Costa Rica: Girls Trip 2024

 Costa Rica 

1/14-1/21- 2024

Starting of 2024 with a trip to beat all trips! The 2024 Costa Rica Girls trip. This is a girls trip that has been growing over the years. I'm not sure when it started but there were just a few gals who decided to make an annual trip. This was my first year as a part of this annual event and I was super excited. 

DAY 1:

We all had a flight out of NY at super early in the morning, and I had spent the night before obsessing about the flight. For as much as I fly, I should have been well over any fears, but I always get nervous. I was up that morning several hours before we were to be off, and of course spent those few hours worrying even more. 

Carol, Dorie and I were chauffeured by the hubs to the airport and soon we were connecting with the other gals in the group. Most of us were on one flight, while Carol and Dorie were on another. The first leg was a flight to Dallas, and this leg went well. The second flight, the one that was longer of course, did not go as well. There was nothing wrong with the flight itself, it was where I was sitting. The very last row on the aisle. I was bumped and hit thousands of times as people went back and fourth to the bathroom. BUT....we had finally made it to Costa Rica. 

Here are some of us in our cab to the hotel. We are staying at an all inclusive hotel called the RUI Palace. Carol was my room mate, and although the room was nice, there was a heavy smell of mold. I am guessing it is just the way it is, because we all went home with this stench in our things once we returned. (It took forever to get our). Otherwise, things were looking AMAZING, 

After getting settled in our rooms, we met up for dinner at the buffet, checked out our home for the week and then went to the evenings entertainment. Tonight was "Queen". A local band who sang and "looked" like the band Queen. I had some drinks and was soon calling the lead singer "Fat Freddy". We had a great time. 

Day 2:

Carol and I woke up early and after hearing that there were some wild monkey's not to far from the resort, we headed off on a walk along the beach in search of these guys. (We should have brought some banana's) For as early as it was it was already HOT! This trip really put into reality that I am totally carrying around to much extra weight, because the beach walking was killing me. We finally made it to a small shack with the words written Monkey Bar and not to far from this location were some WILD MONKEYS. White Faced Howlers and they were so stinking cute. 

This was when I wished I had some bananas. They were not to interested in us if we did not have any food to give them, so I spent mush of our monkey watching just chasing these guys around to see them. 

We even got to see a momma and her baby. At one point there was a freak out of the monkey's. One was chasing after the momma. We could only speculate what was happening. One person reported that they were after the baby, and that this aggression was not common. (I actually got a video). I joked that it was actually...the other woman and momma was reacting, or perhaps he had cheated on her and now she was angry. Whatever was going on, there was some action and monkeys were screatching and yelling while scampering all over the place. 

Eventually the noise settled and the monkey's became more interested in eating. as people came by with some goodies. 

They were more interested in connecting with people when they were being fed. This nice couple let me give one of them some food to feed them as well. 

I got to feed this guy. 

WOW! 

After our time with the monkey's we headed back to the room and got into our bathing suites. We were all meeting at the pool for some cocktails and some time in the sun. Although I knew most of these gals before this trip, I was looking forward to meet some of the other women, I had not met before. This included Donna, Anessa, and Colleen. (I learned later that Donna actually dated my ex and father of my older children before we had gotten together, what a small crazy world.) 

We spent most of the day in the pool and drinking cocktails. This can and often has gotten me in trouble, but isn't that what vacation is all about? 

Carol and I went back to the room and chilled before cleaning up and heading off to explore the local area. There was a sign that we had seen coming in that read CASINO. I so wanted to get a chip from Costa Rica. We looked and looked for the Casino, but were told later that it was closed down. So we went shopping, I found that the pricing was weird, for example a purse could cost $45- and a package of stickers would cost $24- I thought that this was a weird contrast for items. 

I didn't buy anything...

We all met for dinner, they all wanted to go to the buffet again. Carol and I decided that we would like to try one of the more formal restaurant. Colleen and Anease went with us at the Krystal restaurant. 

