Dear Readers,
This is a long and odious account of a recent trip to
Costa Rica. Feel free to edit and skip at will. To rewind a bit...Joe's boss asked if our passports were in order at the end of January. Yes?
They had some "free" tickets available because all of the brokers did not qualify for this incentive trip.
Finding a baby-sitter for four children, doing the laundry, packing, house cleaning, schedules, chore charts, menus, and worrying for all of us for eight days was nerve racking!
We are finally off on a Sunday morning. My sister, Lisa, took my children to her nine o'clock church and we are on our way to the airport. (
Hmm, hate to travel on Sundays).
We flew from
SLC to Houston and from there to Costa Rica. I was impressed by Continental Airlines because they still provide a
small meal service (on both flights) and
drinks.
We called home from Houston airport on our cell phones. We were sitting in front of PappaDeuxes where they serve Crocodile on the menu. We did not try this delicacy this time. At home the older girls took late naps. Jonathan had been drawing rocket pictures and Susie was a "rock under the table" for lunch and refused to take a nap but threw her arms up and asked for,"Mama? Mama?" How could I miss them already? It is odd to travel alone, as a couple.
Our airline to CR was a very new one and each seat had an
individual touch screen entertainment system in the back of the seat in front of you and headsets were complimentary! (Joe and I began the movie Australia only to have it end suddenly when the system's computers failed right at the climax of the movie when the hero is trying to save little children from an occupying army...do they escape? Guess you will just have to see the end of the movie! Fortunately, we
Redboxed the movie and things turn out well after all).
In the San Jose" Airport we went through customs and immigration. After identifying our luggage, we headed up the gangway to the street to board a charter bus to our hotel. An interesting poster of a full-size police officer greets you before the doorway. He says,"Tourist, If you have sex with anyone under 18, we will come and get you and through you in jail!" Point taken. (
Side note: in our CR book it states that sex and prostitution are allowable in CR. This has lead to a hug increase in the child sex trade, slavery, and abuse and so recent tough laws are cracking down to curb this. Drugs are also legal here so some members of our group were offered marijuana or cocaine right off the tourist shuttle in Jaco. It is disturbing to see little boys 7-9 years old smoking joints on the sidewalk--oblivious to traffic around them).
We boarded a chartered bus to take us three hours on a windy bus ride to the
Aluejula Province by the
Arenal Volcano. On board the bus, Ricardo, our guide, was mentioning that if we had to go to the toilet there was one on the back of the bus. "Preferably, number one. Only use it for number two in emergencies." "For the ladies, sit
in the center, no problems. May I make some suggestions for the men on the bus? Because it is shaky to go on the bus, men, spread legs wide like this, put your
forehead on the mirror, now you have three point balance." (Julie stares at tour guide, incredulous). "It has been suggested, 'Why don't you just sit down?' That will
never do for us...because
we are men!" He he!
On board, we
received a bag of snacks (
Doritoes bag, apple, granola bar, and Milky Way
candy bar) with a bottle of water. Joe tried to read and got very car sick. I slept.
From what we could see, the
Arenal Kioro Hotel is beautiful. Our names were called first and we got to go up and explore rooms while we waited for our luggage to be delivered. There are large, rich colored wooden doors. We are in room #602. Right inside the doors is a desk and entry room. There are real Birds of Paradise flowers on scones on the walls, the beds (two queens) are turned down with a small chocolate and in the bathroom the toilet paper and tissue boxes are "sealed off" with ornately folded orchids. There is a jacuzzi in each room and a small balcony that looks to the volcano on one side and out over gardens of flowers on the other side. I thought, "This room is huge! It would fit our whole family...weird! It is just Joe and I?"
Dear Readers,
This is a long and odious account of a recent trip to Costa Rica. Feel free to edit and skip at will. To rewind a bit...Joe's boss asked if our passports were in order at the end of January. Yes?
They had some "free" tickets available because all of the brokers did not qualify for this incentive trip.
Finding a baby-sitter for four children, doing the laundry, packing, house cleaning, schedules, chore charts, menus, and worrying for all of us for eight days was nerve racking!
We are finally off on a Sunday morning. My sister, Lisa, took my children to her nine o'clock church and we are on our way to the airport. (Hmm, hate to travel on Sundays).
We flew from SLC to Houston and from there to Costa Rica. I was impressed by Continental Airlines because they still provide a small meal service (on both flights) and drinks.
We called home from Houston airport on our cell phones. We were sitting in front of PappaDeuxes where they serve Crocodile on the menu. We did not try this delicacy this time. At home the older girls took late naps. Jonathan had been drawing rocket pictures and Susie was a "rock under the table" for lunch and refused to take a nap but threw her arms up and asked for,"Mama? Mama?" How could I miss them already? It is odd to travel alone, as a couple.
Our airline to CR was a very new one and each seat had an individual touch screen entertainment system in the back of the seat in front of you and headsets were complimentary! (Joe and I began the movie Australia only to have it end suddenly when the system's computers failed right at the climax of the movie when the hero is trying to save little children from an occupying army...do they escape? Guess you will just have to see the end of the movie! Fortunately, we Redboxed the movie and things turn out well after all).
In the San Jose" Airport we went through customs and immigration. After identifying our luggage, we headed up the gangway to the street to board a charter bus to our hotel. An interesting poster of a full-size police officer greets you before the doorway. He says,"Tourist, If you have sex with anyone under 18, we will come and get you and through you in jail!" Point taken. (Side note: in our CR book it states that sex and prostitution are allowable in CR. This has lead to a hug increase in the child sex trade, slavery, and abuse and so recent tough laws are cracking down to curb this. Drugs are also legal here so some members of our group were offered marijuana or cocaine right off the tourist shuttle in Jaco. It is disturbing to see little boys 7-9 years old smoking joints on the sidewalk--oblivious to traffic around them).
We boarded a chartered bus to take us three hours on a windy bus ride to the Aluejula Province by the Arenal Volcano. On board the bus, Ricardo, our guide, was mentioning that if we had to go to the toilet there was one on the back of the bus. "Preferably, number one. Only use it for number two in emergencies." "For the ladies, sit in the center, no problems. May I make some suggestions for the men on the bus? Because it is shaky to go on the bus, men, spread legs wide like this, put your forehead on the mirror, now you have three point balance." (Julie stares at tour guide, incredulous). "It has been suggested, 'Why don't you just sit down?' That will never do for us...because we are men!" He he!
On board, we received a bag of snacks (Doritoes bag, apple, granola bar, and Milky Way candy bar) with a bottle of water. Joe tried to read and got very car sick. I slept.
From what we could see, the Arenal Kioro Hotel is beautiful. Our names were called first and we got to go up and explore rooms while we waited for our luggage to be delivered. There are large, rich colored wooden doors. We are in room #602. Right inside the doors is a desk and entry room. There are real Birds of Paradise flowers on scones on the walls, the beds (two queens) are turned down with a small chocolate and in the bathroom the toilet paper and tissue boxes are "sealed off" with ornately folded orchids. There is a jacuzzi in each room and a small balcony that looks to the volcano on one side and out over gardens of flowers on the other side. I thought, "This room is huge! It would fit our whole family...weird! It is just Joe and I?"
1 comment:
Wow, these pictures are amazing! sounds like it was a great trip. What a neat opportunity.
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