Blogs from San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Today is another fun filled day of isolation. I insisted on a room with a private balcony and ended up with a room with a dirty window overlooking the car park and a wall covered with 45 km of barbed wire. On the plus side, after 3 days of feeling absolutely terrible, I have woken up feeling heaps better. As outside appears to be deserted, and it has been a full 5 days since my first symptoms, I decide to don a mask a take a walk round the hotel grounds. It’s my first time outdoors (unless you count getting in and out of the car) since I tested positive 3 days ago. It turns out we’re staying in a quirky hotel with courtyards and fountains and stained glass windows. The best news is the pool, ... read more

My fifth stop to my Anthony Bourdain No Reservations Central America Trip 2016 is Costa Rica. Off to San Jose.... read more

As I mentioned earlier there was no glass in the windows of our room only screen, so when the Howler Monkeys became vocal in the morning, the noise was not muffled. They started in at 5 am which ended my sleep for the night. As it got lighter outside, I got dressed and decided to look for the monkeys. At the next building there were several people with cameras pointed to the trees. In the trees were monkeys, but they were Spider Monkeys not Howlers. I have no idea where the noisy ones went, but the Spider Monkeys were putting on a show as they ate on the fruit of the tree. In addition to the monkeys, birds were flying into the trees to eat as well. I was pleased to see Montezuma Oropendulas and Collared ... read more

This would be our second day at altitude (about 3000m) and slightly cooler temperatures. Such a relief! We enjoyed the lovely breakfast buffet orchestrated by a very French head chef. He pleased the crowd of mostly seniors and very serious bird watchers. We had come to the right place?! With our tiny bit of advice we started onto the trails in search of a brightly coloured Quetzal, the star of the area. Sadly we never did spot one but Scott and Alexa managed a pretty long hike in the forest. Aside from arguing over the best sticks and who had the next turn to hold them, the hike was great! Many things were spotted like yellow birds and blue birds and black birds with orange beaks. There were lots of fruit trees, clouds and views from ... read more

Dear friends, we’re back! Our first night in Costa Rica is in San Jose where we’re waiting at a very nice hotel for Tiffany and Alexa to arrive.It’s a long time to get down here ( thanks Boeing), but we’re finally feeling the tropical heat. We spend the day doing some local eating, local driving, and relaxing in the pool. The traffic is a little bit crazy (I wonder why there’s so many accidents) But we managed to make it to the mall to pick up a Sim card, greet Tiffany and Alexa at the hotel, and have a nice dinner. Tomorrow is an early morning to start a long drive to our destination on the beach for a week.... read more