Hotel Bosque Del Mar-Guancaste-Costa Rica

We went on a bus tour to the beach in Guanacaste, Playa Hermosa for 2 nights and 3 days, we went on boat tour while there see Wild Wetlands Hacienda

We stopped at a tourist place and there were these dinosaur statues

this is the beach at the hotel, really enjoyed spending time at the beach

Hotel Bosque Del Mar is a beautiful hotel

when they built the hotel they did not cut down the trees, they built around them. there were lots of iquana and monkeys in the trees around the hotel. when we had drinks at the bar on the second floor the monkeys were at eye level

For supper we went up the mountain to a nice restaurant

there is a beautiful view from the restaurant

meal at the restaurant, unfortunately looked better than it tasted because it was too salty

Wild Wetlands Hacienda-Costa Rica

This private reserve has very nice grounds and the building is very old but well maintained

we went for a boat tour on Palo Verde River

we went for a boat tour on Palo Verde River

we saw lots of monkeys

signs for the washrooms

Sarchi-Costa Rica

Mary and Steve went on an extra tour to Sarchi where they make ox carts, they also saw some beautiful churches

ox carts

Sheila's House Party & farewell-Costa Rica

Sheila our tour guide gave the tour group a wonderful party at her house including great food, drinks, live music, and dancing
One of Sheila's relatives

View from Sheila's

Live band

Sheila's mother, Sheila, Mary, Steve

Sharon and Ches

Steve and Mary

King of Sticks (card game)
There was a farewell dinner with live music

live band

Tour group and Carlos

Monteverde Adventure-Costa Rica

Jan 31 and it was the end of our tour part of the trip. We left about 8:30 am after breakfast to go to Monteverde. We hired the owner of the hotel in Atenas to drive us. After about 90 minutes of driving we were going up a steep mountain road that was very narrow and rocky, we all thought we were lost but the driver insisted it was okay. The men said the van was overheating, we stopped and the radiator had blown.

The driver called for a taxi, but we did not think they would find us, we sat in the shade for an hour waiting
We turned the car around and went down hill in neutral slowing down with the hand brake and twisting back and forth on the road, but stayed out of the ditch. We went about 2 miles until we came to a local farmer and he said he had a cousin who could fix the radiator and another cousin who could give us a ride to Monteverde. We tried to keep our sense of humour about the situation and called it our travel adventure. The locals people are so helpful and friendly, they even filled our water bottles with water from their home.

The person came with the truck and we loaded the luggage in the box and piled in. The truck had poor shocks and the road was rough, rocky, pot holes and some parts were washed out including driving through one part of the road with water running over it. We called it our Indiana Jones ride. When we were driving downhill the steering wheel came off and when the driver put it back on the horn started honking. The steering wheel came off again and he put it back faster this time. The transmission was poor and kept grinding and the truck almost stalled on the steep parts of the road. The scenery was spectacular it reminded us of the Top of the World highway in Alaska.

The trip took 3 1/2 hours and we finally arrived at our hotel Cloud Forest Lodge, very tired and hungry but glad to be there.

Hotel Cloud Forest Lodge