Costa Rica 2010 - Pura Vida

July 1st, 2010

COSTA RICA – PURA VIDA

Going into the year, I didn’t really have any solid vacation plans. As I looked into options, it seemed as though for the first time ever, I was going to have make a solo trip. As such, the possibilities were somewhat endless and I had my targets set on going to Peru to see Machu Picchu but it was going to be an expensive trip and finding a time to go that was convenient was becoming a bit a of challenge. For as dull and boring as my winter was, the past few months have brought a non-stop schedule (which is both a good thing and a bad thing).

As I was trying to nail down some targets, I received a call from Christopher Fitch Anderson inquiring if I would have an interest in perhaps joining he and Sam Modico on a vacation to Costa Rica. Amazingly, a lot of things came together in a relatively short notice including finding an available time slot that worked for everyone (a miracle in itself given everyone’s constraints, including my own), airfare, hotel, etc. Over the course of the few weeks leading up to the trip, details fell into place in short order and we were off to the land that most Americans know from the Jurassic Park films. I think for many Americans (and this was proven on the trip), Costa Rica is the right mix if ecological wonders and a safe but international destination which makes it a fairly popular tourist spot. It has always been on my list of places to visit (but to fair, that list is fairly long and comprehensive). Regardless, I jumped at the chance to go and I’m glad that I did; they do, after all, have monkeys.

Day 1 – Arrival in Alajuela – 6/24/10

While waiting in the airport, I sat in on a horribly boring 1.5 hour conference call that ended up giving me a whole lot more work when I returned. Ce la vie. In the midst of the call though, I nearly got ran over by a golf cart carrying Regis Philbin and his wife to a gate that was departing for Las Vegas.

Chris was flying from Phoenix and Sam was flying from Baltimore both connecting on the same flight through Miami whereas I was flying direct from Newark. My plane, in typical Newark fashion, sat on the tarmac for a good hour before taking off because all flights out of Newark were grounded due to “weather”. In all of my time flying (and it’s been significant), I’ve come to learn that weather is blamed for everything. As we sat on the tarmac, this realization became engrained into my head as I watched the sun streaming through my window with no bad weather in sight (which remained the case after we took off and through most of the flight). What did help ease the annoyance was that I was upgraded to first class which is always a nice benefit; one that makes it worth it to ensure that you get enough miles to maintain status on Continental Airlines. What was even nicer was that this First Class cabin was one of the best – it had chairs that reclined fully and footrests that came up. Luxury….sort of. For me, I still think the best part of First Class is the hot towel service that comes around after take off. Of course, the free booze, chicken/steak/shrimp dinner (yes, all three in one meal) and the actual silverware are nice as well.

After an uneventful flight (once we took off that is), I arrived in San Jose about hour later than expected. Our plane was greeted by lightning off in the distance. We deplaned onto the tarmac and rode a bus into the terminal. As I entered baggage claim, I discovered that Chris’ and Sam’s plane was also delayed such that we arrived pretty much at the same time. We exchanged some money that we hoped would last us for a week, got our bags, and made our way to the rental car counter where we boarded a shuttle that took us to the actual rental car place just under a mile from the airport. The airport, along with our rental car place and first place of lodging isn’t actually in San Jose but is instead in Alajuela which is a city about 20 mins. west of San Jose. After some searching, we used Economy Rental Car which Chris had used prior and found to be the cheapest. We got the required insurance and a GPS along with the keys to our Hyundai Elantra. Chris had booked us a room at a Bed and Breakfast called Vista Linda Montana. Of course, that hotel wasn’t in the GPS and in Costa Rica, I quickly learned, there are no addresses, just road names and distances as to how far a place may (or may not for that matter) be on said road. The gentlemen at the counter was kind enough to draw us a map that would get us to our B and B and gave us a stern warning not to go past Vista Linda because it leads to a very bad and dangerous neighborhood called Little Hell. How quaint.

So, we loaded our luggage, off we went, and subsequently got lost because we missed one of the turns. I somehow ended up being the driver for the week since the rental car was in my name so it was twice the adventure for me (but at least I can add another country I drove in to the list making the total 6; Canada, USA, Mexico, England, Australia, and now Costa Rica).

