I was having a hard time trying to figure out how to start this post, so i decided to take a few hours and upload the photos first….it’s been a couple hours and i’m STILL not done because i still have one more camera to go….BUT, the photos are in order in the photo gallery, so as i narrate, you can go through the photos if you like, or wait until afterwards….
PHOTOS OF COSTA RICA 2005
I must say, this was a trip of a lifetime and while it was unlike anything i expected it would be, i’m so very glad that i went.
day 1
we left for costa rica on lacsa/taca at 1 am on Saturday morning….I dont think i’ll ever fly Lacsa/Taca again. They messed up our seating assignments and sat us apart, but luckily, we sat around a sister and brother who didnt want to be seated next to eachother *they were at least in their 30s* so they switched seats for us so that we could sit together. I thought I was going to cry when we started to sit apart…all i could think was, i’m about to be entering this strange country without the man i love, literally by my side. :thumbsdown: . After we got through that drama, we settled in with our Ipods to have a peaceful flight to Costa Rica. After takeoff, we realized that they wouldnt be serving food, but these nasty tasting “chips” that werent really chips, and if we wanted anythng to drink with it, we were gonna have to pay. I fell asleep throughout the rest of the flight thinking “when we land, i’mma go get some real food”. Flight landed on time at about 7:30 am in Costa Rica. I hate LACSA. After we landed we went through customs, currency exchange, and then caught a taxi to our joining hotel.
The taxi cost about 1600 which was pretty good….we caught it to Hotel Rincon de San Jose. After we got there, we decided to grab something to eat at complementary breakfast before we went to our room….after breakfast, we went upstairs to see our room…we ended up falling asleep for a good hour before we got up and went to explore San Jose, Costa Rica. First we headed to the Butterfly Farm that wasnt too far, because i was hella curious …never been to one…..then, We headed down the main streets, just walking around seeing what things were like. After walking around for a bit, we went back to the hotel, and got a better room and chilled for a while before falling asleep. We woke up to our tour group leader Vee, calling us to find out if we wanted to go to dinner and meet the rest of the group….I declined as we were both half asleep and they were walking out the door. Two seconds later, we jumped up, put on street clothes, and headed out to find the restaurant they went to. After 10 minutes, we walked back to the hotel because it was impossible to find the restaurant being that it was dark and we didnt know where we were going. The hotel reception called us a cab and told the cab driver where to take us. We were there in 5 minutes. :thumbsup:
We met up with Annalisa and her sister *the Italian girls*, Sarah *Seattle*, and Vee *our tour leader from Australia* at the restaurant. We found out that there would be one more girl flying in from Switzerland named, Claudia. Since we had already eaten, we ordered drinks and joined in the conversation already taking place. :grouphug:
Sarah just quit her managerial position at a coffee shop in Seattle and was looking forward to a quick vacation before deciding what she was going to do next.
Annalisa studies the behavior of fish and biology and was looking for a great vacation and decided to drag her sister along.
Claudia was the quietest and we werent really able to find out that much, but she seemed to be very quiet, smart, and polite.
Vee had been leading tours in Costa Rica for a long time and would be leading us around Costa Rica for the last time before returning home to Australia to lead tours there.
Me and Incog were just looking for a great vacation in a new country which would allow us to spend some downtime together all the while being active, and not just laying up in a hotel somewhere watching the sky change colors. :kiss:
Everyone was there for their own reasons….but most of all, just looking to have a fun exciting adventure. 
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel together and set the meeting place and time for the next mornings meeting and bus boarding to our first destination. :thumbsup:
day 2
Breakfast was good, just as it was the day before…i was starting to get used to actually EATING breakfast at that point…lol….We ate the Costa Rican breakfast staples….fresh fruit *AND I DO MEAN FRESH*, scrambled eggs, bread, and coffee. Incog had fallen in love with the eggs the morning before and was surprised that they werent ready when we first walked downstairs at 7am. But after sitting at the table, poking around at the food and staring into space for a while, they put out the eggs, and he was back to smiling extra hard and singing at the table again. 
