Costa Rica - Day 5 (and 6)

What an adventure we had today!

Cristal Ballena to Palmar Sur

We had another great breakfast and then hopped in the taxi to go to the local airport in Palmar Sur. From there, we would fly to San Jose in order to fly back to Kansas City first thing tomorrow morning.

I mentioned in the last post that our taxi driver promised to take us by and see some crocodiles and turtles. Well, we drove through the rather run-down town of Cortes (apparently it used to be the major Pacific port for the southern part of Costa Rica, but that changed once they built the bridge across the Rio Terraba for what is now the coastal highway.

Anywho, all of the sudden we just turned into a driveway along a row of houses with the announcement - "this is it." We got out, walked under the carport and through the covered storage area where they had coolers for fish. Apparently they throw the fish scraps to the crocs and turtles when visitors are there. They ask for a donation (our taxi driver had said maybe 1000 colones ($2)), which seems reasonable. Hey - gotta make a living somehow, right?

Here is a nice little video of them dumping the scraps into the water. How would you like to have that off of your back porch?

Notice no railings or anything. Presumably the kids around there are quick learners. Even though the crocs are well fed, I think they view everything that comes off the porch as food, so don't fall off!

We also saw a croc over on the bank next to the porch (probably 10 m away) with its jaw hanging straight down. One of the people that lived there tried to explain to us that his jaw was broken, probably in a fight with another croc (our driver helpfully interpreted for us). Nothing kept the crocs from coming up the bank and onto the concrete porch from the side, either. Again, don't think I would really want to live there...

We had a good show, so we gave the owners $5 when we left, and headed on our merry way to the airport, glad to have had a very interesting experience!

Palmar Sur

We got to the "airport" in plenty of time and were just waiting for the flight to get there. We were supposed to be there by 10:00 in case of an on-time 10:30 departure. I think we got there about 9:40.

While we were waiting, I noticed a starfruit tree between the covered waiting area and the runway (it was just to the right and a little behind the 2 boys in the picture). There were a lot of fruits on the ground and on the tree, so it was clear to me that noone was harvesting them regularly, so I went over and picked a ripe fruit and starting munching on it. Did I mention I love Costa Rica?!

Patrick (from the developer's office) was on our flight (the only one to San Jose each day), and told us after he got there that the plane had left San Jose around 10:00 and should be there around 10:40, which was closer to on-time then usual, apparently.

After a while, the ticket lady was explaining a situation to me in Spanish. What I got out of her explanation was that the flight had been cancelled because of something.

After talking to Patrick, we learned that a plane had crashed at the end of the runway. (The pilot was fine - he walked away - it looked like the plane had just tipped over on the side of the runway, I am guessing on takeoff.) The airport would therefore be closed to all flights for the rest of the day as the civil aviation authority came down to investigate.

"So what do we do?" we asked Patrick. Patrick advised that he was trying to charter a plane at a nearby gravel airstrip because he had a 1:30 flight to catch out of San Jose to Canada for meetings. He said that we could hitch a ride with him, and he didn't want any money.

Well, after about 15 minutes, it was clear that he was not going to be able to get a plane. So he was going to head home to try and rearrange his flight schedule. Since our flight was the next day, Patrick said we could take a taxi - it would take about 4 hours. He asked a local taxi driver how much it would cost to go to San Jose and Patrick translated $200. Since the airfare was $172 (which should be refunded), that was not too bad.

To San Jose via Taxi

So Patrick hitched a ride with us back to the guest house, and we headed off down the road at about 10:45 to San Jose. Patrick had advised us that we had essentially rented the taxi driver for the day, so we should feel free to stop for a restroom or restaurant break as frequently as we needed to. Once we got on the road, we decided that we just wanted to get there, then we could have an early dinner there.

Although the speed limit on the coastal highway was typically 80 km/h (50 mph, though people would often go 100 km/h), on the roads through the mountains - the vast majority of the trip - the speed limit is usually 50 km/h.

