We had a smooth journey from the UK yesterday. The flight was on time and took just over 11 hours. We were certainly pleased to arrive at the airport hotel for some R&R.
We slept very well and woke refreshed and ready for the adventure ahead. We are staying at the Hampton which is very close to the airport. Breakfast was a buffet, but with a decent choice, and the food quality was pretty good.
Appetites suitably sated, we walk outside to be greeted by clear blue skies and there is a brisk breeze which takes the edge off the temperature, but it is probably already 20C and it is only 08.00.
We take the hotel shuttle to the airport to collect the hire car. Alamo are incredibly efficient. They escorted us to their shuttle which took us to the car pickup. Paperwork was completed in a few minutes and we were on our way. We have a brand new Toyota RAV4 which is way better than we expected. Even better my iPhone connects to the navigation system through CarPlay. Therefore Waze shows up on the dashboard. Brilliant. Navigation is going to be a breeze.
The drive out of San Jose is straightforward.
The traffic is light, drivers are incredibly polite and Waze is giving us excellent directions. The roads are not busy at all. We drive through lush countryside which gradually becomes hillier.
The gradient becomes steeper, it becomes cloudier and then we are driving through mist and thick, lush vegetation scrambles up the steep banks by the side of the road. The temperature drops and rain falls as we drive up into the cloud forest. We seem to be driving uphill forever but then we start the descent. We must have been very high as we seem to be driving downhill relentlessly. The traffic coming toward us is heavy and crawling up the slope. Huge American lorries claw their way up the hill. They really are amazing and impressive vehicles. We saw a depot selling them as we left San Jose. You can obviously ‘pimp your lorry’ as there were loads of different bonnets for sale and indeed pretty much every truck we saw had been personalised.
Eventually the terrain flattens out. We pass through the occasional small town that bustles with life.
The land is fertile and every inch is being farmed with neat rows of crops or grazing cattle. This gives way to banana plantations as we approach Tortuguero.
We arrive at La Pavona which is the embarkation point for the boat which will takes us up river to our hotel in Tortuguero. It is 11.45 and the drive took 2.5 hours.
Yet again we are met with complete efficiency. We are shown where to park, given our boat ticket and guided to the restaurant to wait for departure at 13.00. We grab a toasted sandwich and beer then go back to the car to collect our bags. We load them in a wheelbarrow and walk down to the waiting boats.
There are probably a dozen boats at the water’s edge. Initially their are few people but then coaches arrive and throngs fill the waiting boats. We finally depart at 13.15 for the hour trip which is just as beautiful as I remember from 3 years ago.
Then Tortuguero comes in to view.
We are met by a guide who takes us to our hotel which is a short walk away from the dock. We check-in, ditch our bags and head off in search of cold drinks. Paul chose a coco loco and I have a pina colada. They are exceedingly good!
The day then consists of taking a quick nap, strolling round Tortuguero which does not take long and eating and drinking. We like a place called El Patio that has an upstairs with terrace overlooking the river.
Lynne
All looks beautiful and no hiccups along the way is a bonus. I am assuming you had a one way car hire or are you going back upriver to collect it?
Maggie
No roads here so parked car at La Pavona an hour down river. We will pick it up tomorrow and continue by road over to Pacific ending at Osa Peninsula in the south.