My flight to San Jose, Costa Rica ended up landed early and customs was very quick as well as luggage pick up. I needed to wait around for my two friends who were arriving from Guatemala and then we immediately caught a taxi to the Airport Denny's where we would be catching our shuttle. I know, who'd have thought? The taxi driver told us there were actually two Denny's in San Jose, the other one was downtown.
The taxi was $3USD. The US dollar is widely accepted here, especially on the tourist path. I didn't exchange any Costa Rica currency which were called Colones and had no idea what was the exchange rate was. We waited for our shuttle bus at Denny's to go to Mal Pais, Santa Teresa on the west coast of Costa Rica where the wedding is taking place. A domestic flight from Sansa Air or Nature Air to Tambor Airport would've taken only about half hour with another 45 minute taxi ride to Santa Teresa which would have cost about another $50 USD. My shuttle cost me $59 USD (booked on anywherecostarica.com) and was about 5 to 6 hours. I won't be getting a lot of time in Santa Teresa so the ride will have to count as one of my sight seeing activities, especially since the ride also included an one hour ferry ride. Works for me.
The shuttle van picked us up at around 8:45AM. It was a comfortable 10 person van with air conditioning. My friends and I got shuffled around and separated into various different vans enroute before reaching the ferry. Our driver hopped out to get us ferry tickets. When he hopped back in, I was handed a ferry ticket valued at 800 Colones ($1.5USD). They must make a killing on these shuttle runs, I thought to myself.
I was reunited with my friends at the Puntarenas ferry entrance. We collected our luggage and boarded the ferry just before 11AM. On the ferry we immediately spotted quite a few familiar faces. We had met up more than half of the wedding including the bride and groom. The boat had a similar setup (but less than half of the size) to the Vancouver to Nanaimo ferry boats of which vehicles were stored on the bottom levels and passengers traveled on upper decks. It was packed with tourists and locals alike. We sat at the back by the bar that was blasting loud mix of top 40 and reggaeton. The sun was hot and the party has officially started.
I was a bit mopey though. There were quite a few kids running around including a few that was similar in age to Drake. I could've brought Drake, I threw my hands up and complained to whoever was sitting next to me. I really needed to snap out of it and stop being a party pooper. I was in paradise and I need to enjoy my surrounding. The scenery was actually very similar to the Strait of Georgia.
When we reached the Paquera on the other side I was suppose to board another van to continue my journey to Santa Teresa, but the bride and groom had a private van and offered me a ride.
Unlike the previous side, the road was pretty bumpy and dusty. It was a minor reminder of the Old Coach road in Australia. We arrived at Villas Hermosa our final destination just before 2PM. After almost 24 hours of travel I was exhausted and hot, but the hammock was strung up directly outside my room and I haven't even met the ocean located 200 meters away so I was excited about my next 10 days.
The taxi was $3USD. The US dollar is widely accepted here, especially on the tourist path. I didn't exchange any Costa Rica currency which were called Colones and had no idea what was the exchange rate was. We waited for our shuttle bus at Denny's to go to Mal Pais, Santa Teresa on the west coast of Costa Rica where the wedding is taking place. A domestic flight from Sansa Air or Nature Air to Tambor Airport would've taken only about half hour with another 45 minute taxi ride to Santa Teresa which would have cost about another $50 USD. My shuttle cost me $59 USD (booked on anywherecostarica.com) and was about 5 to 6 hours. I won't be getting a lot of time in Santa Teresa so the ride will have to count as one of my sight seeing activities, especially since the ride also included an one hour ferry ride. Works for me.
The shuttle van picked us up at around 8:45AM. It was a comfortable 10 person van with air conditioning. My friends and I got shuffled around and separated into various different vans enroute before reaching the ferry. Our driver hopped out to get us ferry tickets. When he hopped back in, I was handed a ferry ticket valued at 800 Colones ($1.5USD). They must make a killing on these shuttle runs, I thought to myself.
I was reunited with my friends at the Puntarenas ferry entrance. We collected our luggage and boarded the ferry just before 11AM. On the ferry we immediately spotted quite a few familiar faces. We had met up more than half of the wedding including the bride and groom. The boat had a similar setup (but less than half of the size) to the Vancouver to Nanaimo ferry boats of which vehicles were stored on the bottom levels and passengers traveled on upper decks. It was packed with tourists and locals alike. We sat at the back by the bar that was blasting loud mix of top 40 and reggaeton. The sun was hot and the party has officially started.
I was a bit mopey though. There were quite a few kids running around including a few that was similar in age to Drake. I could've brought Drake, I threw my hands up and complained to whoever was sitting next to me. I really needed to snap out of it and stop being a party pooper. I was in paradise and I need to enjoy my surrounding. The scenery was actually very similar to the Strait of Georgia.
When we reached the Paquera on the other side I was suppose to board another van to continue my journey to Santa Teresa, but the bride and groom had a private van and offered me a ride.
Unlike the previous side, the road was pretty bumpy and dusty. It was a minor reminder of the Old Coach road in Australia. We arrived at Villas Hermosa our final destination just before 2PM. After almost 24 hours of travel I was exhausted and hot, but the hammock was strung up directly outside my room and I haven't even met the ocean located 200 meters away so I was excited about my next 10 days.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment