To travel is to live....until next time...life is good!
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Pura Vida Costa Rica
How to sum up this trip? It's a long journey to get there but so worth the trip. First off, I think we will be back! From the amazing hot weather....it's hot year round, even during the rainy season....to the friendly people, fantastic beach and snorkelling, the picturesque mountainous jungle on which this resort is situated, to the amazing wildlife we got to see up close. Getting woken up each morning at the crack of dawn to birds chirping in the trees makes waking up so early rather enjoyable. The resort was the perfect setting for some much needed R&R; it's really nice not having a set agenda for the day. The ocean was ever so inviting with its clear to turquoise colour and very warm temperature. The coffee was to die for, made to perfection each time. Spending New Years away from family & friends was new, but the resort put on such a great event that night that it felt like we were surrounded by friends...and thanks to Facetime we did manage a quick call home. Best of all I got to enjoy this experience with my best friend and love, Z!
To travel is to live....until next time...life is good!
To travel is to live....until next time...life is good!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Around Occidental Grand Papagayo
New Year's Eve gala set up
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Playa Coco
Having only had a drive through Playa Coco on our tour, we thought it would be fun to head there on New Years Day and have more time to explore. The resort has a shuttle that costs $8 per person round trip. It's about a 20 minute drive away. The shuttle runs every couple hours starting at 10am and last ride back at 10:20pm. The driver does ask when you'd like to be picked up though so they don't have to make the trip if no one is heading there or coming back.
Playa Coco is a very long stretching beach and had a lot of boats moored off the shore. It was busy with lots of locals spending the first day of the new year at the beach. You could get the sense that spending the day with family and friends was important. There were many signs that having a picnic or BBQ at the beach was the thing to do.
The main road in and out of Playa Coco is lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. It does not take very long to walk the strip and very quickly it becomes evident that the shops all carry the same or similar items. Hand painted plaques, wood carved items and hand manufactured pottery vases were in abundance along with the typical t-shirts and beachwear options. We walked around for a it before heading back to the grocery store to pick up a couple more coffee bags and a bottle of Cacique/Guaro; the main ingredient to the Costa Rican caipirinha. A 750ml bottle cost only $13 CAD and that's only because our exchange rate currently sucks!!
We decided to have dinner out and Z really wanted to try a seafood restaurant much to my chagrin. But when you're visiting a coastal place the seafood is in abundance and so it only makes sense. We ate at a restaurant called Papagayo Seafood restaurant where Z enjoyed a red snapper catch of the day and I devoured the most tasty chicken breast cooked in a white wine, butter parsley sauce. Both dishes can with a starter caesar salad and steamed vegetables and mash potatoes as sides. Even after all my original protests of eating there I must say it was the right choice! The restaurant had a good ambience as well with outdoor seating on the second floor giving a great vantage point of the main street.
Across the street was a gelato shop and considering we had not really indulged in much dessert during our stay we decided it would be wrong not to indulge in some gelato. We were so glad we did....and actually wished we had more! The gelato was true Italian gelato completely comparable to what you find in Italy. We both had a 2 scoop cone; I had pistachio and coconut and Z had creme caramel and passion fruit. All four flavours were to die for, so amazingly creamy and full of flavour.
Playa Coco is a very long stretching beach and had a lot of boats moored off the shore. It was busy with lots of locals spending the first day of the new year at the beach. You could get the sense that spending the day with family and friends was important. There were many signs that having a picnic or BBQ at the beach was the thing to do. The main road in and out of Playa Coco is lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. It does not take very long to walk the strip and very quickly it becomes evident that the shops all carry the same or similar items. Hand painted plaques, wood carved items and hand manufactured pottery vases were in abundance along with the typical t-shirts and beachwear options. We walked around for a it before heading back to the grocery store to pick up a couple more coffee bags and a bottle of Cacique/Guaro; the main ingredient to the Costa Rican caipirinha. A 750ml bottle cost only $13 CAD and that's only because our exchange rate currently sucks!!
