Our First Day in Costa Rica, or WHAT?!? Are we doing?!?!

The taxi driver weaved through narrow roads, through the crowded suburb, on our way to the hotel. The shuttle we thought we had arranged to pick us up was nowhere to be found when we arrived at the airport.  The taxi service took one look at our baby, and multiple bags, and quickly offered to take us where we needed to go.  We were in no mood to argue, after 14 hours of travel.  We were so glad just to be on our way to the hotel and the promise of sleep, that the hefty $70 taxi fare only stung a little.

Arriving at the Tiquicia Lodge, and getting into our room is kind of a blur.  We were hungry, and thankfully the lodge also has a restaurant, where we devoured an amazing lunch of rice, beans, corn, fish (Lisa), chicken (Michael), tortillas, corn and potato mash, and tomatoes.  Cassie had a carrot stick.

We took a long nap, and didn’t make it to the restaurant for dinner, but had protein bars and water before going to bed that night.

This morning we had a lovely breakfast.  Fresh eggs from the farm chickens, who seem to be freely ranging. Toast and jam.  A fruit plate with bananas, cantaloupe, and papaya.  Fresh strawberry juice!  You just don’t know.  It was gone before I got a picture! Sorry!

We took a walk to the town, where we bought a pint of strawberries for $2 at a roadside fruit stand, some pastries at a little bakery, and a bag of potato chips at the supermarcado.   I was also excited to find these at the supermarcado:

We don’t need diapers yet, but it’s nice to know they are available.

Tomorrow we will change hotels, and start our tourist activities like coffee plantation tours, and seeing the volcanoes    Our Spanish is improving out of necessity.  But it is fun to try to communicate to people who only know about as much English as I do Spanish.  We have been having fun saying “Hola” to everyone we meet, and getting strange looks in return.  Michael says it reminds him of the Star Trek (TNG) episode Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.  

Our internet access is limited, so I’ll post updates when I can.  Adios!