Monday, April 21, 2025

Well…. There was an ominous start to this vacation. Last night at 9:00pm (we were getting up at 2:30am to pick up Barb and Michelle before heading to the Appleton, WI airport for a 5:00am flight) we got a message from Barb that she had been to Urgent Care with high blood pressure and was being advised not to travel to Costa Rica. Barb called Michelle to see what she wanted to do (couldn’t get through).

Finally turned off the lights at 10:30pm and had poor sleep until 1:30am when Lori decided to check her phone. Barb and Michelle were both going to cancel the trip. Lori spent the next hour or so changing airline booking and cancelling Viator tours that had been planned (we’re still doing them, except for the horseback riding tour). Flight departed Appleton on time and arrived in Charlotte on-time?. It took forever to taxi and get to the gate – time was  ticking on the 45 minute connection for our flight to Costa Rica.

While standing in the aisle on the plane we got notice that our next flight was boarding! And, of course, we were about as far away from the boarding gate as possible. We speed walked (and ran when we could) to our gate. We got there as they were calling final boarding and were some of the last folks to board. Now, would our bags make it? We were amazed at the speed of the bags being unloaded in Costa Rica. By the time we made it through customs and immigration (no delays, very efficient) the bags were already off the carousel waiting for us! Yeah.

Our pre-arranged private driver, Yorlen, was waiting for us. We booked with Fortuna Expeditions. Yorlen was very knowledgeable of the area and a safe driver. He stopped at the Logo Arenal Costa Rica Cafe and Macadamia restaurant so we could have lunch. We split the traditional dish of Casado, a hearty plate featuring rice, beans, plantains, chicken (of us), and a salad. It was excellent as was the lemonade Lori had and the pineapple and mango smoothie Carl had. Minor difficulty finding the VRBO.

Settled in and unpacked by 4:00. Walked the short 8 or 9 blocks to the grocery store recommended by the VRBO rep to purchase mainly water and wine. Came back to the house and played games (to stay awake) and had a glass of wine before turning in early.

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

A lazy day for us. Went to Open Kitchen for breakfast, walked downtown and got back to the VRBO before the afternoon thunderstorm that lasted about 3 hours. Went to Restaurante Travesia which was less than one block away for a nice beef tenderloin dinner, which we shared. 

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Walked to town and had breakfast at Tayakiry. I had a breakfast sandwich and Lori had very sweet french toast – both excellent. Our adventure for the day was packrafting down the Tres Amigos River which is nearby La Fortuna and we did 8 kilometers of it. We were picked up by our guides (we were the only ones rafting) and taken to the river. Along the way we stopped and he got us fresh sugar cane juice and we were able to sample guava beans. Lori and I capsized once, both at the same point, and got rained upon as well. All in all an excellent adventure. Back to the VRBO for a hodge podge supper and to go thru the 400 or so pictures our guide took of us on the river. 

Thursday, April 24, 2025

An early start today. We walked about 7 blocks to the Red Lava TSC tour company office and arrived at 6:45am. After three more stops to pick up folks (10 total) we headed to Mistico Park Hanging Bridge park. We crossed 6 hanging bridges (all very safe) and our guide pointed out numerous animals and insects. We then went on a 1 KM (roundtrip) hike at El Silencio, Mirador and Senderos Arenal Volcano, had lunch at a local restaurant and finally to a hot spring park. All this and we were home by 3:00pm. On the way home we purchased bread stuffed with ham and cream cheese and one with strawberries and cream cheese for supper and dessert. Lazy evening at the VRBO since we were both tired.

Friday, April 25, 2025

Another lazy day! Lori did laundry (quite the ordeal) and Carl went for a walk. We ruled out the La Fortuna Waterfall hike and swim and a night hike tour based upon what we did yesterday and what the guide told us about the night hike.

Saturday, April 26, 2025

We were picked up at 10:30 by our pre-arranged driver at the Open Kitchen at 10:30 for the 3 hour drive to San Jose. As luck would have it, in San Jose the traffic was horrible and added an hour to our transit time. Checked into Hotel Presidente, unpacked, and then headed to the meeting spot for our food tour (booked through Viator). The meeting spot was at Los Presentes statues, depicting the hard working peasants that helped create the coffee industry in Costa Rica.

The tour was a bit of history as we walked the downtown area before arriving at a private house where we (us and 8 others) were treated to making two cocktails. Forget the name of the first drink, the second was a mojito. We then had a family style mini dinner with several different types of Costa Rican food.

Sunday, April 27, 2025

 At 10am we walked to the National Theatre to purchase tickets for a tour. We purchased the 2:00 pm tickets for the English language theatrical tour. Explored a bit of the downtown area before heading back to the room. Attended the Theater tour which was excellent before heading to the Central Market for special ice cream and a late lunch only to find out the market was closed. Back to the hotel where we had supper in the restaurant. Since we needed to catch a shuttle to the airport at 2:30am we went to bed around 7:00pm.

At 10:00 pm both our phones dinged. That can’t be good and it wasn’t. Our 6:00 am flight was now delayed till 1:00pm and wouldn’t get to Appleton until the next morning. Spent the next 1.5 hours changing our shuttle to the airport, cancelling our flight with American Airlines (they a failing grade in my estimation), getting a refund and booking with Delta who had a reasonable departure of 1:20pm.

Monday, April 28, 2025

Breakfast at the hotel before catching a shuttle to the airport.