Here it is bedtime (or past) Monday eve. Saturday we (I) had our first nite away from the kids. It was one of Pete's high school buddies and pretty much the whole gang came out for it. Jay who we used to see alot when we lived in San Diego came up - unfortunately sans very pregnant wife and kids - and he stayed over with us. Dan & girlfriend Karen from Chicago made it out sans Dan's son Emmet - they stayed with us Friday eve. Dave & Wendy made it out from DC. We had them all plus Rick (local) and fiance Jean over for dinner Friday. When I extended the offer to host I was offering up pizza and salad but Pete had other plans. Tri-tip, couscous, asparagus, salad and desert it turned out to be. Fortunately a fairly easy menu altho required trips to a couple different grocery stores. 9 people is also pushing it for seating in our dining area. We had to have 2 adjacent (but separate) tables plus a kiddie table for #10 & 11 otherwise known as my children. The kids were as sweet as you could want fortunately even tho bedtime got pushed until about 10 (instead of the usual 8ish). I was feeling a bit under the weather for the days leading up to it and really tired. Pete cleaned up the place and set the table the night before which was a huge help. I really just wanted to go shopping Friday a.m. when kids were at school and get something to wear to the wedding. I did manage a whirlwind shopping trip and still had time to work on house and prep food. I jetisoned the idea of yoga however. When I woke up on Saturday I had really tingly fingers and my wrists were hurting a bit and Friday nite and Sat I noticed my knees really hurting when I sat down or stood up. Weird. Then I noticed a light rash on my legs - ah ha. Perhaps I had Fifth Disease! Otherwise known as "slapcheek". Usually a kiddie thing when they have really pink cheeks and a rash elsewhere. Quincy had it the Wed following our return from Costa Rica which I think means he got it first day back at school. By the time the rash shows up you are no longer contagious. Quite a few of his classmates had had it and another mom had shown me her rash. A quick internet search confirmed symptoms for adults - joint pain with or without rash. Phew - at least the pain wasnt the sudden onset of rheumatoid arthritis! I noticed as the day went on (and the pain) that I had quite a bit of swelling in my hands, ankles, feet etc. I still had swelling this morning in my hands and it was really hard to close my fingers all the way but now I can see my bones again and can join my hands together and fold my arms. Ahh how nice! Only a bit of pain. I have to say I have much more sympathy for Mom & Dave's swelling and Phyllis' arthritis now!
On Saturday a bit after noon we dropped the kids off with "cousin phil". The kids were quite excited by the prospect as he had promised tent city and camping out in the back yard to go with the usual zip line and swinging. He was bravely taking on all 4 kids pretty much singlehanded as Julia had another committment that had her tied up most of the day and eve. I understand he did resort to about an hour of TV in the evening and Aidan tells me he thought Phil was asleep for part of it - but that is fine - Phil is more active and engaged with kids than just about anyone I know. The rest of us get tired watching him. As we left the next day Aidan asked when he could have another sleep over at Phils. Quincy was quick to say he didn't want another sleepover! But he did have a very good time. We headed up to Napa with Jay & Karen in our car - Dan had gone before the rest of us woke (we had hit the hay well after midnite) to play golf with other wedding folk. We checked in at the Silverado Country Club and Pete and I managed a brief swim before dressing for the 6 p.m. wedding at Auberge De Soleil. Pete and I had had appetizers at their outdoor bar once a few years back - fabulous food and fabulous view out over Napa. A bus shuttled a bunch of us there (20 min away). The wedding was on the patio just below and to the side of the bar so we had the same great setting. Unfortunatley we could hear the murmur of the bar patrons when we quieted down for the actual service but it didnt' detract too much. Dinner followed inside. James (groom) lives a few miles south of here but I hadnt seen him since his fiance/wife had a baby - and Sophia is now a year old roughly - she and a cousin were in the wedding party. I also hadnt seen his best man Bill (or wife Jen) in the same amount of time - during which they moved back to the bay area and got pregnant with twins and delivered those twins a month ago. It was Jen's first night away from the kids too! She currently has a night nurse and a day nanny so the kids were in good hands.