It was nice to have a fancy meal, but I am so funny about what I  will eat. I am trying to be more adventurous and I do attempt to eat different things, but it's hard to like most things, and I will not eat seafood. Even foods I eat taste a little different here. Anyway, it was a nice chance to get to know these two ladies a little better. After we all met for the evening entertainment. It was live music, and it was fun. Bed early as tomorrow we take one of our excursions. 

DAY 3: RAINFOREST TOUR

I cannot tell you how excited I was for our trip off the resort property today. We were heading out for the entire day for a tour of the area which included the rainforest. We had to meet our guide Freddy at 730am and once we were all set...we were off. (below is the company)

We were headed to an area wedged between two Volcano's and our first stop was to a waterfall. We were all packed with bathing suites and water shoes, as we were going to make a splash in the cool waters at the bottom. (below is all of us. Me, Paula, Colleen, Tammy, Annette, Carol, Chris, Shelly, Val and Dorie.)

As we drove to the site, Freddy gave us information about Costa Rica taxes...

There are no income tax, or property tax. Real estate in general is pretty cheep. Carol and I had spoken with a man who was here to actually purchase a place while he was there, and I don't recall the exact price, but it was a beautiful place for pretty cheep. 

There are several volcano's in central America and some are still active. Lets hope one does not erupt today. 

Every day at 7am, all of the Costa Rica radio stations play the countries National Anthem.

There are over 500,000 species in Costa Rica, 900 are different types of birds. The Country is only .03% of the worlds planet surface, but is home to 5% of the worlds bio-diversity. 

25% of the country is National parks or reserves. The country is working to be Carbon free.

Like in New Jersey, you can not pump your own gas in Costa Rica. 

The education system is very important. More then 30% of the Nations budget goes into education. There are more teachers then there are policemen. Freddy explained that children as prepped for what type of career they would like while in higher education. The nation will support any career choice and fund it, if the child shows both an interest and the grades to fulfil any desired career choice. 

Costa Rican's have higher life expectancies. This is attributed to the relaxing, laidback lifestyle. 

There has been no Military since 1948.

In 2017 Costa Rica was ranked the 12th Happiest country on the planet. I can totally see why.

The Sloth is the country animal and the primary language is Spanish. HOLA!

We got changed into our suites before getting to the side of a mountain (well not really) but a very very steep hill that would take us to the waterfall. As you all know what goes down, must also go up. Although the return trip killed me, I would do it all over again, just to enjoy that beautiful swim. 

This was so much fun. 

Missing this trip as I update on it. We all really had so much fun taking in the cool water, but we had so much more ahead and that big hill back up. We all made it somehow...I nearly died. We did some quick shopping and headed off to our next stop. A 2 mile hike into the jungle. 

We arrived at this farm and there was a guy standing there with this giant machete!!!! (Ticos, are what Costa Ricans call themselves and they often carry machetes)What is going on here? Well I guess they need those BIG knifes to cut away some of the grasses and open things....but anyways, it was a little unsettling to just see some guy standing there with that. We were eventually introduced to the guy, I selectively forgot his name, and were soon on the trek into the jungle. 

It was not long and we got to see our first wild sloth. 

Most of them were very high up in the trees and it is a rare thing to see one this low. Apparently they only come down low to use the bathroom. We were lucky that this guy had to take a potty break. 

Also lucky we had Freddy who took some great pictures of the ones we could not get with our phones. (Below are some of his great pictures)

He took some more great pictures as we trekked along....more wildlife....

My phone camera isn't great, but sometimes it does some amazing pictures, like this one below. 

Or this one of this poison Dart frog

The jungle walk was super fun. I was glad we didn't see any snakes or critters we don't want to see out in the wild. These jungles do have panthers and Jaguars, (poison dart frog as pictured), bullet ants and even scorpions, but the snakes are what I really don't want to see. There are also crocodiles in Costa Rica. there is one river that (The Tarcoles River) which is known to have the most crocodiles in the world. We drove over the bridge, but didn't stop.  No thank you. 

(pictures going over the river.... as we drove by.)

