My aunt Janet got home the other night from a two-week trip to Costa Rica, her first time visiting the country. Only in the past few years has she really started traveling, (my definition of the word being “frequent trips, perhaps outside of one’s comfort zone”), but because she has a life-long friend who recently moved to Costa Rica, she decided that she would venture to Central America.
Questions, Questions, & More Questions
Having both traveled and worked in the country, she had quite a few questions for me as she started making tentative plans for how she would spend her two weeks in Costa Rica. Was it safe? Were there many people there who spoke English? What were the best places to visit? What should she absolutely not miss? I gave her my suggestions, as well as a hastily-drawn (and very inaccurate) map of Costa Rica, which included a route that I thought would hit some of the major must-see areas of Costa Rica in a two-week time frame.
Email Excerpts
She wrote me an email the morning after she got home; I was very happy to hear from her because I had been curious as to how her trip went. She began by informing me: “we arrived home last night, exhausted and very suntanned… we had the holiday of our lives!!!!” She and my uncle Don had decided to do a trip through the northern part of Costa Rica to visit her friend.
She wrote:
It began March 18th in Liberia, we travelled the next morning to La Fortuna and stayed there for two nights….we hiked to the old crater beside Arenal and swam in the lagoon, it was a gruelling hike and we were both very sore the next morning. We spent some time in the town which was quiet and lovely. It rained off and on the whole time but it was still very warm and humid. The sound of the frogs at night was so amazing… I loved the church and the food was affordable and tasty.
They traveled to Jaco, Santa Teresa, and a few other towns on the Pacific Coast.
My favorite part of her email was the very accurate description of one of the bus rides. “We took a wild ride down the mountain (our driver was so cute and calm looking but drove like a crazy man) I prayed in English and even attempted to pray in Spanish and we made it down safely to the sea….the scenery was so beautiful.” Something to remember is that Central American drivers are a little more risque than most from North America.
Their trip ended with five days in Tamarindo, where her friend lives.
We had a great five days at Tamarindo… I think this was a great place to end our holiday. We did a wonderful boat tour of the river seeing monkeys, crocodiles, many birds and even a snake. The food was excellent and a little cheaper then here, most of the hotels we stayed in included breakfast so it was affordable.
Next Visit: South Pacific Costa Rica
While they didn’t make it down to Uvita on this trip, from the sound of this email I bet they’ll be taking another trip to Costa Rica. “Don tried surfing, he just rented a board and got up right away, although the waves were small. We thought of you and Gibran often and I decided I would wait for Gibran to give me surf lessons.”
Adrianne, you forgot to mention that the Zumba sensation has not yet hit Costa Rica and that you are going to bring it there!!!
I guess that I am finally famous at 50!
I enjoyed reading this, thanks.
Love Ya
Very cool!!!