Day 9 San Jose, Costa Rica

Last night we arrived at the Barcelo San Jose in Costa Rica by midnight. When we checked in for our flight with Avianca they asked how long we would be staying in Costa Rica. We told them our departure date, twice, and then they asked for proof of our departing flight. Then we understood - our return home would be with United - and the only flight Avianca could see was our incoming flight from Guatemala!  They were just making sure we weren’t trying to plan an extended stay in this beautiful country!

Officially today is considered Day 1 of our Costa Rica tour with Caravan but in reality it is a relaxing day by the pool with only an organizational introductory meeting with Caravan participants at 8 pm tonight. 

It is currently 27 C and we have found a couple of hammocks in the shade by the pool to enjoy. 

J enjoying the relaxing hammock in the shade. 

Pool view. 

We did go for a walk right after breakfast in the beautiful gardens of the hotel. 

Doing a little bird watching. 

I was always planning to do a load of laundry today as the midway point of our trip and I knew I could have that done at the hotel. The hotel room cost is quite reasonable - $113 US per night. But the laundry cost was incredibly high. $4 for a pair of underwear!!  So I elected to hand wash my delicates and send only a few essentials off to be laundered by the hotel!

This is our tour planned with Caravan. 

In 2010 our family of four actually did a Caravan tour to Costa Rica that included a lot of these sights but it was two days longer in Tortugero National Park. I really enjoyed that component of the trip so I am sorry we didn’t think to incorporate an additional few days of this trip so we could visit Tortugero Park again. 

This is our day by day itinerary:

https://pdf.caravan/Caravan-Day-by-Day-Itinerary-Costa-Rica-2025a.pdf

We received a call from Laura at Caravan in our room around 5 pm advising us to go to the front desk to officially check in with the Caravan tour so we would receive wristbands to identify ourselves at the hotel. This would let the hotel know that our meals would be complimentary to us. 

So with green wristbands in tow and a complimentary drink ticket in hand we met the group for supper. We sat at table with Lisa from Boston and had a nice visit. 

We then moved to the lobby and listened to an accomplished pianist play a variety of songs. For sure he was a paid performer!!

We then went to our orientation meeting for the Caravan tour and found out the names of the 38 people on our tour!  Once again we were the only Canadians and the rest are Americans. It will take some time to get to know folks. The youngest is 15 I believe, travelling with his grandparents. 

We then headed back to our room to pack a day bag for our 7:20 AM departure. Lots to see tomorrow!