E & J's Aventura Costa Rica

This trip report is a departure from the focus of this blog, but here it goes. Eleanor and I traveled to Costa Rica in March 2007. We spent almost all our time at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. We stayed at the Tropico Latino which was very nice and located on the beach. This turned out to be a good choice for us since we could walk from the hotel right onto Playa Carmen where we could take a dip and surf. The surf was very good and the water was quite warm. The beaches were great and not crowded. To my surprise the food was very good and the variety was excellent. If you ever go there you have to have dinner at Mary’s restaurant, which specialize in fresh seafood dishes. I had the best yellow fin tuna dish I have ever had there. The towns we stayed at were quite rustic especially since the nearest paved road was 10 Km from town.

We traveled north to Playa Monzanillo one afternoon and also visited a nearby town Montezuma which is somewhat of a party town. We took a snorkel trip out to Tortuga Island and saw a turtle and reef fish. We also hired a guide to take us out to Curú wildlife refuge. We saw monkeys, a few birds and native plants there. We had hoped to see more animals in Costa Rica but I think they are more abundant in the Rain Forest than here. It was also quite warm when we were at the coast. We quickly learned to relax during the hottest part of the day and learned what Pura Vida is all about.

We flew back to San Jose on Nature Air which gave us a good view of the area from the air. It is a 25 minute flight which was less tiring that the 6 hour bus/ferry ride on the way out. This gave us time to visit San Jose before we left. We visited the Mercado Central and visited the Museo de Oro. The Museo de Oro was very interesting and we learned a lot about Costa Rica Culture there. There was also a large art festival in a park near the museum. We heard some local music and saw some interesting artwork.

We had a good trip although there is much more to see in Costa Rica. We will have to come back soon. I posted a video of our trip on the web if you wnat to see more. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8459497706434287953