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My Costa Rica Tour

By : Sandra Woerner
Trip Begins October 9, 2012
Trip Ends October 16, 2012

Visiting Costa Rica had been on my bucket list for a couple of years before I was finally able to finalize details of the trip with Adventure Life(which was to be my third trip with them). My travel partner, Sarah, had not been able to arrange a time to go until now. I decided to do the “Beaches and Rainforest” tour to give us some variety.
See my photos : My Costa Rica Tour

Want to go? Beaches & Rainforest

I went to: Costa Rica, San Jose, Le Bergerac Hotel, Selva Bananito, Puerto Viejo, Shawandha Lodge, Pacuare River, Cariblue Hotel
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October 9, 2012
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Day 1

Le Bergerac Hotel, San Jose

Sarah picked me up at my house on October 9th and we drove to Austin to catch our afternoon flight. After checking in and going through security, we got a bite to eat and waited. Our plane was delayed and this concerned us since we had to catch a connecting flight to San Jose out of Dallas. Not to worry! That flight was also delayed for about an hour and a half.

We had a pleasant flight to San Jose. Actually, there was ample foot room on the plane and I had an empty seat beside me. The lady on the same row was returning to her home in Costa Rica from a visit to Canada. We arrived at the San Jose airport about 10:15. After going through customs, we were on our way to meet an Adventure Life rep. Walking through the airport I saw a big sign that read ''Costa Rica is the happiest country in the world.''

We had help finding a taxi. Henry, our driver, deposited us at our hotel, Hotel de Bergerac, at midnight. We checked into our room,22, and proceeded to get some rest for our early departure the next morning. I could not wait to see the hotel in the daylight as what I could see of it was beautiful. Of course, I am always wired on a trip and never seem to be able to sleep and never seem to tire.

October 10, 2012
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Day 2

Selva Bananito, Costa Rica

We had breakfast at the hotel which was originally a house and later several houses were connected to it. There was beautiful foliage everywhere and we had breakfast outside on a small patio. (our room had a small patio but we were not able to use it as it rained that morning and the last night we were there) Our breakfast was not only delicious, but beautifully presented. We had fruit, mangoes, papayas and Costa Rica's scrumptious pineapple. I had never eaten such juicy , tasty pineapple before. We had a croissant and scrambled eggs , along with rice and beans(I was to find this a staple and evident at almost every meal). I am not fond of rice and beans, but we had plenty of other food. We had fried plantain and the guava jelly was to die for. Kevin, our waiter, was very gracious.

We wish we had some time to see the city of San Jose, but that will have to be another trip at another time. Alejandro, our driver, who was to take us to Selva Bananito, picked us up after breakfast and we were really starting our adventure. The trip took about four hours. It rained lightly for most of the trip. There was so much vegetation and the highway so narrow that it reminded me of the hedgerows in Ireland. I had never seen so many banana trees in my life. There was a lot of traffic and I admired Alejandro's driving prowess. At one point, he slowed down in a small town and finally stopped by the side of the road. He kept saying, ''perezoso, perozoso''. Since Sarah and I only know a few words in Spanish, we had no idea what was going on. He encouraged us to get out of the van and look. I was almost afraid to get out as the cars where whizzing by. Alejandro pointed to a limb in a tree and there was a sloth. We had just learned a new Spanish word.

We got back into the van and drove a little further before he made a stop at Ellis Cafe about halfway to our destination. Here, our driver ate lunch, and we stretched our legs and found the banos. It was an open, covered restaurant and had beautiful flowers all around. We also saw many palm trees on this journey. Our next stop was in a small town. Again, we did not know what was happening as Alejandro had limited English and, well, you know we had very limited Spanish. He did tell us someone would take us the rest of the way to Selva Bananito, which was about seven more miles on a rough road. Jonathan was there in a small and very old and rugged pickup. He put our luggage in the bed of the truck and covered it with a tarp.

It took us forty minutes to cover that seven miles. There was a plethora of banana trees and coconut palms along the narrow dirt road. When we arrived at our destination, Jonathan carried our luggage to cabin 10. I was awed by the view from our room. I had seen pictures of it on the website, but the real thing was much more awesome. Both beds had a mosquito netting beautifully draped in a circle from the ceiling and there were two hammocks just waiting for us. We noticed CDs hanging from the ceiling and we rightly guessed that was to keep the bugs away, much like a scarecrow. After enduring a drought for several years back home, I was simply overwhelmed with all the beautiful plants and greenery. As I looked out from our deck, there were mountains . It was very humid. In fact, the clothes I wore there never dried and the shoes I wore on my hike to the waterfall stayed in plastic bags in my suitcase for the rest of the trip. My shoes were sour when I finally unpacked them at home. I sprayed them with sol-u-mel and left them outside for several days to dry in the sun. After a few days in the sun, they were wearable once again. But, I digress.

