Costa Rica Revisited

During our first trip to southern Costa Rica, we stayed at Hotel Parador near Quepos and Manuel Antonio State Park.  Now, nearly 12 years later, we're back and loving every minute of it.

Our home is in the "Hills of Portalon" southeast of Quepos at an elevation of 1500 feet with a perfect blend of warm days, cool nights and views like the one to the left.




All the essentials are in place, internet service, telephone, transportation and food.

 Planning these jaunts to Central America do take a fair amount of planning and over the past three years we've learned to take nothing for granted.  This year, once our travel day arrived, everything was almost effortless.  We've learned to take things in stride, and scratch the pressure points off one by one as the day progressed.  Unnecessary utilities suspended (check), remembered to pack the most critical items like computers, power supplies, and clothes (check), Taxi arrived to pick us up (check), and so on.

For the first time we used the valet to check our luggage and skipped the long line of people dragging their way through the standard check in line.  Not sure why it took all these years to figure that out but nonetheless, it made the start of the trip painless.  We got through security without a hitch, our flight to Miami got in early so we had extra time to get to our connecting flight and when we arrived in Costa Rica, our driver was there waiting with sign in hand and all of our luggage arrived safe and sound.

Our driver (Antonio) was exceptional.  Very personable, happy, polite, and it was comforting to know that he already knew where our house was located.  Somewhat of a long drive (about 3.5 hours) to our first stop, Automercado to get the first round of groceries, but once we discovered that decent food was abundant  at the store (albeit expensive) we were at ease just a little more.

Our house is in the hills and the first section of road is like driving on a rocky river bed with wooden wagon wheels.  You might be able to make without a 4x4 but when you drive back down a few times you'd be ready for a trip the the garage for new suspension.  The side benefit (always a silver lining you know) is that it is a deterrent to some degree for thieves.  They can get here if they wish but there's easier pickings to be had.

The house is beautiful with amazing views, tropical foliage, diverse wildlife including Toucans, monkeys, snakes, wild pigs, and some little black fly with saddle bags that I've come to despise. You swat the damned thing and they stick to your hand.  They don't seem to bite but rather hover in front of you like a helicopter during a surveillance mission.

Alex practically owns the second floor and seems to have claimed it as his domain, TV and all.

His bedroom is not the master bedroom but the view across the valley toward the ocean is fantastic.  He's got the privacy he needs with sliding doors to his deck.

Sandy loves her kitchen, equipped with modern appliances, cookware etc. etc. so she's happy as a lark.  As the saying goers, if she's happy, I'm happy.

It seems there's always one type or style of cookware or another that's missing but so far so good.  We even have pot holders and a coffee bean grinder.





It doesn't take long once you arrive in Costa Rica to feel the stress start to melt away.  The simple innocence of the people, quaint roadside restaurants, fresh air, ocean breeze, and no rush hour traffic does one a world of good.  I swear I gain back the years of my life that the frantic pace of the U.S. takes away.  The interesting thing, and somewhat unexpected, is the absence of biting bugs.  In Bocas del Toro (Panama) last year the little pepper sized bastards ate you alive, yet here at the edge of a jungle (literally), we've yet to be bitten.

The air, especially at the house, is so fresh and clean with the smell of Ginger (not my sister but the plant) in the air and all the exotic plants around the grounds (absent of any car exhaust) that you enjoy every breath.  The air is slightly moist (humid), in stark contrast to the dry winter air back home.  Dry cracked hands and nasal passages recover, and skin texture changes from brown paper bags back to normal.

The birds chirp, the monkeys occasionally squawk, and the waves crash in the distance.  Other than wildlife, silence is broken only by the rustling of palm leaves.



This, at least to us, is heaven on earth.  And so begins another journey.  More to come....