We left our snoozing kids with Grandma Sheila around 10:30 p.m. on Friday night and made our way easily to the airport via the car-free Carmageddon Freeway. We “accidentally” approached the executive check-in counter, and began to retreat to the regular passenger line when we realized our mistake. But the bored agent took pity on us and waved us over – saving us a 45-minute wait. We were off to a good start.
Once again amazed at what a crappy airport LAX is, we stood around for more than an hour since there were not enough seats in Terminal 2, where apparently every flight to Central America leaves from in the middle of the night. On board at last, we hunkered down for the seven-hour flight, expecting to at least get a few hours of sleep. Not so much. We each got several short cat naps. It was a busy plane with a layover in Guatemala.
We breezed through the airport in San Jose and met our driver, Fernando. He was warm and friendly and took us to a strange little souvenir shop way off the beaten path because I said I wanted a cup of coffee. While I didn’t expect he’d take us to Starbucks, I figured, since this was Costa Rica and all, there would be cafes everywhere. Instead, his friends have their employee coffee bar set up behind their store, and I got my first taste of one of the country’s most popular agricultural exports.
It was a three-hour windy and bumpy ride to our first destination, Arenal. I wanted to see as much as I could, but my eyelids won that fight several times. What I did see was a country that seems to be largely lush, green jungle. We passed through a few little towns and saw farms where they grow sugar cane and coffee. The homes are kinda sad: small shacks with tile floors, mostly dark inside with rusty, tin roofs and often random, boarded add-ons.
Around 1 p.m. we arrived at Volcano Lodge. We had lunch at the hotel restaurant while we waited for our room to be ready. None of the restaurants in Costa Rica have walls, which is ideal for enjoying the very tolerable balmy, warm weather. With a view of the Arenal Volcano, we ate fried plaintains and arroz con pollo. The clouds cleared enough for us to see the top of the still-active volcano for us to get a few good shots.
Finally, our room was ready and we went in dying for a one hour nap. We didn’t, however, hear the alarm over the whirring ceiling fan … and slept for more than two hours. Oh well. We showered, got dressed and applied insect repellant before catching a cab to La Fortuna, the town about 10 miles away. Our travel agent bought us a dinner at his friend’s restaurant, which was at our hotel until three days ago, when it moved to town. They honored the voucher and we had a nice meal. Afterward, we walked around the town and I discovered an unexpected surprise: fun, cheap jewelry. I bought a few pieces, we stopped for mojitos at a bar and taxi’d back to the hotel.
It’s pitch dark, but we’re out on the terrace that overlooks a garden and the volcano, sipping rums and Diet Cokes. The jungle is loud with birds chirping and bugs buzzing. It’s amazing.
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