Sometime in the summer I saw some cheap tickets to Costa Rica on Flights From Home. I mentioned it to Rick and we concocted a plan to go back since we loved our trip so much earlier in the year.
We planned to travel the first part of February. We flew out early (6AM) on November 2nd to stay for eight days. We flew through Dallas on American Airlines and arrived in San Jose mid afternoon. We picked up our car from Thrifty and headed toward Los Suenos in Herradura Bay. The drive was beautiful. Costa Rica is just coming off of their rainy season and everything was so green and beautiful!
We drove over a couple of deep valleys where we couldn't even see the river bottom. The mountains were so beautiful!
Before getting to the hotel we stopped at a restaurant called Vista Mar. We both started out with a Pina Colada and some food! Our dinner was delicious! We had some coconut shrimp and Rick had something (I can't remember what?) that he loved. It felt good to get some good food into our bodies!
We drove into Herradura Bay and the Los Suenos Marriott around 6:00 and was able to get checked into THE SAME ROOM that we stayed in last time! This was so fun for us because we LOVED our swim up room from February where we were there last. The front desk clerk was very nice to us and gave us FULL breakfast buffet coupons, as well. That was super nice of him because the buffet was fabulous and saved us about $400.👍
After a good night's rest we enjoyed lounging around our fun room and enjoying the beautiful view! It was a rainy morning but it was so fun to see and hear the rain coming down. By late morning the weather had cleared so we drove over to Tarcoles to secure a spot on the Crocodile Man Tour for the next day. We reserved a ticket and then took a drive up into the mountains. Last time we came to CR we found a scenic road that led to a little town called Bijuagal. I kept searching the map to see if we cold go past the town and have the road bring us back around to Jaco. It looked like there was a road but I couldn't tell for sure. When we got up to Bijuagal we asked if the road continued. They said that it did but it was not paved. That mad me a little nervous because it had rained pretty hard that morning. wE decided to go as far as we could. We were delighted to find the road was fine. There were a few spots that were washed out but the road was passable.
On top of the mountain we got to see such beautiful views. The valley was covered in thick foliage and just amazing!
The drive took about an hour. We passed over a couple of streams and at one point found a beautiful little waterfall. It was such a nice drive! We came out of the mountains on the main highway just outside of Jaco. We loved our driving adventure!
It was time for dinner so after stopping at the room and taking a small dip in the pool we drove fifteen minutes over to a restaurant called Guaramos. We had passed it on our way into Herradura and thought we'd give it a try. The drive was TREACHEROUS! (for me, anyway) The rain was really coming down hard and the highway is not lighted very well. There was a lot of traffic and big trucks! I was glad to get to the restaurant in one piece. It was absolutely pouring so we ran from the car to the open air restaurant and got wet:) I'm glad I brought my sweater for the chill in the air AND the mosquitos:)
We ordered chips and guacamole and this is what we got....
It was super delicious!
And then we ordered the traditional Costa Rican casado and we loved it so much!!
It came with THE BEST grilled chicken, rice and beans, seasoned potatoes over corn tortillas all topped off with a fried egg. Also to Rick's delight they served up a whole cooked plantain! He raved about how good it was! We loved this place so much that we came back two more times!
We were captained by a man named Santiago and a guide named ??.
It was so fun because it was just Rick and I on this huge boat. Other times we have come there have been at least ten others. This time it was just us so it was personalized for us:)
We got to see a lot of crocs (we counted about 40) and Santiago even got out to feed one (named brad Pitt) some chicken! The croc came all the way out of the water so we got some good video footage and pictures of him! (Our grandkids loved seeing the video)
Here we are holding the tail of Osama Bin Laden. He's the largest crocodile in these waters. He had a harem of about five females in his area. The guide said he was 16 ft long and around 60 years old!
We got to hold his tail! Well, Rick got to hold his tail! I just gave it a little touch with my finger:)
Another crocodile! It was about a 90 minute tour and we saw a lot on the banks and in the river!
We also saw a lot of birds.... spoonbill, egrets, herons, and many others. Pretty cool!
Here we are at the end of our tour. Santiago wanted to be sure and get int he picture:)
The car we rented was one that we had never had driven before.
While on the crocodile Man Tour, Santiago mentioned to Rick about the Casa de Manos. (The house of monkeys) A woman feeds the monkeys so they stay around her house and tourists come to feed them as well:) He gave Rick directions so we thought that it would be fun to see.
