Onward on A Trip To Paradise And Begin Of A Trip To A Place of Peace!

As many have probably noticed, my blogging came to an abrupt stop, for a while.  As a result of the economic setback we have experienced, both as a result of the national economy and an inadequate income from our investments into Social Security, I had to go back to work, pretty much full time.  Over the past few months, I have realized that not all travel needs to be to foreign countries.  There is so much to see and do close to home and across our own nation/continent, affordable travel is still doable even if I work a full schedule.

One of the many pools at the condos.

Our trip to Costa Rica was a realization of a trip to a tropical paradise.  As we continued on to an extremely nice time-share condominium, we were surprised to find that, although the highway was only two lanes, one in each direction, it was in reasonably good shape.  The biggest problem with travel on such a road, was the truck convoys we had to patiently remain behind until there was an opportunity to pass.  It ended up taking us about five hours to get to Playa del Coco, our destination for that leg of the trip.  Needless to say, Jeff and Jane were tired from the same strenuous type of flying schedule we had endured.  Our trip from San Jose to Playa del Coco ended after dark, but it was still around 80 degrees and only mildly humid.  We got checked in and had a good night's sleep, waking up to find an extremely well landscaped and manicured area around the complex, punctuated with several medium size pools, hot spas, and small water features.


Although our goal was to make this a very inexpensive and economical trip, we did decide to splurge on an excursion.  We booked a catamaran sailing excursion that lasted the better part of a day.  It turned out to be one of the high points of our trip. 

Turtles doing what comes naturally

We knew we would not be able to afford too many of these activities if we were to make this a low budget trip, so we made the most of it.  During the day, we encountered sea turtles making love, dolphins swimming ahead of the catamaran's pressure wave, blow fish fully inflated, and an absolutely gorgeous sunset returning to our starting point.

The next day, we decided to take drive to Arenal, a lake about 70 miles away that rests in the shadow of a live volcano.  The drive was relaxing, the company was good, and we were looking forward to incredible beauty.  We had seen pictures of glass smooth water reflecting the volcano on the other side.  No such luck.  As we started up the road that leads to Arenal, it started to get overcast.  The further we went, the darker it got.  Finally, we were in the clouds (fog) and it started to rain.  The rain was only spotty, so we kept going.  We did finally see some of the lake, but its best features remained obscure. 

A German Bakery in a small but touristy town.

In Arenal, we found a German Bakery, so we decided to have some coffee.  It was very nice and, as all the restaurants or cafe's did, its dining room was open to the air.  Down the stairs to the right, we discovered a souvenir shop and a couple not so private bathrooms.

Our drive back (we never did get to see the volcano) was uneventful and, since we were driving back a little earlier than expected, we decided to take a very circuitous route.  We were back out of the clouds and, in fact it was sunny and warm, again.  We were on a highway headed west.  It appeared to be primarily agricultural land with an occasional home along the way.  Suddenly we came to a restaurant and we made the choice to eat now, not knowing when we would encounter another eating establishment.  This one, the sign said it was "El Vaquero," as we had seen pretty much everywhere, was also an open air restaurant. 

Me climbing out of the car with my Spanish Dictionary at Vaqueros

We had gotten in the habit of ordering from the most inexpensive part of the menu, but usually it included some fish.  Again, for about $4 each, we had a very satisfying meal.  We never did strike out at any of the restaurants we tried.

The road back to Playa del Coco was pleasant and we enjoyed the tropical trees, which included many banana trees, coconut trees, and some kinds of huge deciduous trees.  After arriving back in our little beach town, Jeff suggested we try some ceviche from a little booth that sold nothing else.  Ceviche is raw fish in a brine/citrus marinade.  I had never tried it, before, but am game for most anything.  It was to die for.  The lemon juice actually seems to have made it as though it had been cooked.  I highly recommend it for those who have not yet had the pleasure.  It is mouth watering and hearty.

The next leg of our trip will take us back to San Jose then on Hwy 2 over San Isidro de El General, continue on to Hwy 34, then north on the coast highway to the beach town of Jaco (pronounced Haco).  More, soon.