Apparently, Jaguars are very difficult to see. Freddy reported that he does do a night trek that searches for Jaguars, but they are difficult to find. Even in areas where they are known to be, it is unlikely you would see one. This is btw...Carol's dream. I will not be volunteering to go with her on this search however. 

After our jungle trek, we learned about the coffee plant and the production of the beans. 

Machete guy showed us how the bean is obtained from the plant and collected to produce one of Costa Rica's primary exports. Coffee. Starbucks most expensive coffee is made from Costa Rica beans. 

The areas unique client and volcanic soil aides in the production of the quality of these beans. The country produces more then 1.5 million bags of coffee per year. 

It takes 3-4 years for the plants to produce "cherries" (The name for these little berries) They are ripe generally when they have a red color. 

After removing the cherries, they are then processed. They are either wet processed or soaked and washed to remove the skins, dried in the sun to do such or a style of both wet and dry processing. 

Next the remaining is then roasted. The length of time and temperatures causes a chemical reaction to create the flavor. 

We had our very own coffee party. Fresh beans were ground and a boil over was used to produce our coffee. 

YUM!!!!! 

Up next we headed off to lunch, but first Freddy spotted a wild and rare sighting of a toucan flying along the road. We stopped to get a view.

We also got a non-scheduled stop at the Rio Celeste River. The blue river is so beautiful. The color is a result of the chemical reaction between the volcanic minerals that are deposited from the two rivers that run into this one. The Quebrada River  is Acidic, while the Buena Vista River is alkaline. The two produce this blue colored river Rio Celeste. 

My camera could not do the blue color justice. 

There is legend about this river. It is said that when God finished painting the skies, he cleaned his brushes in the river. 

Then...we made it to lunch. 

A traditional meal, and I enjoyed all of it. 

While we were there I walked around the Butterfly garden. 

These little guys were not very cooperative about getting their picture taken.

These are the Blue Morpho Butterflies. They are blue on top and brown for camouflage on their underside. 

Our day excursion was coming to an end. It was kind of sad. I had one of the best times ever and was not ready for it to end. We did make one final stop at a store before we headed back to the resort. 

I can't remember what I bought, but I did enjoy the stores decor. 

It was kind of everything Costa Rica displayed. 

Wow...what an amazing day. Thank you so much Donna and Shelly for getting this excursion together. I only wish I had gotten a picture of us all with Freddy. He was absolutely the best tour guide and went above and beyond to make our little side trip great. He even included pictures for us all. He was great.

Back at the resort we cleaned up and headed to dinner at the Buffet. After several drinks, we ended up at the show, which was a band playing the 80's. I was tipsy...and a little sleepy...so I was OFF the hook. Singing and dancing. I think there may be an incriminating video of me out there some where. 

DAY 4: 

We all spent the morning being lazy, a brunch instead of breakfast. Chill by the pool, and get ready for our next excursion. Sunset boat and snorkling trip. We were to meet on the beach at 1pm for the start of the cruise. Trying to get into the boat was a little more difficult then I had expected, but it was fun jumping the waves as we climbed on to the ramp. We found a little corner of the boat to sit, have drinks and enjoy our ride. 

I had thought that we were going to snorkel somewhere in the middle of the ocean, so I was getting a little pissy about things. I think it was a combo of being hot, tired and simply a spoiled brat, but I will admit I was complaining most of this beautiful ride. (Two years and some change, Id like to think my attitude has been better corrected.) So, we did not snorkel in the middle of the ocean, but we went onto the shore of another beach and were given the snorkel supplies and pretty much instructed to go. Our group went everywhere and anywhere. I started off near the beach, with absolutely no fish views and again I was finding myself getting a little erked. By shear stupid dumb luck as I was just going anywhere my body would take me with my face dunked under, I ended up near the side of a mountain lagoon area. The water was shallow and full of weeds, but hiding deep in those weeds and coral were a ton of fish. (No pictures because I was afraid that my little phone protector thing would not have been so protective.) Anyway, I found that I was pretty much solo in this area and had some of the best fish views in that big old ocean. Val eventually connected with me, and the two of us enjoyed the views. She had her go-pro and was able to get some videos/pictures. My bad mood washed away with the sea. Val and I headed out of the h2o and made our way into this really cool cave area that would fill with water as the waves came in. (I still didn't have my camera.) The captain and crew were rounding us all up to get back on the boat. We were missing some one...I think it was Anease, but eventually we were all accounted for and back on the boat for our sunset part of the tour. 