In 1994, the Steen family created Selva Bananito Reserve and built eleven cabanas which are built mostly of recycled wood. No electricity is used and biodegradable soaps are provided for the guests. There was a large extended German family there(about 10 or 12) and a young German couple who were volunteering there. There were also two female French journalists. After lunch, I hiked with several of the young people to the zip line, Justo, our guide who was to be with us our time at Selva Bananito, told me I would be doing the zip line the next day so I just went along to observe. I had never done a zip line before(and still haven't). We hiked for about an hour and it was dreadfully humid. After everyone had done a couple of zip lines, we hiked back to the lodge and there was not a single dry garment on me and my hair looked as though I had just stepped out of the shower.

We made it back to the lodge about five o'clock and I was surprised to find that it was completely dark by 5:30. After a shower, Sarah and I got our flashlights(my youngest son, Cody, had bought me a very nice flashlight for my birthday to use on this trip) and walked to the main open veranda for dinner. The co-owner Juergen gave Sarah and I and the French ladies a video presentation about what his family is doing with preservation there. We had a welcome cocktail served in a coconut shell and snacked on plantain chips which were made by the local women. The presentation was very informative and thorough. For dinner, we had chicken and rice, cucumbers mixed with corn and drank hibiscus juice. The juice served there was not very sweet as we were told most Europeans preferred it not to be so sweet. Others could add sugar. For dessert we had local bananas and pineapple. Local women come and stay for several days to cook and then a new crew comes in to stay. I spoke with Justo about rappelling the waterfall the next day and he said I was the only one there to go and it was a very hard hike. I let him know that my heart was set on doing this. He seemed doubtful that I could make the hike. I decided that I would let it go and not be upset if I could not do it as Sarah was not going to be able to go. However, after dinner Justo told me to be ready to go at eight the next morning and Charlotte and Moma(the German couple volunteering there) would carry the food. Later, I learned they were very glad I insisted on going as they wanted to do it and this was their chance to do so.

October 11, 2012
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Day 3

Selva Bananito, Costa Rica

I woke up excited and somewhat apprehensive about the upcoming adventure. After all, I was terrified of heights and did not want to chicken out after reaching the waterfall. Well, that was not an option, but it had me a little nervous thinking I might not be up to the challenge. I put on my pants with the zip off legs that dry fast and a t-shirt and my new hiking shoes which I had never really hiked in before. I had only worn them around the house. I have to say those shoes were amazing walking over river rocks and through the river and jungle. They were Oboz hiking shoes and I highly recommend them.

It started to rain lightly as we left and I was afraid we might not be able to complete the hike. However, it only rained for a little while and then we had an amazing day. I had been warmed that it was going to be a rough hike, but had no idea we would be walking on river rocks most of the time. If you have never walked on river rocks, then you won't know how difficult that can be. We walked about two and one half hours through water and over rocks when we reached the place to head up into the jungle. The path was about two feet wide and in some places the ground was very slippery. Justo warned us to be very careful where we put our hands to assist us on our climb as many trees had sharp thorns and there were bullet ants. I had never heard of bullet ants before. I was told they had the most venomous sting of any insect and the pain, which could last up to 24 hours, was excruciating. Later, Sophie, Juergin's sister, told us of the time an 8 year old boy stepped on a bullet ant nest and was stung twice. She said his screams were awful. I can only imagine.

Charlotte and Moma were so kind and helpful. I am sure all three were wondering why a lady my age was trying this and if they would have to carry her back. This just reinforced my determination to keep up. Justo had to use his machete several times to hack an opening for us. In a couple of places we held onto a rope to go down as it was steep and slippery. When we reached the top, we stopped and caught our breath. My heart was pounding so hard that I though surely they could heat it. Then, I thought what if I am about to have a heart attack because my heart had never pounded like that before. After a few minutes, my heart beat was normal. Justo and Charlotte sat on a large log to take a picture. I also sat down and gave my camera to Moma to take a picture and he suddenly said, ''there are ants there''. We all jumped up and, sure enough, bullet ants were crawling all over the log. ''Thank you, Moma'', for saving us from that horrible experience. Can you just imagine the horror if one or all of us had been stung. Wow-that was a close shave.

