Costa Rica Adventures (plus NYC, Boston, San Francisco & LA)

[JohnM]

Late aboard but looking forward to the Costa Rica report as it's in my planning for next year.

 

[v1nce007]

Our group sat down to enjoy a few Imperial beers (there is a cash bar operated by the family that lives on site), and then the guides prepared a complimentary coughtail made from local rum and watermelon, which was served with deep fried plantain and hot sauce. After it got dark the guides served us a delicious candlelight dinner

 

[v1nce007]

Next morning the guides cooked us breakfast of scrambled egg, sausage, and French toast plus lots of fresh fruit.
Then we had a hike through the jungles around the Eco lodge. It is hot and humid in the jungle but we ended at a waterfall for a very refreshing swim.



Then it was time to jump back on the boats and continue rafting for several more hours. Today we encountered a number of class 4 rapids. These are pretty full on and it was great fun. Lost a few more people overboard at some points but that's all part of the fun and we were well briefed on what to do, plus we were accompanied by 2 kayakers for rescue purposes.




Reaching the end of the rafting, we all jumped into a bus for a short trip to the Rio Tropicales base where there were showers and changing rooms provided, and we were given lunch. Then it was time to say goodbye to the rafting guides and the other 4 guests, and our intrepid group jumped into a mini bus headed for the Caribbean!

If you're into rafting then I couldn't recommend this 2 day trip with Rio Tropicales more highly. The Pacuare river is one of the top 10 in the world for whitewater rafting. The guides were excellent both on the river and in the kitchen. The accomodation is stunning. I'm not sure what the cost is as it was an inclusion in the intrepid trip, but I would happily do it again.

 

[v1nce007]

The drive to the town of Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica took about 3 hours, with a brief stop when the driver noticed a sloth in a tree by the road!


We stayed at a hotel called Cariblue. The room are comfortable enough and the hotel has a nice restaurant, 2 bars, and 2 pools, and is across the road from the beach.




As it was late in the day when we arrived we had dinner at the hotel restaurant. As it turned out, it was another candlelight dinner as the power was out in the main hotel reception and restaurant. But they still had gas for cooking and the beers were still cold!

 

[LadyC]

Really enjoying your report so far. I definitely want to get back to this part of the world.

 

[v1nce007]

Another day in Puerto Veijo and today we went snorkelling. After breakfast at the hotel we got a taxi van to the National Park office to get our passes and meet our boat captain and snorkelling guide. It was about a 20 minute boat ride out to the reef, and then we spend over an hour snorkelling before getting back on the boat and heading to another part of the reef for another hour or so of snorkelling.

It was incredible. I'm hoping to get some photos soon from the guys that had GoPros. The water was warm and clear and the coral is pretty impressive. We saw a tonne of sea life including stingrays, baby octopus, loads of different brightly coloured tropical fish. We got up close to a huge school of small fish so thick we couldn't see through them. We also got to see and swim near 2 reef sharks, about 3-4 feet long.

I've snorkelled at the Great Barrier Reef before but I actually preferred this trip.

Back on the boat we landed at a nearby beach for a snack of fresh water melon and pineapple, and then we hiked back through the National Park in the jungle alongside the beaches. Saw lots of wildlife including lizards, a sloth, white faced monkeys, and raccoons.

 

[v1nce007]

Back to the hotel for a shower, and then we all met early evening for a pre dinner drink at one of the beach bars. Puerto Viejo has lots of reggae Caribbean style bars along the beach.


Then it was onto a funky casual restaurant called Flipflops for dinner. We got in just before then end of happy hour on Mojitos so most of us ordered two. And they were pretty good.


Since we were in a festive mood and didn't need to start until 10am the next day most of us decided to kick on. We went to a small bar called Tasty Waves which had cheap beer, free drinks for the girls, beer pong games and the strong smell of you-know-what in the air. In terms of safety, we were all good sticking together and staying with our guide (who was a very good sport) but we were warned about being on our own as despite its beauty this is one of the most impoverished areas in Costa Rica.

Before we left we we're able to talk the bartender into selling us takeaway cans of beer, and headed back to the hotel. After a bit of negotiation the hotel security guard agreed we could sit by the pool to drink if we promised to be quiet. I think I crawled into bed about 3am.

