Mom and I's Costa Rican Adventure Begins

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After two years of planning, Mom and I have finally arrived in Costa Rica. Since both of our birthdays are in November and we turned 60 and 30 in the same year, we decided this was our birthday celebration. Now 62 and 32, the trip is just as sweet!

We took a non-stop flight out of Miami on Tuesday morning and in less than 3 hours we were here! I couldn't believe how quick the flight was. Immigration and customs was pretty uneventful. We made our way through with no problems. The airport is so small that as soon as you cleared customs, you were outside. We had arranged private transport through our hotel in Santa Elena and he was supposed to be waiting for us with a sign at the exit. Now, I'm not sure how most of you travel, but I've never had anyone holding a sign for me at the airport and I travel so often for work and always think about how nice it would be for someone to be holding a sign with my name on it...and there it was! Felix said hello and helped with our bags. We walked to the mini bus - like a VW van - that had the name of our hotel on it. We loaded in and off we went! It was a beautiful sunny day and the airport is surrounded by mountains. It was all very pretty! We are about to pull out of the airport when we see four policemen and they motion for our car to pull over. Um...in all my travels I've never had an encounter with the police. I'm traveling with my mom and here we go. We've been in the country less than an hour! Perhaps she's a fugitive from here in her former life/traveling days and never told me...(just kidding!). Turns out that private transport companies need to have a special permit to pick up travelers and this just changed and our driver thought he had the right paperwork but they police did not agree. After some serious negoitations, all in spanish, we were back on our way. I have to say, it was a bit exciting! But only because they didn't question me or try to search through our things :-)

The drive was actually very pretty. With the mountains and city in the distance, it was a pleasant drive. We spent most of our time on the PanAmerican Highway which is a road that runs through most of Central American. You can take the road to Panama on the south or Nicaraugua on the north. We had heard that the ride would be a bit bumpy due to the road conditions, but in reality, they were great! All paved, just curvy. We stopped about 30 mins into the drive to get a snack (we hadn't had lunch) and some drinks. I needed some bubbles to help keep my stomach calm. Even though beers works best, I had to settle for Diet Pepsi. We got some great homemade bakery snacks and were back on our way. Felix would point out a few sights here and there including the Pacific Ocean. Mom and I were both excited for that. We had no idea we'd see it! After about 2 1/2 hours, we got to the turn off. This was the smaller road that would take us to Santa Elena. Felix explained that it was about 40 km and only half of it was paved. Mom and I looked at each other...here we go! The first part of the road was extremely curvy. And thank god I was sitting on the outside of the car. We were climbing up the mountains and the road was always on the edge. Several times I looked out and there was nothing but the revene below. Mom had been nicknamed The Jackie Lean in Colorado by dad on a trip we took in the 80s. Roads in the US, even in the mountains, are WAY better than roads in other countries, especially here! She would have died! I was getting more and more car sick and sipping my pepsi when I could. Felix announced, here we go, and sure enough, boom! Gravel. Now, at first, it was a bit rough but yet groomed, so we thought it would be ok. The higher we climbed the worse it got and the road kept getting more and more curvey. Then the potholes...oh boy...then passing other cars and trucks. It was pretty funny! Mom and I kept looking at each other hoping it would be over soon. It took about an hour, but we finally arrived in town and back onto a paved road. We are not looking forward to the first part of our drive on Saturday :-)

Pulling into our hotel, more like a lodge, was impressive. its one large building with several smaller buildings around it. Made almost entirely of wood (inside and out) and some stone. The grounds are picturesque and calming. Our room is simple yet beautiful with a huge bathroom. We have two beds and a chair. Both of us kept going on and on at how great it was. We also have a small porch with two chairs.

We settled in and then went back over to the reception area to figure out what we wanted to do on Wednesday. After speaking with Ivonne, we decided to do the guided hike through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and since seeing animals is more likely in the morning, we booked the 7:30 am departure. With such a long day traveling already, we decided to grab an early dinner (we were quite hungry since we didn't have lunch) and then turn in early. We walked into town to Donde Henry (it was about a 3 block walk) to have typical Costa Rican food. It was almost like a buffet except their staff serves you. You pay for each item you choose. Mom picked fish and I got the beef stew like dish. Then we got a couple of sides which included black beans and rice, plantains and grilled veggies. I also treated myself to a glass of watermelon juice which was amazing! Made fresh and even had pulp in it. It was my desert for sure! The entire meal was wonderful and after eating so much, we were sleepy. We were back at the lodge by 7 pm, we got into our pj's and chatted for awhile. The wind had really picked up and was howling through the area. We found out that Santa Elena and Monteverde sit on the Continental Divide. Therefore, you have strong winds coming from the two coasts and the converge here. The gusts were unbelieveable and it sounds like a freight train in our room! We kept pausing while talking to wait and make sure we weren't going to fly away. Obviously those that live here are used to this and the structure we stayed in was so sound. You never felt the building move, even though the winds outside could have blown you over. Thank goodness we were tired and able to fall alseep by 9 pm.

I slept pretty hard, but did wake up a few times as the gusts increased throughout the night!

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Photos

Dante Henry
This is the entire restaurant. We liked it SO much, we ate their twice.

Comments

[Fred Brennan]

It's just like...
the TV commercial...which one is the mom? and which one is the daughter? I recall they have a wonderful Rain Forest Canopy tour. Best, Fred

[Elise]

LOVE it!
So glad you made it safe and sound and your run in with the cops wasn't too bad :) Can't wait to read about the rest of your adventures!