Back to getting lost – we essentially missed a turn off but we eventually got ourselves back on the right track and found the road that led to Vista Linda. At first, it looked sketchy in that it was a small road with few street lights and was lined with security gates in front of all the houses. Over time though, I learned that most streets in Costa Rica are like that so you get used to it pretty quickly (plus, I’ve been in places that are far less inviting). The big lighted sign in front of the place was a huge help and we pulled in front of the gate. Chris got out and after some searching found the buzzer to let our hosts know we arrived. It was close to midnight so I felt a bit bad but they knew we were coming in late. As the gate opened and we entered, Ronnie and Yvette were standing there waiting to welcome us. Ronnie and Yvette, I quickly learned, are not Costa Rican (or Ticas as Costa Ricans are known), they aren’t even American. They are German, naturally, and to boot, they are Germans that don’t really speak a lot of English. Chris, in addition to being fairly fluent in Spanish, also knows a lot of German so he served as translator for the trip. After meeting our hosts (and they are very nice people), I really wonder what their story is – why a couple from Germany would move to Costa Rica (in the middle of a non-touristy town mind you) with their young children, without a clear grasp of the language, and start a bed and breakfast. It really surprised me but I’m sure they are doing what they love in a place they enjoy which beats most people.

Ronnie and Yvette live in a house next to the structure that has the rooms people stay in. We were on the top floor of a building that had three beds. Sadly, there was no air conditioner so the ceiling fan did little to keep us cool that night. The beds weren’t that comfortable for me which meant a lot of restlessness but all in all, it was a decent place (and for $75 a night, I couldn’t complain; besides, I’m still young(ish)).

Day 2 – Alejuela to Quepos – 6/25/10

We woke up the next morning for breakfast which was very German. It consisted of meat and cheese along with a bowl of cut up fruit. I should take a sidebar here and say the fruit in Costa Rica is amazing and thus, the juices made out of fruit are also amazing. We joked a bit about the breakfast and kidded Sam about eating something that looked like cat food. The view from the Vista Linda was actually pretty decent as you looked out of their back yard to some mountains behind the property.

We loaded ourselves into the rental car and began the four hour driving trek to Quepos and Manuel Antonio, our destination for the rest of the trip. As we were leaving, Yvette looked at our car with concern and wanted to know where we were going because many of the roads in Costa Rica are poor (if they exist at all). Apparently the roads to Quepos are pretty good so any concern was alleviated. The GPS took us to a highway that looked really nice but for some unknown reason, it was closed so we had to backtrack and rely on Chris’ memory to get us moving to a good alternate route. Chris was the only one who had been to Costa Rica before and his last trip was to the same area that we were going to; in addition, Chris is pretty good with directions and languages so we were in good hands, kind of like AllState but better.


The alternate route was an interesting one because it winded (and I mean winded) through a mountain pass. The nice part was that you get to see the mountain and the forests surrounding it, the bad news was that you couldn’t go faster than 40 kph. The twisting and turning didn’t sit overly well with Chris and Sam but we made it through.

Along the way we stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant called Restaurante la Carreterra. The place was mostly empty when we arrived but a few people wandered in to catch the World Cup game going on at the time. Most of the food in Costa Rica is of the rice and bean variety combined with chicken, pork, fish, etc. Overall, a decent meal. Right around the restaurant, the raod was flanked by a massive palm tree farm which meant a few miles of massive palm trees lining the road on both sides which added a nice ambience. The rest of the drive down was pretty uneventful and we eventually arrived in Quepos.

The town of Quepos is not very impressive; in fact, it’s a pretty standard Costa Rican town which is what you would expect of a third world country. Bordering Quepos is Manuel Antonio, named after the National Park that is in the immediate area. Manuel Antonio essentially consists of a long road that snakes through a mountain flanked by rainforest on both sides. Hotels line the road and as you go over the mountain and come back down, you end up in a little town with the main beach and the road terminates at the entrance to the National Park.

The “hotel” we stayed at was called Mimos and is run by Giancarlo and his (much younger and I daresay attractive) wife Rebecca. Giancarlo is an interesting guy. Part Venezuelan, part Italian, lived in America, he looks like an older surfer guy that you would see in Southern California. Overall, a pretty nice guy. We found this hotel after some searching on TripAdvisor and it got mostly good reviews. After some e-mailing back and forth, I was able to get us an apartment in the “luxury” building for $100 a night which after the seeing the place, I thought was a great deal. Mimos has a main hotel and behind it, Giancarlo essentially built a large house that can be rented in its entirety or by floor (it has three). We got the ground floor which consisted of a huge living room with a dining table, benches, three sofas, TV, etc., a bedroom with a king size bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom. In addition, we had what essentially became our own private pool, separate from the main pool at the hotel; a nice touch.