Our GPS told us it was a 45 minute drive and it was! It was further out than we were expecting but it was a fun time. We stopped at the Tarcoles Bridge and got a few munchies...some banana plantains (that were so good) and a little bit of chocolate. Rick got a pineapple, passion smoothie.
We finished our snacks and then walked to the middle of the bridge. We saw NINE crocs on the sandbar in the river. One male and all the others female. So cool!
So the GPS took us into a beachside town called Caldera. It led us to a place that was not the Monkey House so we pulled over to talk to the first man we saw to see if he had any info about it. He wasn't too sure but he had heard of a lady who took care of monkeys and gave us directions. Well, wha t a blessing it was that we found him because his directions sent us right to her house!
The lady of the house and her young son came out with bananas for us to feed the monkeys. First she called over the alpha male and gave him a whole banana and he took off. Then the other monkeys felt like they could come over to eat. They were coming out of the jungle right to where we were standing with the food. It was really fun because these monkeys were not shy of humans at all. They crawled all over us to get their food. A wildlife experience!
After visiting the monkeys we stopped by the beach on our way out of town. It had a black sand beach, which was surprising to us. We walked out onto the sand and Rick went down to touch the water.
I just watched:)
There were a lot of food trucks near the beach but I was leery of eating at them so we found a nice restaurant down the road. We both had casado again and it was very good. It was a little different because instead of a grilled boneless piece of chicken it was a fried bone in piece...but still really yummy! Rick loved the plantains.
It was a nice warm day so we drove into Jaco to do a little shopping. Rick found a hat and I got some sunglasses for a couple of bucks. We knew we wanted to schedule a massage for the following day so we did that and then drove back to our hotel for some rest. We played in the pool and I enjoyed reading while Rick enjoyed making friends with an iguana or two:) It was a great day!
The next day we had our massages scheduled for 11 am in Jaco. We had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel (rice, beans, bacon, eggs, fried plantains, omelets, meat, cheeses, pastries, waffles, potatoes, and waffles, and fresh fruit). There was so much to choose from and so delicious! We also had Passion juice/smoothies every morning with our meal, as well!
We arrived for our massage on time but found that the yoga class was just getting over and no therapist in sight. We were able to have the yoga instructor get ahold of our therapist who rushed over to get things set up. She had forgotten:(
It worked out well though because we had THE BEST massages. Sochie was my therapist and she really worked on my knots, so much so that I had a headache later on in the day.
We had such a nice time a few days before driving up the mountain top that we decided to do it again and drive a little further into the jungle. Although the little towns were beautiful, the roads were not that great and I had a terrible headache by the end of our drive. It was not nearly as enjoyable for me as the earlier drive we had taken. I think that Rick like it, though:)
By the time we got back to the highway it was just about dark. We stopped at a roadside pizza joint called Pizza Pata and got some fod. They offered an individual flatbread pizza and we really liked what we chose. I also had some ice cream afterwards. We enjoyed a quiet evening after getting back to our hotel.
The next day was another early morning. We took a boat tour over to Tortuga Island. The boat was really full of people but we were lucky enough to get a seat on the upper deck with the captain and only about ten others. We had a nice view for our hour ride over to
Tortuga Island.
Here we are ready for the boat launch.
Before getting to the island the captain brought us over a cool hole in the rock spot. Look how pretty the water is....
....and look how handsome this guy is!!
Here's our first shot of the beach that we would be spending the day at.
We got on the beach and claimed our chairs and then immediately went out to get into the water. It was super rocky (the tide was out) and we forgot our water shoes (again, sigh) So Rick just carried me around in the water and we had fun doing that for a little bit.
After the water we walked the beach to get some pictures and see what was there.
It was quite a beautiful beach.
After a while those who wanted to could go on a snorkel excursion. We boarded a small boat and were taken over to a small outcropping of land where there was a little bit of coral and some tropical fish. It was quite disappointing to me because while there were a lot of fish the water was very murky and it was difficult to see the fish unless they were very close to you. It was a good experience, though.
A cute couple that we had met on the boat (named Ray and Susan) from Florida, sat by us on the beach and we got to get to know them a little bit better. I didn't get any pictures of them but they were a nice couple and it was good to learn about their life:) Ray and Rick went on an island hike and I stayed and visited with Susan for much of the time.
Here are some pictures from Rick's hike. He got to see some beautiful vistas!
We left the island for our hour long cruise back to the Los Suenos Marina.
After getting back to the room we got showered up and ready for dinner. We drove back to Guarumos Restaurant and had more delicious casado!
Part II coming up!
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