Our driver would regularly exceed the speed limits, and in his high-centered Toyota Hilux 4x4 crew cab, we moved around a lot. We learned that our abs were somewhat sore from our zip line adventure yesterday, and the bracing was giving them an additional workout.

We were making decent time until Cartago (about 20 km from San Jose). Traffic was stuck there, and I don't think our driver knew the area very well. He made a couple of calls, got out of the traffic, drove around for a bit, then ended up in the same line of traffic except like a mile farther back.

He stopped to ask a pedestrian, and it sounded like traffic was not moving AT ALL, nor did it look like it was going to. Then he talked to another driver, and followed him out of traffic and into neighborhoods. Eventually we made if to where a bunch of people were gathered and as we drove across the bridge, we saw A LOT of muddy water flowing very rapidly (picture isn't great, but hopefully you get the idea).

I think the flooding was why traffic was not moving and would probably not be moving anytime soon.

After stopping to ask several more drivers, we ended up on backroads through industrial areas and back out into the country, then got to a small town up in the hills. We took a right, and all of the sudden we were on this really nice paved road.

This wound through the hills around the back side of San Jose. To make a long story short - after stopping to ask around 20 people total, we finally made it back into San Jose and back to our hotel. We got there at 4:45, so it ended up being about a 6 hour trip (apparently the detour took about 2 hours).

People were very helpful in providing directions - not one person that he tried to stop refused to help (try stopping random people in the US for directions). It may have helped that the taxi "badge" on the truck had the Osa province on there, so people may have noticed that he was a long ways from home.

When we got there, he told us how much it was - I thought $210, but when he wrote it out (good idea he had there!), it was $220. Well, since we had not planned on paying for our return trip with cash, we were not absolutely positive we had enough. (We could have always had him take us to an ATM if necessary.)

ASIDE: This is a good place to mention that you really don't need to change your US dollars to Costa Rican colones if you visit Costa Rica. I believe everyplace will accept US dollars. Maybe sometimes you don't get the best exchange rate, but at worst you take a 3-4% hit - most credit cards charge 3% now for foreign currency conversion. We did take a lot of smaller bills, though (Pat - thanks for that advice), because you get your change back in colones. If you give them a $20 for something that costs $5, you get $15 back in colones, which can be inconvenient.

We had a lot of $1 bills left (that explains why), so picture us standing at the back of his truck counting out all of these ones (in piles of 10) to pay this $220 bill. I think we paid about $60 or $70 in ones, the rest were larger bills, thankfully. And we ended up with $22 left over!

We felt really bad for our taxi driver because he still had a 4-6 hour trip ahead of him, mostly in the dark since it would be dark around 6. I would NOT want to do that drive in the dark (not really in the daylight either, but definitely not at night). I guess he made some pretty good money for the day, though.

We got settled in our hotel and walked down to Antonio's Italian Restaurant, which was highly recommended by the hotel clerk (Fernando) as a nice place to eat. It was VERY good food, although it was a little funny to have the Costa Rican staff serving Italian food. Very good and authentic, though. Then we came home and went into a food induced coma in order to get up for our early flight in the morning (the cab is coming at 4:30 am).

Costa Rica - Day 6

Not much to report here. I liked this sign in one of the shops. Apparently ED knows no borders.

We wanted to get some duty free stuff at the airport - coffee for family and us, and at least some sort of Costa Rican liquor (my idea). The Cafe Britt stuff that they had at the airport was really good. They had lots of different varieties - it wasn't all that cheap as far as coffee goes (they had a 8 12-oz bags for $39 special), but it is EXCELLENT.

As far as I can tell, Costa Rica only exports two types of liquor - rum and coffee liqueur. So I got some of each for good measure. (On the US side of customs where we were packing the liquor into our checked bags, we ran into a guy that brings an extra cooler with him going down in order to pack everything in coming back. He recommended using the coffee as padding for the liquor. He seemed to be pretty good at this...)

Rebecca was thrilled to be back in Kansas City, as you can tell by this photo.

Costa Rica - Day 4

This was our first full day on our own (no part of the development stay) and also the first full day without Nate (he went back to San Jose yesterday when we headed to Cristal Ballena).

