I love making plans to travel to sunny locations when it's pouring rain in Portland. Nothing like dreaming of warm tropical beaches in December!
I've finalized my plans and 2 of the 3 long weekend side trips. Staying at Kaps Place, a Lonely Planet Guide Book highly touted spot on the outskirts of San Jose. Though it is on the opposite end of San Jose from my dentists office, the walk isn't a bad one..about 45 minutes down the main streets-not counting stops at shops I see along the way. I've also plotted a couple of side street walks thru residential neighborhoods..I've found more interesting places in the residential areas on past trips...little sodas in garages where I can buy home made empanadas for pennies. And a great bottled orange drink I've only found in Costa Rica is often sold at places that cater to neighbors.
My first weekend in town I'm taking the bus to the Caribbean coast, a town outside Limon called Cahuita. It's a short bus ride north of the surfer dude party town of Puerto Vijeo de Talamanca, which I plan to visit one of the days I'm there, just to see if it's everything I've heard about.....ganga and rum, caribbean beans rice and jerk chicken and so on but as I'm not heavily into party any more, I doubt I'll play into the night-besides, I'm still a bit leery of night time bus rides..haven't yet recovered from getting lost outside Grecia on my last visit.
I hope to stay at a small cabinas that features a solar heated natural pool and hot showers (that would be very nice). this trip, I'm making sure there is a pool where ever I book-costs a bit more but I enjoy swimming and reading while lounging on a chaise lounge. This cabinas is on a playa negra or black sand beach-can't wait to see that.
The following weekend, I'm off to La Fortuna and the Fortuna Fiesta Week of carnival rides, bull fights and lots of cheap beer, live music and local fun time. I'm sure the hot springs will be crowded and the place a mad house, but I'm not looking for quiet and peace every weekend!
Made no plans for the last weekend as I plan on visiting Rosenstock Cosmetic Surgery clinic and seeing if I can do a little bit for my aging face..leaving 10 days of recovery time for that, and it's after the dental work so if I end up having surgery, or even a chemical peal, I'll be able to recover ok. Kaps place features a kitchen so I can buy soups and eggs and bread and take care of myself for a fer days if necessary.
Plane tickets bought and paid off already, same with both excursions-they have charged the credit card even though I wanted to pay cash and hope for a discount..in La Fortuna during that weekend you have to pay in advance because of the Fiesta.
I'll be staying for a total of 22 days, not counting the overnight flight-I've booked an early arrival at Kaps so I can go to bed when I get there-about 9AM if the flight is on time and the bus isn't bogged down in traffic. The cab fare from the airport is $25 US-the bus fair less than a dollar. If there is traffic, it takes the same amount of time so I figure I'll grab the bus-after all, last trip I stopped at the airport on every ride into and out of San Jose to Grecia.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
OCTOBER 16, 2010-MAKING PLANS
I'm going back to my favorite place on earth-Costa Rica-in January 2011. Yep, even after getting very ill I still love the place. Family members have mixed feelings about it..some think I'm nuts and some understand that travelers occasionally get ill due to circumstances beyond their control.
I never found out exactly where that e coli bug got into my digestive system but I have a couple of thoughts on it. Most suspicious is the water I used to clean with after the water line was cut. I collected rain water for a while, then went to a neighbors hose and got buckets of water there. It may just be that, even though I heated the water I used to wash dishes and counters down, it wasn't sufficient to kill off that bug. I bought all my drinking and tooth brushing water and hauled it up the hill daily, but still....
Another thought was the occasional frescas-a fruit drink sold in sodas and on street corners or perhaps it was the white water trip I took, or an empanada I ate..whatever the cause, the experience was miserable and I've learned a lesson from it.
I usually start shopping for airline tickets about 3 months in advance of my trip. I take a few weeks, comparing prices of all the online discount services as well as the airlines themselves. One thing I noticed is the huge increase in fees...over 100% more in fees and taxes than my trip in 2006. On the other hand, hotel rates in CR remain about the same. The hostel is still $18.00 US, Aparthotel Christina has the same rack rate as they did in 2006 and other places where I inquired show similar low rates. Although bargaining isn't as common in Costa Rica as it is in other Latin American countries, I usually ask for a senior discount or for their lowest rate....travel is down, generally and if I can get $10.00 a night off the rate it makes up for the %18% added tourist tax.
Another thing I am doing this trip is spending a couple of weeks in intensive home stay spanish school. There are a lot of schools all over the country, though I am staying in San Jose for a couple of weeks for more dental work. For about $600.00 for 14 days, I can get 4 hours of small class spanish, a home stay private room with breakfast and dinner with a family, salsa dancing lessons and occasional tours if I choose to take them. So I'll attend classes from 8am to noon, break for lunch and go to the dentist in the afternoons. Since I'll do just 4 days each week, taking friday off will allow me to travel to other locations for fun in the sun. I'm really hoping to get to the Caribbean side of the country this trip, perhaps at the end of my second weekend (and hopefully the end of my dental work).
So I'm thinking 3-5 days in the Caribbean then back to Monteverde for another trip on the zip lines and more painting and hiking.
Sometimes it's just as much fun to make plans as it is to actually go!
I never found out exactly where that e coli bug got into my digestive system but I have a couple of thoughts on it. Most suspicious is the water I used to clean with after the water line was cut. I collected rain water for a while, then went to a neighbors hose and got buckets of water there. It may just be that, even though I heated the water I used to wash dishes and counters down, it wasn't sufficient to kill off that bug. I bought all my drinking and tooth brushing water and hauled it up the hill daily, but still....
Another thought was the occasional frescas-a fruit drink sold in sodas and on street corners or perhaps it was the white water trip I took, or an empanada I ate..whatever the cause, the experience was miserable and I've learned a lesson from it.
I usually start shopping for airline tickets about 3 months in advance of my trip. I take a few weeks, comparing prices of all the online discount services as well as the airlines themselves. One thing I noticed is the huge increase in fees...over 100% more in fees and taxes than my trip in 2006. On the other hand, hotel rates in CR remain about the same. The hostel is still $18.00 US, Aparthotel Christina has the same rack rate as they did in 2006 and other places where I inquired show similar low rates. Although bargaining isn't as common in Costa Rica as it is in other Latin American countries, I usually ask for a senior discount or for their lowest rate....travel is down, generally and if I can get $10.00 a night off the rate it makes up for the %18% added tourist tax.
Another thing I am doing this trip is spending a couple of weeks in intensive home stay spanish school. There are a lot of schools all over the country, though I am staying in San Jose for a couple of weeks for more dental work. For about $600.00 for 14 days, I can get 4 hours of small class spanish, a home stay private room with breakfast and dinner with a family, salsa dancing lessons and occasional tours if I choose to take them. So I'll attend classes from 8am to noon, break for lunch and go to the dentist in the afternoons. Since I'll do just 4 days each week, taking friday off will allow me to travel to other locations for fun in the sun. I'm really hoping to get to the Caribbean side of the country this trip, perhaps at the end of my second weekend (and hopefully the end of my dental work).
So I'm thinking 3-5 days in the Caribbean then back to Monteverde for another trip on the zip lines and more painting and hiking.
Sometimes it's just as much fun to make plans as it is to actually go!
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