Costa Rica Day 7 (May 21) - Adios

After six long, exciting days, it was time to begin our journey back home. We packed our bags, checked out of our Royal Service suite, had our "all-inclusive" wristbands cut off our wrists (sad day), and jumped in the shuttle for the final ride to Liberia International Airport.

Entrance to the airport

Costa Rica Day 6 (May 20) - Relaxin'

Our last full day at the resort was full of relaxation (and denial that we would have to leave the next day...). We slept in, spent time near the pool, made a new friend, ate a light lunch, and invaded the spa for a 30 minute back and neck massage (despite our disappointment with the Swedish full body massage from earlier in the week). 

We were both a little sunburned from our deep sea fishing trip the day before

Costa Rica Day 5 (May 19) - Deep Sea Fishing

"Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."

Somehow, I was able to get Carolyn out of bed early AGAIN the next morning for our deep sea fishing trip. Since she was able to demand adventure and the zip line, I figured I could demand deep sea fishing. Our charter was out of Tamarindo Beach, which was just a quick 15 minute drive from our resort. We were late getting to the beach because the other couple taking the shuttle with us figured they could take their time...

This would be Carolyn's first deep sea fishing trip, and I couldn't wait to see her reeling in those lines!

 We finally arrived at Tamarindo Beach

Costa Rica Day 4 (May 18) - Mount Doom

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

The Rincon de la Vieja Volcano stands at 6,286 feet above sea level.

And we were going to ascend to the summit of this active volcano.

Map of the conservation areas in the Guanacaste province

Costa Rica Day 3 (May 17) - Relaxing at the Resort

While our second day in Costa Rica was physically exhausting, we fortunately had a very relaxing day ahead of us on day three! We slept in, then spent the rest of our morning poolside relaxing in the sun. Our section of the Westin had a private pool area, which we took full advantage of. Since our honeymoon was during their "off season," we almost had free rein of the place to ourselves.  

Royal Service also included day and night butler service
(something C got a little TOO used to...)

Lucky Coincidence Byrne

This past weekend we lost one of our best friends and member of the family. Lucky spent his last day on the end of the pier, enjoying the cool bay breeze, before he came back to the bottom of the bluff to peacefully fall asleep one last time. He was a true bay dog, and enjoyed life till the very end.

Enjoying a cool dip with my brother Colin and my friend Kenny Nichols (4th of July, 2008)

Costa Rica Day 2 (May 16) - La Hacienda Guachipelin

We were up bright and early Monday morning for our first full day in Costa Rica. A shuttle picked us up from the resort at 8:00 to take us to our destination, La Hacienda Guachipelin (located in Rincon de la Vieja). It was about an hour and a half trip, but we were entertained by our driver and guide for the day, Julio.  

Upon first meeting Julio, we told him that he had the same name as a famous football player from Alabama. Of course, he immediately assumed we meant fútbol (American's call it soccer), and was a little disappointed when he found out that was not the case. All in all, we had a fantastic experience with Julio, and learned many interesting facts about the country:

• Among all the Latin American countries, Costa Rica ranks at the top in regards to economic growth.
• The American dollar is not necessarily stronger in Costa Rica.
• While tourism is one of the largest economic engines in the country, many high tech companies (like Intel and Proctor & Gamble) are investing heavily in the area.
• Julio's basic business philosophy (People + Product = Profit) is that if you treat people the right way and have a good product, then you'll do well.  
• There is a family first philosophy with most Costa Ricans.
• Female cows were unusually skinny because of how often the farmers bred their stock.

Costa Rica Day 1 (May 15) - Settling In

After getting a grand total of 4 hours of sleep, Carolyn and I pulled ourselves out of bed at 5:30 AM to prepare for our 7:00 AM flight from Montgomery Regional Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth. Carolyn's mom, Margaret, was gracious enough to be our driver, even after the festivities from the previous evening (God bless that woman!). We were successfully dropped off and began the first leg of our journey to Costa Rica!

We landed in Dallas/Fort Worth without incident, switched planes, and within one hour, we were airborne to Liberia International Airport. The flight was on-time and uneventful, so I don't remember much, except that (a) we had the entire row to ourselves, (b) The Tourist was a terrible movie, and (c) our food was served to us completely frozen (we could see ice crystals on the meat and bread).

Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Before we get into the day-by-day accounts of our Costa Rica experience, here are some facts about the region we explored during our visit - GUANACASTE!

• located in the northern part of the country on the Pacific side
• capital is Liberia (same city in which our airport was located)
• diverse geography consists of volcanoes, mountains, rolling flatlands, swampy wetlands, and coastal beaches
• the sources of over 35 rivers and streams begin around the active volcano in the Rincon de la Vieja (accounts for over 50% of the drinking water for the region)
• our resort, The Westin, is located on the coast in Playa Conchal

You can find more information about the region here:
http://www.govisitcostarica.com/region/guanacaste/guanacaste.asp

COMING SOON...

...the Costa Rica adventures of Carolyn and Patrick! Stay tuned.