Costa Rica

I've never been to Costa Rica.  I went to Belize in 2010.  I was hoping Costa Rica would be a little less bug intensive.

Italian restaurants are very prevalent in the country.  I'm not sure why?

I'm not really drinking beer much these days.  But they had a lovely Marzen in Arenal that I couldn't resist.

Gallo Pinto is a popular dish that is more traditional Costa Rican.  I liked it a lot!  I also enjoyed the cooked bananas, plantain and cavendish.

My Huevos Rancheros were not exactly what I expected.  I was hoping the tortillas would be on the side to push my eggs, salsa, avocados, beans and rice around with.

 Here are some plantains with a seafood and rice dish I ordered.

I had this light blonde ale in Tamarindo along with the Nachos.  The beer was not as good as the Marzen, and not a good match for the meal.

I booked all of our stays through https://www.airbnb.com/.  I wanted the practice for future travels.  There were many of these cool little one cylinder motorcycles running around Costa Rica.

The picture below is where we stayed while on Lake Arenal.  Our rental in Playa Flamingo wasn't much to look at on the outside, but it was very posh on the inside.

I should say that we focused our travels on the Nicoya peninsula.  We flew into San Jose only because that is where my frequent flyer miles took us first class.  It was only my second time flying first class.  We did get a couple of nights in the Arenal area.  I think I would have enjoyed one more night there.

While on the Nicoya peninsula we went to Ostional to visit sea turtles.  You had to go early, before sunrise to see the babies hatching and struggling for the ocean.

We were surprised to find this adult female.  She must have just finished laying her eggs.

https://youtu.be/NLvOmTIMFZk

There were also those that hunt baby turtles present.

We visited Tenorio National Park while in the Arenal area.

We hung out on the beach a lot!

It was a birder's paradise for my wife.  I even saw my first Toucan, but not close enough for a picture.

There were many ants of different varieties, but my favorite were the leaf cutters.

A little research suggested I rent a vehicle with good clearance.  This little Daihatsu Terios had enough clearance and four wheel drive.  I didn't need the four wheel drive.  Still, I made the right choice as this little car handled the MANY dirt roads/highways in Costa Rica quite well.  I even had to drive through some water features that made me wonder if I should have gotten a vehicle with a snorkel.

Hasta Luego!