We got back to the hotel a bit after midnight and crashed. All of us except the groom and bride met up for brunch at the county club. It was quite good and was nice to see people again altho we all have hopes to reunite next spring for Rick's wedding. Pete and I didn't much appreciate the Silverado - too country clubby and too boring really but the food was decent. Rooms were also small but still expensive even after the slight wedding party discount. Sunday people went off in various directions and Pete & I came back alone to rescue our kids who promptly passed out on the drive home - really unusual for Aidan but a late night followed by an action packed day with thec ousins - he deserved to pass out! I got to see Dave, Wendy, Jay and Rick a last time when they came over for a quick dinner of pizza and salad before heading off with Pete to help Return of the Sith with its recordbreaking 1st weekend totals. I gratefully put the kids to bed and watched a bit of TV. I tried to knit but gave it up after a few stitches - too painful. Pete wasnt too impressed with the movie but I may rent the video when the time comes altho I realized that I never saw the movie that proceeded this one either!
Monday, May 23, 2005
Saturday, May 14, 2005
The next few entries to the blog from today are Pete's trip report with associated pics from my albums. I am listed as the author purely because I was the one who cut and pasted them into the blog for Pete. Hope you enjoy - I know between his report and my photos you will have a very thorough knowledge of our trip to Costa Rica! - bev/kay
Arrival
We first considered a trip to Costa Rica for late 1997. Unfortunately Christmas week is the most popular time of the year to visit so besides the $750 price tag all flights were sold out by Labor Day. I recall that we also struggled a bit with the itinerary - being unsure whether to rent a car (with many stories of the perils of 2nd world roads) and whether to pamper ourselves at resorts or go native. Fast forward to this spring and I happened to check prices to Costa Rica ($320) when looking at prices to Greece ($1,000). Sold! (Multiplying by 4 has a way of simplifying some decisions.) This time the itinerary came together rather easily thanks to some advice from friends and family and more reading. With an appealing itinerary to dangle, I was able to woo my Dad as a welcome companion and a 3rd set of hands for the boys. We were also able to pass our plans in front of my cousins (Phil, Julia, 3 year old Ellie, and 1 year old Maggie) who had independently started musing about heading to the Rich Coast. We ended up with very similar itineraries and overlapped on dates for half the trip.
The trip was planned for the last week of April and the start of May. In the rainfall charts in the travel books show the average rainfall jumps in some areas from 100 mm in April (the last month of the dry season) to 600 mm in May (the start of the wet season a.k.a. the “green season” in the tourism trade). Yikes! I had visions of a Rain God with his hand poised on the spigot looking anxiously at his timepiece just waiting to let loose a torrent to purge the country of any straggling tourists. Living in perpetually foggy SF, I didn’t want to see any clouds on our trip. I liked the idea of being on vacation for my birthday so we departed on Thursday night 4/21. (The Reiffs followed on Friday night and Pop came early on Saturday.) Checking the weather report before departing it showed afternoon thunderstorms every day for the 5 day forecast. Oh well, growing up in CA the boys haven’t had the pleasure of regular summer thunderstorms.
The flight down went through LA. The boys pronounced it “ballet”. As usual Aidan dutifully and happily pulled his bag through all the airports and throughout the trip. I had announced that the boys needed to share 1 bag, which was not one of my most popular decisions, so Quincy was traveling light. The overnight segment from LA to San Jose (I kept having the nagging feeling we were going to be flying in circles) was just under 5 hours. The boys and I piled into 3 seats on one side of the aisle so we could raise the armrests and sleep in various contorted positions. Bev sat comfortably on the other side of the aisle but didn’t get much sleep as per usual. Arriving in SJO we climbed out of the plane into the warm humid morning air and down the stairs onto the tarmac - a good way to set the tone that you are not in the USA anymore. We hustled onto a bus for the ride to the terminal.
