5th January 2013 - I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to visit Costa Rica for work – which meant of course, SJ the traveller had another opportunity to write a blog! Before I start – Costa Rica is a country in Central America, not one of the “Costas” in Spain – like many of you thought ;). I can’t promise this will be in any way as interesting as the antics we got up to in Oz, NZ, Fiji and Bali – but should give y’all an insight into what Costa Rica is like. Trip started with leaving my apartment a 4.30am minus my house keys, drama from the get go (I never had to worry about house keys when I had no fixed abode travelling!). First flight to New York was scarily Ryanair like, given the lack of space for a long haul flight! This was followed by a far-too-long layover where I visited most of the food court options- so much for the New Year’s resolution to kick start healthy!
The next flight to Costa Rica was much more spacious, was
sitting next to a shiny new honeymooning couple (Costa Rica is seriously
popular for honeymoons). Mid-way through the flight, the man in front of me had
a coughing fit and collapsed onto to the ground. Very scary indeed – luckily
enough there were two doctors, a nurse and a translator on board (comforting to
know!) who tried to figure out what was wrong with him and thankfully we
recovered after that. I don’t know what it is with me and attracting drama!
28 hours after leaving my apartment I arrive at my hotel –
very nice indeed, my new home for the next 2 weeks! Certainly a lot nicer than
the basement in St. Kilda – isn’t that right Marie and Annemarie! The hotel
staff and all Costa Ricans (Ticos/Ticas) are just the loveliest people, they
cannot do enough for people who visit their country.
I was only meant to be in Costa Rica one week – so decided
to go adventuring on a tour on Sunday. Up at the crack of dawn – I had two
options
1. A full day of
hiking through a rainforest and volcano or
2. A bus pit stop at the volcano for pictures followed by an
afternoon at a hot springs and spa. Two guesses which one I picked!
I learned a lot from the tour guide (a personalised one if
you will!) – Everyone else on the bus spoke Spanish, so I had a personalised
tour guide who spoke English! After a brief stop to Sarchi where all of the
handcraft goods are made for all of Costa Rica it was off to the volcano. There
are 116 volcanoes in Costa Rica, however only 6 are active. One of the most
active is Arenal, which is the one we visited. It was only discovered in 1968,
locals thought it was just a big mountain until one day it erupted and caused a
massive lava flow down one side. This is why, on one side you can see lava
trails, and the other side is just vegetation. As volcanoes go –this one is
young – only 5 million years old! It is quite active – however there was no
activity the day I visited! Pictures below…
Beside this is an amazing man-made lake, this lake was
created over a village that was nearly fully destroyed when the volcano
first erupted. When the water levels are low – you can see the cross on the
church and other parts of the village in the water which is pretty cool. The
views in Costa Rica are pretty breath-taking. After all this sight-seeing,
there was no better way than to get over jetlag – than to visit Baldi Hot
Springs and Spa.
The natural hot springs are from the volcano and its
surrounding areas – and as the label would suggest are very hot! There are
approximately 20 different pools in the outdoor, Jacuzzis, relaxation pools, swim up bars etc.
The higher up you went into the pools the hotter they got – I braved the
hottest one for all of 10 seconds. A very relaxing afternoon was had, followed
by an amazing dinner looking at the sunset over the volcano. Not a bad way to
spend my Sunday! Then it was back to face the music and get ready for a busy
week at work!
My work week consisted of well – work. The people I was
working with for the week – as I expected from the Costa Ricans I had met were
just fabulous. Not much to report from the week – only that one evening I
ventured out for ice cream – walking on what was like an M50 with no footpaths
(Costa Rica lacks footpaths in general!). That was interesting and was not
going to be repeated. My plans changed and I was now going to stay in Costa
Rica another week - which is good for this blog. Otherwise it would have ended
here J
So myself, Silvia and Tak decided to head to a beach resort
for the weekend! I went shopping Friday evening to a massive shopping mall near
work. I was under some illusion Costa Rica was going to be cheap, I was very
wrong. The only purchase I made was 5 pairs of underwear in Victoria Secrets
(too much info? – sorry!) – well they cost 60dollars!!! Not sure how my boss would feel if I expensed
that receipt in! We ate in an amazing sushi restaurant in a very la-di-da
Intercontinental Hotel.
Up super early on Saturday morning to set off to Manuel
Antonio (the beach). Costa Rica has beaches on both sides of the island – one
side is the Pacific and the other the Caribbean. We visited the Pacific side,
which is pretty cool – as now I have seen the Pacific ocean from two sides of
the world – also in Cape Reinga on our NZ trip!
We Left at 7am and it was roasters already! Stopped at
Hermosa Beach, a surfers paradise, for brunch. Then we headed off again to our
hotel in Manuel Antonio – Hotel Parador. Probably one of the nicest hotels Ive
ever stayed in – would highly recommend it. After a hysterical check-in – where
the girls asked me to pretend to be Costa Rican to avoid tourist taxes (Thanks
Sil!), Tak took it to a new level speaking full on Spanish to me in front of
receptionist, cue my confused face. It is funny looking back- wasn’t at the
time!
Then for some well-earned pool time – the infinity pool had
a serious view! All my hard work that week was paying off – sunbathing by the
pool! The hotel is split over a number of levels – we watched the sunset (which
was amazing) from the highest level.
Later we hit El Avion, which is a restaurant and bar that is
made out of a war plane that crashed in Costa Rica years ago. It is famous for
its mojitos and they did not disappoint (and there goes the 2nd NYR
– not to drink for Jan!)
Next day we packed up and drove along the coast back to the
city stopping at a crocodile bridge. Let’s just say – this sightseeing stop is
not for the faint hearted! It’s a very busy bridge with croc infested waters
below! If you look closely you can see a couple of crocs with their noses out
of the water – we counted about 20 in one little area! The tourists you see in
the boat – well they must have a death wish. Below is a gorgeous Sunset picture
from that bridge.
My 2nd week involved – well mainly hard work and
very little play! Ventured out to sample Costa Rican food with friends (yummy
food) and one evening we went to Applebee’s where we were served the biggest
Mojitos I have ever come across…yes detox is now non-existent. And for all you
cluedo fans- this was the last place I remembered having my debit card.
Friday evening – packed up my stuff and went to pay my hotel
bill. No debit card. Panic central, wasn’t sure how the lovely Costa Rican
reception staff were going to take the news that I couldn’t pay my bill that
was …well in the thousands and that would be millions in Costa Rican Colones!
Then I had a brain wave - A big shout out to the Australian Tax Office and
Westpac for minding my tax back money! I waited with the fear as the reception
lady typed in the 000,0000,00000 type figure in CR Colones into the credit card
machine. But I am writing this blog from the airport in New York – and not a
prison in Costa Rica, so clearly the card handled the heat!
Huge thanks to Sil for getting up at 5am to bring me to the
airport on her day off!
Costa Rica is an amazing country- and I would recommend
everyone to visit if they ever get the opportunity.
Pura Vida! (means Pure Life – and all the cool people say it
over there),
SJ x
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