After got settled, we decided to go fro a drive and check out the town of Manuel Antonio along the beach. We parked along the side of the road and walked along the length of the beach. The beach gets fairly crowded (and by fairly, I mean not really that crowded) by the town area but as you walk north, it gets more and more secluded until you get to a point where you almost have the beach by yourselves. What makes the area neat is that it’s not your usual beach of sand and water in all directions. Manuel Antonio is somewhat of a lagoon in that the national park flanks one side of the beach and there is a large hill (rainforest) that juts out and there are rocky cliffs (cliffs may be a bit of an overstatement) to the north. In front of you are some rock islands off in the distance. When you combine all that together, you get a pretty unique experience which makes you appreciate the inherent beauty of the area because it was pretty unique.

Because we were worried about leaving our car unattended by the side of the road (we parked in a questionable area), we didn’t spend much time up on the northern part of the beach. We returned to our car (which was in the condition we left it) and headed back up to our hotel. It began to rain so we decided to eat at the restaurant in the hotel, Mamma Mia’s; an Italian joint under separate management from the hotel. In general, the cost of food surprised me. I expected everything to be dirt cheap but it really wasn’t. Prior to dinner, we stopped at the grocery store, Super Joseth, to pick up a few items and they too were expensive (~$5 for a bag of chips!). Restaurants were no exception either. Most meals were ~$7 - $15 (and more). Still not terrible but I expected pretty low prices; I guess that’s what tourism will do for you. We ended up ordering pizzas which were just ok.

A word about the weather. This time of year is the wet season, or as Costa Rica euphemizes it, the “Green” Season. This means that room rates are typically a little cheaper because well, it rains a lot more (because hey, you are in a rainforest). We were fairly lucky with the weather in general. It was dry during most of the day and then would rain pretty hard at night. Manuel Antonio is not really a night town so it suited the weather patterns. We didn’t see a whole lot of sun during the day until the end of the trip but all in all, our fears of being rained out did not come to fruition for which we were grateful.

The first night, like every night after, was early to bed because we got up early. Usually, that’s a disaster for me given I’m not a stellar morning person but it suited the tone of the trip. We got more time in the daylight and slept fairly well without a whole lot of distractions of other things that we could have been doing.

Day 3 – Manuel Antonio

The next day started early with an included breakfast. I must say the breakfast was a pleasant surprise given the fact that it was free. You essentially had five choices: pancakes, typico (eggs, rice and beans), Americano (eggs and sausage), continental (toast) or a fruit dish. In addition, you got coffee or tea and an amazing fruit juice concoction. After breakfast, we headed down to the beach and we took the car because parking the day prior was pretty easy. We spent the morning just hanging out (which was how we spent most of our days come to think of it) and swimming in the ocean. The water was unbelievable warm, like a bathtub so swimming was a nice break from the humidity of the day.

We didn’t plan on staying at the beach too long because the USA was playing Ghana in the World Cup. As we headed back to our car, a man in an orange vest approached us and spoke to Chris. Apparently, we had to pay to park where we did (which was essentially the curb just outside the main part of the town. Initially, we were skeptical but in the end, the badge the man wore convinced Chris to pay him 2,000 colones. In the end, he turned out to be legit (and quite a nice guy) and we were able to come and go as we please and have parking privileges the entire day.

We went back to our apartment and watched the US put up a valiant effort against Ghana but to no avail as they lost in overtime. Overall though, it was a fun afternoon. Being in a Spanish speaking country for the World Cup I think added a little to the ambiance. If nothing else, I always enjoy how the Spanish announcer always accentuated the rolls in his r’s and I thought it was priceless how he said goal. Whenever someone scored, it took about 3 minutes for him to get out goal and he always emphasized the end – sadly I can’t reproduce it in type because it just won’t have the same effect.

After the game was done and lunch was had, we headed back down to the beach for some more swimming. We ended up meeting a nice couple from the States, one of which went to Penn State for his doctorate. Overall, I have to say I was really amazed at how many Americans there were there. They were clearly the vast majority. But what surprised me the most was the amount of families and high school students there. While Costa Rica is beautiful and mostly friendly, I wouldn’t pick it as a place to send or take my young children. The lack of infrastructure, amenities, and language would make it a difficult sell and while most people seemed friendly, you know there are people out there who would easily take advantage.

