Month: February 2026

02/10/26 – Just get us someplace warm!

This morning we bid farewell to the cool, misty mountainous jungles of Costa Rica as we head downhill to the amazing beach town of Quepos.  Along the way, we stopped a couple of times to see amazing sights.  Our first “holy cow!” moment was when the bus pulled over to let us gawk at a (Monte) Python in a tree along the road.  NObody expects a python!  The story apparently was that a nearby farmer caught the snake near his chickens and relocated him to the tree.  We obtained this information by tying a (dish) rack to the farmer and hitting him with pillows.

The next “even holier cow!” moment was when we pulled over to see a Resplendent Macaw!  And resplendent he was.  All red and yellow and blue.  He was magnificent!

We made it down to our hotel in time to go kayaking in a mangrove forest.  We had a burrito lunch on the muddy island before making our way up the slow-moving river.  We started off at a fishing town where there were dozens of black vultures and frigate birds looking for throwaways.  They were not disappointed.  We also saw some white ibises, an osprey and some herons.  The guide explained the importance of the different species of mangroves and how they can survive in these brackish waters.  Since the river flows to the ocean, and the ocean rises and falls with the tides, there is an area of mixed saltwater and freshwater at the junction.  These mangroves are great at filtering the saltwater and also stabilizing the soil which is extremely muddy as it absorbs the water.

In the evening, we took a nighttime boat trip into another mangrove forest.  There we also saw sleeping pygmy kingfishers, crocodiles, bullfrogs, Jesus Christ lizards (so named because of their ability to walk on water!), a turtle, a green heron, a duck-billed heron, and a kinkajou.  After that trip, we had a nice dinner provided by the tour provider.

All in all, it was a nice, yet long, day!

02/11/26 – La Cucaracha!  La Cucaracha!

We got up in the morning and had to walk to the bus stop to catch a ride to Manuel Antonio National Park.  Dave was lolly-gagging in the room, thinking we were meeting at 7:50 am.  With 10 minutes to go, Kathy reminded Dave that we were meeting at 6:50, and if he wanted to brush his teeth, get dressed, and get packed, he might want to start soon.  Rushing around like a hedgehog, Dave threw on his sneakers as he was headed out the door.  His left foot felt a little larger than usual, but he thought he might have picked up a stone.  He would take care of it later.  After getting seated on the standing-room only bus, Dave felt the “stone” wiggling.  Detective Dave concluded that the “stone” might be something else, he took off his sneaker and found a cockroach the size of Rhode Island sharing his footwear!  Okay, it was only a little over 2 inches long, but he was pretty fat.  He calmly shook the critter out, snapped a picture, and sent it to Kathy who was seated a few rows behind him.  He made sure those standing in the aisle were aware of this freeloader so as to not step on him and ruin his day.  Surprisingly, no one was surprised at our visitor.

We got to the National Park and walked up less than a mile to a small café set inside a cage.  Yes, it is inside a cage, or else the monkeys who roam freely about the park, would be the size of apes from eating everyone’s food.  So the park management cages the humans and lets the monkeys gawk at them from the free world.  Kathy was nursing her injured knee, so Dave went solo on a walk to a viewpoint.  Dave did not see much wildlife, but there were moments along his hike that he was the only human in sight and he could enjoy the precious peacefulness of a national park full of birds singing away.  And the monkeys…oh, did we mention the monkeys?  Yes, Dave heard howling monkeys a few times and had a family of Capuchin monkeys swing over his head in the tall trees.  They were not visible for long periods, but seeing them going about their lives from a vantage point of not being seen himself was sublime.

Dave made his way back to Kathy at the café and they walked back down to town together.  Along the way, they spotted a mother and baby sloth is the trees, moving ever-so-slightly as they do.  They enjoyed lunch alone together before the rest of their tour partners arrived at the designated pickup spot for our ride to the next event….the Party Boat!

The catamaran tour wasn’t quite what we expected.  It was packed with people and they blared music the entire time.  With Kathy’s knee in a brace with metal hinges, we felt that snorkeling in the briny ocean waters would not be the brightest idea.  We did enjoy seeing a whale briefly and a dolphin who raced us, just ahead of the catamaran’s front left hull.  They had free soft drinks (and a limit of four free alcoholic drinks per passenger) and included a meal.  Unfortunately, we were denied the chicken dinner we had ordered.  The hotel had given us wristbands for the tour and apparently gave us bands for a fish dinner, not chicken.  They did give Kathy the chicken after she advised them that she had an allergy, but Dave was denied.  “No chicken for you!  Next!”  The highlight of the experience was a fantastic sunset.

Once back at the hotel, our group trekked over to a nice restaurant for dinner as a group.  It was a nice way to end the day and it was going to be our last meal together as a tour group.

02/12/26 – Do you know the way to San Jose?