We decided to have dinner out and Z really wanted to try a seafood restaurant much to my chagrin. But when you're visiting a coastal place the seafood is in abundance and so it only makes sense. We ate at a restaurant called Papagayo Seafood restaurant where Z enjoyed a red snapper catch of the day and I devoured the most tasty chicken breast cooked in a white wine, butter parsley sauce. Both dishes can with a starter caesar salad and steamed vegetables and mash potatoes as sides. Even after all my original protests of eating there I must say it was the right choice! The restaurant had a good ambience as well with outdoor seating on the second floor giving a great vantage point of the main street.
Across the street was a gelato shop and considering we had not really indulged in much dessert during our stay we decided it would be wrong not to indulge in some gelato. We were so glad we did....and actually wished we had more! The gelato was true Italian gelato completely comparable to what you find in Italy. We both had a 2 scoop cone; I had pistachio and coconut and Z had creme caramel and passion fruit. All four flavours were to die for, so amazingly creamy and full of flavour.
Vargas tour - Palo Verdi
We booked a river cruise through Vargas Tours after Z did some research on different excursions we could take. He chose this tour company because they keep their groups to smaller numbers which makes it a more personable experience with the tour guide. The tour owner personally picked us up from our resort and drove us to a meeting point where we caught up with the rest of the group and met our tour guide Roberto and our driver Alan. We joined a family of 4 and set off for a half day adventure.
The drive to the river was about an hour and a half and we ended up taking a route a little off the main highway at one point. We stopped in at Alan's other job which is very labour intensive....manually dredging sand from a river by pulling sand from the river bed with a bucket and using oxen to transport the cart to offloading area. Due to the immense heat, these workers start work around midnight and finish around 10am. They get paid $5 per emptied cart and make roughly $40 a shift. We saw a couple workers in the river and I couldn't imagine having to do this job. Along this river we also got to see some howler monkeys.
As we continued the drive on the potholed dirt road we drove past sugar cane plantations and cantaloupe fields where we saw and learned that workers have to manually rotate all the cantaloupes to ensure even ripeness. Again, can't imagine having to do that. It does give me a different appreciation though knowing that in a lot of theses countries where a good amount of our fruits and veggies come from, the technology isn't there and so the food is produced in a more labour intensive manner. At one point we stopped at the side of the road and Roberto jumped out with a knife in hand and made his way to a tree where he dug out a chunk. He opened the door of the van and showed us a bunch of termites. In the tree bark and the promptly grabbed some with his hand and ate them. He says they are a good source of protein and if ever stuck in the great outdoors that they can be eaten, but you probably shouldn't eat them for too many days in a row. He offered them up to any takers but Z and I were not having any of that. He says they taste like carrots. I'll stick to the real stuff thank you very much, but good to know in case I ever find myself in such a situation.
Roberto was most enlightening about Costa Rica. Tourism is now the main economic driver for the country whereas several years back it was actually technology with Intel having a large manufacturing plant here. Costa Rica has no military and apparently funds that would have been spent on a military are invested into the education system instead yet there is a high drop out rate. There is no social system in the sense that if you are unemployed there is no unemployment insurance. The country is primarily Catholic but there are some Protestant churches as well as Mormon and Jehovahs Witness. The main sport is football as with most Central American countries. The people are very family focussed with men being really close to their mothers. Generally families live near one another and often eat together. Spanish is the main language however English is widely spoken at least in the tourist areas.
