After breakfast we took a swim in the pool and a dip in their new hot tub. After that we had one of the hotel drivers take us to Zoo Ave which is a rehabilitation zoo for animals who will eventually be returned to the wild. It’s expensive for foreigners to get in ($15 vs. $3 for citizens) but the zoo was really nicely done. Saw lots of amazing birds, turtles, iguanas, monkeys, some big cats and lots of other critters. We walked around the zoo for about two hours.
Not wanting to go back to the hotel so early we decided to be a little adventurous and took the public bus into Alajuela where we walked around for a while. We wanted to eat at Jalapenos Comida Tex Mex which is owned by Norman from Vida Tropical. I had tried to make a reservation to stay at Vida Tropical but I never got a response from Norman and when checking my email that morning I saw one from Norman saying that he missed us. Obviously, his confirmation email got lost and I wanted to meet him and apologize and explain that I never got his email.
The Moon guide said it was east of the Central Park so we looked all over but couldn’t find it. We then began to look at the other sides of the park and finally found it a few blocks to the east. We had a great taco lunch compete with guacamole, rice and beans ($4.50). Talked with Norman for bit and then headed back to the Central Park to catch a $4 taxi back to Orquideas.
That night we had a good dinner and drank our last Imperials and Pilsens at the hotel bar and went to bead early.
Showing posts with label Orquideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orquideas. Show all posts
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Day 16 - San Jose
The Orquideas Inn is also home to a tour company so we had one of their drivers take us into San Jose ($20 each way) and dropped us off at the Plaza de la Cultura which is next to the Teatero Nacional (national theater) and also contains the Museo de Oro Precolumbia y Numismatica (Gold museum) located underneath the plaza. We decided to check out the gold museum first. There is heavy security as you enter (it is a gold museum) that requires visitors to go through a metal detector and you also have to leave your backpacks in a locker at the entrance. The museum is located behind a tick vault door and consists of three underground levels. The first level contains old Costa Rican postage stamps currency and the lower two levels contain lots of pre-Columbian gold artifacts from the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica. All the exhibits are in both Spanish and English. It was interesting but the museum is kind of small (we were through there in ½ hour) and I didn’t think it was worth the $6 admission price.
Next we wanted to see the inside of the National Theatre. We got into a line for tickets but it seemed to be taking a really long time for the line to move so we decided to leave and come back later. We then walked up to the pedestrian mall on Avenida Central and made our way to the Mercado Central. This place has something for everybody: knick-nacks, appliances, meats, vegetables, live chickens, DVDs, you name it and you can probably find it there.
From the Mercado Central we walked back east to a park where we could sit and get our bearings. It turned out that we were right near the Jade Museum which we wanted to check out not so much for the jade but the museum is located on the 11th floor and supposedly offers a great view of the city. When we got to the entrance we saw that cameras were not allowed so we decided to skip it and go get some lunch instead.
We walked back south to the Aveneda Central and after consulting the LP guide, we went to the News Café which is located on the ground floor of the Hotel Presidente. It seemed to be a popular place with Americans and Tico business people. The food was very good and surprisingly reasonably priced. We did see one American “knucklehead” type to had a scantly clad women with him and his buddy. Someone from the restaurant brought her a coat so she could cover up. I’m assuming she was a prostitute.
After lunch, we headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art which is located in a 150 year old building that once contained a liquor factory. The museum ($3) was my favorite place in San Jose and had some really great exhibits.
From there we walked to the Plaza de la Democracia where we found an open air crafts market. It was mostly the same stuff we saw in all the souvenir shops around the country but much lower prices.
Our next stop was going to be the criminology museum which was located in one of the court buildings. We got a little lost but eventually found out way to the cour house complex. We weren’t sure which building the museum was located so just as we started to look around it started to rain really hard. Even though we had umbrellas we had to take shelter in a doorway for one of the court buildings with other Ticos. We had fun watching people brave the rain to make the dash across to the other buildings. Whenever someone would make it people would cheer. After waiting about 30 minutes the rain finally let up and we then learned that the museum no longer existed!
