Monday, October 18, 2010

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 6] Restaurant Anaconda

Restaurant Anaconda
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
(506) 2777-0584
http://www.costaverde.com/facilities.htm

Breakfast was included with our stay at Hotel Costa Verde.  We headed over to Restaurant Anaconda at 7 in the morning.



The sun in Costa Rica goes down early, but it also rises early.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 5] Restaurant La Cantina BBQ

Restaurant La Cantina BBQ
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
(506) 2777-0384
http://www.costaverde.com/facilities.htm

Restaurant La Cantina BBQ is one of the Costa Verde Hotel's restaurants.  But actually it's not in the hotel, but across the street from the hotel.



It gets dark very early in Costa Rica.  Usually around 6pm it's already dark outside.  We got to the restaurant around 5-ish.  It was still empty, but later the restaurant filled up.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 5] Hotel Costa Verde

Hotel Costa Verde
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
(506) 2777-0584
http://www.costaverde.com

After a very long bus ride, we finally arrived at our hotel in Manuel Antonio.  Only 6 of us from the tour group upgraded to the "superior package" with "superior" hotels.  I have to say, the upgrade was totally worth it.  Our hotel looked so much nicer than the "standard" one.



This was the first thing we saw when we arrived.  They found a boa constrictor on one of the pathways in the hotel.  The worker was going to put the snake back to the forest.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 5] Tamarindo Beach --> Manuel Antonio

We stayed at the all inclusive resort for 2 nights, then we traveled to Manuel Antonio.



A lot of buttons to push when driving a big tour bus!  It was a full day bus ride.  We left around 7am, and got to Manuel Antonio around 4pm.  I was REALLY glad that I had the worst case of traveler's diarrhea the day before, but not on the day of the super long bus ride.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 4] Barcelo Langosta Beach

Barcelo Langosta Beach
El Robledal, La Uruca
Tamarindo, 1150, Costa Rica
(506) 2653-0363
http://www.barcelo.com/BarceloHotels/en-GB/Hotels/CostaRica/Tamarindo/LangostaBeach/Home

Day 4 in Costa Rica sucked BIG TIME for me!  I pretty much spent the entire day either in bed or in the bathroom.  Dr. P's tummy issue started before me, and it also ended before me.  I didn't want Dr. P to be stuck in our hotel room with me.  So poor Dr. P had to hang out by himself all day at the resort.



Dr. P thought I should at least eat something for the day and dragged me to lunch.  I grabbed some vegetable and rice.  Even though I was pretty sick, I still thought the veggies were good.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 3] Barcelo Langosta Beach

Barcelo Langosta Beach
El Robledal, La Uruca
Tamarindo, 1150, Costa Rica
(506) 2653-0363
http://www.barcelo.com/BarceloHotels/en-GB/Hotels/CostaRica/Tamarindo/LangostaBeach/Home

We arrived at Barcelo Langosta Beach around 3pm.  This is an all-inclusive hotel.  I was really looking forward to staying here for the endless buffet all day long.



The hotel staff welcomed with with some fruity drink.

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 3] Monteverde --> Tamarindo Beach

Our next destination is Tamarindo Beach.



The bus ride should take about 4 hours, but we actually took about 7. We really didn't enjoy being stuck on a bus for that long. :-(

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 3] Hotel Vela Fonda Galleria

Hotel Fonda Vela Galleria
Apartado 12-5655
Santa Elena, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
(506) 2645-5125
http://www.fondavela.com

It was our last day in Monteverde.  We woke up super early to get breakfast before the tour bus come to pick us up from the hotel.


Omelet con queso, jamon y tostada ($5.00)
Ham and cheese omelet with toast

Even though I absolutely loved my Tipico breakfast the day before, I wanted to try something different and ordered Ham and Cheese Omelet.  The omelet was alright.  Not bad, but nothing special about it.  I should've just order the Typico.

Monday, October 4, 2010

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 2] Hotel Fonda Vela Fireside Room

Hotel Fonda Vela Fireside Room
Apartado 12-5655
Santa Elena, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
(506) 2645-5125
http://www.fondavela.com

We really enjoyed our food at Hotel Fonda Vela's restaurant the night before, and decided to return again on our 2nd night there.



With a fireplace in the room, and a candle on the table, the small dining room was cozy and romantic.

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 2] Hotel Fonda Vela Hiking Trail

After we got back to the hotel, the rain had stopped. So we thought we would go out and explored the hotel's hiking trail a bit.



We spotted this giant brown rodent when we stepped out of our hotel room.  What is the name of this animal?

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 2] Santa Elena, Monteverde

After lunch, we walked around Santa Elena Town Center.



This guy was riding his horse around town.

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 2] Restaurante Morpho's

Restaurante Morpho's
50 metres Este of the Banco Nacional
Town Centre, Santa Elena
Monteverde, Costa Rica
(506) 2645-7373

After the tour at Salvatura Park, the shuttle bus took us back to Santa Elena Town Center.  There are a few restaurants in town.  We went into the tourist information center to ask for their recommendation on a lunch spot.  The girl who worked there said they were not supposed to "sell" any restaurant, but she gave us information on two of the more popular restaurants in town.



We picked Restaurante Morpho's.  A group of high school kids were sitting on the 2nd floor balcony celebrating a birthday.

[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 2] Selvatura Park

Selvatura Park
Contiguous to Santa Elena Reserve
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Monteverde 106-5655, Costa Rica
(506) 2645-6200
http://www.selvatura.com

Our day 2 (supposed to be day 3 of the tour though) started on tour at Selvatura Park.

Tour description:
Selvatura Park Hanging Bridges, Outstanding Structures that Take You Into New Heights! Selvatura's Treetop Walkways is a 1.9 mile (approximately 3 kilometer) trail that crosses through the cloud forest, in which our visitors will walk through eight different bridges from various lengths ranging between 150 feet (50 meters) up to 510 feet (170 meters) and altitudes ranging between 36 feet (12 meters) up to 180 feet (60 meters). Each of the bridges feature a five foot width, the widest ones in the country, and also a capacity of up to 80 people per bridge making them both the longest and strongest bridge system in Costa Rica. The treetop walkways are suitable for people of all ages and physical condition.



First stop at Salvatura Park, the Hummingbird Garden.