Going through immigration there were numerous signs admonishing that sex with children was illegal and would land you directly in jail. I wish they’d tell you these things before you fly all the way there!!! Fortunately as experienced travelers we didn’t let the change in plans throw us and proceeded onward. My assumed next stop was at the coffee stand to have our first big swig of the local brew but we had our bags and were out on the curb without my having noticed any tempting welcoming aromas. One of the few times I’ve been out of an airport too fast with bags in hand! Not possessing any local currency I decided that the ATM machine was probably a more logical first stop anyway.
After tracking down just such a wondrous money dispenser, my heart sank when the first screen did not prompt me for my language of choice. There is nothing like a financial transaction in a foreign language to clear your head better than even a cup of joe! When I reached the screen asking how many colones I wanted to withdraw I noticed for the first time the 000 key to conveniently skyrocket the amounts into the thousands. Hmm, maybe checking the exchange rate would be a prudent addition to the departure checklist. I decided to go big and typed in 500,000 colones. At that point my card was ejected and the door to the booth popped open. As I left empty handed I crashed into more tourists waiting in line. It was the same couple that I had been waiting on, who had left scratching their head. I quickly steered the pleasant strangers-in-a-strange-land chit-chat to my most pressing issue. After procuring the vital information I had previously lacked, I re-entered the booth and happily emerged with a respectable haul of 100,000 colones (just over $200 which was within my daily ATM limit).
Having originally thought we’d need time to grab breakfast, stretch our legs, dispose of internal toxic waste, etc. I had told the owner of the 4x4 rental agency I had found via a tip on Craigslist (http://www.4x4rentacar.com) that we wouldn’t need a pickup until 9 AM. However since the plane was early and I didn’t see any dining options, we were well ahead of schedule. Therefore I was glad to see the brightly painted 4x4 Rental Car truck sitting by the curb. (4x4’s are considered a must to visit Monteverde.) I trotted on over but the truck was already full. Raj noted that he had planned to meet us at 9 AM per my request but I assured him we were good to go. He said he’d be back in 15 minutes. Stories vary at this point with Raj saying he came back in an unmarked van and couldn’t find us after circling for 30 minutes. Our story was we sat down on the curb right were Raj had left us and didn’t see anyone until 9:05 (95 minutes later). Coming so soon after the scare at the ATM, I was starting to wonder this impulsive trip was going to go as smoothly as I imagined when looking at travel guide images of the white sand beaches of Manual Antonio.
When we arrived at the rental agency, our bags were transferred to the waiting Jeep Grand Cherokee. (Bev had researched which vehicle was widest so that we could all fit comfortably with the car seats and 3rd person in back.) It was a 1995 model which we were reassured would fit in better with what the locals drive. After reviewing a car sketch with X’s depicting scratches and dings that looked to me like a depiction of the inevitable collision of the Milky Way with the Andromeda galaxy (I truly appreciate my wife and her profession at times like this) we listened to Raj’s helpful travel tips. As expected we were admonished in emphatic terms not to leave anything of value in the car. This is all well and good until you consider the car seats. There is no way I’m going to spend the vacation affixing them to a mother’s safety standards just to take them out each night. (Besides wouldn’t we all enjoy the bumpy rides even more if you never knew where you’d land?) I decided to assume there would be a taboo of stealing items relating to El Ninos. Raj went on to warn us to park the car where we can see it when checking in to hotels or eating at restaurants. He droned on that if the car ever has a flat tire don’t let anyone stop to help as they’ll likely have one person taking things out the back while you’re working on the tire. Next he showed me how to turn off the alarm (although never how to set the alarm), how to apply an extra lock to the steering wheel, and how to take the faceplate off the radio so that I could take it inside. Having finished all the possible scenarios involving banditos, we moved on to the federals. Fines paid on the spot are the custom although not the official policy. Then we talked about the condition of the roads and the crazy driving habits of the locals. Through all of this, I kept thinking that the country really needed to reconsider their sex-with-minors stance if they wanted mass tourism. (Okay, I’ve overdone that joke and now I’m scaring people.) Lastly Raj gave me his cell phone number although lacking a cell phone myself (our US phones wouldn’t work) I didn’t see that it would do me too much good in most scenarios. (To be honest the travel advice was very familiar from pre-travel reading for Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico, and many other places we’ve traveled thankfully without incident. Although all of the above is true, the car rental was actually a pleasant and more personal experience then dealing with a big agency.)