When we arrived at the river, we waited for another group to join us before we boarded our boat and set out on our river cruise. In total we were 15 people excluding our Captain Luis. Luis was an older gentleman with hawk eyes. He spotted birds, bats, iguanas and other lizards long before any of us saw them. He was a great river guide and he was also very accommodating with me taking pictures. I was sitting near him and was taking a lot of photos trying to get the best shot and angle and he'd hold the boat in place. I'd look over to him when I was done and he'd give me a head nod or thumbs up and I'd respond with the same or flash a smile and he'd set off to the next find. The cruise down the river was quite peaceful and so scenic. We saw bright orange coloured iguanas sitting atop the trees and small bats attached in a straight line to tree tops....these bats are responsible for keeping the mosquito population down. The crocs were hiding but we did manage to get a sneak peek of one who had his eyes and part of his snoot poking out of the river. The birds were one of the highlights of the cruise. We saw a lot of different herons, sparrows, pelicans and other birds that I cannot identify. This river is certainly a bird watcher's dream.
Just before we boarded the bus for the return trip home, we enjoyed some sweet juicy pineapple and watermelon that Roberto had purchased for us at a roadside fruit stand on our ride out. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant catering to Palo Verdi boat cruises and enjoyed a lovely Costa Rican family style lunch of rice and beans, an option of chicken or beef, fresh salad, crispy plantain chips, and fresh blackberry juice. For dessert we had pineapple orange ice cream. On the ride back we stopped briefly at the side of the road where Roberto chopped down some sugar cane branches for us to take back.
After lunch we stopped in at a pottery demonstration each took us through the process of hand making a pottery base. It's quite amazing to see the process and how "primitive" this artisan's tools were to make such a beautiful end product. Each piece is unique.
Our tour was to take us to Playa Coco as well. We were a little behind schedule and Alan "needed" to make a stop at home to drop something off. Roberto announced that we would we stopping by Alan's house and asked us if any of of us would like some freshly made tamales from Alan's wife. I found this a little strange at first but like they say...when in Costa Rica.....it was neat to see and be invited in a local's home. It was a basic home nicely appointed and decorated for Christmas. Z and I shared a tamales and it tasted really good. These are apparently a huge ordeal to make.
We did make it for a quick pit stop at Playa Coco which suited Z and I just fine. All we really wanted to do was hit the local grocery store so we could stock up on coffee beans and not end up paying and arm and a leg at a tourist shop or the airport. We got our fix and were content on heading back to our resort. We had a shuttle at the resort which could take us back to Coco another day.
This was a great tour and great tour company to book through. I would recommend them in a heartbeat. Roberto and Alan were great and took us a little off the beaten track which made for an even more exciting day.
The drive to the river was about an hour and a half and we ended up taking a route a little off the main highway at one point. We stopped in at Alan's other job which is very labour intensive....manually dredging sand from a river by pulling sand from the river bed with a bucket and using oxen to transport the cart to offloading area. Due to the immense heat, these workers start work around midnight and finish around 10am. They get paid $5 per emptied cart and make roughly $40 a shift. We saw a couple workers in the river and I couldn't imagine having to do this job. Along this river we also got to see some howler monkeys.
As we continued the drive on the potholed dirt road we drove past sugar cane plantations and cantaloupe fields where we saw and learned that workers have to manually rotate all the cantaloupes to ensure even ripeness. Again, can't imagine having to do that. It does give me a different appreciation though knowing that in a lot of theses countries where a good amount of our fruits and veggies come from, the technology isn't there and so the food is produced in a more labour intensive manner. At one point we stopped at the side of the road and Roberto jumped out with a knife in hand and made his way to a tree where he dug out a chunk. He opened the door of the van and showed us a bunch of termites. In the tree bark and the promptly grabbed some with his hand and ate them. He says they are a good source of protein and if ever stuck in the great outdoors that they can be eaten, but you probably shouldn't eat them for too many days in a row. He offered them up to any takers but Z and I were not having any of that. He says they taste like carrots. I'll stick to the real stuff thank you very much, but good to know in case I ever find myself in such a situation.
