Costa Rica Day 26 - Alajuela

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Today has gone belly up before we’re even out of bed. Our flight home, recently delayed from 6.40 to 8.40 this evening, has now been pushed back to 7 am tomorrow. So, instead of a leisurely brunch before going to to the airport to check in, we book an airport hotel for our ‘bonus’ night in Costa Rica. We toy with idea of one final sightseeing trip this morning, but rapidly lose interest. The old man settles down to crush candy, while I set up camp by the pool for one last swim/blast of sunshine.

After brunch (yesterday’s leftover Chinese – who doesn’t love cold sweet & sour prawns for breakfast?) we swap hotels. There is mention in the email from British Airways that if we go to the airport (at an unspecified time, to an unspecified location) a member of staff will assist in booking a hotel. The old man remains unconvinced and makes a reservation at Hampton Inn and Suites as it fits all our requirements; beds to sleep in, an airport shuttle to get to the airport and a pool to entertain me until BA get their act together.

After check in, I relocate to my second pool of the day (this one has other people found it, which is disappointing – I was kind of used to having a pool to myself at Casa Conde).

For dinner, we walk round the corner to a fast food chicken joint. We buy a sharing platter (a súper piqueo) which consists of fried chicken, plantain, cheese and tortillas with a selection of dips. I’m not sure how many it’s supposed to serve, buts it’s enormous. We manage to finish it with the help of a stray dog who appears under the table just as we are running out of steam. And so, when we should actually be half way across the Atlantic, we are sitting in a diner by the side of a motorway sharing chicken nuggets with a dog.

Then it’s back to our room for a (very) early night before our 4 am check in. The noise as we approach the hotel is deafening; there are hundreds of parrots congregating in the trees outside. It’s quite a sight – I try to take a video, until two parrots poop in my hair and I have to go and take an impromptu shower.

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