At last we piled into the car. Since we hadn’t procured any vittles at l’aeropuerto, our parting question was where to get some good eats. We were helpfully(?) directed to a nearby Denny’s. (We have a rather appalling and totally unintentional habit of starting our international trips with a quintessential American restaurant. I guess American businesses heavily target the airports. Fortunately once out of sight of the airport we don’t ever encounter the problem again.) As it turned out we missed the off-ramp for Denny’s (an accident?) and were on our way.
Arenal Volcano (and the Fortunate City)
Tip #2 when traveling (for careful readers knowing the exchange rate was tip #1) is to determine the route to your destination sometime before you think you should be “getting close”. While we had asked for directions to La Fortuna, which is the area we were heading to, our hotel was 20 kilometers away and not on the approach road we had taken. With few roads available for corrective action, all of which were unmarked, we continued to relatively well marked La Fortuna (a signpost with the easily recognized symbol of a smoking volcano) even after the roundabout nature of our route was discovered. Keep in mind that the roads were twisty and slow (you needed to give the chickens time to scoot out of the way) so a 20 km overshoot was considered a more significant detour then 24 miles (12 each way) might seem. We got to pass by many scenic villages and school children in their uniforms (blue shirts for the upper grades, white for the lower).
At the outskirts of La Fortuna, we started seeing fabulous views of the volcano rising majestically in a perfectly conical shape just like your mind’s eye imagines a volcano. We dithered over where to pullover and bag our first attraction on film. The place I picked was pronounced inadequate due to interfering power lines. Being new to the area we didn’t fully appreciate our good fortune to catch Arenal unobstructed by clouds. In town we stopped at the Super Mercado to get some supplies and a finger pointing confirmation as to the way to head out of town. Aidan was sent in after Dad by Bev to point out the ice cream counter – hint hint. We settled on double scoops all around as our morning meal. Hey, were on vacation! I thought I selected vanilla for Aidan but it turned out to be rum raisin. Fortunately Aidan was happy to roll with the unexpected substitution (and I think he slept extra soundly that night as a result). In the warm air, the ice cream melted fast and Bev had to rotate the cones between her and the boys to avert a mess. I was dropped from the rotation after too many cones had gone “missing”. (Maybe I’m going into too much detail here.) The ice cream was a great pick-me-up for all and we headed to our hotel with renewed vigor.
Our first hotel, the Tilarjai (http://www.tilajari.com), had previously been a tennis club was a resort popular with the locals. (I really didn’t want an American resort plunked down in a central American country ala Cancun and we were pleased with all of our lodgings in that they had a satisfying mix of comfort, authenticity, location, and intimacy – albeit they all obviously catered to and were quite accustomed to gringos.) The resort had beautiful, well-cultivated and manicured grounds and was situated along the lovely Rio San Carlos. In particular we enjoyed all of the scarlet palms on the property. Our room was one of the ones further from the main facilities, which meant we were undisturbed by passerby’s and had a pleasant walk to go for meals or to the pool. Nearby was the impressively stocked and appealingly overgrown enclosed butterfly garden.
The rooms in the hotels were simple but pleasant with 2 double beds and a pullout couch. We had 2 Adirondack chairs on our porch that were perfect for sitting and surveying the view of the lawn leading down to the river. We were soon enticed away from our chairs by the sight of a large iguana in the grass. As we quietly approached our prey we had the classic moment of realizing a dozen other logs and mounds were now retreating to the river. While good at staying so still that you could almost stumble on them, once they decided to flee they were ridiculously loud as they sped away in a flying scamper and crashed into the weeds.
