Nosara, Costa Rica

MEM-LIB
Liberia, Costa Rica - Nosara, Costa Rica
Dec 21, 2007 - Jan 1, 2008

• Brad, Nick and Amanda flew from Memphis and Laura came in from Lexington. Everyone reached Liberia at approximately the same time. We met up with a nice young lady from the hotel at which we would be staying, who drove us all to the hotel in Liberia. That night we walked around a bit, found a place to eat (pizza) and had a few beers at the hotel. Cute place - although Laura was not a fan of the geckos and bird-sized bugs that had free roam.
• Carrie and Adam flew in from Jacksonville the next day. Nick, Brad, Amanda and Laura met up with them at the airport, and from there we would be taking a hired van to Nosara. It was simply a matter of waiting on Carrie's luggage. There was a bit of confusion with the airline as to where, exactly, the bag was. In Carrie's words, as she stormed out of the airport, "Delta is dead to me".
• So, sans Carrie's luggage, we find the drivers (Kennit and Orlando) and begin the trek to the Nacoya Peninsula, located on the western coast of the country. On the way, we encounter big floppy eared cows, drink lots of beers, make a few pit stops, and see some pretty remote countryside.
• We arrived in Nosara after it had gotten dark, and there was some confusion about where we were to meet the manager of the house we had rented, and where to pick up the rental SUV. Driving around in circles ensued, but finally we were able to locate each.
• We made it up to the rental house (info here), a large, secluded place with a pool, guest house and great view (which we would find out in the morning).
• Nosara has roads that are not just rugged; they are nearly impassable. Pity the fool not in an SUV.
• We ate pretty well the entire week. We stayed fairly stocked on food at the house, but ate out at restaurants in town several times. One of our favorite places was Olga's, an open-air place near the beach. They had casadas (veggie/chicken dishes with rice) for about $3 US. Overall, the food at most places was really affordable, as were the drinks.
• Wildlife spotted at the house: scorpions (one in the guesthouse shower), large iguana, snake, monkeys, giant toads, giant frogs, geckos, 4 or 5-inch long grasshopper, giant pinching bugs, and of course, the caretakers' dogs.
• One of the activities during the week included a zip line tour at Miss Sky Canopy Tour. It was pretty fun - we had a nice night of drinking the night before, which may be the reason Amanda got a little green toward the end. The website claims that it is the longest zip line canopy tour in the world, at over 11 km in length.
• Went to the Reserva Biologica Nosara, a nature preserve about 100 acres in size. We took a short hike on one of the trails and saw lots of different flora and fauna, including monkeys, crabs, and lots of different birds.
• On the 29th of December, Carrie, Adam, and Laura went to the northern part of Costa Rica to go to Arenal Volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. They stayed the night at a lodge there, and Nick, Brad, and Amanda stayed at the rental house. That day, a few guys came to clean the pool (and they did). We needed supplies like water and food and beer, so we asked if they would give us a ride to the local market, a few kilometers away. They were happy to do that, and when they dropped us off at the market, they made plans to come back to the house to hang out. And they did. We ended up celebrating Nick's 30th birthday in downtown Nosara with the guys, making our way from one club to another. Needless to say it was a late night (and we got to ride in the back of a pickup truck!!!). Carrie, Adam and Laura returned the next day with stories of rainforests, volcanoes, and a show-stopping mudslide that blocked the mountainous road on their return.
• Brad, Laura, Adam, and Carrie went deep-sea fishing. They caught LOTS of tuna and enjoyed it the rest of the week.
• Went on a "Nature trip" on the Nosara River with an eccentric German boat captain. It was in a brochure as a river trip, but the minute we all get on the boat the captain announced that it was actually a bird-watching tour. Scandalous.
• We went to a few different beaches in the Nosara area. One (Playa Ostional) was famous for being the second largest nesting place in the world for Olive Ridley turtles. By the thousands, usually at sunset, they storm the shore, lay millions of eggs, and go back to the water. Playa Pelada was a nice beach to soak up the sun. Lots of surfing waters here as well. Playa Guiones was the largest and most popular of the beaches in the area, at 7 km long.
• On December 31st, the caretaker and his family cooked us dinner on the grill. We ate rice, chicken, tuna, salad, and a few other Costa Rican dishes on the huge table outside on the patio. We told the family about the giant snake that had slithered into and down the length of the pool on one of the first nights of our stay. They seemed to be very relieved that we were ok, as this was apparently a very venomous snake. After dinner, we had a few drinks and hung out at the house. New Year's fireworks were going off in the distance but we didn't get too crazy, due to an early morning that was approaching.
• We got up the next morning, early, and headed to return the SUV and catch the ride back to Liberia. We got to the Liberia Airport, which was no example in how to secure an airport...yes, that is a giant airplane sitting 50 feet away, with nothing between it and the open-air gate area except a rope.So...we had no real trouble getting through security, checking in, and catching the flight back to the States.