Visit to Costa Rica, January 21-
February 3, 2025
Costa Rica Trip
Tuesday, Jan 21, 2025
Uber was right on time to take me to the airport at 3:30 this morning. Joel was my driver and we had a nice chat on the 20 minute ride. I went through security with ease and found my gate with over an hour before boarding. We were delayed for about a half hour because of trouble starting one of the plane engines, not a great vote of confidence. However, the crew got it going and we took off for Miami.
Carry on luggage is a problem because people bring on luggage well beyond the so called limits. The bins fill up and for those of use who board in a later group, we are out of luck.
After some haggling, my problem got solved on this first leg of the trip. So, I prepared for the second flight by checking my carry on. I found out when I got on the plane that there was plenty of space for my duffel bag. The whole process is frustrating.
We left Miami on time and now I am beginning to write this travelogue. My two seat companions are a young couple who are very enamored of one another and quite affectionate.
And so, I will carry on for the next couple of hours, trying to pass the time, as I ponder what is ahead in Costa Rica. Gina let me know that Landon wants photos of the rainforest, I suspect for his class at school. I need to find out more about that.
Arrived in Costa Rica on time and made my way through customs. I was picked up by Ronald and dropped at my Hotel, called The Autentico. I think I was one of the first of the trip to arrive and so I had to wait a bit for my room. Everyone here is very nice, particularly, Tania, the woman tending bar. I had a couple of nice word exchanges with while I downed a couple of beers. My luggage was delayed getting to my room and for awhile the elevator was not working. However, after a short time of trying to find something in English on the TV, I was able to gather my luggage, which appears to be in tact. The ambiance of the this hotel is nice and the people are friendly. Looking forward to when the rest of the group arrives either today or tomorrow. I will add some photos of the place tomorrow, but for now, I will attempt dinner in the hotel restaurant and call it a night. As plane trips go, it was OK, not super, but definitely on time with a driver to meet me at the airport. More tomorrow.
Tuesday, Jan 21, 2025
Uber was right on time to take me to the airport at 3:30 this morning. Joel was my driver and we had a nice chat on the 20 minute ride. I went through security with ease and found my gate with over an hour before boarding. We were delayed for about a half hour because of trouble starting one of the plane engines, not a great vote of confidence. However, the crew got it going and we took off for Miami.
Carry on luggage is a problem because people bring on luggage well beyond the so called limits. The bins fill up and for those of use who board in a later group, we are out of luck.
After some haggling, my problem got solved on this first leg of the trip. So, I prepared for the second flight by checking my carry on. I found out when I got on the plane that there was plenty of space for my duffel bag. The whole process is frustrating.
We left Miami on time and now I am beginning to write this travelogue. My two seat companions are a young couple who are very enamored of one another and quite affectionate.
And so, I will carry on for the next couple of hours, trying to pass the time, as I ponder what is ahead in Costa Rica. Gina let me know that Landon wants photos of the rainforest, I suspect for his class at school. I need to find out more about that.
Arrived in Costa Rica on time and made my way through customs. I was picked up by Ronald and dropped at my Hotel, called The Autentico. I think I was one of the first of the trip to arrive and so I had to wait a bit for my room. Everyone here is very nice, particularly, Tania, the woman tending bar. I had a couple of nice word exchanges with while I downed a couple of beers. My luggage was delayed getting to my room and for awhile the elevator was not working. However, after a short time of trying to find something in English on the TV, I was able to gather my luggage, which appears to be in tact. The ambiance of the this hotel is nice and the people are friendly. Looking forward to when the rest of the group arrives either today or tomorrow. I will add some photos of the place tomorrow, but for now, I will attempt dinner in the hotel restaurant and call it a night. As plane trips go, it was OK, not super, but definitely on time with a driver to meet me at the airport. More tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
It was great to see Ann and Sally this morning at breakfast. We had a wonderful conversation catching up on the latest events in our lifes. Although I have enjoyed all my trips in the last fourteen years, I truly enjoy the trips taken with these two women friends from Wisconsin. There is an ease in our conversations that are filled with friendship and humor. Their flight went well, but they arrived much later in the day yesterday than I did. Yet, we were back at igniting our friendships early this morning.