Morning at the Hotel

Today we certainly did more activities than any other day in Costa Rica. We got up early to start a walk around the hotel's rainforest path (about 1.25 mi) at 6 am. Although they had guided tours available, Rebecca doesn't really like guides (goes along with her general aversion to people she doesn't know), so we just did it on our own.

We did not see any wildlife (except for the huge spider and web outside of the rainforest), but really enjoyed just walking around in the rainforest. In retrospect, I think it may have been good to have a guide because they know where to look for animals, but there just may not have been many out because of the rainy season.

We got back to the hotel about 6:45a, and since breakfast did not start until 7a, we decided to hop in the pool to refresh ourselves before showering and heading down for breakfast.

The complimentary breakfast was awesome - I especially enjoyed the fresh fruit. That has to be one of my favorite things about Costa Rica - that fact that (almost) all of the food is extremely fresh. They use a few packaged things (like flour, sugar, etc) but not nearly as much as we do in the states.

Design Meeting

After breakfast we had a meeting with the Ventana del Pacifico house designer. (As you can tell, we really planned on buying property as we already had a meeting set up with the house designer.) We had been told by someone else that had bought property (but not yet started the design process) that you had to have one meeting with the designer on site and the rest could be handled remotely.

The meeting took less than an hour (Patrick had told us this yesterday, and the short time surprised us), and the purpose was to 1) know which lot they were designing for, and 2) understand what we (the owner) wanted in a house.

We gave him some details, but mainly general ideas of what we wanted in a house - mainly a lot of outdoor (still under roof) space with a very open feel. I don't want to bore you with details, so we will leave it at that.

He did say this was going to be fun - he really hates ones where the people already have an exact floorplan picked out that does not really take advantage of the lot. Especially as most floorplans are designed for flat lots, and very few Costa Rican lots are flat.

We realized that we could have done this meeting remotely, but I feel that there is real benefit in a face-to-face meeting so that the designer understands the owner as much as possible (and vice versa). We look forward to getting the first draft of the design in about a month!

Hacienda Baru

After another light lunch (and a small nap), we prepared to go on a canopy tour at Hacienda Baru. We had scheduled a time the day before - the tour cost $35 per person (I thought that was fair for 2 hours hiking through the rainforest and sliding around on zip lines), but the taxi cost $50 there and back.

A very worthwhile trip - because it was the beginning of October (a month when then tourist industry is almost shut-down in southern Costa Rica), we were the only 2 on the tour. We saw bats, a couple of 2-toed sloths, a 3-toed sloth, a poison dart frog, a couple of toucans, and lots of leaf-cutter ants.

While we weren't way up in the trees usually (the exception being on one platform 120 ft above the ground) the zip lines across a valley were really an incredible experience. For some it wouldn't have been that exciting, but we really enjoyed it.

And the weather was beautiful - usually it rains in the afternoon in the rainy season, but it was actually cloudy all morning (with a little rain) and the sun came out for a beautiful afternoon.

On our way back, we chatted with our young taxi driver a bit. We had mentioned that we had bought some property while we were there, and he mentioned that he was thinking about getting into real estate (as a realtor, we gathered). He asked if we knew people in the states that were interested in buying property. We said we certainly knew people who would be interested in taking a look (ourselves included). I gave him my contact information (he did not have an email at the time), so we will see if I get an email (I sure hope we do!)

He also asked if we had a ride to the airport. We did not - he said he could take us and show us a place with hundreds of crocodiles and turtles if we were interested. It was behind the house of people he knew.

We came back to the hotel after that, hopped in the pool for a bit, then showered and relaxed before dinner. Mmmm....dinner...

Again great dinner with great food, and we avoided the mistake of having coffee before bed...

Costa Rica - Day 3

Sorry for the delay - I'm sure many of you couldn't stand the suspense :) Now without further ado:

Day 3

They started maintenance on the guest house today (the workers looked eager for us to leave so that they could tear things apart). This picture of the shrubbery trimming is telling - the top 2/3 that they are cutting off is a year's worth of growth (probably with some trimming along the way). They will use a lot of the cuttings (with leaves cut off) for stakes and fencing - if they stick them in the ground, they will grow, as we noticed several stakes growing as we were looking at properties!