We walked back to the National Theatre and found that the slow moving line we were in before was the line to but tickets to performances and not to tour the theatre itself. We got our tickets, went inside and someone from the theatre gave a brief overview and history of the building. We were free to walk around and check out the beautiful rooms and murals. Cameras were allowed but no flash photography.
Next we wanted to see the inside of the National Theatre. We got into a line for tickets but it seemed to be taking a really long time for the line to move so we decided to leave and come back later. We then walked up to the pedestrian mall on Avenida Central and made our way to the Mercado Central. This place has something for everybody: knick-nacks, appliances, meats, vegetables, live chickens, DVDs, you name it and you can probably find it there.
From the Mercado Central we walked back east to a park where we could sit and get our bearings. It turned out that we were right near the Jade Museum which we wanted to check out not so much for the jade but the museum is located on the 11th floor and supposedly offers a great view of the city. When we got to the entrance we saw that cameras were not allowed so we decided to skip it and go get some lunch instead.
We walked back south to the Aveneda Central and after consulting the LP guide, we went to the News Café which is located on the ground floor of the Hotel Presidente. It seemed to be a popular place with Americans and Tico business people. The food was very good and surprisingly reasonably priced. We did see one American “knucklehead” type to had a scantly clad women with him and his buddy. Someone from the restaurant brought her a coat so she could cover up. I’m assuming she was a prostitute.
After lunch, we headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art which is located in a 150 year old building that once contained a liquor factory. The museum ($3) was my favorite place in San Jose and had some really great exhibits.
From there we walked to the Plaza de la Democracia where we found an open air crafts market. It was mostly the same stuff we saw in all the souvenir shops around the country but much lower prices.
Our next stop was going to be the criminology museum which was located in one of the court buildings. We got a little lost but eventually found out way to the cour house complex. We weren’t sure which building the museum was located so just as we started to look around it started to rain really hard. Even though we had umbrellas we had to take shelter in a doorway for one of the court buildings with other Ticos. We had fun watching people brave the rain to make the dash across to the other buildings. Whenever someone would make it people would cheer. After waiting about 30 minutes the rain finally let up and we then learned that the museum no longer existed!
We walked back to the National Theatre and found that the slow moving line we were in before was the line to but tickets to performances and not to tour the theatre itself. We got our tickets, went inside and someone from the theatre gave a brief overview and history of the building. We were free to walk around and check out the beautiful rooms and murals. Cameras were allowed but no flash photography.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Day 15 - Drive to Alajuela
After watching CNN we learned that hurricane Ernesto was passing through Cuba and was due to hit Miami at the same time we were supposed to fly there on our way back tome to San Francisco. This worried us as we didn’t know what to expect at the airport or how we were going to get back home. After breakfast we headed out back to Alajuela. It was mostly a smooth ride until we got onto the pan American highway and were heading up to the central valley. We would get stuck behind a line of slow moving trucks. After leapfrogging ahead we would get in front of the trucks and have a few minutes of unobstructed driving only to find ourselves stuck behind another line of slow moving trucks. We passed the debris of a really bad accident that occurred a few days earlier involving two big rigs and a few passenger cars where three people died. On the side of the road was a wrecked tractor trailer and a lot of debris. After seeing that, we decided to take it easy the rest of the was back into the central valley.
As we got to Alajuela we decided to stop at the airport to check on the status of our flight the next day. We learned that our flight had been canceled but they had no more information available for us and said we had to call American airline customer service from a phone to see when we would be able to leave. On the way back to Orquideas we stopped at the Mega Super in Alajuela and stocked up on coffee and salsa chillero (we are able to buy Lizano where we live in San Francisco). The coffee in the supermarket is ½ what they charge in the tourist areas.
We headed back to Orquideas and my wife made the calls and learned that the soonest they would be able to fly us home would be on Friday morning. This worried us as we both had obligations back at home be we decided to put that all behind us and make the best of the two next days we were going to be in Costa Rica. I called Tricolor to come pick up the car and when the guy arrived, he said the car was too dirty and caked with mud to make sure that we hadn’t damaged it in any way. He said that he trusted us and tore up the credit card imprints what would have covered any damage that the insurance did not. He also didn’t charge us for an extra day even though we returned the car 5 hours late. We spent the rest of the evening in the bar hanging out with other travelers who had just arrived in Costa Rica and giving them suggestions on where to go and what to see.
