Blogs from Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 3

After nearly four hours on a bus, we tried to get a taxi to our hotel. The drivers were asking about four times what it was going to cost on Uber so that's what we did. Our driver was quite chatty once he found out that we spoke Spanish. He bemoaned the lack of investment in the city and called it feo - ugly. We thought tatty would have been a better adjective. For the final four nights of our trip we had chosen to stay somewhere a bit more comfortable - url=https://www.booking.com/hotel/cr/radisson-europa.en-gb.html?aid=1769628&sid=ab9aa21dab04cda1b948410f9013a650&all_sr_blocks=35060709_240313887_2_41_0;checkin=2023-03-16;checkout=2023-03-17;dest_id=350607;dest_type=hotel;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=35060709_240313887_2_41_0;hpos=1;matching_block_id=35060709_240313887_2_41_0;no_rooms=1;req_adults=2;req_children=0;room1=A%2CA;sb_price_type=to... read more

Jaco was not what we expected at all. For some reason we had anticipated something akin to Benidorm in Spain. Instead we found it much more closely aligned to Patong in Phuket, Thailand, but with vastly inflated prices! We didn't really like the place, to be honest, but we made the most of a bad job as we always do. From our luxury accommodation in Montezuma we were in a true backpackers' hostel and my feedback and criticism of their attitude (the guy on reception when we had a problem didn't speak English and got very grumpy when he found out we could do it all in Spanish!) and lack of hot water (despite the electrical contraption being in the room it is, apparently, not included in the price!) did not go down well. Enough of ... read more

The bus dropped us off more or less right outside our first night's accommodation, url=https://www.booking.com/hotel/cr/boyeros.html?aid=1769628&sid=33ed6a6cedba792971fa750dfa22d234&sb=1&src=hotel&src_elem=sb&error_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fhotel%2Fcr%2Fboyeros.en-gb.html%3Faid%3D1769628%26sid%3D33ed6a6cedba792971fa750dfa22d234%26atlas_src%3Dsr_iw_btn%3Bcheckin%3D2023-02-14%3Bcheckout%3D2023-02-15%3Bdest_id%3D-1107872%3Bdest_type%3Dcity%3Bdist%3D0%3Bgroup_adults%3D2%3Bgroup_children%3D0%3Bno_rooms%3D1%3Broom1%3DA%252CA%3Bsb_price_type%3Dtotal%3Btype%3Dtotal%3Bucfs%3D1%26%26&highlighted_hotels=1368324&hp_sbox=1&origin=hp&hp_avform=1&do_availability_check=on&checkin_year=2023&checkin_month=3&checkin_monthday=22&checkout_year=2023&checkout_month=3&checkout_monthday=23&group_adults=2&group_children=0&no_rooms=1&b_h4u_keep_filters=&from_sf=1#availability_targetHotel Boyeros.... read more

La Fortuna was billed as this big backpackers hang-out at the foot of a massive volcano. There's no doubting the first part of that statement, but what volcano? All we saw was low cloud and drizzle! It was good to sit in a bar drinking craft ale and playing Jenga, but there wasn't the party vibe we had expected. Food, drink and accommodation were generally way overpriced, but we did manage to find some value. We had big plans for our stay. A walk on a trail where we were more or less guaranteed to see sloths was definitely on our itinerary as was a trip to see a series of hanging bridges close to the volcano. Both bit the dust as the rain was relentless leaving us spending more or less a whole day in ... read more

I am working 10 month a year on a cruise ship sailing around the world the other two month I am on vacation, usually exploring the world in a little more depth. While I usually visit the family in Germany for a few weeks, I also tend tp pick a random country every year to volunteer in. This summer I spend a month in a small village on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Matapalo is a small village in between Quepos and Dominical, right on the ocean. Here I stayed a local house with about 20 other volunteers. The accommodation was fairly simply, but cozy. We had small rooms to share, with outdoor showers and an outdoor kitchen, were local meals were prepared by the staff. The house was surrounded by coconuts and mango trees ... read more