Limon Time
From the moment we disembarked at the Juan Santamaria International Airport we fell in love with Costa Rica! Really! It might though, have had alot to do with the fact that it was -20 celsius in the country we had just come from!
We had been die hard Mexico travellers in the past but visiting Costa Rica changed all that! No more dry ol' Mexico for us...it was Pura Vida Costa Rica all the way from then on out.
Our first trip was for our 25th Wedding Anniversary in March of 2005. A big milestone like that deserved a special holiday. After all was said & done it turned out to be the trip of a life time!
Everything was perfect from start to finish....transportation, accommodations, the people we met...everything!
Looking back now & hearing all the bad experiences others had endured, I guess we were pretty lucky it all went so well.
It all started when we bought our first computer. What a wealth of knowledge these gadgets hold! Once I typed in the words "Costa Rica" we were hooked! There was so much information, so many choices, it was mind boggling!
I spent so many months pouring over the hundreds of websites, clicking each one's numerous links, cutting & pasting in to my word program information for future reference that my wrists were aching & my clickin' finger was numb! It definately didn't help that I had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at the time & in the end had to switch hands to peck at the keyboard. Still, every key punched meant I knew that much more about Costa Rica. We were darn near experts before we even got there! In fact we had a dispute with our Travel Agent on where the San Jose Airport was! She insisted it was right in the heart of downtown San Jose, therefore we should let her make us hotel reservations for this area. Hmmmmm, obviously she knew nothing of Costa Rica & we knew we were right. We thanked her for booking our flights & said we would look after everything else ourselves. To this day, I am glad "we did it our waaaay"...I'm humming along with Mr. Sinatra in my head as I type this! Words to live by for sure!
Once we had our airline tickets in our hot, little & oh, so excited hands, we were ready to map out our destinations. Of course we wanted to see everything! Unfortunately to see "everything", it could take years. We would be there a month & transportation had to be figured in to every leg of the journey.
Short distances on maps can be very deceiving when planning travel days from one destination to the next. Just because a map indicates a place is only 90 kms away, it does not mean you can expect to arrive in said destination with in an hour. Case in point, (more details to follow in a later post)....from Arenal to Monteverde via jeep-boat-jeep, it took close to 5 hours & it was only about a 25 km trip! Fortunately, because of diligent research, we knew this & planned accordingly.
It took us over a year to plan our trip. The fact that we spent so much time getting to know Costa Rica in advance was more than worth it.
Dale joked that our holiday started a year before we even got there & lasted well after we had arrived home! He was right, as he always is :).
Arriving/Leaving
Even though the Jaun Santamaria International Airport is called the "San Jose" Airport, it's not in San Jose. The airport is actually in the city of Alajuela which is west of & under half hour's drive from San Jose.
This picture is of the San Jose Airport.
The bottom area where all the red cabs are waiting is where you come out when you arrive & the ramp at the top is where you enter the airport to leave the country.
What a zoo!!!!! Seriously. Arriving and leaving.
Arriving
We've been to Costa Rica several times & it's always the same upon arrival.
First, you will be hit with the most incredible blast of humid, instantly sticky, soaked to the skin heat as you disembark on to the scorching, black tarmac of the Jaun Santamaria Airport. It's freakin' hot! Almost takes your breath away.
Of course if you're like us you will be wearing extra layers of clothing because you just left a cold country & you needed them to keep warm on the chilly flight.
After our first trip we came up with a new plan; we either shed some of those layers before the plane lands or change wardrobes completely. Off come the socks, jeans, runners & sweaters & on go the shorts, t-shirts & sandals. We travel light now. Each of us has one carry on sized bag & another weighing under 25lbs. We also wear layers of the heaviest items of clothing we feel we will need while in Costa Rica. With such little in the way of luggage we never have to check them thus eliminating the risk of lost bags & it sure makes it easier to carry your belongings around. We learned from our own mistakes after lugging two bulging suitcases around on our first month long trip to Costa Rica. Just see how much fun that is when traveling in tiny boats or cramped local buses. Not an easy feat! Over half of what we had taken never even left the neatly packed suitcases. Best advise....travel as light as possible.
Once you're in the airport' building just follow the group passengers that came off your plane. They will be heading for the baggage pick up area then on to Immigration.
While you're waiting for your baggage it doesn't hurt to exchange about $50.00 in to colnes at the kiosk. It's never the best exchange rate at the airport but you may need money for tips, cabs etc. Most will accept US dollars but it's good to have at least some colones on hand. Don't pull out wads of cash to get the $50.00 though...have it ready before you get there. You just never know who might be watching. And "ALWAYS" watch your bags, every second, especially once you leave the building.
Going through Immigration can take awhile sometimes, especially if more than one plane has come in around the same time but we've always passed through uneventfully.
We've always found the Immigration officials to be polite & friendly.
Once you're out the building's doors though ,it's another story! It's sort of like organized chaos. It can be quite intimidating when you don't know what to expect.
