Enjoying the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica

White sand beach on the Pacific Side, Punta Leona

Our last two days have been at a lovely resort on the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica.  This is the sunny dry side with the gorgeous beaches and there are even monkeys in the trees!  We really enjoyed swimming on the white sand beach and also in the large pools.  

Can you spot the monkey?

Unfortunately, one of the ladies on the trip became ill yesterday at 5 a.m. in the morning.  She called the front desk and they notified our tour guide.  The guide called the Red Cross ambulance. Since I am the Friendship Force exchange director and responsible for the trip, I rode the ambulance with her to the local clinic in the nearby town of Jaco.  She was having some problems breathing and they thought she has pneumonia.  Since they did not have an x-ray machine, they decided to give her an IV with some nebulizer treatments.  After a series of three 1/2 hour treatments, she was able to breathe better. Whew!  They gave her a prescription for antibiotics and an inhaler  with a strong recommendation for her to get an x-ray when she returns to the U.S. to rule out pneumonia.  I found the health system very responsive, however the clinic looked clean but crowded and the building looked pretty sad.  But, for all this treatment, the final bill including the prescriptions was only $200!  (It will be cover by her trip medical insurance).

Today is our last day here and it has been great.  We had a wonderful tour of the capital, San Jose, and even visited the beautiful National Theater Building.  But wait - a big surprise!  The Alajuela Friendship Force club, whom we hosted last November contacted us.  They came to our hotel here in San Jose and transported us to their town, about 45 minutes away.  They had a huge lunch for us complete with a DJ and dancing. They are quite a bunch and told us we were always welcome to visit them.  I have never been hugged and kissed so much! Upon returning  from this great event, we had a an Farewell Dinner at our hotel, the Autentico.  Very nice!

WOW - This has been a super trip with the Friendship Force and this great group of people.  We had a terrific homestay in the agricultural area, Turrialba, followed by a big welcome from another club in Alajuela.  The tour  was first rate and everyone loved our guide, Jonas.  We had a super time zip lining, river rafting, visiting a native Indian reservation, and floating down the Tarcoles River.  We're so glad we took this great opportunity. Traveling with Friendship Force is the best!

Crocodiles on the Tarcoles River

We enjoyed a boat tour on the Tarcoles River on Thursday. We spotted many crocodiles and were warned to keep our arms in the boat because they enjoy munching on tourists if they have the chance!  Fortunately, everyone followed the guide's directions and we were also able to spot some interesting birds.

The night before we really enjoyed Eco Termales.  This was a gorgeous place with 6 natural volcanic springs of thermal water complete with waterfalls.  It was lightly drizzling which only added to the enchantment of the place.  We loved soaking our bodies after all the touring followed by a casual dinner at one of the local restaurants.

White Water Rafting, Zip Lining and other fun times

Richard zip lines near the Volcano Arenal - Weeee....

We had a fabulous "Goodbye Fiesta" given to us by the Turrialba Friendship Force Club.  It involved lots of dancing, singing, a few speeches and lots of good food.  It was hard to say adios after 6 fun days with them!

The last few days we've been on a bus tour arranged by Horizontes Tours through the advice of Friendship Force.  This tour company is fabulous!  We've had a great time rafting on the Sariquai River.  The next day most of us zip lined on a series of 7 different lines that overlooked a gorgeous lake with the Arenal Volcano in the distance.  Everyone agreed the zipping was extraordinary.  Today we visited an indigenous Indian reservation followed by fun soaking in the hot water thermal pools in the area.  We are up in the rainforest mountains and tomorrow will travel to the Pacific coastline.  Attached are a few pictures..

Joanne suits up for the Big Daddy Zip Line

Volcanos, Macademia Nut, Sugar Cane and Coffee Plantations




Our Friendship Force Group poses with the Turrialba Club
 

We've been kept busy here with a full itinerary that was arranged for us by the Turrialba Friendship Force Club.  Since the Turrialba volcano is very active (we can see it smoking in the close distance!), we visited the Irazu Volcano which is right next door to it.  We traveled up a dusty road, 11,260 ft above sea level.  The most recent eruption was in 1963 so we felt safe to look at the crater, which was a sunken in mass of gray rock.  Later, we visited the beautiful Basilica de los Angeles which is a destination for pilgrims.  We saw people walking on the knees up  the center aisle of the church.  Many are here to ask for cures for illnesses and many have been healed. 

We've also visited coffee, sugar cane and macademia nut plantations, where we received information

and demonstrations.  Today was an extraordinary day.  We visited a couple who owns a home in the country.  The couple is from California and rent their home on Air B&B.  We were treated to homemade tamales' lunch and other specialties while we enjoyed an awesome view of the valley.  Tonight is a farewell party with dancing for all of us.  We'll be sorry to leave these warm people.  We are headed on a week's tour of the Pacific coast area. 

Visiting Turrialba, Costa Rica with Friendship Force

Our wonderful hosts, William with Marielos

Richard and I love traveling with Friendship Force, an international travel exchange club.  This time I (Joanne) led the trip with 19 people in our club.  After an hour delay waiting for a replacement flight attendant on Spirit Airlines in Ft Lauderdale (the other stewardess became sick!), we took off into the clear blue skies.  After a short 2-1/2 hour flight, we arrived at San Jose, the capital of this gorgeous country.  We had arranged for a private bus transport to take us west to Turrialba, a cute city in the countryside of about 30,000 residents.

Everyone was met by their hosts and taken to their private homes for a wonderful dinner and accommodations for the 6-day stay here.  We are staying with Marielos and William, a delightful couple who are about our age.  William speaks excellent English and translates for us when we talk to Marielos.  They have a home close to town and Marielos is President of the Turrialba Friendship Force Club here - and has been for 5 years.  She is a world traveler with Friendship Force and has been to many clubs in the US (including ours) about 3 years ago.  She is leaving for another Friendship Force trip to New Zealand and Australia just 2 short weeks after we leave.  She is very excited.   Marielos is a retired teacher and loves to cook!   We've been treated to many of her homemade specialties.  Just delicious!   William is her significant other and they've been together for over 20 years.  He is a retired university professor of agriculture.  You guessed it....he loves gardening and his backyard oasis is lovely.  There are all sorts of exotic plants complete with hummingbirds, butterflies, etc.   Their eating area adjoins the garden and we have a lovely view while we delight in Marielos' meals.

We've been here 2 days now and the club had a lovely Welcome Lunch for us complete with dancing and arts and crafts.  Both of us painted some cute little vases - everyone in the club enjoyed the art exercise!   We've visited sugarcane, macademia nut and coffee plantations and a lovely park.  Tomorrow we will see a volcano and a famous cathedral.

Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves!  Check out some pictures....wish you were here!