Date: December 25, 1999  Christmas

Weather: Cool

(Dan)

   We arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica from Nicaragua at about three in the afternoon by bus. We were tired and hungry. We hadn't eaten literally for 24 hours, we ran out of money and couldn't get to a bank because we were traveling on the bus for two days. The small amount of money we had we were saving for a taxi or for "just in case". We greeted the welcoming committee with our usual "get out of the way". The first taxi guy had a small pick-up truck so we had to find another. We told the driver we wanted to go to the Radisson Hotel, he said "ok". We couldn't wait to get to a five star hotel and live it up, it had been a long time since we treated ourselves to this luxury. Of course the driver took us to his choice of a five star hotel, not the Radisson, our response was "this is a five star hotel? No senor, yo quero Radisson. Donde esta Radisson?" Well, we ended up at the Quality Inn, a far cry from the Radisson, but we were anxious to take showers and eat so we signed in and went to dinner. For Christmas dinner we had Filet Mignon. Then went back to the room to watch TV.

December 26, 1999
Costa Rica 
Cool and mild about 70 deg. 

(Dan)

  We woke up and started searching for a bank with an ATM. After about an hour of searching we found one. 

  Today we were excited because we were off to the airport to meet Brad Smith, our first visitor on the trip. We took a taxi to the airport and I think we were about an hour early. So found another ATM and took out the max on every card we could get to work. We weren't going to stuck with out cash again. Next we decided to find out about car rentals. Between the first time we checked and the second the price jumped about a hundred dollars. But what the heck, you only live once. Ryan lost the coin flip and he had to use his credit card. Dan lost about ten dollars to Brad,  pitching quarters against the wall in the rental place while waiting for Ryan to complete the paper work. 
  First stop was Burger King,  fast food was a treat for Dan and Ryan. Although Burger King isn't Ryan favorite we ordered three number one combos and we also received three additional burgers for free. Man oh Man we hit the jackpot. Dan managed to eat all three extra burgers through out the rest of the day. Then we were headed for an active volcano up north. It was a two or three hour drive from San Jose. We must have been ten minutes into the drive when a cop stopped us for speeding. At that point Ryan was ready to turn around and give the car back to the rental place because the fine was $100. But the officer let us go with a warning, that was extremely lucky. After that we didn't dare to drive faster than 80per klm. It was slow going, and especially frustrating for Ryan, if you have ever driven with Ryan you can understand his frustration. 
  We arrived in the volcano area at about four o'clock in the afternoon and started the hotel search. The volcano area was very green and tropical rain forest like.  Which is good because I think it was a rain forest. I'm not sure of the elevation, but the weather was cooler and cloudy. So we couldn't see the top of the volcano, but still very beautiful. Our hotel was across the street from a large palapa bar, where we spent most of the evening and night.

December 27, 1999
Costa Rica
Weather 75 mild 

(Dan)

  We woke and started searching for the volcano. The day was still cloudy so we couldn't see the top of the volcano. We found a dirt road that lead us to an observatory. We still couldn't see the top of the volcano because of the clouds so we found a trail that lead to the volcano. The trail didn't lead all the way up the active volcano for obvious reasons, but we hiked through the jungle to the base and part way up. We were looking for wild life, and were disappointed not to see any monkeys and such, but we did see a few ants and birds. We hiked back to the observatory and jumped into the car. Between the maps and the lack of road signs and roads we had to figure out how to get to the next stop, a rain forest canopy tour.
  With Ryan at the wheel we decided to take a dirt/paved road to Monteverde rain forest. It took about four hours more or less and saw a lot of cool things along the way. There was lots of Bamboo, a large lake, and several small villages. We came across a Swiss looking alpine hotel in the middle of nowhere. It had all the usual European mountain village looking buildings and a small train that lead into a cave or somewhere. 
  We managed not to get lost some how, and arrived at the rain forest around six or seven at night. The weather changed drastically. The temperature dropped about twenty degrees, it seemed to be around forty degrees or so. We had a little trouble finding a hotel. Getting close to New Years I guess. Eventually we found one and Brad talked the front desk guy down to $50 from $65. That night we found a dance club.

