Category Archives: Costa Rica 2007

Info from my November-December 2007 trip to Costa Rica. Visiting Jaco and Montezuma (and explore the peninsula that Moctezuma is on).

Wednesday in Jaco, Costa Rica

Posted on November 28, 2007 | 1 comment

So I ran all over today. I went swimming in the pacific and then packed up my backpack and headed north (actually north west I think). Took all sorts of pictures and a little video.

Map Of Costa Rica JacoAte lunch at a nice place on the beach, the name escapes me for now. Some people sat down at a table next to me and it turns out it was a guy from Traverse City, Michigan! What are the odds? He comes down a few times a year to vacation, seems to really like to eat and stay at that place (although they were booked up). I actually started talking to them because they liked the place they stayed at we chatted for a while.

I swam some more and then rented a scooter (moped). It was a bargain at 6 hours for $25 but they closed in 4 hours and I didn’t want to be responsible for it overnight so I gave him $20 for 4 hours. It was a new scooter too, the temporary plates were just a few days old. I buzzed around all over the area, lots of development going on. Riding is nice and cool compared to walking around :)

I’ve decided to stay another day in Jaco. I’ll leave on Friday for somewhere or another…

I can see I got some sun today. Since I was wearing a backpack for a chunk of the day it looks like I was wearing a bikini top. Hopefully, that’ll even out in a few days!

Weather report – It was cloudy on and off all day, but still very bright and very hot (maybe more humid than hot. That was okay except for when it came time for the sun to set, way too many clouds. RIght now as I’m writing this it’s almost cool, but still way humid. High of 82 for tomorrow!

I’ve got some photos up on-line too.

Image courtesy of the CIA World Fact Book.

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Nachos at the Restaurante Tabacon

Posted on November 28, 2007 | Leave a comment

TabaconThese Chicken Nachos are delicious! I’m at the Restaurante Tabacon in Jaco, it’s right across the street from Planet Food (closed for years but still a landmark for giving directions). They come with everything, including sour creme, beans and guacamole (I did not get the latter two). It’s a huge bowl for 3,000 colons ($6), it’s not a appetizer, it’s a meal.

I think I really enjoyed my food lat time here too. They used to be a pizza parlor and I think that was really good too, if I recall back 3-4 years correctly…

Other details:

  • Free WiFi.
  • The cool paper lanterns that I’ve only seen in Montezuma before.
  • Pepsi products
  • Their drinks are never cold enough. I recall this from before.
  • They have Smirnoff Ice in a bottle, it’s hard to fine at home, but very common in Jaco.

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    Posted in Costa Rica 2007, food + drink

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    Well rested!!

    Posted on November 28, 2007 | 2 comments

    BalcondelmareveningI was SO tired yesterday. I think I managed to sleep at least 10 hours, it might have been more, but I’m sure I went to sleep at least that early. I get confused since I wasn’t sure about the time change and all I kept seeing were my Michigan clocks (it is one hour earlier here than the Detroit Michigan area).

    I almost missed breakfast but I get down there a few minutes before they were supposed to close. It’s a beautiful morning nice and sunny and I’m heading down to the beach in a few. This is the view from my hotel room yesterday evening before sunset, it’s a little dark but you can see the Pacific ocean is right there and it’s a great location!

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    Posted in Costa Rica 2007, me + myself + i

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    Lots of thunderstorms forecast….

    Posted on November 28, 2007 | 1 comment

    We’re past rainy season by a few weeks, and even more since they (the gov’t?) called off the warnings that come with it a few weeks earlier. But I keep seeing thunderstorms in the forecast. I’m only here 4 weeks earlier than last time. Is this really going to be an issue?

    The first time I was in Costa Rica was in April of 1999, it rained a lot of the days for 15-30 minutes (maybe a little longer) but I don’t remember much more than that. After all, a chunk of the place is the rain forest there must be some rain, right?

    It did drizzle on and off (mostly off) yesterday and you could see the very dark clouds inland but not here. Sometime after dark it really poured for a while, but this morning is beautiful. Hopefully the rest of the week goes the same….

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    I’m Here!!!

    Posted on November 27, 2007 | 3 comments

    JacoarrivalI made it!!! It was a bit of a trip, and a ride through the mountains but I made it! I got some ca$h from the ATM and some dinner and some stuff for the fridge (coke, gaterade, water and OJ) and I think I might be hitting the sack soon….

    Here’s the view if you walk outside (about 50 meters) the hotel, I took it right after I checked in. I’ll try to take more pictures and post more tomorrow…

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    Posted in Costa Rica 2007, holidays + events

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    Nice flights…

    Posted on November 27, 2007 | Leave a comment

    So for the second leg I didn’t get an aisle seat, but no one sat in the middle seat so I had lots of room. I got to watch the clouds for a while, but they weren’t as smooth and flat where they look solid, just lots of lumpy fluffy ones.

    I think airline food has gotten better the last few years, my chicken and rice was delicious and even the carrots were good. I got to read a little bit, a sci-fi paperback called Manifold Time by Stephen Baxter, I’m liking it so far but I’m not very far into it. I plan to leave it behind and I forgot my BookCrossing labels.

    The Atlanta airport was nice, I don’t think I’ve ever been there when I wasn’t running for a connecting flight. We got in early so I had some time to look around (and get my last McDonald’s food for a while). I even had time to switch my seat (from a middle one) and to sign up for frequent flyer miles, I couldn’t find my Delta number anywhere, and they made it sound like I could claim old miles too and I know where my last ticket is (when I flew to NY via Atlanta).

    Also, last night was Monday, my big TV night, so I threw a few of those shows in my laptop and got to watch Chuck and Journeyman. That really makes the time go by…

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    Posted in Costa Rica 2007, holidays + events

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    Beautiful Sunrise

    Posted on November 27, 2007 | Leave a comment

    So while I’m never thrilled to get up at 4 am, it’ll be nice to arrive at my destination in the early afternoon. But the best part is that right now we’re up above the clouds and the sky is all orange in the distance.

    I used to love looking at the clouds when I flew and thought I’d never tire of them. These days of bringing all my stuff on the flight to entertain myself, getting an aisle seat generally outweighs the window option.

    So the clouds all look like now or water out thee, i’d love to skydive through it sometime to just see how it feels, it all looks so solid. It’s such a bright orange and red and pink off in the distance and the lights kinda coming from below it almost looks as if the slow in the distance is on fire.

    Later – It’s mostly up now, but there’s still this burning orange in the distance and the color of the clouds has this icy blue look to it in the light. Out the opposite side of the plane it still looks dark and you can see the cities lit up.

    More later – Now it’s got that normal icy/snowy look to it that I’m used to seeing when I fly at a reasonable hour :)

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    Posted in Costa Rica 2007, general

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    Exchange Rates in Costa Rica

    Posted on November 17, 2007 | 1 comment

    Colon-Trend-TenyearSo the exchange rates are pretty good for people from the US traveling to Costa Rica these days. You can see from the graph it’s been going up ever since my first trip in 1999, prices have gone up there too, especially costs for tourist type things, but it’s still been a decent value. Especially when you compare it to Britain or Canadian exchange rates, where the dollar has considerably dropped in value lately. It hasn’t really changed much since my last trip but it should be pretty good for my next one, it’s about 520 to $1.00 today.

    Current Rates
    $1.00 (US) = CRC
    1000 CRC = $ USD
    Currency data courtesy coinmill.com

    More info on The exchange rate, some from Wikipedia (currency photos) and from Vacation City (currency photos).

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