Cocktails!

The boat offered us the opportunity to slide...yes slide into the ocean off the back of the boat. I wanted to do it so bad, but I'll admit I was terrified. I watched as kids did it, and a few of our group did it, and with some prompting from people on the boat. I made my way up the ladder and slid off that slide right into the middle of the ocean. Fear accomplished. (I was driving with my mother in law the other day, and as we were driving over a big bridge, she commented, if I remember when I was scared to drive over bridges? .....I've come a long way over the last few years.)

I was feeling pretty good after that, and now we could all just enjoy the beauty of the sun setting over the water. (I am so grateful that I am in a better place within myself today as where I was at the time of this trip, I apologize to any of the people in my life who have delt with that old me back then, she still comes out every once in a while, but I a a much better person today...hopefully I will be able to catch up on this blog to express her more.)

With that....just enjoy these pictures.

Upon our return we had a little bit of time to clean up for our nice dinner at one of the restaurants. The finer dining style. The restaurant is right on the beach, so it has a nice setting. The Steak House, was the name, and so I had streak. I tried a crab cake. I wasn't in love, or even like, so I can cross that one off the list of no for any future eating adventures. 

Dinner was as good as dinner can be at a place like this, meaning it wasn't the best steak I have eaten, but it wasn't a Golden Corral piece of meat either. Dinner done, followed by chocolate cake for dessert, we got a little show. The local racoons invaded the dining tables and were making off with the left over food on the unemptied tables. I thought it was fun. Of course it's not healthy or clean, but it was something you don't see everyday, and I enjoyed it.

The entertainment for the evening was a Michael Jackson impersonator. 

The show was 100% lip sink but it wasn't the music as much as it was about the dancing. They danced just like the King of Pop. We got to the "theater" late so we ended up way in the back, and there were so rude drunk idiots around us. I was annoyed. I tried to enjoy just the same. They did a great job, and soon after it was time for bed. 

Lots of costume changes. 

There was one night that the entertainment was several cultural and dance themed. I just don't recall what night, but it was pretty cool so I'm going to add my pictures here. 

Everyone was very talented. The entertainment was great! 

DAY 5: (this may have been the evening of the cultural entertainment previously posted.)

Today, Carol and I had tickets to (the zoo, because that was really what it was), but it was called Diamante ECO Adventure Park. It was an adventure, because you could add on zip lining and activities like that, but we just wanted to see the animals. Carol was after a jaguar. 

The display and amount of animals was questionable to the nearly $50- price tag. (American) but we got to see some cool local animals up very close and it was a totally exciting adventure. 

Iguanas are pretty much everywhere here in Costa Rica, we saw them at the resort on the pathways, hanging out by the pool, pretty much they are like the squires of South America. 

They are neat looking however. Don't those caiman want to eat those turtles? I guess not. 

We were able to see this beautiful Puma. (also known as cougar). She was very pretty and royal. 

The story about this gal unfortunately was not so sweet as she looks. She was once a family pet. She was rescued after being over fed and never learned to fed in the wild for herself. The ECO park has rescued her as she would not be able to live in the wild on her own. 

The Jag! Carol's favorite. Their hunting ability is incredible. They jump and kill in seconds. They aim for the skull in their attack as to kill on impact. The differences between a Jaguar and a leopard has to do with their size, location and their spots. Yes there are spot differences. Jags are generally bigger in size and more muscularly defined. Jags also are adapted to swim. The Jag has large spots with small dots inside, where as a the leopard has smaller spots lacking the dots. 

