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 6 - Montezuma and day trip to Mal Pais

I am an early riser so after a shower I headed downstairs to sit on the outside patio of the El Sano Banano cafe and have some coffee and read my book. The El Sano Banano is located on the main street when you drive into town and it was interesting watching all the various venders arrive to deliver fresh produce, eggs, meats, and other stuff to the restuarant. It was also a good place to people watch and meet other travelers to get information on other places to see and where to stay.



After having breakfast on the patio downstairs we decided to take a drive to go check out the Mal Pais/Santa Teresa area and see if it was worth possibly staying a night or two after Montezuma. We drove back to Cobano and then on to Mal Pais. The road to Mal Pais was pretty bad in places but the last few kilometers was newly paved. We arrived to find a large construction project going on where they had a big crane building a condominium complex. Probably in a few years Mal Pais will turn into another Tamarindo. We drove down the Mal Pais side and then back up to Santa Teresa. The road that runs along the beachfront community is pretty bad.



We found that Mal Pais/Santa Teresa is really spread apart and there is no real town center. The beaches there are beautiful! You would definitely need a bicycle or some form of transportation to get around, especially if you wanted to go out for dinner or drinks at night. Because of this, and the poor weather we decided against staying in Mal Pais the next nght. We then went back and parked the car at Frank’s place and since it had stopped raining we took a walk along the beach up to the Topico Latino hotel where we stopped for guacamole, chips and a few cervezas. We then walked back on the road to Frank’s Place where I checked my email at the fast internet café. I noticed that there was also an ATM machine locatyed next to the reception desk.

We then drove back to Montezuma and had dinner again at El Parque. Afterwards we walked to Chico’s Bar where we mat a family from Los Angeles who had bought a cabin south of Montezuma and were staying there for two months until they went back to the US (they rent it out when they are not there). They invited us to come over to their house for coffee or beers the next day. We also met some people from San Francisco who were in town for a wedding. One of the people lived just a few blocks from where we live - Small world!