Costa Rica Day Five

Friday -

We got up at 10:30am and made a quick breakfast before Steph and I got picked up to check out the resort. We got to see all the possible places to stay and talked with the staff about bringing some of our
clients to Costa Rica. Its a great team at Los Suenos and I hope we can make something work out for them. Then it was off to the spa. For the rest of the day we relaxed, enjoyed massages and I even got a manicure and pedicure. Then we met up with Tim and had some delicious Italian food overlooking the Marina. After dropping Noel at the condo we watched the sunset and went back to the condo to pack and get ready
for the evening.

Stephanie's eye was hurting so Noel and I went with Tim to The Jungle for a few drinks.. we took it easy and were out and home by 1am. It was funny, Tim got drunk and one of his co-workers came out of the closet to him that night and Tim tried to hook us up. Alas, I was already in bed and the friend wasn't really my type.

Posted 7th December 2007 by Josh Gray-Emmer

Costa Rica Day Four

Thursday -

Thursday we got up early again and caught a ride to our catamaran a few hours away waiting to take us to Tortuga Island. It was a brisk 2 hours boat ride and all of us turned nicely pink in the hot sun along the way. Then we arrived at a gorgeous island in the middle of the ocean where the turtles lay their eggs. Its a protected island and in the off season when the turtles are away, tourists are allowed on the other side of the island. There was an entire community set up on the beach for us. Complete with a dining villa and lounge chairs. We promptly signed up for snorkeling and hopped on a boat to another small island a few minutes boat ride away. Not quite Hawaii, but still beautiful fish of all colors. The tour guide happened to have a bag of fish food and they came flocking. After swimming around for a bit, we made our way back to the island for lunch and a few hours of laying out. On the boat ride home it started to rain and when it got hard we all rushed inside. There was dancing and Noel even threw down some Merenge with the captain. We had a great time and ended up meeting some fantastic people on the trip. Once again we all passed out on the ride back to the Jaco. We stopped in town for some sushi and made our way back to the resort for some rest before an evening out. This time we were determined to make it into town.... and we did. The Jungle Club provided a backdrop for our evening of drinking and debotchery... Noel even met a boy ;) In bed by 4am, definitely sleeping in tomorrow.

Posted 6th December 2007 by Josh Gray-Emmer

Costa Rica Day Three

Wednesday -

The 6am wake up call wasn't too bad because we didn't party the night before. We made breakfast together downed some coffee and before we knew it our driver was there. It was a 1 and a half hour drive through
the jungle to the National Park. Along the way we had to pass over two "Oh My God" bridges... that means well... have a look at the pics and you'll understand. Its the real version of the rickety old bridge at Universal Studios. When we arrived we started our 2 hour tour through the jungle and along the beach. It was stunning. At the end of the first part we stopped at a protected cove in the middle of the park where people were lying on the beach soaking in the sun. So we joined then for an hour, playing in the water and fighting off the raccoons who seemed to just wander up and down the beach checking out the people and trying to steal food. After our break we hiked another 45 minutes out of the park to our tour bus and were off to lunch. The
food here is great but the places we're eating at seem pretty americanized, I guess its about giving the tourists what they're familiar with, but we're for sure gonna have to find some authentic food before we go.

On our way back we stopped along the roadside for some local shopping and the girls picked up some dresses and sarongs. All of us passed out on the ride home... When we got back, Steph and I hopped right into the pool and swam for a bit before heading back to the condo to throw some hotdogs on the grill. Basicly we just drank, chilled and veged out for the rest of the night. Enjoying the beautiful resort and the Costa Rican weather.