The meeting went pretty smoothly. We discussed all of the things we would be doing as a group, and things we could do on our own, and what to expect. Our vacation wasnt going to be complete luxury, but it was going to be the best way to discover Costa Rica among the Costa Ricans. We would be staying in 2 and 3 star hotels *Costa Rican standards*, and traveling using our own bus and bus driver throughout the whole trip. Our bus driver’s name was Wilfer…..and he had a THING for Sarah….*giggle*.
We boarded the bus after the meeting and headed for Manuel Antonio a beach town south of San Jose. On the way, we stopped to walk Crocidiles in the river…. 
When we arrived at the hotel, we quickly through our stuff in our rooms, and then headed in seperate directions, knowing that we would meet for dinner at the local restaurant and bar on the corner, which ended up being mine and Incog’s relax spot since we could sit at one of the edge tables and order drinks and watch and talk about folks…lol.
Me and Incog went to the beach and took some photos on the rocks, and then walked around for a while before heading back to the room. After resting for a few minutes, i threw on a bathing suit and we went back to the beach, so i could play in the water for a while…lol….on the way back to the room, we saw some white faced monkeys hanging around the local shops, and took photos with the other tourists who were standing around watching. After that was dinner. After dinner we decided to get in the pool and splash around for a little while before going to bed. We took a lot of underwater photos with the A80, so once i get those photos downloaded to my CPU, i’ll put them in the gallery also. Me, Incog, Sarah, and Claudia had paid for a horseback riding excursion to take place at 7:30 am the next morning, so we had to get rested for that.
day 3
We were picked up for horsebackriding, and arrived at the ranch in time for breakfast….after eating a pretty hearty breakfast *a Casado is the staple MEAL of Costa Rica. It is rice and beans, salad, fruit, and whatever meat you’d like to eat*, we were all given horses based on height. My horses name was Martin *pronounced Marteen*, and Incog had the biggest horse because he was the tallest person there. We rode out to the waterfalls to go diving and swimming. The horseride was INTERESTING. 
There were no falls or anything like that, but it felt like it looked in the movies…..lol…..that ish hurts. There were rocks everywhere, steep trails, and streams….typical rainforest. After we reached the waterfalls, we climbed the ladder down to the SMALL landing. And when i mean small, i mean that only 3 people could stand on it at a time…lol, and there were about 10 of us. Incog was brave enough to climb back up to the top and jump off of the rocks with the other guys that were there….Sarah and I just watched with another girl, and a mother who was with her husband and two boys on the horseback riding trip. She kept mentioning the fact that she was a Registered Nurse, but that STILL didnt make me feel any better about Incog jumping off a rock to a rocky bottomed waterfall. 
But he jumped anyways…….TWICE. And even though i was pretty scared, i have to admit that after it was all over…i was standing there, pretty proud. :couple: After the boys finished jumping, we headed back up the cliff stairs, 2 by 2. As soon as we reached the top, it started to rain something terrible….but then again, we WERE in the rainforest. Everyone was alredy pretty wet from swimming, but now our DRY clothes were soaked. We rode back like troopers, smelling like wet puppies on top of wet horses and all. Would I do it again? HELL NAW….but, Was I glad I did it? HELL YES. :thumbsup: Not only did i mount, and ride a horse, but I rode one in Costa Rica, through the rain forest, and BACK through the rain, mud, steep climbs and rocks. *two claps for me*
After we got back to the ranch, they prepared lunch for us, Typical Lunch Casado, and we ate like champs…only you know me, and I ate the rice….two big Incog scoops…lol. He hate my chicken.
This was me on the ride back to the hotel after lunch…photo courtesy of Incog….*punk*.
This was the mother of the two boys with her husband watching the boys jump after Incog.