Roberto was most enlightening about Costa Rica. Tourism is now the main economic driver for the country whereas several years back it was actually technology with Intel having a large manufacturing plant here. Costa Rica has no military and apparently funds that would have been spent on a military are invested into the education system instead yet there is a high drop out rate. There is no social system in the sense that if you are unemployed there is no unemployment insurance. The country is primarily Catholic but there are some Protestant churches as well as Mormon and Jehovahs Witness. The main sport is football as with most Central American countries. The people are very family focussed with men being really close to their mothers. Generally families live near one another and often eat together. Spanish is the main language however English is widely spoken at least in the tourist areas.
When we arrived at the river, we waited for another group to join us before we boarded our boat and set out on our river cruise. In total we were 15 people excluding our Captain Luis. Luis was an older gentleman with hawk eyes. He spotted birds, bats, iguanas and other lizards long before any of us saw them. He was a great river guide and he was also very accommodating with me taking pictures. I was sitting near him and was taking a lot of photos trying to get the best shot and angle and he'd hold the boat in place. I'd look over to him when I was done and he'd give me a head nod or thumbs up and I'd respond with the same or flash a smile and he'd set off to the next find. The cruise down the river was quite peaceful and so scenic. We saw bright orange coloured iguanas sitting atop the trees and small bats attached in a straight line to tree tops....these bats are responsible for keeping the mosquito population down. The crocs were hiding but we did manage to get a sneak peek of one who had his eyes and part of his snoot poking out of the river. The birds were one of the highlights of the cruise. We saw a lot of different herons, sparrows, pelicans and other birds that I cannot identify. This river is certainly a bird watcher's dream. 
Just before we boarded the bus for the return trip home, we enjoyed some sweet juicy pineapple and watermelon that Roberto had purchased for us at a roadside fruit stand on our ride out. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant catering to Palo Verdi boat cruises and enjoyed a lovely Costa Rican family style lunch of rice and beans, an option of chicken or beef, fresh salad, crispy plantain chips, and fresh blackberry juice. For dessert we had pineapple orange ice cream. On the ride back we stopped briefly at the side of the road where Roberto chopped down some sugar cane branches for us to take back.
After lunch we stopped in at a pottery demonstration each took us through the process of hand making a pottery base. It's quite amazing to see the process and how "primitive" this artisan's tools were to make such a beautiful end product. Each piece is unique.
Our tour was to take us to Playa Coco as well. We were a little behind schedule and Alan "needed" to make a stop at home to drop something off. Roberto announced that we would we stopping by Alan's house and asked us if any of of us would like some freshly made tamales from Alan's wife. I found this a little strange at first but like they say...when in Costa Rica.....it was neat to see and be invited in a local's home. It was a basic home nicely appointed and decorated for Christmas. Z and I shared a tamales and it tasted really good. These are apparently a huge ordeal to make.
We did make it for a quick pit stop at Playa Coco which suited Z and I just fine. All we really wanted to do was hit the local grocery store so we could stock up on coffee beans and not end up paying and arm and a leg at a tourist shop or the airport. We got our fix and were content on heading back to our resort. We had a shuttle at the resort which could take us back to Coco another day.
This was a great tour and great tour company to book through. I would recommend them in a heartbeat. Roberto and Alan were great and took us a little off the beaten track which made for an even more exciting day.
Friday, January 1, 2016
More on Grand Papagayo
I probably haven't done justice in my past post about the resort and particularly the beach so I'll expand here. First thing first.....the front desk staff here should get in sync with the rest of the resort staff....they are disorganized and don't actually leave a good first impression upon arrival. Getting beyond that, the restaurant, bar and activities staff are fantastic. With the resort situated on a cliff, they have transportation trucks that will drive you around the resort if you want. The resort grounds are pretty large so there can be a lot of walking (or riding the transport trucks) if your building is located far from the main lobby and restaurants like our building was. We had an ocean view room and I must say it had one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in away from home. The room was very spacious with lots of storage space, a little sitting area inside and on our balcony. There was even a drying rack built into the balcony wall. Bottled water, a couple sodas and beer are provided daily to your mini fridge. They recommend bottled water for consumption, but tap water is OK for brushing your teeth. I drank some tap water and nothing bad happened. With the constant heat, AC is a must and that didn't help me getting over a cold I must have caught at Christmas; the darn thing stuck around all week and Z ended up with it too.
