Arrived in Puerto Vallarta about 20 minutes early, very smooth flight. Weather was very pleasant, about 80 degrees and a slight breeze. Our hotel, Mar Elena, is in the northern hotel zone, very conveniently located. We took a bus from the airport to the hotel, a total of 90 cents! We arrived at the hotel about dinner time. Walked around the area, found a bank where our local bank card actually worked, and discovered a great little place for tacos. Tako's Grill is located close to the hotel, and had some delicious food. Found a big general store around the corner, where we could get fruit and pastries for breakfasts. Back at the hotel we checked out the pool on the fourth floor roof. Very nice view, especially at night. Now that we are settled in ... read more

Tuesday We had an early breakfast at Dorling's Bakery, our favorite place for morning baguettes. We had a table right on the edge of the Tortuguero River. Very picturesque. This river flows one way into the sea, and joins with the Suerte River in the other direction going past La Pavona. Today our final destination was San Jose, so we just took the reverse route we took to get here. So from Tortuguero to La Pavona to Cariari to San Jose. We got the boat tickets separately, about $3 apiece, very inexpensive for a great one hour trip. When the river is low, the trip can take up to two hours. Saw many shore birds, similar to blue herons and egrets, but no crocodiles this time. We did, however, see a young man swimming in ... read more

Sunday Lots of rain last night, but it let up enough this morning to go to the bakery to get a fresh baguette. So good! We got rid of some coins. Bob's pockets were loaded down with colones coins, so much change back from last night's dinner! Ate breakfast on the patio again, with a little dog outside the railing looking in at us. The hotel here is very clean. Maids are very creative.Yesterday our towels were a swan, today they were a basket with real flowers. Took another walk after breakfast. There was a little breeze, but it gets pretty hot by 9:30am. Saw my blue bird again; googled him this time and found out he was a blue-gray tanager. Went to the pool this afternoon to cool off. They had put in some ... read more

Friday Last night Minnesota football was televised in Costa Rica! We left one suitcase at Quinta Avanita, some of the items we didn't need in Tortuguero. We wanted to pack lightly. We will stay here again on our last night. Today was our travel day to Tortuguero. We were up early, found a taxi, and had lots of extra time at the bus station. Traffic was heavy, lots of horn honking, lots of people, and many motorcycles. San Jose seemed particularly crowded after four days in the jungle with the monkeys. We picked up our tickets yesterday, about $6 total from San Jose to Cariari, the first leg of our journey. The favorite at the food stalls at the bus station (Caribe--there are about 15 stations spread throughout San Jose) seemed to be rice and beans, ... read more

Wednesday We have now been in Costa Rica three weeks. Time has gone by quickly. This morning we had a monkey show from the top balcony. About five or six white-faced capuchins were playing in the trees, swinging from branch to branch, and sliding down long tree limbs. So fun to watch. They are much more playful than the howlers, who just seem to sit there and hang out. This afternoon we took the short walk to the waterfalls just up the road from the hostel. Since it is on private property, there was a small entrance fee ($2 per person). There are actually three levels to the falls, the third level the most impressive. There were clean, refreshing pools of water for swimming at each level. Lots of rocks to climb over, and some tree ... read more