We first considered a trip to Costa Rica for late 1997. Unfortunately Christmas week is the most popular time of the year to visit so besides the $750 price tag all flights were sold out by Labor Day. I recall that we also struggled a bit with the itinerary - being unsure whether to rent a car (with many stories of the perils of 2nd world roads) and whether to pamper ourselves at resorts or go native. Fast forward to this spring and I happened to check prices to Costa Rica ($320) when looking at prices to Greece ($1,000). Sold! (Multiplying by 4 has a way of simplifying some decisions.) This time the itinerary came together rather easily thanks to some advice from friends and family and more reading. With an appealing itinerary to dangle, I was able to woo my Dad as a welcome companion and a 3rd set of hands for the boys. We were also able to pass our plans in front of my cousins (Phil, Julia, 3 year old Ellie, and 1 year old Maggie) who had independently started musing about heading to the Rich Coast. We ended up with very similar itineraries and overlapped on dates for half the trip.
The trip was planned for the last week of April and the start of May. In the rainfall charts in the travel books show the average rainfall jumps in some areas from 100 mm in April (the last month of the dry season) to 600 mm in May (the start of the wet season a.k.a. the “green season” in the tourism trade). Yikes! I had visions of a Rain God with his hand poised on the spigot looking anxiously at his timepiece just waiting to let loose a torrent to purge the country of any straggling tourists. Living in perpetually foggy SF, I didn’t want to see any clouds on our trip. I liked the idea of being on vacation for my birthday so we departed on Thursday night 4/21. (The Reiffs followed on Friday night and Pop came early on Saturday.) Checking the weather report before departing it showed afternoon thunderstorms every day for the 5 day forecast. Oh well, growing up in CA the boys haven’t had the pleasure of regular summer thunderstorms.
The flight down went through LA. The boys pronounced it “ballet”. As usual Aidan dutifully and happily pulled his bag through all the airports and throughout the trip. I had announced that the boys needed to share 1 bag, which was not one of my most popular decisions, so Quincy was traveling light. The overnight segment from LA to San Jose (I kept having the nagging feeling we were going to be flying in circles) was just under 5 hours. The boys and I piled into 3 seats on one side of the aisle so we could raise the armrests and sleep in various contorted positions. Bev sat comfortably on the other side of the aisle but didn’t get much sleep as per usual. Arriving in SJO we climbed out of the plane into the warm humid morning air and down the stairs onto the tarmac - a good way to set the tone that you are not in the USA anymore. We hustled onto a bus for the ride to the terminal.
Going through immigration there were numerous signs admonishing that sex with children was illegal and would land you directly in jail. I wish they’d tell you these things before you fly all the way there!!! Fortunately as experienced travelers we didn’t let the change in plans throw us and proceeded onward. My assumed next stop was at the coffee stand to have our first big swig of the local brew but we had our bags and were out on the curb without my having noticed any tempting welcoming aromas. One of the few times I’ve been out of an airport too fast with bags in hand! Not possessing any local currency I decided that the ATM machine was probably a more logical first stop anyway.
After tracking down just such a wondrous money dispenser, my heart sank when the first screen did not prompt me for my language of choice. There is nothing like a financial transaction in a foreign language to clear your head better than even a cup of joe! When I reached the screen asking how many colones I wanted to withdraw I noticed for the first time the 000 key to conveniently skyrocket the amounts into the thousands. Hmm, maybe checking the exchange rate would be a prudent addition to the departure checklist. I decided to go big and typed in 500,000 colones. At that point my card was ejected and the door to the booth popped open. As I left empty handed I crashed into more tourists waiting in line. It was the same couple that I had been waiting on, who had left scratching their head. I quickly steered the pleasant strangers-in-a-strange-land chit-chat to my most pressing issue. After procuring the vital information I had previously lacked, I re-entered the booth and happily emerged with a respectable haul of 100,000 colones (just over $200 which was within my daily ATM limit).
