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Costa Rica

January - February 2024
A 19-day adventure by Debra Read more
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  • TravelerCosta Rica
    2
    23
    Day 1

    Good Morning Toronto on to Tamarindo

    January 15 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 -14 °C

    We were fortunate to be upgraded to Business Class. My first time in a sleeping pod!! Grateful for a few hours of sleep😴 We went from -14 to extremely hot and humid at 34 in Costa Rica. The traffic is slow going getting anywhere and motorcycles drive up either side of you and overtake. It's quite scary, especially at night, but now we know what to expect😬 A quick dip in the pool then much needed 😴 sleepRead more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
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    Day 2

    Tamarindo

    January 16 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We enjoyed a nice sleep in then made ourselves breakfast and sat out on our deck and drank our coffee. We saw a very colorful, large iguana climbing a nearby tree. There are two kinds on the propery; colorful and more neutral/black tones. We walked down to the main beach area, only 10 minutes away. This beach is known for surfing. We spent lots of time in the water body surfing. The temperature was 32 today and always with high humidity. Near the water, it is a bit cooler with a nice breeze. We walked through the town to get our bearings and find a restaurant for dinner. We walked back to our airbnb, which was a chore in the heat, and walked right into our pool to cool off. We sat and read and swam until dinner time. We discovered that the Italian Consulate has their office in our complex as we walked back down to eat. We ate at the "Ocean" restaurant on the water and had a really nice meal. The sunset was beautiful. A nice end to our first full day.Read more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
    24
    Day 3

    Tamarindo to Samara

    January 17 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌬 34 °C

    We packed up today and left our rental car locked in our complex while we walked to check out restaurants for Shaun's birthday. We sat in the shade reading while we waited for Shaun&Tom, Dawn&Craig to arrive. We had a great birthday lunch ( fish tacos)for Shaun at Hogui's. It was great to see them and hear of their adventures so far. After lunch we all headed out. They were driving to Saint Teresa and we drove a few hours to Samara. It was a nice drive and not too busy. Speed limits range from 25 km to 70km/hr.Read more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
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    Day 3

    Samara

    January 17 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We arrived just after 4pm. The drive was nice and not too busy. We located our Airbnb where our host, Lucy, met us and toured us through the complex. We discovered a little visitor gecko in our bathroom and various birds that were so loud. In the morning we woke to see variegated squirrels in the trees. One inparticular was after the coconuts in the palm tree. After breakfast we walked downtown to look for a supermarket and potential restaurants. We had a short walk to the beach and then we took a long walk up and down the entire bay with some swim and body surf breaks. We read our books in the shade and then walked to get groceries. After an afternoon coffee we went to the pool for some swimming/exercise. For dinner we tried a restaurant right on the beach. The clouds moved in for a moody evening and, without much wind, the humidity was relentless. We haven't stopped sweating and this was the first day my hair stayed wet and damp from morning to bedtime!! Tomorrow we drive to Manuel Antonio.Read more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
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    Day 5

    Manuel Antonio

    January 19 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We woke up early and walked to breakfast at Bohemia Cafe. We had fantastic lattes, strawberry, lemon and mint crepes and banana Nutella crepes with pineapples and watermelon👌We walked back to our flat and packed the car and left on our
    5 1/2 hour drive. The roads were generally great and we had higher speed zones on our routes. We actually got up to 90km/hr but usually not for long. We hit traffic hot spots, just like home and unfortunately one of our stops was a fatal collision between a semi and two motorcycles. It was very emotional and sad. The drive was beautiful with lots of changes in agricultural, jungle, palm tree groves and smaller mountainous areas. We had trouble finding our Airbnb with our GPS sending us in circles around the main center which had lots of one way streets😜🤔 Our host, Stephane was patiently waiting for us. We parked and he asked us if he we wanted to take a bag up and we said no, we would wait. Then Anthony took a look at the stairs we had to climb and we went back and got most of our bags with Stephane's help. We carried everything up 156 steep stairs😅🥵 Then we did it all over again for the food bags!! What a workout and actually welcome since we had been sitting in the car. Stephane has a beautiful home overlooking the ocean. It is all concrete floors, & counters. He showed us his coffee plant and cinnamon tree right outside the main entrance and off the deck. He and his family stay right next door.    Read more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
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    Day 6