A nice way to spend my 35th birthday.

 

[drron]

I love my Mojitos.

 

[v1nce007]

The next day was mainly travelling with no booked activities. A late start and then a short taxi van ride before boarding a simple boat for a 3 hour boat ride through the canals boarded by thick jungle, to our destination of the Tortuguero National Park.

After a stop for lunch and then more boating, we arrived at our hotel, Miss Junies. The town of Tortuguero is on a narrow strip of land with the canal on one side and the beach on the other. One narrow road down the middle (no cars allowed) lined with a mixture of private houses, shops, and sodas (small simple restaurants). The accomodation was modest here, no air con but comfortable, a nice breeze coming off the Caribbean.

Went into town to a soda for dinner and a few beers, and then an early night

 

[v1nce007]

Up early for our kayaking trip. A speed boat out to the area where we were to start and then transferred to our Kayaks. We spent several hours paddling through the narrow canals in the national park where no motor boats are allowed. We had a local kayaking guide who pointed out various wildlife including birds, lizards, howler monkeys and large caiman. We were hoping to see a Jaguar but no such luck. Even our Intrepid guide who has lived in Costa Rica his whole life has never seen one.



Back to the hotel with the afternoon free to get lunch in town and explore.

As the sun was going down myself and a couple of the lads sat by the canal with our intrepid guide who taught us how to make his favourite coughtail with local rum, spicy tomato juice and lots of lime.


Yours truely on the left in desperate need of a shave, with a couple of the lads and our guide.

 

[v1nce007]

Next day was a long travelling day back to San Jose. A few hours back in the boat to start, ending up at a bus terminal. We had some time to wait so got a good card game going amongst the group. It's a fairly comfortable place to wait, $1 for the wifi password, $1 to use the restroom.

Then it was onto a public bus. A really uncomfortable 1 hour ride on unsealed roads, but all part of the experience. Stopping off at another bus terminal, we transferred to another bus for the last few hours. This was more of a tour coach with air con and comfortable reclining seats. Almost everyone in the group immediately fell asleep.

We arrived back at the hotel we started from for our final night. As we didn't have time for lunch on the road we ended up at a local restaurant near the hotel at about 5pm. After a lovely final dinner, some who had early flights headed back to bed, the rest of us picked up some beer, rum, mixers and snacks and retired to the tables by the hotel pool to play some cards.

 

[v1nce007]

The tour is over but I have another night in San Jose so headed transferred to the Raddison. It is dated and industrial and stark. Service is ok though and it's close to the centre of the city.


Headed out to visit the central market. Very busy.

 

[v1nce007]

Up early for 3 flights to get me to San Francisco. Got an Uber to the airport, the app still works with an Australian phone number.

There is no OneWorld lounge at SJO. There is a 3rd party lounge that seems to accept Amex issued platinum cards so I might have been able to get in there but given the early hour I didn't bother. Just found a table service restaurant for some coffee and breakfast. There is free wifi in the terminal.

First flight was through to MIA. Had a beef meal, it was inedible. So over cooked I only had a few bites. Otherwise the service was fine

 

[v1nce007]

Immagration at MIA was a breeze going through the automated ESTA machines. Had time for a quick drink at the Admirals Club before boarding the next flight to DFW. This flight had 1-2-1 suites in F. They felt a bit smaller than the QF A330 J suites but definitely an improvement on the normal recliner seats. However, no seatback screen and no wifi so there is not even the opportunity to stream the AA system to your own device.



We had all boarded on time and then the First Officer came on the PA to say they are still trying to find a captain?! A bit concerning as I had only 50 mins to make a connection at DFW. 45 mins later we pushed back, however I checked the status on my next flight to see it has been delayed 60 mins, so a bit of relief that I might still make it.

For dinner I had a veggie couscous followed by a warm cookie. Not too bad.

 

[v1nce007]

Experienced the biggest turbulence I've ever had on this flight. No massive drops but very strong shaking for about 30 seconds. For some reason a guy a few rows ahead of me lifted his drink right above his head during this. Needless to say it went all over him and a few people sitting around him.

