or so an we had a great day so far. The airport and driving to this point was no problamo. I figured ok some landslides from the earthquake last year have already been repaired how bad could it be. We snaked our way down a steep ravine right at the start. Turns out we ended up, as we passed the giant road closed sign, at the bottom of the last waterfall in the gardens. There was a nice temporary/permenant bridge across the river and then up a steep road on the other side. I seen a truck giong up this road from the waterfall trail. The truck supplied a nice scale to the size of the ravine. Little did I know that was the road we would be on when we left.
I let you know how bad this road really was later. thanks for your time.
Badbob
Aug 19th, 2010, 05:59 PM
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Sounds like a good trip so far! Can't believe you drove that road! Actually, I can't believe they let anyone on it...we were on it as well, with our driver and he said there's no way they should let cars on it - he won't risk it again until it's oficially opened!
Glad you were able to fit so much in your first day! Looking forward to hearing the rest!
Glad you were able to fit so much in your first day! Looking forward to hearing the rest!
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