Comment has been made about the recent lack of maps so here is the final version showing our complete tour. Our airport transfer went as planned and we breezed through check in and security.The duty free plan required amendment as Costa Rica discriminates outrageously against gin drinkers when it comes to duty free prices. R was able to score a huge (1.75 litre) bottle of Stoli for less than the price of a litre of any of the available gins. The lounge is fairly basic but the beer is cold (and free) and the wifi works so the blog for Monday can be written up and published. The fight to Amsterdam goes via Liberia, a 25minute hop to the North West in an area we did not visit. At Liberia there is a crew change and the champagne is brought round. Dinner is served very efficiently and the lights go down by 22.30. We both sleep surprisingly well and wake around our customary hour of 05.00 (Costa Rica time). Breakfast service is just beginning (12.00 Amsterdam tim...
We report as instructed outside the reception building at a few minutes before 06.00. It is light but we can see the valley below filled with clouds. There are a few birds about as we wait for our guide to arrive. D even goes back to the cabin to check the date and timings on the itinerary but it confirms 25/11/22 at 06.00. We move up to the waterfall to watch hummingbirds and check back at reception from time to time. Eventually we give up and return to our cabin for a cup of tea and some Duolingo. Jose, the hotel proprieter and bird enthusiast arrives at about 7.45 to say that he has Pieter on the phone. Apparently his car broke down in a mobile blackspot and he was unable to contact anybody. He offers to come to the hotel if we still want to do some birding and we agree that we should have breakfast while he drives here. Jose ushers us down to breakfast and takes our order. When they arrive our breakfast plates are almost like works of art and the coffee is s...
Our original motivation for visiting Costa Rica was to see some of the country's quite amazing array of birdlife. To this end we booked a Birding and Wildlife orientated trip through Aratinga Tours which did not disappoint in any way. We saw plenty of birds, some other wildlife and a good few places in Costa Rica. Without exception the people that we met were friendly and helpful, starting with the immigration officer as we arrived and finishing with the guy who drove the minibus to the airport as we were leaving, What went to plan? The info provided by Aratinga and the research we did, warned us to be prepared for wet weather. We probably got less of this than might be expected in November but we got some. The combination of Wet Pack, Dry-bags, beach shoes and rain jackets that we took saw us through the worst and when it got just too much we put our cossies on and went swimming. The birding was just sublime throughout. Some of the best spots were while eating breakfa...
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