|
Post by mich64 on Mar 7, 2017 22:36:10 GMT
Slowly my photographs are being loaded to Photobucket, therefore, I will start my report with a few that have uploaded thus far. We departed our hometown for Toronto mid morning February 18th and arrived at the Toronto International Airport. I had my first taste of General Tso Chicken at LEE Kitchen by Susur Lee. I chose this because I had a memory of reading a discussion about it on APIAS! We arrived at about 9:00 p.m. and my husband spotted our name on a whiteboard being held by a beaming young lady who took us to our awaiting shuttle to our first hotel, where we spent a comfortable night and enjoyed a delicious breakfast seated by the pool. We spent a leisurely morning waiting for the Rental Car company to drop off our vehicle. Then our adventure truly began. We experienced some road blocks out of San Jose but finally got on our way to Cachi in the Orosi Valley to our fist hotel, La Casona Cafetal. We stopped for lunch along the way. This is part of the lake in Cachi, I think because we were visiting in the dry season, the water level is a bit low. [ The Hotel was actually an array of cottages surrounding the main house which was a restaurant an reception hall. We enjoyed a meal in their restaurant, a good night of rest, and after breakfast we were on our way to explore Orosi Valley on our way to our next stay near the city of San Isidro at a hotel named Mirador Valle De General. We stopped on the way to visit this park, but I cannot remember the name. More photo to come, still uploading!
|
|
|
Post by breeze on Mar 7, 2017 23:57:13 GMT
Mich, I really like those feathery-looking palm trees, the hedges along the walkway, and the red trees in the background that I hope somebody can identify for me. The valley in the last photo is surprisingly colorful to me. Is that due the same red trees?
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Mar 8, 2017 1:11:06 GMT
Hi Breeze! those palm trees were quite different, not to sure of their name though. The hedges were so thick and dense with leaves and we did comment about them and surmising that is what happens when they have a continual growing season versus my area where they lose their leaves in the fall and are dormant in the winter until spring brings the new growth, these do not stop growing.
Yes, the valley was full of the red trees, I think they were called Poro trees, they were actually orange but the photos do show them more as red.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2017 5:57:57 GMT
Looks great so far. I am really looking forward to this report because I have known several people who have said that Costa Rica is their favourite destination but none of them ever bothered to share photos of the country. At last I am getting to see what it looks like.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 9, 2017 1:58:05 GMT
General Tso's ~ one of my favorites! That was a long flight, Mich, but nice to have no layovers. Super report so far. Was it difficult driving in an unfamiliar place. I'm guessing you did your usual excellent research & had that lunch place all picked out. Am I right? It's all very tropical and beautiful. What was the weather like -- is it very humid there?
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Mar 9, 2017 7:07:25 GMT
Great start Mich! Yes, I am also looking forward to seeing more of Costa Rica. I believe many Americans decide to go and live there.
|
|
|
Post by amboseli on Mar 9, 2017 16:29:10 GMT
Eager to see/read more. Have wanted to go there for a long time, if only the flight wasn't so long ...
