Blogs from Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 4

After one last night in the rubbish bed, it’s time to check out of the hotel Santa Fe, bringing the guest count to zero. My least favourite thing has been that they refused to provide room service ‘due to covid’ yet asked that we do not throw paper in the toilet. By now, the bin is overflowing with 4 days’ worth of soiled paper. At 6 am I’ve had enough and go and sit outside until it’s time to leave. Today, we are travelling 119 miles south to Manuel Antonio, site of Costa Rica’s most popular national park. There’s a strict quota system in place so we’ve already purchased our tickets and are raring to go. After one last encounter with the fluorescent fruit juice, we depart. It’s supposedly a 3.5 hour drive - factor in ... read more

Not the best night’s sleep as the bed is small and uncomfortable. We get up and have breakfast - which reviews describe as ‘simple but tasty’. They’re half right! It comes with ‘juice’ of some undeterminable fruit (it tastes like flat Vimto). We ask the proprietor what flavour it is. He doesn’t know either, goes and checks the packet and returns to tell us it’s ‘grape’. The old man asks for different juice and a new packet is duly opened – this time it’s ‘pineapple’ and drinking it makes my eyes water. Breakfast is scrambled eggs on toast – no plantain :( After breakfast, we head to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. It’s only 2 miles away, but a few hundred metres higher in elevation, which brings us up into the clouds. We have to park a ... read more

Blue is the favorite color of both me and my dear Mom. How many of you know your Mom's favorite color? Anyway, the point I want to make, is that during some of my travels, I have seen the bluest of blues. It never occurred to me, to make note of the "bluest blues" on my travels. The first moment came while at Monteverde, Costa Rica. I woke one morning, sat on the deck with my coffee, and gazed west to the Pacific Ocean. Suddenly, it hit me. This was the bluest blue I have ever seen! I wish I could find my photos. Since then, the bluest blues have come and gone, always reminding me of those two days in Monteverde (twice visited). For those of you unfamiliar with Monteverde, it is the central point ... read more

Breakfast at the hotel proved entertaining as the Howler Monkeys join us by breakfasting in the trees nearby. One never knew when they would show up. Once again we choose to take the optional tour hoping for some wildlife sightings. It was a short ride to the marina in Quepos. We boarded the nice Catamaran complete with water slides and bar. There were drinks and snacks available. The day was beautiful and the ocean calm, but wildlife was at a minimum. We saw just a few different birds including Magnificent Frigatebirds, Brown Boobys and Brown Pelicans. Before lunch we anchored in a cove where we could snorkel or enjoy the water slides. I chose to snorkel and armed with my camera got a few murky fish photos. After snorkeling, lunch was provided on the boat. We ... read more

We had decided that it would be in our best interest to not go zip lining or hike to cross the Hanging Bridges, so after breakfast at the hotel we hopped on a shuttle that runs within the hotel to go up to the canopy. Up at the canopy we hoped to see some different birds as there are birds that only live in the high elevations. Upon arriving at the canopy, the young man working there noticed our cameras and set about refilling the hummingbird feeder. As soon as he replaced the feeder, a variety of hummingbirds appeared. Sometimes as many a five at a time. Christian then came out and started looking with us to find other birds in the trees. After a time, he suggested that he might know where we could find ... read more