Our last full day in Costa Rica started off with a nice relaxing breakfast at the hotel, followed by some relaxing time at the pool on the roof.  Kathy soaked her legs in the tepid “hot tub” while Dave enjoyed conversation with the others at the pool.  Finally it was time to load back up on the bus for the ride back to San Jose.  There was a lot of traffic and it was slow going, but we did stop at a roadside shop for a break and to see a couple of fairly large crocodiles.  We arrived back out our San Jose hotel about 6:30 pm.  A few of us opted out of the group dinner since it was going to be a late night and we had early flights.  Kelly, Lorraine, Kathy and I enjoyed one of the best Chinese meals we had ever eaten cooked right there at the hotel by a third generation Chinese-Costa Rican.  It was super fresh and had just the right amount of spices.  Yum!

02/13/26 – Will we make it home alive?

The alarm yanked us out of bed at 1 am so that we could catch our ride to the airport at 1:30.  Along the way, Dave was desperately trying to find his lights and siren to pull over the driver of the shuttle van.  He was weaving in and out of his lane and would speed up and then stomp on the brakes to come to almost a complete stop.  He was honked at by several other drivers on the road and was passed by many others as he was driving so slowly.  At the airport, he started turning left before veering right across three lanes and in front of another driver.  Dave did not detect the odor of alcoholic beverages, but there was obviously something going on with him, whether it was intoxicants, a medical issue, or drowsiness.  We just thanked God that we arrived safely to the airport.  We were advised to arrive at the airport 3 hours ahead of our scheduled flight.  At 2 am, three hours early was a little too early.  We got checked in, through immigration, and passed security in about 7 minutes!  Well, that gave us plenty of time to grab a bite to eat.  Our motto is always “Better to arrive hours early than be one minute too late”, but this was a bit much.  Still, we were happy to be waiting patiently for our flight rather than rushing around or figuring out how to get home after missing a flight.

The flight to El Salvador, San Salvador was short and easy.  We had a 3 hour layover where we got a proper breakfast.  Well, proper maybe isn’t the word… for Dave anyway.  He saw something on the menu right next to the milkshakes that had peanut butter in it.  That sounded sooo good right then.  So, he ordered the peanut butter frappe.  ICK!  Dave will never confuse frappes with something edible again!  Who knew that frappes taste like coffee?!?  Not Dave, for sure.  (For those unfamiliar, Dave abhors coffee!)  The flight to Washington Dulles and then finally to Buffalo went smoothly and we were home before 8 pm, much to the delight of Navin and Tipsy, our cats who missed us.

Next trip…. France!

02/04/2026  – And the journey begins…….

The journey began early on an 11 degree day by bundling up in our warm fleece, shivering as we raced to the car to drive to the airport, teeth chattering until the car warmed up, and of course navigating the airport to get to our gate. All of this was complicated by the fact that Kathy is a gimp having sprained her MCL one week ago and so Dave had to work overtime as an EMT, Sherpa, and, of course, travel agent. Finally at the gate we sat down and began the long journey to the land of eyelash vipers, larger-than-life spiders, enormous varieties of birds, and, of course, sloths. Kathy is hoping to miss the snakes and spiders, but Dave is hoping to catch each and everything there is to see. After one layover in DC, then the next layover in Houston, we finally arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, only to have to sit and wait for the other guests to join us for our transfer to the hotel. Even though we arrived on the same flight, they arrived at the pickup spot about 30 minutes after we did!  They decided to dawdle – stopping in the restroom to get “cleaned” up and look refreshed – for the relatively short drive to their hotel. Of course, it was a grand hotel located in the heart of downtown. After dropping the other two passengers off, our driver meandered on toward our hotel, through the back alleys and inner streets until we reached the hotel on the outskirts of town. It was a hotel looking something like an industrial building with bars. Upon entering the door to the hotel, we were greeted by a receptionist in a cubicle right inside the door. Walking up to our room we were pleasantly surprised to see an oasis in the middle of the hotel, complete with palm trees, a pool, and lots of places to just relax. The room was clean but small – and we bet our price was considerably less than the other guests we had just dropped off. Welcome to Costa Rica – where the temperature is going to be in the 80’s, the sky is blue, and the sun is shining as always during their dry season! We are just hoping that the snow has melted by the time we get home!

02/05/2026 – We Spoke Too Soon

Sometimes the thought is better than the reality.  In this case the bed in the room dipped in the middle, squeaked like a mouse just captured by our cat Tipsy, and the water ran hot and cold. Additionally the weather was not in the 80’s but hovering somewhere around the high sixties or low seventies. No worries, we are on vacation. Settling in for the night we hunkered down and anticipated our first full day in Costa Rica.