December 28, 1999
Costa Rica 
Weather 60 degrees  clear 

(Dan)

  We woke and found the tour company and went on a canopy tour, what ever that is. 
  Ok, a canopy tour is a guided tour through the top of the trees in a rain forest. What the guides do is strap climbing belts and gear around you then, we climb a tree and swing from tree to tree on a cable attached between trees. You have a wheel thingy strapped to your waist where you hang and roll on along the cable. It's fun, especially when Brad makes fun of everybody rolling from tree to tree. The whole tour was so cheesy and uneventful that the most fun was making fun of everyone else. There was a  big fat guy, a French couple, and couple guide trainees. The tour started with a lame attempted by a guide to show us some of the rain forest plants and trees. He was trying so hard to be the jungle boat tour guide at Disneyland, but failed miserably. We would be walking along the trail and he would stop and point at a tree and say "OK what is this?" and we would answer "AAAHHHH a tree?".  He also was annoying because he would ask every ten minutes, it seemed, if we were enjoy ourselves, he would say " so what do you think? Are you having fun? This is great isn't it." After about the fifth time, you had to just look at the poor kid confusingly and say "yea, this is great". I think we swung or rolled between about four trees, then repealed down the last tree. At the end of the tour we found out the guides were  volunteers, no pay, only room and board. The main guide was pressing hard for a tip, sorry to let him down. The best times seem to be mocking somebody else. 
  We bolted out of that town pretty fast down a rough dirt road heading back to San Jose. 

Date: December 29

Weather:

(Ryan)

First I have to admit that I haven't been much fun the past few days. For some reason the trip from Honduras to Costa Rica took some out of me and my idea of a vacation was TV and AC, not late nights and cool drinks. We had  been living pretty cheap and cool hotel sheets and a remote control were things I couldn't pass up. Brad and Dan were ready to have a good time but I was out of steam. (I'm really sorry Brad) That being said you'll have to ask Dan about what happened after I called it a day. Now...where was I... Well... we woke up in San Jose ready for some good coffee and thought we'd go to the source. Britt Coffee put on a tour that came highly recommended and we made it just in time. Brad in true fashion talked the price of each of our tickets down from $20 to $10 and was only mildly satisfied with his savings because he continued to haggle after they had saved us $30. (Only Brad.) The tour was like one at a big winery and maybe a little better. We learned of the coffee planting, growing and harvesting. Then the history of coffee around the world and of course an opportunity to drink and buy as much as we liked. As well as their own coffee liqueur which went great with their dark roast. I had three lbs. sent to my dad as a thank you and Christmas present and Dan sent some to friend and former boss T.J.

Time to hit the road and we headed for the beach. We dove to the beach town of Jaco beach to scout out New Years Eve locations and maybe make a reservation. 1st place, sold out; 2nd place, sold out; 3rd guy said good luck sarcastically thinking there was no place open in town. We finally found a Best Western and after the guard at the front gate told us that they were sold out and we promised to turn around we just drove on in and went to reception. They had a room across the street with a kitchenette but it was $156. A little out of our budget but Brad fires up and says the room is on him. Dan and I tried to talk him out of it but not too hard because we drove back and signed up.

We weren't done yet, we were headed to Capos and the Manuel Antonio national Forest. Much less of a national forest than seven miles of hotel after hotel, but great views none the less. I had done a little research previously and heard of a hotel that had bamboo cabanas. I had even checked their web page and sent a few e-mails stating my interest in staying in one of the bamboo cabanas. They sent back information about the hotel and said that the cabanas may be available. When we finally arrived, there were no bamboo cabanas. The owner has converted them to concrete boxes some time ago but forgot to update his web site. The concrete box was available but at $60 it sounded a little pricey, so we decided to look around before we committed. Hotel after hotel was booked solid. We found one but it was $500 a night, defiantly out of our price rage! So it was back to the Hotel California and the concrete box. We pulled up just in front of some other people and secured the last room under $500. 

That being done it was time to eat. We had seen a restaurant made out of an old train car that had a huge bar-b-q with steaks and fresh fish broiling away and we headed straight there. We got the last table and began to wait... and wait and finally order drinks and wait... and wait. I decide to help our waiter out and go to the bar and see our drinks and sitting there getting worm. I'm about to walk off with them but the waiter insists on bringing them to us. Dan's drink is wrong and again I'm glad I ordered beer. Still waiting to order and I notice most of the nearby tables are frustratingly trying to get the waiters attention. I don't think he's used to being busy as this is the beginning of the busy season. We finally order dinner and decide to make it easy for our waiter and all order the same. Time goes by and Dan notices what he thinks as our dinners done and cooling off next to the bar-b-q. Yep, he was right and I'm in no mood to pay premium prices for cold food. He sets my plate in front of me and test it; cold! "Mucho Frio" I say and send it away. Dan and Brad agree and the three plates of food are schlepped back to the bar-b-q. The cook is not happy. I don't think we are the first that evening to send our food back. Our reheated food finally reappears and is now well over cooked, too hungry to complain any further, we suffer through it.

