Wednesday – Saturday, Feb 26 – Mar 1. Traveling every other day is a drag. Yesterday afternoon on the hike out of the waterfall I was bitten badly by some very nasty mosquitos. Today (Sunday) I’m still putting on anti-itch cream.

Wednesday morning some people went on a nature hike. I passed. On the way to our next hotel we tried to find a local festival, only to discover it’s only open in the evening. We proceeded south towards the western coast on a busy highway, stopping at a restaurant for a late lunch. Spaghetti.

Our final resort was a very large development with hotels and condos. Two beaches, many pools. Very hot and humid. I walked to the furthest beach, hoping for a good sunset that never materialized. Others took the bus, which I thankfully rode back in. Dinner was outside. Buggy.

Thursday was a outrigger canoe trip on the ocean, with a beach-picnic destination. I passed again. Didn’t want more bugs, a hot sun, and a picnic meal. I’ve never liked picnics. Because of the precarious nature of canoes and ocean, I wasn’t going to bring a camera. So I just walked around the resort a bit. In the late afternoon everyone made their way to the nearer beach for a beer and another chance to see a sunset. I swam a little. This one was more interesting.

Friday we departed for San Jose and our final night. On the way we cruised a tidal river that had crocodiles and an abundance of birds. It was perhaps the most rewarding event in the whole trip for me. Worked on my birds-in-flight skills. Afterwards we sat through traffic for what was a supposed to be a 90 minute drive. Three hours later we arrived for a 3PM lunch, 5 minutes from the hotel. Our Farewell Lunch was in an Argentinian restaurant. It was a silly event to close out the trip.

I left Costa Rica on Saturday in a very routine fashion.

Observations: This was a “Learn and Discover” trip to see how Costa Rican’s vacation. At every hotel it was more normal to see Costa Ricans than people from the USA. We did not experience the parts of Costa Rica that other visitors rave about when they come. I would not come back to where we visited, but I can certainly imagine how nice it would be in other parts of the country. Rafting, horseback rides, boating, zip lines, beaches, all are great fun for the vacationer.