Whatever the differences, these guys were super cool and I wouldn't want to run into either.

There were a TON of birds here. There are 6 different types of Toucans in the Central American area and 33 different types in the world. I always just thought there was Sam from the Fruit Loops box.

I loved just watching these guys. 

They almost don't look real. 

One lone grey fox.

There were also several types of Monkey's. This guy is a Marmoset and really not considered a monkey. Their behavior is more like a squirl. They tend to stay up in the tops of the trees, and although they have very long tails, their tails do not help with climbing, swinging etc like the monkey. 

The Spider Monkey. The Spider monkeys generally live in large groups or troops. They often communicate with vocal calls, facial expressions and body postures. They are an important part of the ecological environment as with their movement they will drop seed which will produce future growth. 

The park also had some White Faced Monkey's but their enclosure was glass and with the heat there was so much humidity, that we really could not see them. Glad we got to see them in the wild the other day. 

My favorite of the South American Animals, the sloth. These guys were specifically called the two toed sloths. I was unaware there was a difference. News to me...but here are the differences other then the obvious. They have two large claws on their front limbs, and tend to be larger then the three toed. They also have longer limbs and a more prominent snout. Additionally,  these guys are generally more active, have a more diverse diet. They are more solitary and don't often form groups, and they have an extra vertebrate in their neck which allows their heads to rotate 270 degrees. So now we know. WOW!

You can get a good view of their larger and longer bodies here. 

These guys still didn't move fast, but they were more mobile then some of the sloths that I have seen. 

More birds. There are over 935 different bird species in the Costa Rica. 

Poisonous Dart frogs. These guys can truly be deadly. Ingesting or obtaining the poison through a cut in your skin can lead to paralysis, respiratory problems and death. The Golden Dart Frog is highly toxic. 

So here's the scoop...These frogs become poisonous by their diet. So it is unlikely that these guys (in the zoo) have the potential to kill. The alkaloids found in certain ants and other small insects found in the rain forest. How these frogs don't poison themselves, well that would be thanks to evolution. 

Very interesting......

Well it was HOT and we had seen all the ECO park had to offer, so Carol and I made our way back to the Resort and quickly made our way to the POOL. The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging by the pool consuming way to many cocktails. We had made friends with the waiter....Christopher and he was well aware of what each of us were consuming. He was GREAT!

Dinner was at the Buffet and then we watched the show. As noted it had to be the one above. 

DAY 6: 

(Our last full day)

Carol and I started the day off at the spa. We were blessed to have several iguanas sunning themselves along the pathway as we made our way. 

They did not seemed at all interested in us and were not about to move from the path. So we just took some pictures and walked around. 

The spa was free to us as guests of the resort. It was not like those spas many of us think about, but we could have added things like massages etc, but really it was a cool bath and hot tub. And honestly who wants to do anything hot here in one of the hottest places ever. BUT we did do some relaxing in the pool and enjoyed the peace.

Next was Brunch and then we all headed to the local town for some shopping. I can not recall the name of the town, but the shuttle for anyone interested round trip was $17- American. 

We walked the streets and did some shopping. We also went to the casino, and all I wanted was to obtain a casino chip. But they would not allow me to purchase one single chip. I was mad and I lost at the machines too. I should have just got some chips, sis one game and cash in all but the one chip. Live and learn, but I was so angered I just wanted to leave. (Old Wendy) 

This was not my favorite part of the trip. Although I enjoy shopping, I had already purchased any souvenirs I was going to get, and the heat was killing me. I had learned that I just do not do emotionally well when I am hot. I have (had) a low tolerance and I am super reactive when I'm HOT and this pretty much summed up my afternoon here in town. I was never more grateful to be back on the shuttle and heading to the resort where I proceeded to strip down and into my bathing suite and headed to the pool. I then began drinking. (This was not a good thing...heat, irritation and unlimited cocktails.....well of course I got nice and DRUNK.) My mood was much better then.