Having originally thought we’d need time to grab breakfast, stretch our legs, dispose of internal toxic waste, etc. I had told the owner of the 4x4 rental agency I had found via a tip on Craigslist (http://www.4x4rentacar.com) that we wouldn’t need a pickup until 9 AM. However since the plane was early and I didn’t see any dining options, we were well ahead of schedule. Therefore I was glad to see the brightly painted 4x4 Rental Car truck sitting by the curb. (4x4’s are considered a must to visit Monteverde.) I trotted on over but the truck was already full. Raj noted that he had planned to meet us at 9 AM per my request but I assured him we were good to go. He said he’d be back in 15 minutes. Stories vary at this point with Raj saying he came back in an unmarked van and couldn’t find us after circling for 30 minutes. Our story was we sat down on the curb right were Raj had left us and didn’t see anyone until 9:05 (95 minutes later). Coming so soon after the scare at the ATM, I was starting to wonder this impulsive trip was going to go as smoothly as I imagined when looking at travel guide images of the white sand beaches of Manual Antonio.
When we arrived at the rental agency, our bags were transferred to the waiting Jeep Grand Cherokee. (Bev had researched which vehicle was widest so that we could all fit comfortably with the car seats and 3rd person in back.) It was a 1995 model which we were reassured would fit in better with what the locals drive. After reviewing a car sketch with X’s depicting scratches and dings that looked to me like a depiction of the inevitable collision of the Milky Way with the Andromeda galaxy (I truly appreciate my wife and her profession at times like this) we listened to Raj’s helpful travel tips. As expected we were admonished in emphatic terms not to leave anything of value in the car. This is all well and good until you consider the car seats. There is no way I’m going to spend the vacation affixing them to a mother’s safety standards just to take them out each night. (Besides wouldn’t we all enjoy the bumpy rides even more if you never knew where you’d land?) I decided to assume there would be a taboo of stealing items relating to El Ninos. Raj went on to warn us to park the car where we can see it when checking in to hotels or eating at restaurants. He droned on that if the car ever has a flat tire don’t let anyone stop to help as they’ll likely have one person taking things out the back while you’re working on the tire. Next he showed me how to turn off the alarm (although never how to set the alarm), how to apply an extra lock to the steering wheel, and how to take the faceplate off the radio so that I could take it inside. Having finished all the possible scenarios involving banditos, we moved on to the federals. Fines paid on the spot are the custom although not the official policy. Then we talked about the condition of the roads and the crazy driving habits of the locals. Through all of this, I kept thinking that the country really needed to reconsider their sex-with-minors stance if they wanted mass tourism. (Okay, I’ve overdone that joke and now I’m scaring people.) Lastly Raj gave me his cell phone number although lacking a cell phone myself (our US phones wouldn’t work) I didn’t see that it would do me too much good in most scenarios. (To be honest the travel advice was very familiar from pre-travel reading for Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico, and many other places we’ve traveled thankfully without incident. Although all of the above is true, the car rental was actually a pleasant and more personal experience then dealing with a big agency.)
At last we piled into the car. Since we hadn’t procured any vittles at l’aeropuerto, our parting question was where to get some good eats. We were helpfully(?) directed to a nearby Denny’s. (We have a rather appalling and totally unintentional habit of starting our international trips with a quintessential American restaurant. I guess American businesses heavily target the airports. Fortunately once out of sight of the airport we don’t ever encounter the problem again.) As it turned out we missed the off-ramp for Denny’s (an accident?) and were on our way.
Arenal Volcano (and the Fortunate City)
Tip #2 when traveling (for careful readers knowing the exchange rate was tip #1) is to determine the route to your destination sometime before you think you should be “getting close”. While we had asked for directions to La Fortuna, which is the area we were heading to, our hotel was 20 kilometers away and not on the approach road we had taken. With few roads available for corrective action, all of which were unmarked, we continued to relatively well marked La Fortuna (a signpost with the easily recognized symbol of a smoking volcano) even after the roundabout nature of our route was discovered. Keep in mind that the roads were twisty and slow (you needed to give the chickens time to scoot out of the way) so a 20 km overshoot was considered a more significant detour then 24 miles (12 each way) might seem. We got to pass by many scenic villages and school children in their uniforms (blue shirts for the upper grades, white for the lower).