The currents in the ocean throughout the week got a bit dicey at times. We saw someone have to get saved by the lifeguard and she wouldn’t be the first person that needed saving throughout the week. In fact, Sam and I both got caught in a current and quickly found ourselves unable to stand. After some battling, we were able to make it in but it certainly caused us some concern and made us cognizant throughout the rest of the trip.

That evening, we went to La Cantina for dinner which was a large canopied platform on the side of the road. The food (I had a pineapple chicken dish) was quite good. After that, we headed back to the hotel and made it an early night.

Day 4 – Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio

On Sunday, we decided to get an early start and spend most of the day in Manuel Antonio National Park which sits at the end of the road by the beach. As we were sitting down and finishing our breakfast, a group of girls wanders in and sits down to begin theirs. As they place their orders, a guide comes in to pick them up for an excursion they had apparently booked. We were amazed at the ignorance of the group sitting down and ordering a breakfast at 7:08am when their guide was supposed to pick them up at 7:10am. Ironically, we saw them later in the day at the park on a guided tour which they really could have taken at any time.

There is a bus that costs 240 colones per ride and basically makes a loop between Manuel Antonio and Quepos so we decided it would be cheaper for us to take the bus. On the bus, we met Jennifer (or rather, Chris met Jennifer). She is a really nice local girl who works in a bracelet “factory” and sells the bracelets at the park’s entrance. After bidding her farewell, we enter the park, pay our ~$10 entrance fee, and make our way down the path. We pass a lot of guides pointing out various animals along the main path through the park. It was a nice deal because we got to look at what they were pointing out without paying for the actual tour (and most of the guides, to their credit, were pretty cool at letting us piggyback on their efforts and even invited us over). We saw our first (of what would become many) large lizards that were about 2 or 3 feet long. They just kind of hang out on the trees and rocks and are quite impressive. We also saw some colorful land crabs, a sloth moving ridiculously slowly along a tree, and various other sundry animals. We still had yet to see a monkey up close which was discouraging but that would all change.

The main path leads to the main beach, Playa Manuel Antonio. There were a lot of tourists hanging out at this beach (and by tourists, I mean Americans) which was somewhat discouraging because we were somewhat hoping that the beaches in this park would be isolated. We explored a little bit and found another large lizard hanging out in the crevice of a rock. We went further down the path and ended up at Playa Espadilla Sur. This was the beach we were looking for. There were only a couple of people hanging out but for the most part, it was empty. We put our stuff down and went swimming for a bit. The ocean here was much calmer which made for a really enjoyable experience.

After our swimming break, we went for a hike along the large peninsula that extends from the park. At the peak is Punta Catedral (Cathedral Point). There was no question that we were in the rainforest as we made the hike as sweat poured down our faces. We eventually completed the loop stopping at a couple of the vistas and ended up back at Playa Manuel Antonio. Along the way, we saw some howler monkeys jumping through the trees but we weren’t able to get any decent pictures. As we arrived on the beach, we decided to rest there for a bit and go swimming. While Sam was getting ready to join Chris in the water, I noticed a whitefaced capuchin monkey come to the tree line that borders the beach. Our chance had finally arrived and Sam and I were both able to get some great shots. The moneys (two of them) hung out for quite a bit and were pretty comfortable around all of the people standing there taking their pics.

After getting the shots we were hoping for, we returned to the beach and went for a swim. Afterwards, we decided it was time for lunch so we headed back into town. There is an alternate exit to the park that we decided to take. It required some wading through water which wouldn’t have been a problem until we saw that signs telling us that the water was contaminated with fecal matter. That would explain why there were some locals there offering to take people across to the main beach in little boats (for a price I’m sure).

We walked through town looking for a good place to eat and someone handed us a flier that pointed us in the direction we wanted to go – a place close by with cheap food. We climbed the stairs to the restaurant and it was pretty full of boisterous locals routing (strongly) for Argentina in their World Cup match against Mexico. Their cheers kind of added to the ambience of the whole affair. After we enjoyed our casado, Chris decided to hang out at the town beach while Sam and I decided to go back to the park. As we walked the path back to the entrance, another capuchin monkey jumped out of the tree and started rummaging around some trash near a garbage can. First, he found a pillow and deciding he couldn’t eat that, he found a bag of chips. He ripped open the bag but discovered that was empty and thus jumped up on the garbage can and rummaged a coconut out of there. Finding success, he put it in his mouth and scurried off but not before we got some more pics.

