pura vida yes, panama no // 10 days in costa rica
Why
, hello! The rumors are true. I am officially back from ten days in Costa Rica. After an action packed week of adventure travel, it’s official: I lived to tell the tale.
As you may recall, originally, our plan was seven days in Costa Rica and three days in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Alas, this was not our reality. Things turned out more than ok, but first, a warning: Nature Air is a cockamamie airline with cockamamie rules.
On the day of our flight, we woke up at 4 AM and dragged ourselves to the Tobias Bolaños International Airport. Once there, we unceremoniously board this little matchbox of a plane:
For whatever reason, knock on wood, flying has never made me nervous. TURNS OUT. That feeling goes away when you’re 45 minutes into a 50 minute flight and the pilot makes a static-filled announcement.
“Bocas del Toro is closed, so we will be heading back to San Jose.”
I mean, anyone would wonder if there’s enough fuel in this deathtrap for such an escapade, right?!
Never fear, dear reader. Despite the drama, we made it back with fuel to spare. (I’m just comforting myself with that last part. Honestly, I have no idea. Really, I’d rather be typing in all caps about how I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE PLANE DEPARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE.)
Once we landed, we quickly switched our itinerary to three days in Tamarindo on the Pacific Coast. No Panama for us this trip, alas, but trust me when I say: making this change was the best option. The other two options were: get a NatureAir voucher for a future flight (to where? WHEN?)… OR, charter a taxi with 10 strangers and drive across the Costa Rican border into Panama. Once we arrived in Panama, we could then take a ferry to Bocas from there.
In a possible tropical storm.
THE PLAN B
No joke, we were the only people from our flight who changed course. After all that, no one else took the “change our flight to somewhere, ANYWHERE, with a beach on the Pacific Coast” option! Apparently, all the others chartered a taxi together. Which, actually, sounds like a really good plot for a movie.
So, yes, instead of glass bottomed bungalows and a view straight out over the water and a new stamp in our passports, we stayed in Costa Rica. Yes, we were bummed. Yes, there was a moment of “poor us, this BLOWS” (no tropical storm pun intended). Take note, travelers. When you find yourself in a similar situation: you’re allowed to wallow in it! But only after you’ve made a new plan. Official game rules. Then, after you’ve wallowed for as little time as you can bear, you have to quickly switch gears. Now, you must be excited for plan B. Deal? Deal.
The good news? We came away with a pretty solid ten day itinerary for Costa Rica, if I do say so myself. And lucky for you, I am here to share:
Day 1
NYC > San Jose
Upon landing in San Jose, we headed straight for Hertz to pick-up our rental car. From there, we drove to Fina Rosa Blanca. Once at our hotel, we promptly fell in love with the staff. It was the perfect hotel for our first night in Costa Rica.
Day 2
San Jose > Arenal
Next, we started the morning with a tour of the on-site coffee plantation. After a lotta java, we departed for two nights at Tabacon Hot Springs, followed by an afternoon in the hot springs and at the spa.
Day 3
Arenal
Our third day started with another early morning, but this time we met a tour guide in the hotel lobby. We were heading off for a very rainy Arenal Hanging Bridge Tour with Costa Rica Wonderland! After, it was time to unwind with a less rainy afternoon in the hot springs.
Day 4
Arenal > Quepos
Oh, hello, a bright & early start once more for our (long!) drive to The Preserve at Los Altos in Quepos. Are you sensing a theme?
Day 5
Quepos
If you think a day full of ZIP LINING starts any other way than BRIGHT and also EARLY, well, then, you would be wrong. We booked our treetop advtenure with MidWorld. Can’t wait to share those pics. After, we spent our late afternoon/early evening on a catamaran tour of the Pacific with Planet Dolphin.
Day 6
Quepos > San Jose
This day brought our morning hang session with the animals of Manuel Antonio, followed by our final drive of the trip to the Marriott in San Jose.
Day 7
San Jose > Somewhere Over Bocas del Toro > San Jose > Tamarindo
I will say this: it was a serious lifesaver that Tobias Bolaños had a free, stable wireless connection. After a lot of searching and a few urgent e-mails, we were booked at Villa Alegre. Despite our (literally) bumpy start, our afternoon in Tamarindo was spent stress-free. We relaxed down on the beach and witnessed the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen. Fo’ realz.
Day 8
Tamarindo
Oh, we just took a surf lesson with Iguana Surf School in the AM, no big deal. This was followed by an afternoon poolside. No, not because we couldn’t move from all our hanging ten…
Day 9
Tamarindo > San Jose
After all that drama, we were seriously sad to depart Tamarindo. But before we left, we kicked off our morning with a kayak estuary tour, also through Iguana Surf. Then, it was back to the airport. We flew back to San Jose, where we checked in for a night of room service and Olympics catch-up.
Day 10
San Jose > NYC
And alas, back at our apartment by 6 PM. As if none of it ever happened.