At the outskirts of La Fortuna, we started seeing fabulous views of the volcano rising majestically in a perfectly conical shape just like your mind’s eye imagines a volcano. We dithered over where to pullover and bag our first attraction on film. The place I picked was pronounced inadequate due to interfering power lines. Being new to the area we didn’t fully appreciate our good fortune to catch Arenal unobstructed by clouds. In town we stopped at the Super Mercado to get some supplies and a finger pointing confirmation as to the way to head out of town. Aidan was sent in after Dad by Bev to point out the ice cream counter – hint hint. We settled on double scoops all around as our morning meal. Hey, were on vacation! I thought I selected vanilla for Aidan but it turned out to be rum raisin. Fortunately Aidan was happy to roll with the unexpected substitution (and I think he slept extra soundly that night as a result). In the warm air, the ice cream melted fast and Bev had to rotate the cones between her and the boys to avert a mess. I was dropped from the rotation after too many cones had gone “missing”. (Maybe I’m going into too much detail here.) The ice cream was a great pick-me-up for all and we headed to our hotel with renewed vigor.
Our first hotel, the Tilarjai (http://www.tilajari.com), had previously been a tennis club was a resort popular with the locals. (I really didn’t want an American resort plunked down in a central American country ala Cancun and we were pleased with all of our lodgings in that they had a satisfying mix of comfort, authenticity, location, and intimacy – albeit they all obviously catered to and were quite accustomed to gringos.) The resort had beautiful, well-cultivated and manicured grounds and was situated along the lovely Rio San Carlos. In particular we enjoyed all of the scarlet palms on the property. Our room was one of the ones further from the main facilities, which meant we were undisturbed by passerby’s and had a pleasant walk to go for meals or to the pool. Nearby was the impressively stocked and appealingly overgrown enclosed butterfly garden.
The rooms in the hotels were simple but pleasant with 2 double beds and a pullout couch. We had 2 Adirondack chairs on our porch that were perfect for sitting and surveying the view of the lawn leading down to the river. We were soon enticed away from our chairs by the sight of a large iguana in the grass. As we quietly approached our prey we had the classic moment of realizing a dozen other logs and mounds were now retreating to the river. While good at staying so still that you could almost stumble on them, once they decided to flee they were ridiculously loud as they sped away in a flying scamper and crashed into the weeds.
We enjoyed the setting and convenience of the hotel’s indoor/outdoor restaurant and we ended up eating virtually all of our meals there. The breakfast buffets in particular were very good. As we ate we watched an attractive menagerie of brightly colored birds visiting the feeders. The feeders consisted of large branches stuck in the ground and one each limb there was a large papaya segment. There were also always a few large iguanas feasting on the papaya leftovers. Some of the big fellows came within 2-3 feet of our chairs. Other than the wildlife on display the other highlight was probably the juices. We had guava (red) and sour guava (green) as well as berry and orange juices. (I should mention that we drank the hotel water throughout the trip and didn’t have any bacterial trouble, which was a relief because my cousins had reported some bouts of “tourista” a decade earlier. I don’t know if changes were made to the water or bacterial levels varied by locale or we were just a bit luckier.)
In addition to near the river and the restaurant, we found iguanas near the pool and just about wherever we went. We even discovered large (easily 5’ long) iguanas sunning on the tree tops. They were everywhere! One of our favorites moments was when we passed by an iguana on the tiles near the rooms. In cartoon fashion, the iguana’s legs started going 100 kph but going nowhere as he couldn’t get traction on the slippery tiles. Another favorite moment was when I came upon of veritable herd of at least a couple dozen young iguanas that fled like a moving sea of green to a single nearby tree. Although we saw iguanas every time we left the room we didn’t tire of them for the whole of our stay. I heard whispers of a sloth on the grounds but somewhat surprisingly didn’t invest much energy to locating it.
As the days were quite warm another very popular attraction was the pools. There was a 9in deep baby pool, an 18in toddler pool, and a large 4ft adult pool accessed by a gentle series of steps leading into the water. It was custom made for our families and all pools were well used by all. Many times we had them to ourselves. Ellie borrowed Quincy’s wings and did an amazing job of swimming around the pool unassisted as did Aidan. Quincy still wanted an arm to hold onto. Surprisingly we even made repeated use of the hot tub (which wasn’t too hot) as the boys like the jets and the fun of running from pool to pool.