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Mar 9, 2017 17:06:20 GMT
Hi Amboseli! I hope to get back to this in the next few days! How long would the flight be from where you live? For us it was a 5 hour flight which felt relatively easy in comparison to our overseas flights in the past. Our September flight to Milan will be approximately 8 hours to and 9 hours on the return. Hi Tod! Yes, there are many Americans and Canadians who now live in Costa Rica and many of them own a business as well. Hi Kerouac! I hope I can show you how beautiful it was! Hi Bixa! Do you remember that conversation about General Tso? The driving was a bit more exciting than I expected! Both the guys took turns each day driving, my husband really enjoyed one of his days as we went up a mountain and then down into a valley on a one lane road with switchbacks! It was adventurous. That restaurant I did not find, my friend is as much, if not more, of a planner than I! She had a binder full of possibilities! It was tropical and some areas felt like a jungle and some areas were a rain forest. On the second day when we left the coffee plantation it was about 25C and then we drove to a mountainous area and watched the temperature drop on the gauge in the vehicle all the way down to 11C! We were in the mists of the low lying clouds. Once we reached our villa near the ocean, it was 35C each day (but not as humid as I expected) and once back to San Jose for the day before departure, it was a comfortable 25C by the pool. I will be back soon with more photos, as I still have to load photos from our phones.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Mar 9, 2017 17:36:07 GMT
A 5 hour flight is a dream flight for us. The closest we come to that is flying to Mauritius in around 4-5hrs. Our flight in September to Munich is around 10-11 hrs but because SAA only fly to Europe at night, it becomes a lovely dinner and not very comfortable bed, but it's at least a bed where I can lie flat. Half an hour ago I was watching 'House Hunters International' where a family from US picked out a condo on the beach for their move to Costa Rica. What beautiful clear water! Get loading will ya!
|
|
|
Post by amboseli on Mar 9, 2017 18:59:29 GMT
Hi Amboseli! I hope to get back to this in the next few days! How long would the flight be from where you live? 14 hours in the air would be the shortest possible (from Brussels, with a stopover between 5 and 12 hrs in Atlanta). That's really too much, especially with the 7 hrs jetlag (8 hrs in the summer). No problem with 8 hours on a plane as long as it's in about the same time zone.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Mar 9, 2017 22:39:55 GMT
Yes indeed Amboseli, that is a very long trip! That is sort of like when we consider going to Hawaii, we would have to consider breaking up the trip and spend a few days in either Vancouver or a California location which makes it much more expensive to justify right now. Our trip to Milan will be an 18 hour day for us as we have a 9 hour delay in Toronto and on the return it will be a 13 hour day, with a 3 hour layover in Toronto. This is the first time we are departing from our city, on all our past holidays we drove to Toronto (a 4 hour drive) but then would have to spend an extra night in Toronto on the way home due to it being unsafe to drive the 4 hours after a 9 hour flight combined with the 6 hour time change difference. So yes, I understand. I am loading Tod! We fly overnight as well but no lying flat for us, but we did choose premium economy this time so we will have more recline space. We are getting pretty good at getting about 4 hours sleep during the overseas flights though.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Mar 9, 2017 23:23:29 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2017 5:39:44 GMT
I like the fact that things do not seem "overdeveloped" as they often are when receiving many tourists from North America (and not just).
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 10, 2017 6:15:48 GMT
Yes, Mich -- I well remember the discussion about Genl. Tso's chicken!
Your pictures are really making me understand why so many people love Costa Rica. Could you smell all the pine in the air? I hardly ever see pine trees here, as they are at a much higher elevation than the valley where I live.
Thanks for getting the name of those trees, as I was able to google & get a close-up look at the flowers, which are very different and pretty.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Mar 10, 2017 6:46:01 GMT
I can see from these pictures why Costa Rica attracts tourists from North America and even gets retirees. It looks well-kept, plus the fact that it was one of the first countries to emphasize eco-tourism. Also, not having an army leaves more money for investment in the country.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 10, 2017 14:20:36 GMT
It is such a safe easy country that when 9/11 struck a few weeks before a planned trip to India and Delta cancelled our flight, we switched our frequent-flier tickets to CR and planned a 3-week trip including Panama practically overnight. Loved it. Thanks for the memories.
|
|
|
Post by amboseli on Mar 10, 2017 22:51:31 GMT
Looks so peaceful. Nature at its best.
|
|
|
Post by lugg on Mar 20, 2017 9:05:54 GMT
Enjoyed seeing this report and looking forward to more, Mich . Its long been on my wish list too; maybe one year. Now I am going to google Gen. Tso chicken
|
|
|
Post by amboseli on Feb 8, 2019 8:24:15 GMT
In the meantime I was courageous enough to undergo the long flight and we flew to Costa Rica in January. I'll try tro write a trip report.
|
|