After we got back, we were surprised to find a CRAB hanging out on the pillow of our extra bed *where we kept all of our stuff*….he was just CHILLIN. After some screaming and running and what not, the managers came and extracted the crab from the room by its legs and left him outside on the concrete to die….URGH. They prompty changed the pillow cases of the extra bed. After all that, I jumped in the pool, while Incog chilled….we went to dinner that night, in the rain, but it was pretty good.
day 4
We headed out to the National Park of Manuel Antonio the next morning at 7am. We walked to the river, and paid a man 100 colones each to ride while he pushed our boat across the river. It was high tide, so men find ways to make a little money by helping out tourists to get across the river. The national park was AMAZING….but oh my God, I’ve never climbed and jumped so much in my LIFE. That was the hardest hike i’ve ever had to endure. You know out here, when you think PARK, you think maybe some water, a playground, and green grass and trees…..but when they mean PARK, they mean, climb and hike through mountains to see our animals. lol…so that we did…we chose the BIG hike so that we could see more, not knowing that we’d be SWEATING and huffing and puffing at the end. We stopped in the middle of the hike to swim for a while before heading on a smaller hike in search for some sloths. After swimming, i realized, i’d have to hike the rest of the way in wet jeans that were now SAND FILLED….*so uncomfortable* . There were many people there by the time we stopped for a swim, but we were the first people there in the morning being that it was so early. Many people would pay “guides” to be lead through the park with high powered telescopes to view birds and animals. We had Vee, our own personal guide.
After the hike, I jumped in the pool and packed for our next destination. Monteverde, Costa Rica.
When we arrived in Monteverde, it was raining and it looked pretty bad,but it was the cloud forest, right? lol….we spent the night in cabins and had dinner at Orphos. Pretty good food. I had a chocolate chip shake….best i’ve ever had. The man who owned the restaurant spoke very good english, so when we were paynig for our food, i told him, “Your english is top notch!” and he was like “Thanks! So is yours! ” :blush: :blush: so silly…lol……that night at dinner, i had spent some time talking to Wilfer, our bus driver. He didnt speak english…..AT ALL…and only Vee *the tour leader* and I were able to speak and understand him, so i became the voice when vee was gone. Now I aint gonna front…my spanish was a bit rusty….but me and Wilfer worked our understanding out pretty well. *giggle*
After dinner was a LONG hike up a hill back to the cabins with the intentions of going to sleep. I think that’s the point when it hit me….I thought, “we’re not in kansas anymore, Toto”. I wasnt used to the hiking and walking everywhere, and having to explain myself in different language other than my native english to get around and to EAT. I wasnt used to the ants on the walls or on the ground when i slept, the non-carpeted floors, the small animals *crab*, or bugs *nats and moths* in the rooms, not being able to put toilet paper in the toilet….having to wait for the water to get cold, or taking a cold shower. It was either hate it or love it, there was no inbetween….It wasnt that i hated it to begin with, it was just that it was DIFFERENT.
day 5
I woke up with a new attitude. Incog woke up and sat out on the porch for a while before breakfast, while i just laid in bed and….well……ADJUSTED. Then, I showered and headed downstairs wth everyone for typical Casado. We jumped on the bus for a trip to the national park of Monteverde, and that was another hiking trip within itself. But since we’d already been to one of their “PARKS”, we knew what to expect…lol…This time, we ended the hike on our own after we reached a spot called “La Ventana *the window* * in the park with Vee and Sarah. The Italian girls had hired a guide who spoke Italian and Claudia was off exploring on her own. So we sort of took our time on the hike back to the entrance to enjoy the flowers and scenery since it was just us two. After we got to the entrance, we headed over to the Hummingbird Gallery extension of the park. There were turns of humming birds, which i was able to capture. It started to rain after that so we ran back to the the little adjoining cafe so i could grab some Coffee….which was PRETTY DARN GOOD, if i do say so myself. We had spent many breakfasts trying to figure out ways to add sugar and creme to the coffee to make it drinkable and not the potent wakening drug that it was when it was placed before us. lol. But this time it was different, there was CHOCOLATE on the coffee tray, so i was able to mix some of that in to make an EXCELLENT mocha.
