Costa Rica

Dec 8-11

UA1181 IAH-SJO/LIR, UA1097 SJO-IAH

Costa Rica had been on a short list of places to visit for a while. We had enjoyed our time in Panama and had high hopes for Costa Rica. Tom and I were both flying to San Jose, and planned to pick up a rental car and make our way to the west coast where we were staying. Tom’s flight landed as scheduled; however, my plane scheduled shortly after was not able to land due to fog at the San Jose airport. I was diverted to Liberia (on the west coast) where we landed quite late. They had originally planned to try again for San Jose, but the conditions never improved, so we were left in Liberia for the night. As the airport did not normally have late arrivals, it took some time to process us. Shortly after midnight, I found a hotel near the airport and let Tom know that he would need to drive alone to Liberia the next morning. It all worked out in the end, and we still found time to enjoy our time there and to get to know another Central American country.

Dec 9

After reuniting in Liberia on Saturday, we got right out and explored the western portions of Costa Rica. The highlight of the day was the Rincon De La Vieja National Park, before making our way to the resort we were staying at, in Papagayo, on the Pacific coast.

Hiking in Rincon De La Vieja National Park

Some of the volcanic activity in the park

Bubbling acidic pool

Steamy vent

Bubbling mud pool

Calmer parts of the mountain

Another steam vent

Steamy waterfall

Surrounding forest in the park

Towering tree

Culebra Bay in Papagayo

Sunset from the resort

Having a bit of fun

Dec 10

We enjoyed our time at the resort in the morning before making our way back to San Jose. The weather was beautiful on the west coast, but unfortunately the weather around San Jose was not as nice. We optimistically made our way into the nearby mountains, but ultimately turned back when the rain got very heavy, including knocking some trees onto the road.

The resort grounds above Culebra Bay

A grasshopper on the path

Resort area

Reward for a long walk from the road to Llanos de Cortez Falls

Locals enjoying the swim around the falls

Lower vantage point for the falls

The rain slowed down as we made our way back from the mountains and towards San Jose

After we got back into San Jose, we dropped off the rental car and got a shuttle to our hotel by the airport to be ready for our early morning flight.

Dec 11

Ending our short get away, we both had early morning flights back to Houston and Toronto.