The 2nd part of my Winterfest...

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Been home almost two weeks now. I wanted to post some pics in the LUVMYJP plate thread first, but the previous plate host had claimed he was posting more pics, but didn't reply to my question in the thread, then replied several days later to my PM, after I had started posting pics. Supposedly he's going to post some more pics, so I'm holding off on that thread, but I figured I'd share a few pics with my MWC bros.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country, great weather, and great coffee. Some decent beer, good to great food, interesting wildlife, and friendly people.

We did an all-inclusive (except alcohol :bawl: ) tour with Caravan Tours. Definitely the way to go in a foreign country, where you don't speak the language, and that has the highest traffic fatality rate in the world. Our guide knew everything about the country, from history, politics, and economics, to flora and fauna. And our driver piloted our huge Mercedes bus through tight city streets and mountain switchbacks like it was an XJ.

One of the few XJs we saw, and the driver was given the choice of moving or being pushed out of the way so our bus could turn the corner



Our first stop the first day was Poas Volcano National Park







Our bus



Our mountainside lunch stop included a dance show. Some hot Costa Rican babes! Not that I was looking or anything :eyes:




Then we went into downtown San Jose to see the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum. No flash photography allowed, I was amazed at how well these pics turned out.

Is this supposed to be a (non-flying) armadillo?



The detail on these pieces was amazing

 

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Our first two nights were at the Barcelo in San Jose. Very nice for being in the city. The pool looked nice, but felt like it was only a few degrees above freezing :scared:





Some tropical flowers on the grounds





Artwork near the entrance to the restaurant



Our third day we drove for miles through a rainforest





And had lunch at a restaurant with a butterfly garden







Then we stopped at a banana packing plant





The guy selling fresh coconuts out front had an unusual pet

 

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The lodge we stayed at for our 3rd and 4th nights was only accessible by boat, or crop duster type airplane. Since we were running late, the tide was out and our boat almost got stuck in one spot.

The main mode of travel here on the east coast is a network of rivers, streams, and canals. The closest village to our lodge had a population of 1400 people, no cars.

While our rustic cabin was complete with one giant flying cockroach, and various other bugs, they did have a very nice bench by the docks...







In the morning we did a boat tour on one branch of the river

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

very cool John. I about detoured by your place on the way back from Sean and Lar's last weekend, but if I did I know I would not have made it home Sunday evening after a few drinks w/ ya!

 

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By then we were kinda sick of the buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so we got our local guide's recommendation and had a great lunch of garlic crusted fresh mahi, with two types of rice, beans, salad, 3 beers for me and a sprite for Cindy, for about $24. And we put a serious dent in the awesome habenero salsa they had on the table, but unfortunately the language barrier prevented us from getting the recipe. We then walked along the beach back to the lodge to do our afternoon boat tour in Tortuguero National Park.

Jesus lizard



The guides knew what all these birds were, but I don't remember...



Yes, that is a male monkey



One reason nobody swims in these streams

 

[FlexdXJ]

Looks like you had a good time John!

 

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very cool John. I about detoured by your place on the way back from Sean and Lar's last weekend, but if I did I know I would not have made it home Sunday evening after a few drinks w/ ya!

You're welcome here anytime, but yeah, best not to be driving too far afterwards. Just crash here for the night.

 

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Looks like you had a good time John!

We had a great time! First time we've done an all-inclusive tour, usually we just do our own thing. We've never been the type to just sit around the resort at the pool, but our first time in Mexico we didn't know what to do or where to go, until we did a couple of day tours. Now we know all sorts of things to do around Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, and thanks to this tour, we know several places we can go on our own in Costa Rica. Definitely not going to be driving in San Jose, though. The traffic is crazy, and the roads make no sense. Bus stops in the right lane of the 90 km/hr freeway :scared:

 

[FlexdXJ]

Bus stops in the right lane of the 90 km/hr freeway :scared:

And you wonder why the traffic fatalities are so high there? Well, that and the mountain roads that are narrow and people drive like idiots on them. :dunno:

 

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Apparently, they recently started some tougher traffic laws, and the traffic suddenly dropped to about half what it had been. Gone were most of the people that had been driving without licenses...

 

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Laguna Lodge form the river side



Nothing to see but a sign from the ocean side





Sunset from the dock side bar





and sunrise on the beach



More wildlife on the boat ride back to the bus





This guy was 12-14' long, according to the guides. I was not going to go out there with a tape measure to check.



Some nice smooth water on the river



Giant tree near our lunch stop

 

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The tree made this large guy from our tour group look small



and Cindy and I even smaller



Our tour guide, helping with the presentation at the pineapple plantation



Extinct volcano



Our room for the next two nights



with a view of the active volcano





That evening they offered a lava tour, and packed a bunch of us into a couple minivan taxis that took us around to the active side, up a dirt road in the pitch dark. After our eyes adjusted to the dark, about every 5-7 minutes we could see chunks of lava shooting out of the top, then a couple seconds later hitting and scattering out on the lower slopes of the mountain. Definitely one of the cooler things we've seen, but nowhere near enough light for my camera to catch.

We had done yet another boat tour that morning.



some different birds, more caimans and monkeys, and some bats



For reason, this reminded me of a Winterfest campfire

http://travel.webshots.com/video/3037095370049957266cLLCFd

Apparently, if you're a blonde howler monkey, you don't have more fun. This very rare blonde female has been repeatedly rejected by the males in mating season. Aaron?

 

[eflores]

very cool animals...musta been cool seein them all in person

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

John,

When you saw the monkey did you have the urge to spank him? :dunno:

 

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John,

When you saw the monkey did you have the urge to spank him? :dunno:

No, but I did want to choke an iguana

 

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Toucans



Hanging Bridges







Macaws on tour bus



One flew down and landed on this guys hatch, nearly gave him a heart attack

 

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Coatimundi by the roadside



Pretty cool bar at our lunch stop







Met the former President ('98-'02)
Light blue shirt, holding hat in hand



Our next two nights were at the J.W. Marriot in Guanacaste on the Pacific coast. Rooms here start at just under $300/night, but Caravan brings about 80 people a day here in prime season, so they get a good enough discount to include it in their $995 10 day package. The buffet here was fantastic, too.
They supposedly have the largest pool in Central America. Our view wasn't great, although we could see the ocean from the balcony

 

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Night shots









Another dancer

 

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Views from our 10th floor room at the Holiday Inn





That was supposed to be our last night...

 

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...but when we got to the airport at 7:30 for our 10:00, they had it delayed for 4 hours. When we finally got to the desk, we were told it might be 4 or 5, or 6 hours, but it probably would be canceled.

So we got vouchers for a night at the Best Western, taxi rides there and back to the airport, and lunch dinner and breakfast at Dennys. Spent the day drinking beer by the pool, after dinner we hit the casino and played slots for a couple hours, came out up $80.

Then the next day, our flight took off just late enough for us to miss our connecting flight in DFW, got the next flight 50 minutes later, but one of our suitcases didn't make that flight either. Had dinner at Ohare while waiting for the suitcase to come on the next flight, only to find that they had pretty much destroyed it. After a bit of arguing, we managed to stuff the contents into our other bags, and they sent the damged one out for repair. Totally screwed up end to an excellent vacation.

Just got a new, better suitcase via Fedex yesterday.

If anyone wants to see the rest of the pics and videos, I uploaded about 1/3 of them here http://travel.webshots.com/album/577077662oPxhhT