I have had enough for this day and retreat to the concrete box. Dan and Brad aren't done yet and bid me a good night.

Date: December 30

Weather:

The thought of another  night primarily spent hotel hunting didn't sound good and the Hotel California had one of their normal rooms available for the night. The plan was to stay there that night but go exploring down the coast during the day. The road heading south ended so we had to back track. We found the road that went south blocked by road workers but Brad tried to get through anyway. One of the workers pointed north and we figured there must be another road. The turn off was not well marked but it was receiving a lot of traffic. With Brad driving and Dan in the navigator seat I kept my two cents to myself even after we drove another 20 miles north. They got into one of the friendly debates, Dan and Brad are well known for, about who was responsible for the missed turn. This debate was cut short by a call for The Red Angel, cleverly disguised as a white Suzuki. A group of people were standing on the side of the road with a broken car. Two were clearly tourists with colorful, multiple patterned clashing outfits that only a tourist would wear. We stopped and asked if they needed help. They asked if we could give one of them a ride back to town. A few km.s out of our way but what the hell. He was a computer guy from Washington that worked for Ross Perot. He offered to buy us a beer when we dropped him off and thought what the hell...sure! One turned to three and we soon lost sight of our original destination. Still low on energy I zigged when they zagged on the way to the next bar in Quepos and headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. (pictured above) 

Date: December 31 New Years Eve

Weather: Hot but not too hot.

Where would I be on New Years Eve when the 19 on the calendar turned to 20? is a question I have been asking myself for a long time. For the past few years I thought it would be Rio, Brazil but there has been too much to see along the way, I will have to save that for another day. As it turns out, it was in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. A popular surfing beach on the pacific cost. I had still not made a recovery from my lack of energy but I wasn't going to watch the ball drop on the TV in the hotel. We hit a few of the local pubs and finally rang in the new year at a small night club above a Mexican restaurant. 

I thought a lot about Brooke and the rest of my friends at the Jimmy Buffett concert back home. A big part of me wished I was there but I knew I was where I needed to be. I slowly drank one more beer as the real party began to erupt in the streets. I  knew this would be another night I would let Dan and Brad down, lacking in party spirit.

Date: January 1

Weather: Wet and worm.

Brads last day in Costa Rica was spent quietly driving back to the city. Brad and Dan had torn up a few of the bars in Costa Rica and were finally a little low on energy themselves. Bubba would be proud of them. The perfect relief came in the form of six whoppers and supper seized fries and drinks. We dropped off the rent-a-car and said our farewells to our friend Brad. We hopped on a bus back to the city for the night expecting to head to Panama in the morning and the wild vacation from our vacation was over.

Date: January 2

Weather: Not sure

We needed a little money to get out of town but San Jose was shut down tight. They seem to take that rest on Sunday thing pretty serious because not much was opened. TV, hotel, rest.

Date: January 3

Weather: Hot. 85

A little slow out of the gate but we get to the bank and have traveling money now. We miss the bus and decide one more day of TV and AC won't kill us.

Date: January 4

Weather: Overcast and cool

(Ryan)

What was supposed to be a quick stop at the DHL international post office to send some gifts home was some fun. First I got on the wrong bus, then they didn't have any packing  material so I had to do a separate hunt for that. Then I got the bill... Three lbs. total was $177 which wiped out my cash fund. Then none of the bussed would stop for me no matter what kind of hail I used so I eventually got a cab back to the hotel. Dan was ready and we were off to the bus station. 

Bus station one didn't leave until 4 pm that day. Across town to bus station two, they won't have a seat for two days. Back to bus station 1 who won't have a seat for four days. Now what? Luckily we find bus station 3 who was leaving at 2:30, two and a half hours away. Good enough! Time for a quick snack and we were traveling again. 

I'm not sure what my problem was this week. I thought it might be that I just wasn't feeling well but maybe seeing Brad reminded me of home and made me miss my Brookester and my friends back home. What ever the reason I'm sorry I was such a stick in the mud Brad.

Were off to Panama!