Saturday 1/11 - Headed for the Coast

I checked out of my hostel, took a taxi to the San Jose central bus terminal and tried to take a bus to the airport. I actually missed my stop and ended up in Alajuela, the city near the airport, where I found a taxi and had to explain in Spanish why I wanted him to drop me off at the International Arrivals (not Departures) area. I easily met up with my shuttle group, and soon after Brett & Michelle arrived and 7 of us were off to Manuel Antonio for a 3.5 hour van ride.

We stopped along the way for beer and a pit stop, and then again later for lunch (our first casado! A casado is the standard plate of rice, beans, meat (chicken or fish), fried plantain and salad). We arrived at our villa, Casa Brisas before it was dark and we all ran around from room to room, excited about how nice the house was! The house host joked about how it usually takes people an hour to sort out who wants which room. Our group was easy because we all had room assignments, and we had all browsed the floor plan enough in advance to know exactly where we were going. My room is actually on a separate level from the main house, and you need to exit the house, go down some stairs in the backyard, and down to a level where there are two rooms - the one I am sharing with Cara, and Jim and Lorenzo's room.




There were 11 of us at the house on the first night (a second shuttle arrived a few hours after we did) and we ventured out for dinner on the beach in Manuel Antonio. There was really only one place open, but the food was good and it was fun to start to get to know everyone over Imperial and Lizano (the famed Costa Rican salsa sauce that Brett and Michelle are hooked on, and now we all are too!). Back at the house, we were all in bed early after a long day of traveling for most people.