Conclusions

We had a wonderful time in Costa Rica and I can’t wait to go back. Next time we definitely want to check out Aernal Volcano, Montverde, and the Osa peninsula..

Montezuma was our favorite place. We really liked the small town and laid back atmosphere that Montezuma offered. it was very easy to walk around there and meet other travelers.

We liked not having a definite itinerary for our trip and every day we met other travelers who we were able to give suggestions on where to go and stay
One of the best parts about our trip was meeting other travelers and being able to compare notes and get suggestions on where to go. We met so many wonderful people: Casey and Cassy from Arlington, TX; Lissa, Steven, Lucan, Tad, and Jana from Los Angeles, CA; Jay and James Mc Cracken from Lewisville, TX; Joe, Kelly, and family from Wisconsin; and everybody else we met on our travels.

Where we stayed:

Hotel Pasatiempo in Tamarindo – Everything was excellent and would definitely stay there again.

El Sano Banano in Montezuma – We liked it because it was a good value and centrally located. We only ate the free breakfast that was included with our room at their restaurant and found that some of the items offered on their breakfast menu was pretty average. Next time I’d probably want to stay at one of the other nicer hotels near the center of town.

La Colonia in Manuel Antonio – Would definitely stay there again as long as they had hot water in the room but would definitely eat dinner elsewhere.

Things I learned:

Tips are usually included on the bill for meals and if you are not sure just ask. 10% seems to be the standard for tipping and I always left my spare change after paying the bill if the service was good.

Most of the food there is EXCELLENT!

I should have brought back more bottles of Salsa Lizano!

All the gas stations are full service and they will wash your windows and check your tire pressure. I always tipped the gas station guys around 200 colonies each.

The roads are pretty well marked on the highways but it’s easy to get lost in the cities as the streets are not well signed.

Everybody is very friendly and in the tourist areas just about everybody speaks enough English to get by.

COSTA RICA IS PURA VIDA!

Day 2 - Drive to Tamarindo

We woke up early and had an awesome buffet breakfast by the pool. Breakfast choices included gallo pinto, potatoes, fried yucca, sausage, orange juice, yams, plantains, coffee, as well as a made to order omelets and pancakes. There was a parrot climbing on the fence and there were also an aviary with three beautiful toucans nearby

While we were eating breakfast, Christopher from Tricolor car rental arrived with our 4×4. He told us that he was in no hurry and for us to finish our breakfast while he started on the paperwork. Christopher was quite a character making lots of jokes and giving us some suggestions on where we should go and places to see along the way. We got a good deal on a tiny Daihatsu Terios 4×4 that cost $350 for 9 days with unlimited mileage. After breakfast we took a walk around the grounds of the old coffee plantation where there hotel is now located and then went back to our room to get ready for our drive to Tamarindo

We left the hotel at about 10am with some directions to the highway but somehow we missed a turn and got lost in the streets of downtown Alajuela. The streets were a bit confusing with many intersections having 2 separate traffic lights for turning or going straight. Also many of the streets were one way and after almost going the wrong way a few times I was able to figure out what the “no hay paso” signs meant. The drivers in the city were not nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be. Everybody obeyed the stop signs and signal lights and traffic seemed to move pretty orderly. In fact in many ways it was easier than driving back home in San Francisco! In some of the intersections there were people trying to sell pens and what I thought might be lottery tickets but we kept the windows up and doors locked just to be safe

After about a half hour of trying in vain to find the highway, we pulled into a gas station to fill up the tank and practice my Spanish asking for directions. It turned out that the highway was just a few blocks away.

For the most part, the highway out of the central valley was well paved and a smooth drive with only some small sections that had the occasional pot hole. The highways mender through small towns where we say many schools, churches, and soccer fields (the required things to be considered a town in Costa Rica). We passed several police checkpoints where they were using radar to catch speeders and inspect trucks but we were always flagged on and didn’t need to stop. We made our way onto the highway that took us across the Friendship Bridge over the Tempisque River. We stopped on the opposite side to stretch our legs and take some pictures from the observation point located above the parking lot.

We then made our way north before turning onto the road to Tamarindo. The roads were all well marked and had directional signs with distances to the next town at every main intersection. We lsitened to the radio and the station played a mixture of american rock music hip hop, latin hip hop, reggae, and american R&B
We arrived in Tamarindo at about 3:00pm and made our way to were we were had a reservation at the Hotel Pasatiempo. The grounds at the hotel were lush and beautifully landscaped with tropical flowers, trees and plants. The rooms are all located, two to a building, in a U shape around the pool with the hotel’s restaurant/bar on the opposite side. Our room was simple and nicely painted in pastel colors with a comfortable bed and pillows along with good air conditioning. We made our way to the bar for some beers and guacamole with chips and met the extremely friendly Dan who was the manager of the restaurant and bar and was also acting as the general manager while the hotel owners were on vacation. It turns out that Dan was also originally from the San Francisco area so we had a lot to talk about. We then took a walk down to the main part of the town to check out the beach and shops as well as scoping out a place to eat dinner later on that evening.



We ended up having dinner at Bruno’s Pizza which was recommended in the Lonely Planet book. The pizza was inexpensive and delicious! We then went back to the bar at the hotel for a few more beers before retiring for the night.