Arrived at DFW find the 1 hour delay on my connection had increased to 2.5 hours so headed up to the Admirals Club. Very lively atmosphere at the bar as there was a basket ball game on.

Somehow the 2.5 hour delay was reduced to 2 hours, but no announcement made in the lounge. It was just lucky I happened to check the screen on my way to the bathroom so quickly grabbed my stuff and headed to the gate. An uneventful flight in a 'main cabin extra' seat arriving after midnight into SFO.

 

[v1nce007]

Staying at the Handlery Union Square Hotel in San Francisco. This was a really reasonably priced hotel considering it's excellent location right in the heart of union square. My room was small and looked into an internal light well but was super quiet. The hotel is 3 star and the quality of the room is reflected in that, but it seems to offer all the amenities of a 4star hotel. There is room service, a pool, full concierge and bell service, a gym, on site restaurant, etc. I was really happy with this choice.

 

[v1nce007]

Had a few days in San Francisco, my first time here so did plenty of exploring. It's a beautiful city but there is definitely a big homeless problem. I somehow found myself in the Tenderloin area, it was a shock to see it only a few blocks away from the fancy shops of union square. There were literally hundreds of homeless people everywhere, many who were disabled. It was a really sad sight. However I didn't feel threatened or unsafe at all.

I actually took a ride in one of those open top hop-on-hop-off buses. I know it's really touristy but it was a great way to see the city and learn about it from the guide. Then I was able to spend the rest of my time going back to the places I wanted to see more of.

 

[v1nce007]

The only scary incident I experienced was my last night in San Francisco. I had found a really nice, fairly upscale coughtail bar near Union Square with a decent craft beer selection. I was sitting at the bar chatting to the bar tender and enjoying a few Scrimshaw Pilsners when a homeless guy walked in and took a seat a few stalls away from me down the bar and asked the bar tender for a bourbon. The bartender walked out the back, it turned out he was going to get the manager. People around the bar started getting up and moving away from this guy and I'm embarrassed to say I was about to do the same, the smell coming off him was so bad. But he got off his seat and started to walk past me, suddenly he grabbed my full glass of beer and started drinking it. At that moment the bar tender, waiter and manager all come running over yelling at him to get out. 2 of them grabbed him and as they lead him out he was still sculling the beer. The 3rd immediately poured me a replacement beer,and then they went back about their business as if nothing had happened.

I was a bit shaken up, but thinking about it, it was just really sad. The poor guy just really needed a drink. It's amazing how much poverty and social issues there are in such close proximity to all the wealth of San Francisco.

 

[v1nce007]

Flying SFO to LAX with American Eagle in an Embraer 175. The only issue with these small planes is the overhead storage. J is in a 1-2 config and then Y is 2-2. The storage over the left side of J is therefore so small it only holds handbags briefcase etc, and that means J passengers luggage is going back into Y. I was travelling in the 2nd row of Y (main cabin extra) and had Group 3 priority boarding as a result of my OneWorld Sapphire status, but even getting on early I had to put my bag 10 rows further down. Boarding was chaos with everyone trying to find overhead space and dozens of bags had to be checked. Apart from that it was an uneventful flight, arrived at the Eagle's Nest at LAX and got the transfer bus to the main terminal.

I had 1 night booked at Four Point Sheraton LAX before flying home the next day. Took the free shuttle to the hotel. I took advantage of the ability to book a room for 24 hours, secured a 6.30pm-6.30pm booking, which has great as my final flight home was departing 11pm.

Room service dinner then off to bed. Had a nice long sleep in and breakfast in bed. Then a refreshing swim in the hotel pool. Then grabbed a table at the bar for a leisurely late lunch, followed by another swim and then back upstairs to back. Was able to jump back onto the shuttle feeling really relaxed and refreshed ahead of my long flight home.

 

[v1nce007]

LAX was a breeze. No queue at AA premium checkin, only a very small queue for security, from getting out of the shuttle to passing through security >20mins.

Then it was just a quick 5 min walk from T4 to TBIT through the new sky walk. Had a few pleasant hours to kill in the OneWorld Business Lounge before heading back to T4 for boarding