We continued on and soon reached the waterfall. Justo proceeded to the the rappelling gear out of his 30 lb. Backpack and set up. Moma was to go first, then me and lastly, Charlotte. I thought what if I get ready to rappel and panic. I knew I had to go through with it , no matter what! I let Justo show me how to put on the harness and helmet and he gave all three of us instructions. It seemed simple enough. Moma made it down without a problem. Now, it was my turn. I gave my camera to Charlotte to take pictures of me rappelling as I wanted proof I had done this. She took many pictures of me. The rappelling was not scary at all and so much fun. When I got to the bottom, I sort of fell backwards into the little pool of water. Moma helped me up and then Charlotte came down. Justo walked around to meet us.

We walked a short distance and rappelled down a shorter cliff. Now, it was time to have lunch. They had forgotten the lighter so we ate cold rice and beans, but we were hungry so that did not matter. Justo cut up some tomatoes and cucumbers and we had lemonade to drink. After lunch, we started on the hour and half hike back to the lodge. I started feeling some fatigue about thirty minutes into our hike.

When we got back, I went to my cabin and showered and put on clean, dry clothes and shoes and felt very refreshed. I was quite elated over my accomplishment. Sarah and I headed to the main veranda and drank a cup of hot tea. The silence was deafening there. The only noise I heard came from the dogs there and a few birds in the morning. It was a treat to lie in the hammock at our cabana and enjoy the solitude.

Our dinner that night was beef, coleslaw, carrots and green beans and fried plantains. We also had a salad of very fresh and tender lettuce and tomatoes. For dessert, we had bananas and chocolate. There was passion fruit to drink and afterward, we enjoyed a cup of decaf chamomile tea. Sophia, co-owner, came in that day and had dinner with us. She was very pleasant and enjoyable. Both owners speak German, English, Spanish and French. The architect of the Selva Bananito and his wife had dinner with us as well. We were to go horseback riding the next morning and then leave after lunch for Puerto Viego and the beach.

October 12, 2012
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Day 4

Shawandha Lodge, Puerto Viejo

It was daylight at 5:30 each morning and I was always ready to get up and eat breakfast. I had repacked my suitcase the night before and placed my very damp clothes and very wet hiking shoes in plastic bags. After a hearty breakfast of local fruit, scrambled eggs, and, yes rice and beans, we got ready for our horseback ride through the adjacent family farm. Justo was waiting for us at the stables with three horses saddles. He rode Tequila, a white horse. Sarah rode Junior, a buckskin and I rode Guerrero or Warrior.

We passed through several gates and saw lots of coconut palms and coconuts on the ground. Justo pointed out some walking palms and a pink ginger flower, which was breathtaking. We got off our horses a couple of times and looked at the plants. The first time we got off our horses, we realized we were standing in a huge ant bed, but they weren't bullet ants. We saw the cattle there which were a mixture of Indian Cebu and Brazilian Brahma.

After about a two and half hour ride, we were back at the stables and it was lunch time. There was only Juergin, Sarah and myself for lunch. We had spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce and a delicious cheese. I am not a pasta lover, but that spaghetti was delicious. Roland, who was to take us to Puerto Viejo, was delayed a little due to a wreck by a single lane bridge. We said our goodbyes to Juergen and Selva Bananito and started to Puerto Viejo about 2:10. Justo hitched a ride with us to Cuihuita, his home, which was on the way. He also spends a few days working at Selva Bananito and then goes home to take people snorkeling on his boat.

We arrived at Shawanda Lodge about four o'clock. The lodges are set amidst the jungle. Our lodge was beautiful and the plants and trees gorgeously arrayed. We saw a perezoso in a tree by the restaurant. After we checked in with R.J.(who was so friendly and helpful and told us he loved his job), he showed us to our lodge. We lounged by the pool for a bit after we deposited our luggage in our room. There was a bench outside on the covered porch and a hammock. Also, a reading lamp if one wanted to sit outside at night and read.