So, the big questions:
Did we see a sloth? Was driving in Costa Rica the absolute worst experience of our lives? Was zip lining the second absolute worst experience of our lives? What was our favorite place? Who was our favorite monkey?! (We saw a lot of monkeys so that one’s a real nail biter).
Stay tuned.
xo!
the romantic
Lazy Travelers
The Lazy Travelers are two transatlantic best friends who have mastered the art of exploring a new city. Though Ashley is based in London and Carolyn is in Philadelphia, we'll use any excuse to reunite around the world. We’re professional bar hoppers, pub crawlers, and food testers, and you’ll never see us zipping around, checking things off a list of “must-sees.”
18 Comments
Ana Silva O'Reilly (@mrsoaroundworld)
Ohhhhhh do you know, things happen for a reason! You got to know Costa Rica a lot better than originally planned and your itinerary has such interesting activities. I want to see the surfing video – no cheesy photo stills as you could be totally cheating!!
Lazy Travelers
i WISH we had a video or photos of us surfing, but we couldn’t bring anything down to the beach with us! you’ll just have to trust me when i say that i was obviously a natural.
Lazy Travelers recently posted..pura vida yes, panama no
D.J. - The World of Deej
Yyyeaahhh…no way I would have boarded that plane haha
D.J. – The World of Deej recently posted..Top of the Mark – A Date With History
Lazy Travelers
i wasn’t so nervous boarding the first time! it was our second flight to tamarindo and the return that head me sweating.
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Leah Travels (@L_e_a_h)
Costa Rica is where it’s at. I’ve flown Nature Air and I almost messed myself. That’s no lie either. I flew from San Jose to Quepos. There were no issues with the plane or the flight; I just was scared in that tiny plane. I’m happy you enjoyed CR. It’s so dear to my heart. I’ll have to tell you sometime what it looked like 15 years ago. Soooo different!
Lazy Travelers
this actually wasn’t even my most absurd nature air experience. we once missed our flight from san juan to vieques and chartered a plane with a group of travelers in the same situation… taking off from a mysterious airport with a private pilot in san juan is a little more than nerve-wrecking. we just live on the edge, me and the hubs.
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Francesca
Eek, I’d have freaked out on that return flight, too, after hearing that the airport was closed. No way my hubs would have even boarded that plane in the first place, though… But glad to hear that you had such a great time! You know I’m most interested in hearing about your driving experiences…
Francesca recently posted..Chicago’s Festa Italiana 2012
Lazy Travelers
i have no idea how i’m going to even recap this entire trip! i tried to sort through all my photos and felt like my head was going to explode.
Lazy Travelers recently posted..no travel required
craig zabransky (@StayAdventurous)
Was that last sunset image from Tamarindo… If so, I feel I’ve been there. Well i guess I feel I’ve been there regardless of where it really is…
I look forward to reliving Costa Rica through your travels…
stay adventurous, Craig
craig zabransky (@StayAdventurous) recently posted..Ronda – More than the Birthplace of Bullfighting
Lazy Travelers
it is tamarindo! the beach there was gorgeous and the sunset was even better.
Lazy Travelers recently posted..making a case for driving in costa rica
lola
sorry that your plans changed but it sounds like you made the right call. love that you took surfing lessons. i’ve done that twice & i really like it. tamarindo, i’ve heard, is FAB!
xo
lola recently posted..my 3 favorite travel memories…
Lazy Travelers
tamarindo was amaaazing, and i’m already trying to figure out the next time i can take a surf lesson! it was kind of addicting. xoxo
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Traveling Ted
Looks like you made the best of an unfortunate experience. I just clicked on your tweet thing and I found it just amazingly cool that up popped a box with @lazytravelers in it. Technology is amazing! 🙂
Traveling Ted recently posted..Winston Churchill in Parliament Square in London
Lazy Travelers
hahaha you know what, ted? i sense sarcasm and i don’t think i like it.
Lazy Travelers recently posted..no travel required: #frifotos
Pola (@jettingaround)
Not to be insensitive to your are-you-freaking-kidding-me flight experience, but… that plane looks so cute!!! OK now that that’s out of my system, I’m glad you’re ok and that you got to see that gorgeous sunset and enjoy CR. Not too bad after all… Perhaps Panama next time? 🙂
Pola (@jettingaround) recently posted..The Green Mill – Chicago’s landmark jazz club
Lazy Travelers
it looks so cheerful and inviting, right?! panama is definitely on our list for next time, though i think we’ll try and figure out an alternative to nature air…
Lazy Travelers recently posted..laws to travel by – #22
Captain and Clark
If there’s one thing that you can count on when traveling it’s that things won’t always go as planned. In this case, you definitely made the best of your situation and had a quick recovery. We can’t wait to hear about all of your Costa Rican adventures!
Captain and Clark recently posted..N Seoul Tower is Quite the Trip. [video]
Lazy Travelers
yes, all in all, it wasn’t anywhere near the worst that could have happened and luckily, tamarindo was absolutely stunning. panama will still be there next time!
Lazy Travelers recently posted..laws to travel by – #22