After we drank our coffee we headed to the adjoining souvenir shop at the national park. I was able to pick up a bunch of stuff for some folks in my life, and Incog was able to pick up some stuff for his coworkers. We also got some stuff for our new home.
After the park, we headed back up to the center of Monteverde to set out on our own. Sarah and Claudia went Ziplining through the national park….the Italian girls went skywalking through the national park…and Incog and I spent the afternoon exploring the town…and having our laundry cleaned. All of our clothes were looking pretty horrid being that we werent expecting to be hiking in different spots in Costa Rica…we had mud up to our butts on our jeans….:lol: and mosquito bites everywhere. :hissy:
We had lunch at a local pizzeria *BETTER THAN PIZZA IN THE STATES*….and went back to the room for a nap as we planned to go to the Frog Pond later on that night.
The Frog Pond was GGGGGGGREAT…lol…leaving the hotel, we ran into Wilfer bringing the other girls back and he asked us if we wanted a ride….Sarah was too tired, so she went upstairs, but everyone else wanted to go wth us, so they stayed on the bus and we headed out. Flash wasnt allowed IN the frong pond area, but we got some outside in the rain…lol…
After we left, we showed the girls the pizzeria that we had gone to, and we ate ice cream and drank sodas while they ate since we werent hungry.
Back up the hill for sleep…..
day 6
We headed out to La Fortuna…..where the Volcano is! WOO HOO! HOT SPRINGS and RELAXATION! The hotel here, “Luigis” was off the chains as far as hotels that we had been in *besides the one in Manuel Antonio*….Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, carpeted floors, great pool outside, great VIEW of the Volcano from the balcony….great all around….
We got to La Fortuna, in mid afternoon, grabbed some lunch and then booked our excursions for the next day…..we chose ATVs. *a tee hee hee*…i’ve ALWAYS wanted to go ATVing. My cousins always went when we were younger, but my parents thought it was too dangerous for kids, so i had to hear stories when we were little…..but Im a GROWN UP now…lol….After we booked our tour, i got in the pool….and just CHILLED the whole day….we did go out to make a Photo CD for Sarah of all the pictures I had taken, but other than that…..chillen was the key…..
Incog and I had a different time ending to our trip because while we were to go back to the main hotel we started from on Saturday, the others were to continue on *Claudia had 4 more days with Vee*, *Sarah had 6 more days with Vee and then she had an extra week todo whatever she wanted that wasnt tour guided* and the *Italian girls are heading on to Southern Costa Rica, and then Panama for another two weeks of touring with Vee*. We planned ours shorter because Incog had to get back to work, and i wanted to spend some time at home finshing up the unpacking and making our home….OURS.
Anyhow, that night we all went out to Tabacon Hot Springs. It’s a very LUSH/POSH Hot Springs Resort in Costa Rica. Many famous people vacation there because it’s so far away and so secluded and exclusive. Incog and I plan on going back for a week to enjoy Tabacon on our own sometime in the future. It’s about $189 a night for a standard room, but it’s all inclusive besides the massages and physical therapy that they offer.
It’s a series of hot springs build on the thermal path of the arenal volcano *by our hotel*….The Tabacon Website had better photos because i was capturing at night….
You could sit anywhere, jump in anywhere….splash anywhere that you wanted…there were about 20 different pools and waterfalls, ranging in temperatures from 95 degrees to 105 degrees. They had a water slide and wet bar in the 95 degree area, so after we played on that for a while, we then went to the hotter pools….we were there from about 7pm to 11pm….just RELAXING and being on vacation.
I think that had to be the best part of the trip for me. And one of the reasons, we plan to visit Tabacon exclusively.