As we returned to the park, Sam and I wanted to take a long hike to a remote point in the park. We found the path to Playa Escondido. After taking a sidepath to some other beaches, we decided to make a push to the lookout point at the end of the trail. We finally made it after sweating about twice our body weight and the view was worth it. We saw the cove as well as the beach on the other side of the peninsula and some large mountains in the background with clouds hanging over them. Feeling satisfied, we made our way back to Playa Espadilla Sur for some last minute swimming (which was needed and well worth it).

Sam and I hopped on a bus back to the hotel and Chris soon joined us from his afternoon on the town beach. That evening, the rain started to pour so we went to dinner across the street to El Mono Azul (The Blue Monkey). It’s a hotel that caters to families and gives a portion of proceeds back to environment conservation. We had a decent little meal (with a good dessert) and returned home for another early night.


Day 5 – Manuel Antonio

The next day started as usual with breakfast. We had nothing in particular on the agenda that day other than going to the beach. Chris had suggested that we check out a pretty secluded beach that he discovered on his last trip there called Playa Bensatz. We walked a pretty good distance along a rocky road that descended down onto the beach. While the beach was small and secluded, the sand in the water was essentially a huge bed of rocks which made swimming less than enticing. We only spent a little time there before heading back to the main beach in town.

Once there, we had an uneventful lunch at a beachside restaurant that consisted of a hut and concrete chairs and tables. Afterwards, more swimming. That night, it rained (again) pretty hard. We sat in the dark for some time as the power went out but enjoyed watching the storm pass through. After it calmed down a bit, we walked down the street to a restaurant called Pizza de Marco. A recurring theme with all of our dinners for the most part was the most of the restaurants were either totally empty or at least fairly empty. I know it was the down season but I’m not sure how they all managed to stay in business. Pizza de Marco was actually a pretty good restaurant and the pizza was quite cheesy.

Day 6 – Quepos and Manuel Antonio

Sam and I got an early start and were picked up at our hotel for a zip line canopy tour of the rainforest. The van took us through Quepos and up into the hills. The place was actually quite nice and the guides were really professional. There were a total of 13 different zip lines with the longest being 450 meters (~1500 ft). Overall, it was a pretty cool experience but you were usually going to fast to take in the scenery around you. Regardless, it was worth the money and I’m glad I did it. We saw a poison dart frog along the way as well as a banana spider. At the end of the course, we had the option of repelling down to a platform which took us back to the main entrance. We had some juice and fruit waiting for us after we washed all o the mud off our shoes.

We ended up back at our hotel and made our way down to the beach to meet Chris. We found him sitting with a guy named Manuel who was conversing with Chris in Spanish. Manuel was a Mormon who had been excommunicated because he liked sleeping with women. He also smoked pot. But he seemed like a really nice guy and spent most of the day with us. He told us about his 2 year mission trip to Bolivia and how we one day thought he would go back to the Mormon Church.

That day, we also met Jose the Empanada guy. We saw Jose the past few days walking the beach trying to sell his homemade empanadas but he always came at the wrong time. Today, we decided to wait him out and just as we were about to give up hope, he came walking down the beach. The empanadas were great; so good in fact, I ran down the beach to buy another round from him. He was down talking to the lifeguard and through my Spanish, I was able to surmise that the lifeguard was his brother and that Jose himself was a lifeguard as well. Although, he seemed to be more of just the lookout and whistleblower because he couldn’t be taken away from selling his empanadas. We started to joke around a little bit and as he told me he was the lookout, I told him in Spanish that he was probably looking at the ladies. He laughed, pulled a set of binoculars out of his fanny pack, and winked at me.

Today was the first day where the sun really came out so all in all, it was probably one of the best days we had just sitting on the beach and relaxing. That evening, we returned to Pizza de Marco having had a good experience the night before and made some good conversation with the waiter. Instead of pizzas this time, we went with pasta and had an enjoyable meal. We also conversed with a couple on their honeymoon from Key West, FL who were also dining at the restaurant. I’m not sure why you would need to go to a place like Costa Rica if you live in Key West but to each their own.