In addition to near the river and the restaurant, we found iguanas near the pool and just about wherever we went. We even discovered large (easily 5’ long) iguanas sunning on the tree tops. They were everywhere! One of our favorites moments was when we passed by an iguana on the tiles near the rooms. In cartoon fashion, the iguana’s legs started going 100 kph but going nowhere as he couldn’t get traction on the slippery tiles. Another favorite moment was when I came upon of veritable herd of at least a couple dozen young iguanas that fled like a moving sea of green to a single nearby tree. Although we saw iguanas every time we left the room we didn’t tire of them for the whole of our stay. I heard whispers of a sloth on the grounds but somewhat surprisingly didn’t invest much energy to locating it.
As the days were quite warm another very popular attraction was the pools. There was a 9in deep baby pool, an 18in toddler pool, and a large 4ft adult pool accessed by a gentle series of steps leading into the water. It was custom made for our families and all pools were well used by all. Many times we had them to ourselves. Ellie borrowed Quincy’s wings and did an amazing job of swimming around the pool unassisted as did Aidan. Quincy still wanted an arm to hold onto. Surprisingly we even made repeated use of the hot tub (which wasn’t too hot) as the boys like the jets and the fun of running from pool to pool.
On the morning of our first full day (Sat) we took a float trip down the nearby Rio Penas Blancas (translates to White Cliffs River). I had been thinking we would take the longer trip to the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge but it involved a 90-minute bus ride each way and a sightseeing boat. The 5-minute ride for a raft trip won out. We thought the boys might like being low in the water in the raft. Our guide was Umberto – a local who had lived for a while on the Caribbean and had been a 4H exchange student for a year in South Dakota. He was a very knowledgeable and engaging guide who came highly recommended by a couple other hotel guests. In fact when I saw them checking out and saying their goodbyes to Umberto I got the sense that tears were imminent.
As we scrambled into the raft, Quincy and Aidan had to don life vests. This seemed a reasonable precaution, as the current was very swift although the water was placid. However the vest seemed to unnerve Quincy a bit and so he wanted to sit on Mama’s lap rather then upfront next to Aidan. About 30 minutes into the trip we passed through a very small rapid after which the boys were free to take off their vests. Doing so alleviated all of Quincy’s fears and so even though the river was the same as before he now happily scrambled around the raft. Later in the trip the kids put the vests back on so they could take a swim in the river.
We saw quite a bit of wildlife including 2 sloths that looked furry nests in the trees and an owl that looked somewhat like the sloth until we saw her face. Early in the trip Umberto paddled us to shore and disappeared into the forest to return a few moments later with a tiny frog. Fortunately just as I was about to partake in a generous lick, Umberto warned that it was a blue jean poison dart frog and that it did secret a lethal poison. I had to settle for a less enthusiastic greeting, but we all took a very up close look.
As we scrambled into the raft, Quincy and Aidan had to don life vests. This seemed a reasonable precaution, as the current was very swift although the water was placid. However the vest seemed to unnerve Quincy a bit and so he wanted to sit on Mama’s lap rather then upfront next to Aidan. About 30 minutes into the trip we passed through a very small rapid after which the boys were free to take off their vests. Doing so alleviated all of Quincy’s fears and so even though the river was the same as before he now happily scrambled around the raft. Later in the trip the kids put the vests back on so they could take a swim in the river.
We saw quite a bit of wildlife including 2 sloths that looked furry nests in the trees and an owl that looked somewhat like the sloth until we saw her face. Early in the trip Umberto paddled us to shore and disappeared into the forest to return a few moments later with a tiny frog. Fortunately just as I was about to partake in a generous lick, Umberto warned that it was a blue jean poison dart frog and that it did secret a lethal poison. I had to settle for a less enthusiastic greeting, but we all took a very up close look.
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