Posted 5th December 2007 by Josh Gray-Emmer

Costa Rica Day Two

Tuesday -

Waking up at 9am seemed too early despite the 8+ hours of sleep we all got. After a quick breakfast we were picked up by a van and taken deep into the jungle where a friendly bunch of Tikos met us, got us suited up and ready for the Canapy Tour! After a brisk and stunning 15 minute hike through the jungle passing waterfalls and huge trees we arrived at the first treetop bridge.... hands on the bar, sit down, and your off! Zipping across the jungle and break-neck speeds was fantastic and a LOT of fun. Our guides were funny and hot.. a great combo when your doing something that might seem a little dangerous. After 11 zip lines
and a rope swing across the jungle for 2 hours we arrived back at basecamp... it was entirely too soon and I think the pictures give you a small taste of just how much fun we had. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Jaco for some lunch. Things in this small Costa Rican ocean town are freekn pricey. I think we were all expecting to pay centeral american prices.. tuns out with the weak dollar (thanks Bush) everything's pretty much american prices. After a few more beers at our favorite bar on the beach and a quick walk along the water we headed back to the resort to change into our swim suits and hit the
pools.

Steph and I walked around to the main pools at the Marriot part of the resort and passed out in the sun for two hours. Thank goodness for clouds and sun screen or we'd be baked. Then we came back and hopped in the golf cart and headed down the road out of the resort to the grocery store.. it was a nutty trip traveling the pot hole filled road in the cart and the store was farther than we thought. However, we were successful and now we're about to grill some steaks before going out for another night on the town... more later!!

Tim came back to the condo to join us for our night on the town with news that we would be picked up at 7am the following morning for our tour of Manual Antonio National Park. With that in mind, and having
already had a full day we decided to forget about the party and get some sleep, but not before having a wonderful bbq and dinner together and a few more beers. :)


Posted 4th December 2007 by Josh Gray-Emmer

Costa Rica Day One

Monday -

After having a few beers at the airport I slept like a baby on the place and arrived five and a half hours later in beautiful San Jose Costa Rica. Customs and Imigration were a since and we met our driver
Gustavo right outside. He threw our luggage in the van and we started on our 2 hour trip to Los Suenos. Allong the way we stopped to check out the stunning views from the top of a mountain and paused for a few
minutes to grab some fresh fruit from a local stand on the side of the road. Our driver was fantastic, he pointed everything there was to see out along the way... We even stopped to catch a glimpse of some crocs
kickn it in a river. You can see by the pictures how close we actually were to them, they seemed to care less about us and the other hundred tourests gawkig at them.

When we arrived at the resort I was blown away, the grounds are stunning, and you can see how the staff of 150 daily landscapers is kept busy. We were greeted at the office and given a golf cart to get around the monsterous resort, and sent to our condo. With our own pool and jaccuzi, not to mention full kitchen and living area, it's like a home away from home for the rest of our stay. After unpacking and
relaxing for an hour we met Tim Williams the director of PR for the resort and he took us into town (Jaco) to meet the locals and have some lunch. We ate at this gorgeous place on the beach and watched the
waves roll in as we all had local fresh caught fish.. as you can see from the pics it was beauiful and equally as delicious. After lunch we walked around and explored the main strip of Jaco and stopped for a
few drinks at a local bar (also on the beach of course).

After walking the entire length of Jaco we caught a cab and headed back to the resort to get some swimming in just in time for sunset. Tim left for a bit and we headed back to the room to shower and catch
some much needed rest before going out for the night. None of us really got a chance to nap before it was time to head out again to Jaco to get some dinner. The taxi dropped us at the great little place
I'm sure we'll go back to called The Taco Bar. It had the most scrumptious fish tacos and swings to sit on while we ate.

Our plan was to hit the local discotecs and party all night but we were done with dinner at 9 and it was still way to early, the town was deserted. We went back to the bar on the beach from earlier and had a few drinks and watched the lightning strike, it light up the entire ocean and the night sky. After killing the next hour at the bar we went back to to clubs to see if anyone was partying yet... alas.. 10pm is still too early for the Tikas (except for the hooker bar which was poppn)!! We bade farewell to Tim and headed back to the condo. Having
been up since 6am we were out by midnight... what a great first day.