We decided to take a walk around the area around 10 AM. We had spotted several park areas on our iPhone Maps and decided to trek the the relatively short distances to check them out. The first park was small, but had some nice walkways and a few views of the distant mountains. I started to use my Olympus Camera to record the various stages of our walk. After a short visit to this park, we headed the opposite direction toward a large green space with trees and plenty of space to roam. As we walked more searching for a body of water that we never found, we discovered a huge soccer field, a roller skating rink, tennis courts where two players were slamming the ball back and forth, some excellent views of architectural structures, with the mountains in the background, and a lot of people just having a good time, kicking the soccer ball,riding a scooter, jogging, or just sitting at a table in conversation with others. It was a good find and a satisfying walk of about 2 miles. The only difficulty was navigating the street crossings where moter cycylsts, cars, and trucks quickly navigated the city highways. Fortunately, the stop lights helped us along the way. We then met for lunch, but just before that, we met our guide for the trip Andres who told us that most people had arrived and that we would have a meeting at 6 tonight to discuss important items for our journey. He was quite pleasant and helpful.
Ann, Sally, and I then adjourned to the lunch room where we enjoyed a light lunch and some more conversation. I took a short nap to recover from my morning walk. At five, the three of us met for a drink and even more conversation.
Andres convened his meeting of our OAT Travel Group at 6. He shared a good deal of information about Costa Rica and the various spots on our itinerary. It sounds interesting and exciting. We have fourteen people in our group, many of whom spent their careers at some level of education. We should all have a lot to talk about as the trip proceeds. Andres gave us the “Rules of the Trip:”. Be on time, rest up during free time, be positive and not a whiner, enjoy the people of Costa Rica. There were some more rules, but not worth a mention here unless they apply later on in the trip. Andres was very direct about the rules which puts the responsibility on each of us to abide by them.
I had a rather large, dry hamburger for dinner with fries, which was a bit overdone. However, the conversation among new acquaintances while we ate was lively informative about our group. Many are seasoned travelers and have had very full filling careers. Ann and I shared a drink at the bar and called in a night after one drink.
It was great to see Ann and Sally this morning at breakfast. We had a wonderful conversation catching up on the latest events in our lifes. Although I have enjoyed all my trips in the last fourteen years, I truly enjoy the trips taken with these two women friends from Wisconsin. There is an ease in our conversations that are filled with friendship and humor. Their flight went well, but they arrived much later in the day yesterday than I did. Yet, we were back at igniting our friendships early this morning.
We decided to take a walk around the area around 10 AM. We had spotted several park areas on our iPhone Maps and decided to trek the the relatively short distances to check them out. The first park was small, but had some nice walkways and a few views of the distant mountains. I started to use my Olympus Camera to record the various stages of our walk. After a short visit to this park, we headed the opposite direction toward a large green space with trees and plenty of space to roam. As we walked more searching for a body of water that we never found, we discovered a huge soccer field, a roller skating rink, tennis courts where two players were slamming the ball back and forth, some excellent views of architectural structures, with the mountains in the background, and a lot of people just having a good time, kicking the soccer ball,riding a scooter, jogging, or just sitting at a table in conversation with others. It was a good find and a satisfying walk of about 2 miles. The only difficulty was navigating the street crossings where moter cycylsts, cars, and trucks quickly navigated the city highways. Fortunately, the stop lights helped us along the way. We then met for lunch, but just before that, we met our guide for the trip Andres who told us that most people had arrived and that we would have a meeting at 6 tonight to discuss important items for our journey. He was quite pleasant and helpful.
Ann, Sally, and I then adjourned to the lunch room where we enjoyed a light lunch and some more conversation. I took a short nap to recover from my morning walk. At five, the three of us met for a drink and even more conversation.
Andres convened his meeting of our OAT Travel Group at 6. He shared a good deal of information about Costa Rica and the various spots on our itinerary. It sounds interesting and exciting. We have fourteen people in our group, many of whom spent their careers at some level of education. We should all have a lot to talk about as the trip proceeds. Andres gave us the “Rules of the Trip:”. Be on time, rest up during free time, be positive and not a whiner, enjoy the people of Costa Rica. There were some more rules, but not worth a mention here unless they apply later on in the trip. Andres was very direct about the rules which puts the responsibility on each of us to abide by them.
I had a rather large, dry hamburger for dinner with fries, which was a bit overdone. However, the conversation among new acquaintances while we ate was lively informative about our group. Many are seasoned travelers and have had very full filling careers. Ann and I shared a drink at the bar and called in a night after one drink.