Getting to Costa Rica

This past Saturday evening the huz and returned from our nine day trip to Costa Rica. And we absolutely loved it! Best vacay ever? Possibly.

Getting there though? It was a bit of a b.

Get up at 3:00 AM
Fly: Detroit to Fort Lauderdale = 3 hours
Layover: 1.5 hours
Fly: Fort Lauderdale to San Jose, Costa Rica = 3 hours
Wait to board shuttle = 2.5 hours
Shuttle bus from San Jose to Puerto Viejo = 5.5 hours
Arrive at hotel at 7:30 PM (which feels like 9:30 PM to us running on Michigan time)

The real bear of the journey was the 5+ hour shuttle from San Jose, located in the center of Costa Rica, to Puerto Viejo, located on the Caribbean coast. The journey involved driving a two lane road across a mountain range through the jungle. Luckily I was not driving but I was a nervous wreck the entire time! After we made it across the mountains, we passed through Limón, Costa Rica, which is a bustling port city packed full of semis clogging the roadways. Hello gridlock!

Oy vey!

Fortunately the reward at end of the epic journey was more than worth it!

After we landed in San Jose, we had lunch and waited at a restaurant beside the airport. As we were exiting the airport, there was a mass of paparazzi filming us. Because clearly I am a huge blog celebrity. Just kidding. About me being a celeb, not about the paparazzi. Apparently someone famous was also flying into San Jose that day!

My first meal in Costa Rica was lasagna, believe it or not. Not what I expected! Slim pickings at the cafeteria-style restaurant, but it satisfied by hungry belly. Also notice the Spanish Coke bottle. I am José.

That evening we arrived just in time for a late dinner at our hotel. Fajita night! Putting guacamole on a buffet?! Dangerous. I have zero guac restraint. (You know I went back for more.)

I’ll tell you much more about our hotel in my next post, but here’s a sneak peek.

When we arrived in Puerto Viejo, it was completely dark outside, so we didn’t really get to explore the resort, but we did get to check in to our room.

And take an evening dip in our OWN PERSONAL POOL.

Oh yes. We had our own private pool, enclosed in our the back patio of our room. Awesomeness!