Thursday, January 31, 2008

Costa Rica - Day 1 & 2 at a Glance




Our day started at 2:30 a.m. when we woke up to get ready for the airport. Fastforward: We landed in Costa Rica at 2:00 p.m., found a Taxi to take us 90 miles to our resort for $80.00. (pretty cheap!) We entered the resort at 4:30 p.m. which was 14 hours of travel time. We checked in, took a shuttle to our bungalow, rid our burdon of luggage and took off to explore what we could before dark. Our resort was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! The entire place was set in amidst the jungle with preservation in mind over the almighty dollar. Very little of this rainforest was escavated for buildings, and what was, was replaced with beautiful tropical plants and groundcovers. The bungalows were set in around the largest of the ginormous trees, and the vines and such were kept in their natural state.
The rooms were pretty much what we expected, nothing froo-froo, but there was a fantastic view. We loved it that way, because we didn't want to spend any time there anyway. It was cozy, had a fridge for snacks and drinks, it was clean, had double beds, and the shower worked great.
Our first night out, we were lost. The map we were given was confusing. We took wrong turns a few times. It was a long walk back to the office, but we needed to get back there so that we could call a shuttle to take us to the snack shop because we were starving. We didn't realize just how big it was until we had to walk. We had burgers at an outdoor cafe and at this time it was dark. The sounds were awesome! The jungle comes alive at night, along with the ocean waves that we heard from our table. We decided to find our way to the surf, so that we could get a sneek peek at what to expect tomorrow when the sun was up. We walked among hermit crabs scavenging for food all over the beach on this night. We walked back to the office to get a shuttle back to the room. This was getting old real quick! />
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On our first morning, we headed to breakfast which was across the path, and as we approach, I see a monkey on the roof! Wow, monkeys for breakfast! We sat under the outer shelter, and was entertained by a few of the monkeys trying to steal food. We couldn't believe that on our first full day, in our first few minutes, we get to share our morning with monkeys! Who does that? We were ecstatic with amazement! We stayed until we realized we were the last ones there, and eventually left. I probably took 200 photos... already.
We start walking in no particular direction and are perplexed on what to do and where to go. With all this walking, we need a plan or we will wear out our shoes zigzagging. I thought that maybe we should rent a golfcart at least for the day so that we could get to know our surroundings for future endeavors. We headed toward the office and found out it was $55 per day. What a scam! But...it might just be worth it in timesaving and sense of direction for just one day...so we rent and take off. Wow, did we ever explore! We found all kinds of trails, found the beach, found the pools, and all kinds of stuff. We decided to find the other beach which is famous for its white sand, and start driving. />



This beach was not easy to get to. There is no way we would ever walk. We took a winding road up and down hills along the coastline for what seemed like miles. It had great views, but no one ever walks. We find our own little parking lot for golfcarts and hit the beach. It was gorgeous to say the least. The surf was bigger than any beach I've ever been to. We saw boogie boarders do their tricks and we enjoyed the day until sunset. We saw Scarlet Macaws flying high and squawking over the beach, and I could hardly contain my excitement. I had to get a great picture of these guys. I could hardly wait. I walked the coastline with my camera ready, but never did get a decent shot that day. Our first day at Costa Rica was more than we ever expected!...and... the Macaws will taunt me again...

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