FINALLY IN COSTA RICA

Okay now onto Costa Rica, (C.R. From now on).   Finally made it here with all my medications.  I will be here in Costa Rica for four weeks and I am ready.  We came to see the country and decide if this is a place we would like to buy a second home in. We flew into San Jose and we made reservations to stay for a couple of days with a few days open without a reservation. We have been to C.R. many times, but have never stayed in San Jose.  I made reservations at the Marriot Bene Hotel and was not disappointed.   A beautiful property, lush, green and it even had a golf course.  Not that I golf, but perhaps you do.   We met up with friends and saw the sights. We went to an active volcano and stopped for some good coffee at the most funky place you can imagine.  Just so you know, San Jose’s altitude is higher than you would think so at night and sometimes during the day it can get chilly.

We left San Jose and went to Jaco Beach, because we kept hearing that it as a great place to own a second home in.  We were told that it is not far from San Jose’s airport and hospital.  The drive took about 2 ½ hours.  We never wanted to go to Jaco in all the times we have traveled to C.R., but on we went.  We usually would travel to the Osla Peninsular and stay at an eco lodge called Lapas Rios or a surf camp.  To get there you need to fly to San Jose, then onto a smaller plan to Puerto Hermeneze and then a two hour drive by truck.  You need a four wheel drive for this trip. The roads are hairy.  I had always thought that we would buy something in this region, but the last time we were there it felt a bit too remote and it does not have enough to do. If you lived there full or even part time, I know that I would need more than surfing, hiking, swimming and nature watching.  (Sounds just horrible when I put it that way, did I say I am a bit spoiled?). But it is a great place to visit.  It is right in the rain forest.  The most beautiful birds live there, there are sloughs, four different types of moneys, whales, critters that you would not think exist and it is the lushest place in this hemisphere.  There are many eco lodges in this area and you should really considered going to one, if you ever come to C.R.  You would not be disappointed.  

Oh, now back to Jaco.   It was just what we expected, a tourist town, good restaurants and shops, but it is mostly for the male persuasion due to legal prostitution. I have been told that it has one of the largest legal brothels anywhere to be found. To say the least it is not for me or my husband, we left in two days.