    Damas Island Mangrove Kayak Tour & Hike

    January 20 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    An exciting morning as we venture out to Damas for our Kayak tour of the mangroves. William is a Biologist and our guide. He grew up on this farm and has been touring and educating people about the Mangroves and the biodiversity and ecology of the area. Javier, a very nice guy from Los Angeles & Susan and Robert from New York were in our grouping. We saw monkeys right away, many birds, iguanas, crabs, & sardines. No crocs are in this type of Mangrove and the boas are nocturnal and tend to be in the fields. We had a relaxing paddle and saw a 600 year old White Mangrove tree. When the tree is 50-60 years old the roots start to grow above ground and the bottom roots feed from the water.
    We had a very nice meal provided afterward, chatted with our larger group and shared information and photos. Anthony and I learned about a Rainmaker hike from Susan and Robert so we decided to go take it in. It was fantastic. Not only was it great exercise with all the stairs, but being in the canopy of the rain forest and seeing the depth of the jungle around us, the waterfalls and swim holes was another highlight of the day. We drove back and hiked up to our airbnb, got ready and went out for a really nice meal and then on to meet up with Shaun & Tom, Dawn & Craig at their place. We got caught up on our travels and adventures. We are all heading to Manuel Antonio National Park tomorrow to spend the day together.    Read more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
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    Day 7

    Manuel Antonio National Park

    January 21 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    We had a really fun day today. We had a nice hoghurt, banana and granola breakfast with coffee at our airbnb and then walked to the main road where Dawn&Craig and Shaun&Tom picked us up and we drove to Manuel Antonio National Park which is know for its white sand beaches, walking trails and wildlife. We walked 12.5 km today through the trails in the park. We followed the groups with the guides so we had some idea what to look for. We could see sloths way high up in the trees, a raccoon-type animal, white faced monkeys, iguanas, two black squirrels, some hermit crabs and two small deer. I got too close to one monkey and he bared his teeth at me.....as I got out of his space very quickly!! We had some beach and swim time before heading to a Soda (this is where the locals eat and the food is typically much cheaper and a local flavor). We had a really great meal and some tasty margaritas for Happy Hour. After dinner we bought some pastries at a bakery for tomorrow, went to a grocery store to stock up and on to D&C, S&T's place for a swim in the pool and relax time. Anthony and I drive to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca tomorrow.Read more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
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    Day 8

    Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

    January 22 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Anthony and I drove 6 hours to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca today. We made a stop at Crocodile Bridge to see the crocs below. They were not too active, but there were lots of them. A bird landed near them and walked around them. Surprisingly and thankfully, the crocs were unphased. Everyone was tense thinking the bird was a goner🫣 The drive was spectacular through the National Park. The roads were very windy in that section. We had some double lane highways with 100km/hr speed zones. We drove on the outskirts of the city of San Jose. Then we had lots of double lanes that changed to single with barriers in the left lane. Directly after vehicles could get back in the left lane to turn left, then it was back to double lanes. There must have been 50 of these on the highway. The other hazard would be the constructure zones that popped up and directed you hard left or right and sometimes had us changing to two-way traffic and same on our side of the highway without warning. A bit dicey for sure. You have to be on your toes driving these roads and highways. We made a stop for fruit with a local farmer. We did a lot of sign language and we figured out how much to pay👍
    We found our VRBO just as the rain started, met our host and the resident cat whose name we are waiting to find out. We got settled and enjoyed the beer they left for us. The cat got comfy on Anthony's lap and kept nudging Anthony to pet it. Super cute. We then drove into the main center for groceries and dinner. It was a hub of activity. We found a local Soda and enjoyed a Caribbean meal. Back at our place we sat and listened to the rain start up again. They get rain regularly it sounds like. Tomorrow is showing 75% humidity and showers and sun👍👍 Tomorrow we will do some laundry then venture into Cahuita to look at doing a snorkelling tour.    Read more

  • TravelerCosta Rica
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    Day 9

    Cahuita

    January 23 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Had a laid back morning of laundry and no dryer...we hang our clothes, but nothing dries because of the high humidity!! We had a lot of rain through the night and into this morning. I picked 2 ripe bananas from a tree in the yard🍌A nice addition to breakfast. Our cat is making itself at home. As soon as the door opens in the morning it meows and comes in!! The couch is a favorite😺We took the bikes they had for us out for a 5.5km spin to see the oceanside and the neighborhood.
    After our ride we had lunch and then drove to Cahuita to check it out and look into the snorkelling tour. Unfortunately the seas were too rough so they couldn't do the tours😒 After a quick drive around Cahuita we drove to Manzanilla to see the beaches there.    Read more

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