We were in building 14 which is situated atop one of the highest points of the property and farthest away from the lobby and restaurants. This gave us plenty of walking opportunities and plenty of hill training. The resort houses roughly a couple hundred guests and so you run into the same people quite frequently. The other guests were a mix of mostly Canadian, some American and European; a lot of couples and some bigger family groups. It's certainly a different atmosphere being adults only and being a non-smoking resort is awesome, though some guests don't seem to understand that. The resort's Wi-Fi is pretty spotty, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it forces you to relax, interact with people, and take in the incredible beauty of the surroundings.
The grounds themselves are full of wild life because the resort is situated in a mountainous jungle. We've seen plenty of different bird species including the yellow-throated euphonia, storks, and the very beautiful white-throated magpie jay.
There is a family of monkeys living in the trees on site; they move around and you'll never know where you'll see them. One day we saw about 10 monkeys enjoying their tree leaf dinner just down the hill from our building. Your typical tropical geckos, brightly coloured butterflies and other little critters are in abundance as well.
Our beach provides a great place for sun bathing and pure relaxation. There are trees that line the back of the beach area and these provide some great shade from the sun. The sand as I mentioned is very compact due to the tide movements and at high tide the beach is covered completely. The sand is fine grey with black volcanic streaks to it. It extends with a gentle slope into the ocean. The ocean does not get deep too quickly particularly during low tide which is when we spent all our time there. There are some volcanic rocks on the ocean floor and these provide great snorkelling areas. We've seen a vast variety of different fish here and probably would say it's one of the best places to see so many different types. On snorkel day 2 the water was a little more choppy due to the winds but the morning still provided excellent snorkelling and good visibility. We didn't venture out too far due to the chop but still got to see a lot....it's a magnificent aquarium down there with thousands of fish and limited amounts of coral. We got to see puffer fish, needle-nose fish, rainbow fish, black and purple fish, a bright blue and yellow fish, yellow with black zebra strips fish and unfortunately for Z a jelly. As we were making our way out of the water Z unluckily got stung by an unseen jelly on the inside of his arm. :( I didn't know until we got out of the water and he said something stung him...the beach staff weren't around so he had to run to the pool snack bar and get some vinegar to treat it. Thankfully the jellies here aren't lethal, just a pain in the butt, or arm in Z's case. The area looked pretty nasty when he showed it to me...the spots swell up and kinda looked like really badly infected mosquito bites. Seems as though there is always something that causes some extra "excitement" on our trips that involve either a minor illness or injury of some sort. And if that wasn't enough, I've been very lucky to have gone through life this far without being stung by a bee and in fact was boasting about it recently....but my luck ran out here...I was sitting on the beach and felt something on the back of my arm. I started to swat at it and I either aggravated the bee or pressed it into my arm and it stung me....my first bee sting. Thank goodness they had vinegar at the beach which Z applied and it bought the swelling down pretty quick. That will teach me about boasting.
When the tide is out you can go for a walk on the exposed rock and volcanic rock beds to the left of the resort...you can walk quite a distance but be sure to know when the tide is coming in or you'll be in trouble because there is no dry land for you to get back. The afternoon also brings in the trade winds and there are occasional fierce wind burst that will blow anything away that isn't either heavy or tied down....I had my hat blown off a few times and had to go chasing after it.