Highlights: the little girl who was topless with two pig tails and looked like Jim Carey back in the Saturday Night Live days, all 7 of us sitting under the waterfall up in the hills of Tabacon for about 45 minutes.
day 7
Incog and I woke up early *7am* to meet our guide for the ATV tour of the volcano. Our guide was pretty young and since we were the only two, we were able to do more and go more places….which was cool. We took pictures throughout the whole trip. We rode up to the large waterfall, looked around the souvenir shop, then rode back down to the butterfly farm in that area, and had lunch there. After lunch, we rode down to a river where we took photos of cows drinknig water and relaxing n the shade…..then we rode back up and back to the ATV place. The ride down to the river was very difficult and i got “yelled” at once for taking my foot off of the bike because i thought it was going to tip…..i was constantly reminded that it “wont tip over”, and that it’s “pretty stable”, but “pretty” wasnt good enough for Courtney Elizabeth…it needed to be written in stone somewhere…lol…..all in all, I’d do it again, even though i got my first bee sting..lol…. During our trip DOWN to the river, i was going pretty fast and a bee flew towards my face and i swatted it down…..and well, into my bathing suit top on accident.When we got to the bottom it started to get mad and started to sting me….I jumped off the bike, and screamed and incog and the guide came running over…lol….:lol:
WHAT? It stung my boob…lol…anyhow, all of my hopping around and slapping my chest killed it so when i opened my bathing suit top to shake it out, it kind of just fell to the ground dead. EH WELL. :thumbsup:
After ATVing, we got back to the hotel and started to rest for a minute, but then Sarah knocked on the door telling us that the hotel was “kicking us out”.. We THEN started to notice a bus with about 40 high schoolers on it unloading….the kids were running up the stairs and yelling and talking really loud and filling the hotel rooms around us…..since we were the only ones back from our excursions, and Claudia and the Italian girls were still up in the national park, and Vee was kyacking, we were stuck trynig to figure out what would be best to do. So we packed up all of our stuff and loaded it onto the bus. Wilfer had already put his stuff onthe bus, but hadnt communicated anything to us because 1) we werent there, and 2) sarah didnt speak spanish and 3) he thought Vee had already told us in English.
All in all, after we threw our stuff on the bus, we talked the manager into letting us wait for everyone else to pack their own stuff so we wouldnt have to do it for them. Vee came back and explained to us that the hotel hadnt told her ANYTHING, and that they had DOUBLE BOOKED, and were trying to blame it on US. :wtf: We chopped it up to a Costa Rican misshap. The manager and his wife THEN convinced us to go up the street to ANOTHER hotel which was “oh so much better than theirs” and they would pay the difference and give us free dinner for the night if we decided to drive back up to town. We agreed since the pool was already swamped with babling puperty high schoolers and we just……..didnt need the yelling and hoopla.
In short, they lied. The hotel wasnt BETTER than theres….but it DID have a tv in each of the rooms….the bathrooms were smaller and on came an onslaught of what? MORE ANTS! lol…..but by then it was too late and we had moved all of our stuff from the other hotel already…..
We went back to their hotel for our free dinner and then drove back to our new hotel to go to sleep. Vee gave me and Incog our transfer ticket and gave us some insight into what might be going on in san jose when we got back since we were the only ones ending our tour the next day.
day 8
we woke up and layed around for a while watching tv and what not. eventually we got up and got into street clothes so that we could catch a cab into town for breakfast and to walk around a little bit more before getting on the bus back to san jose for our final night. In our leaving the hotel, we ran into the others who were leaving for their next destination….we said our goodbyes and watched them drive off before walking into the reception area to have them call a cab. After the cab came, we rode back into town for breakfast and to try to see if we could catch an earlier flight instead of waiting one more night. We’d already seen as much as we wanted to see of San Jose and thought it’d be good to get home one day early to relax n our own home…but…once again…..I HATE LACSA. After finally getting through to their costa rican extension, they couldnt find my name and eventually found Incog’s on a flight for the next night. We asked for the cost of a flight change, and they said it’d cost $100.00 extra per person…so we agreed to just takethe ride back to the original joining hotel since we liked it anyways and they had good breakfast…lol…
We rode back to our hotel, finished packing, walked across the street to an artists’ souvenir shop and bought a few things before heading back across the street to wait for our bus. While we were waiting, it started to rain and rained for a while after we got on the bus *8 seater van style bus*….I was glad the bus wasnt bigger, because that would have meant more tourists like us and less quiet…lol….