We all had plans to watch the release of the turtles. This part was great. I was just a little obnoxious. I think funny, but most certainly a spectacle. Maybe I should not DRINK. But the turtles were awesome. 

There they go. 

Made it to the water!

After getting some food in....I somehow sobered up. Tonight was the big Neon Party at the sister hotel, so we all went back to our rooms and dressed in our Neon ready to dance our last night away!

This was a ton of fun. We danced and jumped around. Enjoyed our last night together, because tomorrow we head home. It was a great way to end the vacation. 

DAY 7: HOMEWARD BOUND

We were all up super early to get to the airport. All of us on one flight plan except Carol and Dorie. While my group left....we were soon in the skies heading to Miami. Unfortunately this return trip did not go as expected for some of us. Dorie and Carol got the worst of it. I was unaware at the time, but their flight never left Costa Rica. In fact it never left for two more days. Carol and Dorie ended up stuck at the Costa Rica airport for two more days before they were able to catch a flight home. 

Our trip was also not as smooth as expected, but only some of us were stuck. This time in Miami. For any readers out there AVOID all all cost...FLYING INTO MIAMI for customs. I am not sure about domestic flights but something tells me they are able to mess that up too. For anyone who has not flown through customs. Let me just tell you...some systems are easy and work wonderfully....others LIKE MIAMI suck! This is the process, and it seems stupid to me, but once you deplane into the states, you must RE-obtain your luggage. (Why they can not simply place your baggage onto your connecting flight make NO sense to me). Once off our plane we had to walk for what seemed like MILES to the luggage return. We literally waited OVER AN HOUR for our luggage to be on those belts. (We had like a 31/2 -4 hour layover to begin with just so you have reference). Luggage obtained...we then had to go through customs. Baggage rescanned in a line that was 15 people deep.  Then we were on to TSA....this line was longer then any line I have ever been in in my life. A line for a Disney ride couldn't compete. Our group somehow got split up. Then we had to WAIT...yes WAIT for the dogs to take their break. We had to be dog sniffed. Then after waiting for at least 20 more minutes, they decided to just let us go through without being sniffed. WHAT???  I ended up getting behind this couple that were truly confused. They had to be asked multiple times to remove their shoes, show passports/IDS etc. I knew this was not going to be good. I have become a TSA pro- so once I was pass the passport inspection and onto the X-ray scan...I was ready to bolt. I saw others of our group rushing out into the main hallway and was encouraged to start running as we were now late for our flight....but there behind me was Donna whose carryon had just been pulled......No solders left behind. So I waited. I know that I would have freaked if I was left behind so I couldn't leave her. Once cleared...we started running. Chris had called us wondering where we were...they were boarding. Of course our gate was as far away from where we were then anything else. Quicken our pace. BUT there was no hope. The girls even tried to make delays as they boarded, but the doors had closed. Donna and I were stuck at Miami airport. We learned that Tammy had missed the flight as well. There should have been no reason that nearly 4 hours was not enough time to get to our connection except the insane incompetence of the Miami airport. Of course they didn't see it that way, the airport blamed TSA and although we eventually caught a standby to Boston (it was like 2am when we landed and having not eaten all day..everything closed we went to an IHOP in the city and eventually got the Rochester the next day.) we still had to wait several hours to our next flight to Rochester NY which is not even our home and my husband had to drive the hour to get us.)

Despite my rough return ride. Dorie and Carol had it worse. And I still had an amazing trip. (here's the evidence- I do believe I am stealing liquor out of a forgotten to close machine.....No problems here.)

Amazing trip! Good times, Great people, and yeah Carol and Dorie eventually made it home. I was told Carol nearly got arrested....I can only imagine the feelings these two were having. They also got a free flight or something and the airline did provide a food voucher as well as hotel stays....but it's still not fun. We didn't get anything for our mishap....as the airport indicated it was not their problem.... anyways, it was an adventure or at least that is how I am trying to look at life now as future Wendy. Back then there was no way I could have convinced myself of anything but anger and rage. Hopefully, I will get to that part of my blog soon. She's a much nicer woman. TTFN