Costa Rica - City, Volcanoes, Rainforests, Cloudforests, Wildlife, Friends, and Family....what could be better?

 
 

Costa Rica in 3 Parts:

Welcome to our Worrall Travel Rs Blog. Thank you for virtually joining us.   Unlike the  daily blogposts that I usually post while traveling, I thought it might be time to just relax, take photos, some notes, and be in the moment.  I am posting our photos a little after the fact and broken them in 3 parts.

Part 1:  On our own in the City - Traveling to Costa Rica, sight seeing in San Jose, and traveling home from Costa Rica (curated photos)

 

Part 2:  Our Education First - Go Ahead Tour "Volcanoes, Rainforests, and Wildlife".  22 minute video of all of the wonderful sights we enjoyed while making new friends on our trip.

 

Part 3:  Our family time - Being with our children and grandchildren in paradise.

 

 

Enjoy!  We sure did!

 

The R & R Worrall Gene Pool

 Costa Rican Family Time,  February 17-24 - Punta Leona - Casa Bella Vista

Saturday, February 17, 2024 was the last official day of our Education First Tour.  Most of our traveling companions had already left on Zero dark hundred outbound flights home, but there were a few of us with later day flights.  The bus had arrived at 8:00 to transport us to the airport.  We had arranged in advance with our guide and bus driver to be dropped off at a rental car agency close to the airport where we were to meet up with our son-in-law who was flying in around noon.  We had extended our trip beyond the EF tour for a week and a half.

Our daughter and their 2 children along with our son and his wife and 2 children had arrived earlier in the week and had been on their own in  a rental car touring around. Our son-in-law had rented a car and would drive us to the rental.   We were all going to meet up at a vacation rental in Punta Leona on the West Coast of Costa Rica around 4:00 pm (check in time). 

As we were literally stowing our luggage under the bus for our drive to the airport, I received a phone call from our son, who explained that Neal's flight had been canceled in San Francisco, and that he would not be arriving until the following day.  

Okay, when traveling, one has to expect the unexpected.  We unloaded our bags and waved goodbye to our bus and traveling companions.  Like Winnie the Poo,  we  pondered with "what to do? what to do?" before making a decision. We could either spend another night at the hotel, or arrange for other transportation.  There was not enough room in the other car for more passengers.  There were already seven of them with their own luggage.

 We had already checked out of our room, and we couldn't  check into our rental until 4:00 pm.  We made arrangements for a tourist taxi to pick us up at the hotel at 1:00 pm for a flat fee of $150.00 which was less expensive than another night at the hotel.  We stored our luggage with the concierge and simply relaxed in the lounge and had lunch until it was time to go.  Our tourist taxi was great as was the driver, very personable.  There doesn't seem to be any restrictions on texting and driving in Costa Rica which made me a little nervous as our driver was occupied most of the time texting and talking on the phone while driving. 

We reached Punta Leona about 3:30, and with a few hiccups with the gate guards who seemed to be quite suspicious of our taxi, we were able to secure our activity wristbands with the hotel concierge which would allow us and all the family members to take advantage of hotel amenities during our stay. (parking, private beach, swimming pool, miniature golf, paddle boards, etc.)  We arrived just a few minutes before 4:00 and were welcomed by the house staff Carlos, Gina, and Nayile who cooked, cleaned, laundered our clothes, and managed the household.  There was a goodie basket with treats and a bottle of chilled champagne.

The rest of our family had not yet arrived, so we toured the house, and settled our selves in the penthouse bedroom on the third floor.

First Floor (one floor up from garage and ground level) had spectacular veiws. 

Game Room

All doors fold open to pool for indoor/outdoor living.

Living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom on first floor.

                                                                                Infinity Pool

On the second floor there were four large bedrooms (2 en suites), and one shared bathroom for the kids, along with a day room TV. decking, and overhanging hot tub.

On the third floor was the primary suite with a 300 degree view, huge closet, vanity area, spa shower, and double sinks.

From the outside deck of the primary bedroom, there was a staircase up to an open-top lookout with a gorgeous northern view.

The private beach upper right corner of photo above could be walkable for a mountain goat, and we were glad that we had cars.  Some people had golf carts, but having driven golf carts up hills much lesser than these, we doubted that there would be enough battery to drive with even one person.  Many of these houses were cliff houses.  The one we were in looked pretty secure, but some of them hadn't fared well on the northern cliffs and had slipped and slid, leaving them uninhabitable.

View from our third floor suite looking down.

Our family arrived at the casa about 5:00 pm after a brief trip at a supermarcado for lunch supplies, snacks, and bottles of wine.  Neal arrived late in the afternoon on the following day.  Being all together, with no responsibilities was the best!  Breakfast, late afternoon appetizers, and dinners were expertly and deliciously prepared for us, as was the cleanup.  We opted to make our own lunches so that we could eat whenever the kids got hungry or wanted to pack a picnic.  

The week was filled with visiting animals, pool time, beach and surf time, table games, quiet time, and just being together.

Giraffe bug and Scarlet MacCaws

Pisotes,                                                                       Vultures 

                      Armadillos                                                                  Grackles

And everyone's favorite the white-faced monkey. Carlos and Gina had some bananas to feed them and showed everyone how to hold their hand flat for an easy grab by Senor Monkey.

                                                             Senora Gina and Senor Carlos

Big and little kids took turns

Monkey recognizes a kindred spirit and gets a little too close

The monkeys started to get a little too assertive by jumping from the trees to the pool deck.  So we ended feeding time.  Too close for comfort.  Some of them were showing their sharp little teeth. 

Drs. W and Y didn't want to take care of any monkey bites.

Pool time at the house kept everyone cool and warm many hours of the day and evening.  

Too warm, jump in the pool.  Too cool, sit in the spa!  Perfect Lifeguard Lookout.

And the kids absolutely loved the beach for sand time and just the right size waves for playing around and snorkeling.  And at Jaca Beach the waves were just the right size for some light weight surfing lessons and surfing.

Playa Blanca

Precious cousin time

And at Jaca Beach the waves were just the right size for some light weight surfing lessons and surfing.

Our days were punctuated with quiet times 

and excursions - Tortuga Island Catamaran Tour

But the best times were just being together and enjoying precious moments:

All of us together

Gorgeous Sunsets and Moon Rises

Adios - Carpe Diem wherever we are!

        All is well with the Worrall Travel Rs as we bid farewell to our time together in Costa Rica

Parting with Carlos and his family and our family was sweet sorrow. Sad faces.

Carlos waves - Vuelve Pronto