Hotel drivers by the dozen are jostling for space among the crowd, waving plastic signboards in the air, trying to find their guests. Some hold them up in the window so you can see them as you head for the exit. Porters try to take your bags to awaiting cabs, who themselves are also trying to get your attention.
Again...keep your eyes & your hands on all your luggage until you know exactly what you are doing. Don't let anyone take your bags unless you are for sure going with that cab or hotel van. If you don't see the driver of your hotel, just wait...he will find you. Or if there are two of you then one can stay with the bags & the other can search for your driver. Be prepared to keep saying "No, gracias as you will be asked if you need a ride over & over again.
If your hotel is not picking you up, then make sure you only use the official taxis. They are red with a yellow triangle on top.
Many travellers choose to have their rental cars waiting for them at the airport. I've heard this isn't the wisest choice. Bandidos have been known to inflict a rental's tire with a slow leak then wait for you to stop, hopefully somewhere desolate & fix it. They follow you from the airport & stop & offer to help, which is not help at all but in the end, a robbery. Not a nice way to start your trip.
True or not, we never take the chance, just incase. You never know. Better safe than sorry as the saying goes.
Except for our first trip, where we relied on other forms of transportation, we always have our rental vehicle delivered to our hotel.
If you plan on driving somewhere as soon as you land, I'd recommend you have the rental agency pick you up at the airport & take you to their office or just take a cab to somewhere a few blocks from the airport & have them meet you there.
There is another airport near San Jose but it is just for smaller airplanes.
There is also an International Airport in the North-West corner of the country in Liberia.
Several smaller landing .are available for in country trips.
The 2 main airlines that opperate within Costa Rica are Sansa & Nature Air.
We've only flown Sansa, to & from the Osa Penninsula and they were the most harrowing flights of my life! I'll go into more detail on this traumatic experience in a future post
Fauna
Fat Birder
Sights & Sounds of CR
Lizard (anole?) in leaf litter.
These little fellows can scare the crap out of you occasionally. There you are standing there quietly minding your own bussiness, checking something out & suddenly they zip through rustling the dead leaves, sounding much bigger than they are & of course your first thought is "snake"! Whew! Many a lizard has caught us off guard!
Oxen on Playa Negra (black beach) in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limon.
In Costa Rica they actually use these guys alot. These 2 were done working for the day & took a trip to the beach instead of following the road where their owner wanted them to go. Earlier in the day we watched as they hauled 20 foot logs down a hillside path.
This is a Yellow-headed Gecko (in espanol...Gecko de cabeza amarilla)
In case you haven't already guessed,this is an Owl Butterfly. They measure about 7" across.
Hog-nosed Bat. This one fell out of a palm while the gardener was pulling off dead fronds. He said once they are on the ground that they can't fly up properly. They need to climb something taller to get going. Apparently many fall prey to ants if they are stranded on the ground.
We are in the habit (not a good one mind you!) of turning rocks etc. over to see what lurks beneath. This is a "Large Forest Floor Millipede" & they are large as their name implies.
A "beach" monkey. White-faced Capuchin (Mono Cariblanco). Pretty fierce little things! Big teeth. Because tourists feed them they are quite aggressive & are known to steal cameras etc.
"Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth". This is a male. He was sound asleep about 3 feet up the tree. He was so close e could have touched him....but didn't of course!
Just too cool! A "walking Stick"
The cocoon of a Blue Morpho Butterfly. The coccoon is about 5' or 6" long.
Sights & Sounds of CR
Lizard (anole?) in leaf litter.
These little fellows can scare the crap out of you occasionally. There you are standing there quietly minding your own bussiness, checking something out & suddenly they zip through rustling the dead leaves, sounding much bigger than they are & of course your first thought is "snake"! Whew! Many a lizard has caught us off guard!
Oxen on Playa Negra (black beach) in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limon.
In Costa Rica they actually use these guys alot. These 2 were done working for the day & took a trip to the beach instead of following the road where their owner wanted them to go. Earlier in the day we watched as they hauled 20 foot logs down a hillside path.
This is a Yellow-headed Gecko (in espanol...Gecko de cabeza amarilla)
In case you haven't already guessed,this is an Owl Butterfly. They measure about 7" across.
Hog-nosed Bat. This one fell out of a palm while the gardener was pulling off dead fronds. He said once they are on the ground that they can't fly up properly. They need to climb something taller to get going. Apparently many fall prey to ants if they are stranded on the ground.
We are in the habit (not a good one mind you!) of turning rocks etc. over to see what lurks beneath. This is a "Large Forest Floor Millipede" & they are large as their name implies.
A "beach" monkey. White-faced Capuchin (Mono Cariblanco). Pretty fierce little things! Big teeth. Because tourists feed them they are quite aggressive & are known to steal cameras etc.
"Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth". This is a male. He was sound asleep about 3 feet up the tree. He was so close e could have touched him....but didn't of course!
Just too cool! A "walking Stick"
The cocoon of a Blue Morpho Butterfly. The coccoon is about 5' or 6" long.
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