We also went to Lankester Gardens.
Neat plants growing off of trees
In the orchid garden
Debbie doing a yoga pose in the Japanese Garden
Bert on the bridge
Neat spider
Pointing at the wind chimes
December 30th, San Jose, Costa Rica
Took the VIP City Bus Tour today. \240I would not recommend it. \240Went to a church, park, Central Market, had lunch and then the Gold Museum.
Tonight was Scott and Roberto’s wedding. \240
The happy couple
Bert, Jeff, Debbie, Joyce and Bruce
Debbie, Cousin Judy and Joyce
December 31st, San Jose
Did a tour going to Grecia, a church, Sarchi and Doka Coffee Plantation.
Church made of metal
Oxcart
At the oxcart factory
They use water to create electricity To run the machinery
Tonight was the New Years Eve party at Alta Fiori restaurant in the mountains. \240
The view
Roberto and Joyce
January 1st
Early morning tour on the aerial tram at Braulio Carrillo park with Cousins Judy and Larry.
Aerial tram car
Debbie, Joyce, Judy, Larry and Bruce on the tram
Neat tree
Beautiful butterfly. \240Blue on one side and brown on the other
Sloths
Dinner at Tendor Argentine in downtown San Jose, near our hotel, Gran by Hilton.
January 2nd
Debbie joined us for a day exploring downtown. \240Visited the Jade Museum and the National Theater. \240The tour of the theater was really good.
Dinner at Insolina. \240We shared many small plates including plantain croquettes in peanut cream sauce, lamb Alfaro with yogurt, heart of palm stuffed with cream cheese, fried polenta with roasted octopus, and more.
Lamb alfojar
Plantain croquette in back and hearts of palm
January 3rd we traveled to La Fortuna. \240Driver picked us up and first stop was Poas Volcano. \240You could smell the sulfur and see the vapors all around.
The bathroom sinks!
Macaws
Toucan
Sloths
The blue color is inside and the brown outside
Monkey
Jaguar
Waterfall
Next stop was at a tree that had iguanas all over it!
On to our hotel Volcano Lodge. It has thermal pools. There is an area near where breakfast is served that the hotel puts out fruit for the birds.
Thermal pool
Birds eating fruit
January 4th we had a morning tour to Mistico Hanging Bridges. \240It was a walk in a rainforest and going across 6 suspension bridges.
Bruce and Joyce on hanging bridge
What the bridges looked like
A Coati joined us sitting at the picnic table
Afternoon tour was to a chocolate and coffee plantation. \240Excellent tour. \240Learned all about the process, demonstrating the process and tasting along the way.
The inside of a cacao nut. \240The white are the seeds to make chocolate from
Arenal volcano from our hotel
Night sky
Dinner at Soda La Tipica in town
January 5th
Today we did the Cano Negro boat tour through Desafio Adventures. \240It was great! Besides many species of birds we saw lots of wildlife.
Kingfisher
Caiman
Sloth
White faced monkey. \240We also saw spider and howler monkeys
Jesus Christ lizard
The boat we were on
Back to the hotels to sit in the thermal pools. \240Our brothers arrived in La Fortuna that day so we all had dinner at Nanku.
January 6th we traveled to Monteverde and stayed at El Establo Lodge. \240To get there we first had a 20 minute shuttle ride, then a 30 minute boat ride and finally an hour and a half horrible shuttle ride on a rough, dirt, potholed, twisting road. \240Our hotel is built going up a mountain. \240We have to take a shuttle to get to your room. \240Beautiful view.
Outside our room
Looking in the room
Map of the hotel
My fish taco lunch
Sunset
We took a night walk in the cloud forest of Monteverde. Our guide Andre was excellent. \240We saw snakes, birds asleep, and insects. \240Our guide was great at finding things in the dark.
Pit viper
Toucan sleeping
Hummingbird in nest
Joyce and Debbie with guide Andre
Quetzal..national bird of Guatemala
Dinner tonight at Taco, Taco downtown. \240Excellent! \240Was a bit chilly at the outdoor tables so the manager loaned us serapes to wear. \240Bruce and Debbie had dessert of churros with chocolate and caramel sauce.
In our serapes
January 8th was the 4 hour drive to Manuel Antonio. \240We stopped at the crocodile bridge for lunch and pictures. \240Our driver Minor was very informative. \240We also stopped at a tree the macaws like to sit in.
Got to do the tourist pics!
We saw 13 crocs
Our next hotel was Si Como No and we loved it! \240
View from hotel
Sunset
Iguanas walking all around the hotel
Relaxing morning in the hot, humid weather. \240Visited the hummingbird garden across the street from our hotel.
Blue butterfly on the plant near Debbie’s leg
Turtle
Bare throated tiger heron
Neat tree roots
Termite nest in tree
Tiger crab
Pelicans
January 10th…hot and humid! \240Had a morning tour of Manuel Antonio Park with Tucanes Tours. \240Our guide was Alexis and he was excellent at finding animals. \240Saw several sloths, howler monkeys, iguanas, birds, etc. \240
Jesus Christ lizard
Bat sleeping in the tent of the leaf
Sloth
Fly catcher flower
Sloth
There is a beach at the park and we stopped there for a bit.
Bruce and Debbie
Debbie
Joyce
Once back at the hotel we hit the pool!
Lots of critters at this hotel.
Beach view from our balcony
Squirrel monkeys visiting during breakfast
Jesus Christ Lizard walking along
Bruce using binoculars on our balcony
Joyce at the hotel viewpoint
Debbie and Joyce
Glass window outside our bathroom
January 11th. \240At breakfast the squirrel monkeys visited and the iguanas kept coming by
Iguana under Bruce’s chair
Took a tour of the Villa Vanilla Plantation. \240Excellent! \240Learned all about the growing and processing of vanilla, cocoa and other spices. \240Did you know that vanilla grows on an orchid vine?
Vanilla beans
Vanilla pods during the processing
Ginger root and tree
Ornamental ginger flower
Pepper growing
Next the 3 1/2 hour drive back to San Jose. \240Tonight at the Doubletree Hotel near the airport and tomorrow we fly home.
