Mimi | In Costa Rica At Last - Let The Adventure Begin!

April 28, 2011 at 1:30pm local time. My very first blog entry…. I’m coming to you from the bar of the Hilton Garden Inn in Liberia, Costa Rica. Travel for the day is halfway over and the adventure begins!

3am wake up stinks! However, unlike other times I’ve traveled, I was able to get almost 7 (!) hours of sleep – yes, that does mean I went to bed at 8am…..didn’t have to stay up into the wee hours checking work email and rushing like a madwoman like I usually do.

Smooth check in Minneapolis – rumpled travelers stifling a yawn as we shuffle along …. in almost no time, I settle into my seat and promptly manage to fall asleep again. Transfer in Atlanta with just enough time to grab a coffee and find my seat. Played the “I hope that big fat guy in the wife beater shirt with hair poking out of his neck and ridiculous straw hat doesn’t sit next to me for the next 4 hours” game and breathed a sigh of relief when doors closed and realized I won the middle seat lottery – yesssssss! An empty middle seat all the way to Costa Rica. After always being relegated to the middle seat, wedged in between squirmy Kai and the broad-shouldered, knees touching the seat in front of him Dan, I took the opportunity to relax in my comfy seat. Taxiing in, caught a glimpse of the cloud covered mountains that I’m going to be bumping along on en route to Monteverde this afternoon/evening.

Plane taxied to a corrugated tin shack airport that clearly was a regional local airport until very recently – seems hardly big enough to process the hundreds of thousands of travelers passing through. Stepping off the plane, I was assaulted by hot, humid air and the strong sun immediately started rivulets of sweat pouring down my back, trapped between the straps of my backpack - pretty different from this morning’s sleety freezy slush. The airport reminded me of the Punta Cana airport in the Dominican Republic although probably about 1/3 of the size - corrugated rusty tin roof, industrial sized fans slowly swirling the hot air while we waited in line to have our passports stamped. Both immigration and the wait for luggage were quick – getting off the plane to collecting luggage took about 20 minutes – probably faster than in Minneapolis and clearing immigration to boot.

Arrival area outside the airport - predictably chaotic and noisy – hordes of hopefully looking people with placards showing names of travelers/ hotels and taxi drivers in search of a fare crowded around, kept at bay by a chain and 3 policemen who kept motioning the particularly aggressive taxi drivers away. A lamb led to slaughter, I endured placards waved in front of me and a gauntlet of “hey lady, need a taxi”, “I go where you want cheap”, and stumbled out of the jostling crowd, craning my neck to catch a glimpse of the Hilton shuttle to catch my bus to Monteverde . I wonder what Lisa will think of this as she emerges off the plane on Sunday…..

What the heck? I’ve got plenty of time to spare….but I have absolutely no idea whether there is a hotel shuttle let alone if I’m in the right place for it. I wheel across the street where shuttles were parked – hmmm…. no shuttle. Found a fatherly looking policia who was nice enough to call on his walkie talkie back to the tourist desk and explained to me in muy rapido Espanol that el autobus would be coming every 15 minutes – at least that was the bit that I caught. Hopefully by the end of this trip, I’ll catch more than 20% of a conversation.

Whew …. shuttle bus finally swings around and I board for the 5 minute ride. The Hilton must be used to people using the property as a pickup point as the reception desk didn’t bat an eye as I stride in to find the restaurant to cool off and wait the 2 ½ hours. A group of tattooed kids with well worn backpacks clustered in the lobby slumped over sleeping or watching CNN, obviously waiting for transportation to their next destination. Sitting at the bar, ordered my first Costa Rican beer – a local Imperial beer with a Germanic looking eagle/bird logo and colors to match and the words “La Cerveza de Costa Rica”. Bienvenidos a Costa Rica and adventures! Full from my sumptuous lunch of takeout sushi on the flight but ordered ceviche so the alcohol wouldn’t go to my head within the first 3 sips. Wow !!! Firm bite sized chunks of raw fish sublimely marinated in lime juice and onions served with crackers hit the spot. My body is finally cooling down. Time to organize my backpack a little bit for the next part of my travels….. Sure hope the transport shows up at 3:15pm and beats the 6 seater sardine can minibus with 9 crammed travelers that we took out of Thailand across to Malaysia after the airport riots.