Our dinner was included and we ate around six o'clock. The resident black and white cat, Ava, stayed by my feet looking hungrily for me to feed her some scraps. It started to rain very hard. We were offered wine with our meal and a small appetizer. Our main course was sea bass and carrots and green beans and zucchini. For dessert, we had ice cream and chocolate. The meal was very good(no rice and beans). We sat and talked and listened to the rain. When we got back to the lodge and showered, we sat outside for a while. The water was turned off at certain hours of the day so we had some difficulty getting a shower and for a day, I guess a breaker was off as we had no hot water. I put my wet hiking shoes on the porch and also some of my clothes in hopes they would dry while we were here. We kept hearing a noise and could not figure out what it was. Finally,we realized it was frogs croaking and they sang loudly all night. I guess they were happy about the rain. This took some getting used to in order to sleep.

October 13, 2012
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Day 5

Shawandha Lodge, Puerto Viejo

Sarah and I had decided we would spend the day in Puerto Viejo and do some shopping and just relax. It was a Saturday and the streets were crowded. I listened for howler monkeys that morning, but did not hear any. We walked to the restaurant and I drank a cup of hot tea and Sarah drank coffee while we waited for breakfast to be served. We were brought a plate of beautiful fruit - mango, pineapple, papaya and watermelon. The pineapple was juicy and sweet and so delicious. We also had a rambutan on our plate. I had never seen or heard of this fruit before. The name means hairy. It is from southeast Asia. It is magenta colored with green hairy legs. I thought it looked like a cockle burr. Inside, the fruit is clear and gummy. It has a huge seed in the center. It had half of the outer peel cut off. It looked pretty, but I did not know how to eat it. I did not think it had much flavor and not much fruit so I did not think it was worth the trouble. We had scrambled eggs, hot bread and butter and that delicious guava jelly.

R.J. Called a cab for us and told the driver to deposit us at a certain place in the town. He gave us the names of two restaurants. Our cab ride into town was ten dollars. We got there about ten. We had not shopped at all so we had fun going through the shops and seeing all the vendors. There were many people in town and lots of colorful personalities. An older lady was frying something at an intersection and calling out for people to try it. I was on the hunt for a cane as I always bring back a walking cane for my oldest son. That tradition started on my trip to Ireland in 1987 when I bought two blackthorn canes(for both my sons) The hunt for a cane is a fun part of my trips. Sometimes they are easy to find and other times, not so much.

The second shop I went into had four canes. I thought I would look more before I bought one. I really like the rosewood cane with the carved toucan head. As it turned out, I found only one other shop with one cane, so I backtracked and bought the toucan cane.

I bought a few gifts to take back to my family and one of the vendors told us the pizza next door to him was good. It was called the El Parquecito, owned by and Italian. We split a pizza and tried a local beer, Imperial. The pizza was cooked in a brick oven and was quite tasty. We shopped some more. The fast pace of this little town was such a contrast from the solitude at Selva Bananito. There was so much traffic driving on the narrow streets and people were spilling over into the main street.

About four o'clock, Kenra, our waitress called a cab for us. She was such a sweet person and so ready to help these two ladies from Texas. We found everyone we interacted with in Costa Rica to be Texas friendly. We did not have dinner included this night so we each ordered an appetizer as the menu was somewhat limited and the food a bit pricey. Our appetizers were fifteen dollars each. I had goat cheese bread which was good, but very rick. We went to our lodge and I checked to see if my clothes had dried, but, alas, they had not. The frogs croaked all night again. We were to be picked up at 7:45 the next morning to snorkel.

October 14, 2012
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Day 6

Shawandha Lodge, Puerto Viejo

The staff at the restaurant accommodate us with an early breakfast so we could set off on our snorkeling tour. It was very windy. Our driver picked up up at the appointed time and made two more stops, picking up a lady from Canada and a man from Austin, who has a friend living in my hometown. Such a small world! After about a forty minute drive, we arrived at Cuihuita National Park.

We met our snorkeling guide and a couple of female students from San Jose. I thought my spine would come out the top of my head when we rode in the boat because that small boat hit those waves really hard. Did I say it was windy??? The weather had been perfect the day before and was perfect the day after, but this was not a good day for snorkeling. I had a difficult time moving through the water and I did not see many fish on our first outing. We all crawled back into the boat and our guide moved us to a reed on another spot. This was a little easier going and I saw a few more fish. There were many beautiful blue fish. I have to say though, if this had been my first time to snorkel, I may never have tried it again.

We were taken to a spot on land and had a snack of fresh pineapple and trail mix. Three of the people on the boat decided to hike back through the jungle. There had been a misunderstanding about this on my part. I did not have the proper shoes for hiking as I thought we would have lunch and then hike through the park. Sarah and I waited at the entrance to the park for about two hours before the hikers returned. It was a Sunday and the beach was very crowded even though the weather was not nice. Several reggae looking guys were kicking around a soccer ball and one guy was playing in the water with his dog. The wind was whipping up some big white caps.