Morning dawned bright and early, earlier than either of us were enthused about, but – hey! – again we are on vacation. Awaking to an early morning message, we met up with a fellow traveler, Lorraine, for breakfast and arranged to meet to go on a tour with a biologist to learn about the biodiversity in San Jose. Soon we were booked when we received another message for one of our early arrival travelers, Ariel. She agreed to tag along and we added her to the reservation. Soon we were off – first to find an ATM for Lorraine, some food for Ariel (who had yet to eat but had managed to run two miles before 10 am!), and then find our Uber. The tour was not scheduled until 2 pm, but that did not deter us from heading to the meeting point several hours early. We decided to eat lunch at the meeting point, and then take a stroll through the University of Costa Rica’s campus. With full curiosity, we took in everything there was to see, the gorgeous blooming bushes and flowers, the trees that had airplants attached to them, the cacti (dragon fruit), and the orchids growing on their outstretched limbs. The birds that were brightly plumaged soared among the blooming trees. Soon it was time to head back to start our tour, “A Nature Walking Tour of San Jose” with a biologist (student) who was enthusiastic, passionate about preservation of the plants and animals, and… French? Yes. Melissa came here to study biology; it must be that France just doesn’t cut the mustard when it comes to biodiversity. Soon we were off where we discovered the bird, Montezuma Oropendola, who builds hanging nests from the top of trees. The birds, both male and female, are similar in coloring but the male is slightly larger. They have bright yellow tail feathers that, when they fly, create a beautiful yellow path through the sky. The males have a harem, approximately 15 females nest with one male just dancing and gesturing on the higher branches to keep the females amused. Along the way we learned about leaf-cutter ants (not Kathy’s favorite).  We learned about the different uses for termite nests, which are not on the ground but situated high in the trees, and once abandoned by the termites, make great habitats for the bees. Along our journey, we discussed everything and anything that piqued our interest as we walked. Melissa was very happy to answer even the most mundane of questions. The ultimate goal – the “cherry on the cake” as Melissa described it – was to find a sloth! We set off on our quest, not quite the Holy Grail of quests, but a vacation-worthy one indeed. Soon we found our first sloth – or in this case what looked like a furry coconut hanging out in a tree – which was in this case a two-toed sloth. Next we saw a three-toed sloth…a baby one! Ahhh… He was just chilling in the tree curled up in a ball. The only recognizable thing was an arm hanging by his side. Then, just for more icing on the cake, a third sloth was spotted hanging high up in a tree in the middle of the school commons. Just to make it even more fun, we saw a squirrel cuckoo flitting around. Soon the tour was over and we rushed back to the hotel for our 6 pm meeting with the group and tour leader. Arriving back at the hotel a half hour early, we decided to dash to the local McDonald’s (yes – we know what you are thinking, but it was the only place close enough where we could scarf down dinner and still get to our meeting on time.) Our CEO – or Chief Experience Officer – Ingrid is a rapid talking, long winded, enthusiastic guide who amazingly remembers everybody’s name, where they come from, and tiny tidbits.  We found out about what to expect our next few days. Next we were off to bed where Kathy iced her knee after walking four miles during the day (shhhh, don’t tell her orthopedist!) and settled into the room to prepare for the next day.

02/06/2026 – And then there was day three.  Not one, not two, but three!

Today, it was all about being a member of a tribe. The G Adventures tribe.  The group consists of sixteen intrepid travelers, all but one who are visiting Costa Rica for the first time. Piling onto the bus, we headed off for our first stop – breakfast! – where we feasted on homemade French toast that had lots of strawberries and bananas on top. Of course no French toast like this would be complete without homemade strawberry preserves/syrup (?) and whipped cream. We gained 10 pounds just looking at it on the platter they presented to us. Piling back onto the bus we headed to a coffee plantation where we learned the art and history of making coffee and, of course, had a few tastes of their work (well, only Kathy). We also got to taste a coffee liqueur (okay, only Kathy again) that gave you a rush of alcohol followed swiftly by a jolt of caffeine. What a way to start your afternoon. Along with learning how to make coffee we also learned the art of making cane sugar juice. They enlisted several “volunteers” and, of course, Dave put on quite a show cranking the squeezer, along with two others.  He helped squeeze the cane stalks to make cane sugar juice which we all got to taste. It was an acquired taste – sweet, but not too much, and just kind of bland. Next on the agenda was how they turned the bland cane sugar juice into moonshine. A few daring individuals tried the local moonshine, we opted out – Dave because he doesn’t drink, and Kathy because she was still wobbly after the coffee liqueur. Or was she wobbly because of the knee?? She is not confessing to anything! We then sat down for a traditional lunch which included the obligatory rice and beans -again not Kathy’s favorite, but not too bad.  She just feels it is kind of bland. Soon we piled on to the bus again – yes, for the third time – to finally get to our hotel. The whole day it has rained, poured, and just drizzled. The gray clouds followed us all the way from San Jose to La Fortuna. So much for the dry season!  While we decided to chill at the hotel, twelve of our tribe elected to hike along some volcanic rocks, then through the forest, and then top it off with a soak in the hot springs at the base of the volcano, along with visits to the bar.  We opted for a nice easy dinner – a traditional local dish for each of us – and an early night in the room. Tomorrow is another day. We fell asleep to the sounds of the rain dripping off our roof.

Costa Rica Info 2026