Day 7 – Manuel Antonio to Alajuela

The time had finally arrived to return north to the San Jose area so we could fly out the next day. Both Sam and Chris had started to get into the mode of going home but I just finding my groove with Costa Rica. All good trips however, must come to an end. The nice part of the day was that we didn’t have to rush since we had a lot of time to return north due to the fact that we weren’t flying out until the next day.

In the morning, Sam and I took the opportunity to head down to the beach one last time to get some pictures. The sun was out and the beach was fairly deserted so it was a pretty good morning. While taking pictures of something, some guy came up to us and asked us what we were taking pictures of. While I thought it was a weird question, I explained a little bit of what we were trying to do. He responded with “well, I don’t want you taking pictures of my kids”. I asked him where his kids were and he pointed to the specs in the ocean which was a good distance away. At first, I was incredulous but I soon tempered that with a realization that he was just trying to protect his family which I couldn’t fault him for. But as I thought more about it, I got irritated. First, if you are that concerned about your children being photographed, don’t take them to a very public beach. By going there, there are inherent risks that you take, however remote they may be; you can’t expect to protect your children from everything all the time but I guess it’s within his rights to try. What bothered me more was that he made an assumption that I posed a risk. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I don’t look like a pedophile (and neither does Sam), especially garbed out in our American clothes and nice cameras. Oh well, thankfully, my filter was working and I moved on.

After finishing our photos on the beach and packing up the apartment, we loaded back into the Hyundai for the trek north. On our agenda was a stop in Jaco as well as a stop at the crocodile bridge. We were warned not to really stop in Jaco because it’s apparently pretty common to get your tires slashed or your car broken into. So we decided that instead of stopping, we would drive through and see if there was anything worth stopping for. There wasn’t. Essentially, Jaco is a bit more touristy of a town with a big surfing crowd. As such, it’s like a larger version of Quepos (and they have a Subway).

After passing through, we arrive at the crocodile bridge. This is a large bridge that spans the Rio Tarcoles on Rt. 34. It’s notorious as a spot where large Costa Rican crocs hang out and we were not disappointed. ON the lef side of the bridge, there were three crocs (two on land, one of which was quite large, and one in the water) and on the other side, there were at least four hanging along the bank. After spending some time getting pictures we headed back to the car and continued north looking for a place to eat lunch. Chris had wanted to stop at what is called a Soda which is essentially a roadside stand with a couple tables and makeshift kitchen. We passed the touristy sodas just past the croc bridge and ended up finding a great little spot that probably gave us the best meal we had had all week (a casado for ~$4 which made it one of the cheapest as well).

As we began to finish our lunch, the heavens opened and rain began to pour (and I mean pour). The rain subsided for a brief period but began again in earnest while we were driving along a windy mountain path which made for a few white knuckles. When it rains in Costa Rica, it rains a lot, comes down straight because there isn’t a lot of wind, and waterfalls of mud come out of the rainforest from either side of the road.

After a lengthy drive, we had some time to kill so we decided to take a driving tour of San Jose, the capital city which I think is, it’s fair to say, a dump. We started out by driving into the main park in the city which is home to the (very under construction) national stadium. After throwing a Frisbee around and reading a bit, we drove down the main street in the city to get a flavor of what living in San Jose is like (not very appealing). Due to the poverty and general sketchiness of the neighborhoods, we didn’t feel very safe leaving our car and eating in the city so we decided to head back towards Alajuela and find something to eat (after battling rush hour traffic). We ended up eating a chain restaurant called RostiPollo near our rental car place before heading back to Vista Linda for our final night.

Day 8 – Departure

Chris had an early morning flight and thus left around 5am. Thankfully, Ronnie and Yvette took Chris to the airport so we didn’t have to rise earlier than needed. After another German breakfast (sans cat food this time), we packed up and headed to the airport ourselves. After arguing with the rental car place that our GPS was useless and we thus shouldn’t be charged for it (whether that was successful or not remains to be seen), we spent some time shopping and eating (both overpriced) at the airport before taking off and returning to the land without humidity. Thankfully, I was upgraded to First Class again which made the trip pretty nice although there was this annoying dance troupe of girls that was giving the flight crew a hard time.

Overall, it was a great trip: good friends, relaxing, and fun. It took a few days for Costa Rica to grow on me but when it did, I really enjoyed it. I would definitely go back but I’d like to explore more of what the country has to offer, especially up in the northern parts. So perhaps, one day…..