Our driver took us back to the lodge. We decided to go back into town and eat pizza again and pick up another souvenir or two. The main street going through town was jammed with traffic and people. I think all the locals, plus all the tourists, were there. I kept thinking we would see a car wreck at any minute. We ate and waled to a grocery store to pick up a few snacks. It had started raining. I bought a bag of plantain chips which I really came to like. We ducked into a tourist office and waited for a while thinking it might stop raining. We did not have an umbrella and it did not seem as though the rain would stop so we had Kendra call a cab for us again and we went back to the lodge. The frogs sang all night again.

October 15, 2012
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Day 7

Pacuare River, Costa Rica

I awoke at four to the screeching of howler monkeys. I kept looking for Tarzan and Cheetah. Our driver was to pick up up at six as we were to raft on the Reventazon River. When we arrived at the base camp to eat breakfast, we found about forty students there ready to raft the Pacuare River, but due to the heavy rains the night before, it was not deemed safe. They were visibly disappointed, but seemed to have lots of fun anyway.

We ate a very hearty breakfast and locked our luggage(and my cane) in the lockers and put on our rafting clothes. We would come back to eat lunch there and then head into San Jose. We were going home tomorrow. Andres was our guide and he was very informative about Costa Rica and a delight to converse with on the way from our lodge to the river. Sarah, myself and one of our drivers who had never rafted before(we all talked him into trying it) climbed into a raft and did some practice moves. When Andres thought we were ready, we headed into open waters. It was a very different experience from my rafting trip in Peru where we wore wet suits and the water was very cold. The rafting was fun. There were about 7 or 8 rafts on the river. However, I was disappointed that there weren't more rapids.

At the end of our river journey, we loaded back into the van, along with the couple from Spain who had ridden with us from Puerto Viejo. Back at the base camp, we changed into dry clothes and ate lunch. We had large tortillas with lettuce, tomatoes, mashed beans, onions, bell peppers, trail mix and cheese. We had cookies with cream and cheese and jelly for dessert. We bought a CD one of the employees had made of us rafting.

After lunch, we bid Andres goodby and got on a bus with about 20 students and started toward San Jose. It was about a two hour ride to San Jose. A couple behind us were from Wisconsin and they both were voting for Romney and were very afraid for our country if Obama were re-elected. They were going on to St. Martin where they have a home. A female student sitting in front of us had many questions for us .

We arrived back at Hotel de Bergerac and checked into the same room we had the night we arrived. We were going to walk a few blocks to a big mall, but it started raining hard so we took a cab. He took us the long way and charged us more than the concierge said it would cost. Also, he was the only person we met who was not very friendly. We walked through the mall and ate a Subway sandwich and drank a light coke. We did not linger long as we wanted to repack our luggage for the trip home. My contents had grown and I had several plastic bags full of damp clothes and shoes.

October 16, 2012
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Day 8

San Jose, Costa Rica

I awoke at four. We were being picked up at the hotel at six to be driven to the airport. The concierge at the hotel arranged for our transportation and we paid our departure tax there which made it easier to go through the airport. Alan, our driver, was right on time and he told us he lived near the Poaz volcano and has two boys, 10 and 11, and a girl, 15. I shall never forget ''the most beautiful country in the world'' and will never eat another banana or pineapple without thinking of my time in beautiful Costa Rica.

We went through security without a problem and I heaved a sign of relief that my luggage was not over the allowed weight. We had a short wait and I was out of snacks and hungry. When we boarded, our carry on luggage was hand searched and we were wanded! Our flight was on time and we soon were served a breakfast of pancakes, croissant , fruit and butter and jelly.

We arrived at Austin Bergstom International Airport about four and collected our luggage and caught the shuttle to the parking lot where Sarah had left her car. After paying for the parking, we headed home and it started raining really hard. I guess we brought the rain with us because we had not had rain in a good while at home. We live about 45 miles from Austin so it actually did not rain at our homes. I immediately unpacked my suitcase and started washing clothes. I sprayed my hiking shoes and put them out to dry and headed to my son's house to give them their gifts. It was a wonderful trip and my third with Adventure Life. They have always taken very good care of me. I recommend Adventure Life and Costa Rica.

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