The food at the resort has been good with a good variety of choices each meal at the buffet and pool snack bar. Generally the dinners were themed while breakfast and lunch was a mix of Costa Rican and North American dishes. The resort hasn't mastered dessert though (maybe a job waits for me here). Not necessarily a bad thing because we have been over indulging on food and beverages without even hitting the dessert table. Coffee on the other hand is absolutely delightful!! My first sip put me in coffee heaven....SO amazingly great tasting! I even enjoyed a couple cups of black coffee in our room. Can't wait to make Costa Rican coffee back home! We've enjoyed some really fantastically sweet tasting pineapple And some not so sweet cantaloupe. The papaya is definitely some of the best I've had and the watermelon has been hit and miss. I can't get enough of the staple rice and beans...I could eat this every day. We tried two of the a la carte restaurants...The Oriental and The Italian. We enjoyed The Italian the best but I have to say they did make a good Kung Pao Chicken.
We stayed here over New Years which is a big deal down here. The resort went all out to put on a New Years Eve gala event. All hands on deck that day and into the evening celebration. They had all guests sign up for a buffet dinner sitting. The dinner had a large spread of food. They served roasted pork, fish, turkey, chicken and beef as the meat options plus a bunch of different sides and salads. And for once they actually had a couple desserts which tasted good. During the day they converted the pool deck into the evening entertainment area by setting up tables and chairs (dressed with chairs covers and bows). They brought in a live band and had some clown performers, a couple were on stilts doing some crazy tricks like hand stands, while a couple others were fire juggling. They had a large dance floor set up with the countdown clock. The staff were very attentive and ensured all guests were taken care of with drinks. They handed out Happy New Year hats to the men and headbands to the ladies along with noise makers. Shortly before the strike of midnight they handed out glasses of champagne. There is also a tradition in Costa Rica which entails eating 12 grapes in the last 12 seconds of the year to receive good lick for the upcoming year, so we all received a bag of twelve grapes. They didn't actually make us try and eat all the grapes thankfully. Z timed me eating one of the very large grapes in my bag and it took me 15 seconds just to eat the one. The outdoor party lasted until 1am and then continued on in the disco. Earlier on New Years after we returned to our room after spending the day at the beach, we discovered a pleasant surprise in our room. We returned to find a bottle of rum, a beautiful hand painted wood plaque and a card wishing us a Happy New Year. What a lovely touch!
We were in building 14 which is situated atop one of the highest points of the property and farthest away from the lobby and restaurants. This gave us plenty of walking opportunities and plenty of hill training. The resort houses roughly a couple hundred guests and so you run into the same people quite frequently. The other guests were a mix of mostly Canadian, some American and European; a lot of couples and some bigger family groups. It's certainly a different atmosphere being adults only and being a non-smoking resort is awesome, though some guests don't seem to understand that. The resort's Wi-Fi is pretty spotty, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it forces you to relax, interact with people, and take in the incredible beauty of the surroundings.
The grounds themselves are full of wild life because the resort is situated in a mountainous jungle. We've seen plenty of different bird species including the yellow-throated euphonia, storks, and the very beautiful white-throated magpie jay. 
There is a family of monkeys living in the trees on site; they move around and you'll never know where you'll see them. One day we saw about 10 monkeys enjoying their tree leaf dinner just down the hill from our building. Your typical tropical geckos, brightly coloured butterflies and other little critters are in abundance as well.