The ride back seemed quick, i dozed while Incog watched scenery fly by…..we got back to the hotel, and got a bgger room than we had before which was a very cool surprise. We slept for a while, and then had dinner at Cafe Mundo across the street before getting back in the bed and knocking out until 5am.
day 9
i think we were just excited to be going home, but we woke up pretty early and couldnt get back to sleep…..we packed and dozed all morning watching TV…until we went downstairs for breakfast at about 9……..around 11 we went for a walk to the local supermarket to buy some snacks…and then around 1 we walked back to the market to pass some time hoping that 3 would come faster if we walked around the main street shops.
eventually 3 came and we called a cab. He came and drove us to the airport where we went through customs, paid our departure tax, and stopped at burger king on the walk to our gate…..WORST tasting french fries ever *they were cold*, and WORST tastnng hamburger, according to Incog *homemade it seemed*….but i think we were just happy to be heading home…..we got some more souvenirs before boarding the plane.
The lady who sat behind us had found a small, miniature chiuaua mut while in costa rica and decided to bring it back to the states…so that made the trip a little more interesting…she seemed to be able to get through customs and the airport with no problems at all….she was in her little cage of course.
It took about 20 minutes for the Van Nuys Fly Away to get to terminal 2 *International Terminal at LAX*, but it did…and we were glad….it was packed by the time we finiished with terminal 3 so he had to leave everyone else in terminals 4 – 8….but he warned us that if we ever travel again on a Sunday night to walk to terminal 1 because it might be our best bet in actually getting a ride. We got back to Van Nuys FlyAway at about 1:30, and into my car at 1:45 since we had to wait for him to unload all the bags….
We headed over to savons since it’s 24 hours so incog could print out his pictures….I’m supposed to do mine sometime this week…..it cost him $46.00 for about150 pictures, so I’m waiting until payday since i have about 500 photos….lol…gonna cost about $150.00 to print out all of mine.
I just want to say thank you to Incog for being my great travel buddy…and for spending a great vacation with me…we have so much fun together and I’m blessed to have you in my life. I cant wait for our many trips together….love you :couple:
PHOTOS OF COSTA RICA 2005
It’s good to be back home….the DSL man came this morning before incog left for work…since we’ve been having issues with the DSL line…and i’m just ……TIRED so i’m gonna lounge the rest of the day away…maybe head over to Ballys for a good workout.
I hope you guys had a great past week and a great week this week…..I’ll probably leave this up for a day or so so everyone gets a chance to read it…..the pictures will of course be in the album indefinately……
missed you guys….:hug:
xoxoxoxoxoxo
PHOTOS OF COSTA RICA 2005
Well, it’s time to make some educated decisions, and make educated choices…..
But that’s okay…becuase we’re going to look for them again, when incog and I go to paint her bedroom wall……
Incog had taken them off when we went on our trip because he didnt want them to get lost and it’s easier to carry 3 keys instead of 15. I just FORGOT to put them back on once we got back. *sigh*
Anyhow, i should be ready to purchase it in a week or two…so that i can have it before the trip to play around with and have sort of a “getting to know you” day with the camera at a park somewhere….God that sounds like a date….smh. I think i’m going to get it at Best Buy so that i can have the warranty and the theft policy and everything. If i were to buy it on ebay, then i’d get it for about $100 cheaper, but i wouldnt have the protection that i know I have if i go to Best Buy and purchase it.
…lol……