As we got to Alajuela we decided to stop at the airport to check on the status of our flight the next day. We learned that our flight had been canceled but they had no more information available for us and said we had to call American airline customer service from a phone to see when we would be able to leave. On the way back to Orquideas we stopped at the Mega Super in Alajuela and stocked up on coffee and salsa chillero (we are able to buy Lizano where we live in San Francisco). The coffee in the supermarket is ½ what they charge in the tourist areas.
We headed back to Orquideas and my wife made the calls and learned that the soonest they would be able to fly us home would be on Friday morning. This worried us as we both had obligations back at home be we decided to put that all behind us and make the best of the two next days we were going to be in Costa Rica. I called Tricolor to come pick up the car and when the guy arrived, he said the car was too dirty and caked with mud to make sure that we hadn’t damaged it in any way. He said that he trusted us and tore up the credit card imprints what would have covered any damage that the insurance did not. He also didn’t charge us for an extra day even though we returned the car 5 hours late. We spent the rest of the evening in the bar hanging out with other travelers who had just arrived in Costa Rica and giving them suggestions on where to go and what to see.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Day 2 - Drive to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
We woke up early and had the Orquideas Inn’s famous and wonderful buffet breakfast by the pool. Breakfast included: fresh fruit, gallo pinto, potatoes, fried yucca, sausage, orange juice, tamales, plantains, coffee, juice as well as a made to order omelets and pancakes. One of the hotel’s parrots was out walking around.
After breakfast the driver from Tricolor car rental arrived right on time at 9am. He didn’t speak much English but we finally figured out that we needed to go with him back to the office at the airport (last time they just dropped off the car and did the paperwork at the hotel). We checked out of the hotel, loaded our luggage in the rental and headed to the office near the airport. The paper work was completed quickly and we were on the road an hour later at 10am.
After filling up the gas tank, we followed directions to avoid downtown San Jose on the way to the highway that would take us to the Caribbean coast but took a wrong turn somewhere, got lost and ended up in downtown San Jose. After consulting the map in the Lonely Planet book we were able to get our bearings. The Holiday Inn was a good, tall landmark located near the road that leads to the highway and we quickly found our way out of the city.
The drive to Puerto Viejo wasn’t bad. There is a toll booth just out of San Jose so it’s a good idea to have some colonies ready (I don’t know if they accept dollars). The highway was in good condition, traffic was fairly light and it rained most of the way to Limon. We saw a few trafficos (traffic police) but since it was raining they seemed more interested in staying dry inside their police cars then pulling anybody over. Once in Limon there was a huge traffic jam that lasted for several blocks until we were able to make the turn south to Puerto Viejo.
The radio stations in Costa Rica that play English music are really eclectic in their selection of music. For example, the Rolling Stones will be followed by Tears for Fears which would be followed by The Bee Gees. Costa Rica seems to be the land of the B sides. I heard songs that I haven’t heard in ages!
We arrived at our bed and breakfast, Banana Azul, which is located about a mile north of town in Playa Negra at 3pm. Our hosts, Collin and Roberto were not there but the caretaker, Alfredo and another guest, Sherri, let us in and helped us get settled into our room. Banana Azul is composed of two buildings, one contains two guest rooms (the “Sloth Cabanas”) above where Alfredo lives and the other building contains our room (”The Red Frog Room”) which is underneath where Collin and Roberto live. They are also building a small 6 room hotel on the property as well. The room was even nicer looking than the pictures on their web page. The property is located right on the beach and was probably less than 100 steps from our door to the water.
The Red Frog Room and Bathroom
After breakfast the driver from Tricolor car rental arrived right on time at 9am. He didn’t speak much English but we finally figured out that we needed to go with him back to the office at the airport (last time they just dropped off the car and did the paperwork at the hotel). We checked out of the hotel, loaded our luggage in the rental and headed to the office near the airport. The paper work was completed quickly and we were on the road an hour later at 10am.