Our beach provides a great place for sun bathing and pure relaxation. There are trees that line the back of the beach area and these provide some great shade from the sun. The sand as I mentioned is very compact due to the tide movements and at high tide the beach is covered completely. The sand is fine grey with black volcanic streaks to it. It extends with a gentle slope into the ocean. The ocean does not get deep too quickly particularly during low tide which is when we spent all our time there. There are some volcanic rocks on the ocean floor and these provide great snorkelling areas. We've seen a vast variety of different fish here and probably would say it's one of the best places to see so many different types. On snorkel day 2 the water was a little more choppy due to the winds but the morning still provided excellent snorkelling and good visibility. We didn't venture out too far due to the chop but still got to see a lot....it's a magnificent aquarium down there with thousands of fish and limited amounts of coral. We got to see puffer fish, needle-nose fish, rainbow fish, black and purple fish, a bright blue and yellow fish, yellow with black zebra strips fish and unfortunately for Z a jelly. As we were making our way out of the water Z unluckily got stung by an unseen jelly on the inside of his arm. :( I didn't know until we got out of the water and he said something stung him...the beach staff weren't around so he had to run to the pool snack bar and get some vinegar to treat it. Thankfully the jellies here aren't lethal, just a pain in the butt, or arm in Z's case. The area looked pretty nasty when he showed it to me...the spots swell up and kinda looked like really badly infected mosquito bites. Seems as though there is always something that causes some extra "excitement" on our trips that involve either a minor illness or injury of some sort. And if that wasn't enough, I've been very lucky to have gone through life this far without being stung by a bee and in fact was boasting about it recently....but my luck ran out here...I was sitting on the beach and felt something on the back of my arm. I started to swat at it and I either aggravated the bee or pressed it into my arm and it stung me....my first bee sting. Thank goodness they had vinegar at the beach which Z applied and it bought the swelling down pretty quick. That will teach me about boasting. 
When the tide is out you can go for a walk on the exposed rock and volcanic rock beds to the left of the resort...you can walk quite a distance but be sure to know when the tide is coming in or you'll be in trouble because there is no dry land for you to get back. The afternoon also brings in the trade winds and there are occasional fierce wind burst that will blow anything away that isn't either heavy or tied down....I had my hat blown off a few times and had to go chasing after it.The food at the resort has been good with a good variety of choices each meal at the buffet and pool snack bar. Generally the dinners were themed while breakfast and lunch was a mix of Costa Rican and North American dishes. The resort hasn't mastered dessert though (maybe a job waits for me here). Not necessarily a bad thing because we have been over indulging on food and beverages without even hitting the dessert table. Coffee on the other hand is absolutely delightful!! My first sip put me in coffee heaven....SO amazingly great tasting! I even enjoyed a couple cups of black coffee in our room. Can't wait to make Costa Rican coffee back home! We've enjoyed some really fantastically sweet tasting pineapple And some not so sweet cantaloupe. The papaya is definitely some of the best I've had and the watermelon has been hit and miss. I can't get enough of the staple rice and beans...I could eat this every day. We tried two of the a la carte restaurants...The Oriental and The Italian. We enjoyed The Italian the best but I have to say they did make a good Kung Pao Chicken.
We stayed here over New Years which is a big deal down here. The resort went all out to put on a New Years Eve gala event. All hands on deck that day and into the evening celebration. They had all guests sign up for a buffet dinner sitting. The dinner had a large spread of food. They served roasted pork, fish, turkey, chicken and beef as the meat options plus a bunch of different sides and salads. And for once they actually had a couple desserts which tasted good. During the day they converted the pool deck into the evening entertainment area by setting up tables and chairs (dressed with chairs covers and bows). They brought in a live band and had some clown performers, a couple were on stilts doing some crazy tricks like hand stands, while a couple others were fire juggling. They had a large dance floor set up with the countdown clock. The staff were very attentive and ensured all guests were taken care of with drinks. They handed out Happy New Year hats to the men and headbands to the ladies along with noise makers. Shortly before the strike of midnight they handed out glasses of champagne. There is also a tradition in Costa Rica which entails eating 12 grapes in the last 12 seconds of the year to receive good lick for the upcoming year, so we all received a bag of twelve grapes. They didn't actually make us try and eat all the grapes thankfully. Z timed me eating one of the very large grapes in my bag and it took me 15 seconds just to eat the one. The outdoor party lasted until 1am and then continued on in the disco. Earlier on New Years after we returned to our room after spending the day at the beach, we discovered a pleasant surprise in our room. We returned to find a bottle of rum, a beautiful hand painted wood plaque and a card wishing us a Happy New Year. What a lovely touch!
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