After filling up the gas tank, we followed directions to avoid downtown San Jose on the way to the highway that would take us to the Caribbean coast but took a wrong turn somewhere, got lost and ended up in downtown San Jose. After consulting the map in the Lonely Planet book we were able to get our bearings. The Holiday Inn was a good, tall landmark located near the road that leads to the highway and we quickly found our way out of the city.
The drive to Puerto Viejo wasn’t bad. There is a toll booth just out of San Jose so it’s a good idea to have some colonies ready (I don’t know if they accept dollars). The highway was in good condition, traffic was fairly light and it rained most of the way to Limon. We saw a few trafficos (traffic police) but since it was raining they seemed more interested in staying dry inside their police cars then pulling anybody over. Once in Limon there was a huge traffic jam that lasted for several blocks until we were able to make the turn south to Puerto Viejo.
The radio stations in Costa Rica that play English music are really eclectic in their selection of music. For example, the Rolling Stones will be followed by Tears for Fears which would be followed by The Bee Gees. Costa Rica seems to be the land of the B sides. I heard songs that I haven’t heard in ages!
We arrived at our bed and breakfast, Banana Azul, which is located about a mile north of town in Playa Negra at 3pm. Our hosts, Collin and Roberto were not there but the caretaker, Alfredo and another guest, Sherri, let us in and helped us get settled into our room. Banana Azul is composed of two buildings, one contains two guest rooms (the “Sloth Cabanas”) above where Alfredo lives and the other building contains our room (”The Red Frog Room”) which is underneath where Collin and Roberto live. They are also building a small 6 room hotel on the property as well. The room was even nicer looking than the pictures on their web page. The property is located right on the beach and was probably less than 100 steps from our door to the water.
The Red Frog Room and Bathroom
We were hungry so we drove into town and walked around looking for somewhere to eat, have a beer, and do some people watching. We ended up at El Dorado which is located on the main street. It turned out that the bartender Kay (pronounced K-eye) had lived just a few blocks from us in San Francisco! I had a yummy quesodilla and Kat had a chicken casado.
We then went to the store to get a few beers and headed back to Banana Azul where we met Roberto who gave us a tour of the rest of the house and property. We then went to the beach for a swim with two of their dogs Sasha and Quira tagging along. After a quick shower we went back town for some dinner. It seemed like all the recommended restaurants were closed on Wednesdays so we went back to El Dorado and had a small pizza. We got back to Banana Azul and met another couple, Richard and Charlotte, who just arrived and then we went to bed.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Day 1 - Arrival in Alajuela
We woke up at 3:00am for a 7:00am flight out of San Francisco to Miami. With the new security rules we were told to arrive as early as possible since there would undoubtedly be long lines through ticketing and security. We arrived at the airport at 5am and whizzed through ticketing and security in less than 15 minutes leaving us plenty of time to sit around and eat $8 grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast at the terminal restaurant.
Our four hour layover in Miami was uneventful and we had some more crappy airport food and walked around the terminals while killing time. Our flight to San Jose was delayed about an hour. Fortunately, when we landed at San Jose, there was someone with a sign from our hotel waiting outside. It turned out that that person wasn’t the driver but a local guy who took us upstairs to where our driver was waiting in his van. The guy explained that he worked for tips so I gave him $2 for carrying our bags. We were at the Orquideas Inn in 15 minutes (we stayed there last year as well), checked into our room and then headed to the bar for a few Imperials before calling it a night.
Our four hour layover in Miami was uneventful and we had some more crappy airport food and walked around the terminals while killing time. Our flight to San Jose was delayed about an hour. Fortunately, when we landed at San Jose, there was someone with a sign from our hotel waiting outside. It turned out that that person wasn’t the driver but a local guy who took us upstairs to where our driver was waiting in his van. The guy explained that he worked for tips so I gave him $2 for carrying our bags. We were at the Orquideas Inn in 15 minutes (we stayed there last year as well), checked into our room and then headed to the bar for a few Imperials before calling it a night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