Oh and today is the day we had to pick which lot(s) we were going to purchase. After talking with Patrick (one of Ventana del Pacifico's on-site employees - he is originally from Canada and lives in his custom house in the development), we learned that our "package" provides us with a price freeze of lot types and standard lot/house combinations until June 2010.

Knowing that the price freeze applied to the land as well, we saw no advantage to purchasing more than one lot now, therefore...

we bought lot #37 in NWA-D (after a brief husband-wife pow-wow)

As you might remember, this is the larger lot (0.56 acres) that backs up to a river/creek (and the protected land 150 feet on either side of it). We liked the "in the jungle" feel. Apparently that is similar to the type of lot Patrick has - he made a comment about the lots being priced at a premium for ocean views, but his thought that people who buy in Costa Rica (as apposed to Hawaii or Mexico or other coastal areas) like the rain forest - that is the distinguishing factor.

Patrick also gave us feedback on the things that would be important if we are planning to rent it (which we are, but hopefully not for too long :) ). At the top of the list was a pool - which Rebecca would certainly like - people like to be able to jump in a private pool to cool off after they have been galavanting about Costa Rica.

Apparently pools also don't add significant cost to the property management - the gardner does most of the maintenance, and a pool company comes out once a month to check the chemical balance, etc.

He also mentioned that the highest demand was for 2 BR rentals, less for 3 BR and very low above that (as couples most often vacation as two couples, rarely more).

After we committed to purchase the lot (and put 20% down - less a $500 credit), Patrick took us to the hotel we were staying at for the next couple of days - Cristal Ballena (http://www.cristal-ballena.com/). All of the main rooms and the pool had great ocean views - it really was beautiful!

We just relaxed the rest of the day - hung out by the pool for most of the morning, had a couple of nutrition bars for lunch since we had such a large breakfast at the guest house, then napped a bit in the afternoon.

We had a wonderful dinner at the hotel restaurant - we each got appetizers (not typical) in order to try as much as possible. I tried ceviche - it was delicious! (Rebecca even tried it and liked it.)

We learned an important lesson when we made coffee to have with dessert in our room - don't drink Costa Rican coffee shortly before bed! I don't know if it was the brand (Don Ramon) or what, but we tossed and turned in bed for hours - this NEVER happens to me.

Tomorrow we have our meeting with the designer to start the house design process. This should be interesting...

Costa Rica - Day 2

It rained overnight last night, and it was pretty much cloudy all day, but the rain held off to give us a good day for looking at lots.

We got a hearty, home-cooked breakfast at the guest house - beans and rice (typical tico breakfast fare), eggs scrambled with other delicious things, toast, and fresh fruit (pineapple, banana, and papaya).

We spent the morning looking at lots in the Chantalis development in 3 different areas:

1. Estates - generally more ocean views and more expensive. You can build house up to 3 stories tall here.
2. Rutchailo Verde (aka NWA-A named after the seminar they sold our packages at) - generally flatter, mostly in a valley, and less expensive - more of a neighborhood feel.
3. El Chiverre (aka NWA-D) - terrain more similar to the estates, but more mountain views and generally cheaper prices.

It was quite an adventure looking at lots, especially since I am from mainly flat areas of the U.S. In order to get from the road to the place on the lot where the best view is, you usually have to go either up or down. The slope is usually good and the wet foliage on top (anywhere from one to 3 feet tall) adds to the challenge and the adventure.

We were warned ahead of time and had brought long pants and closed-toed shoes and socks. We also borrowed Don's organic bug repellent for our ankles. (I don't know if it was the bug repellent or intermittent rain, but I ended the day with no noticeable bites.)

We had a smaller group than normal (8 vs. 14) since we were the last group of the year before the guest house shut down for 3 weeks during the height of the rainy season. This allowed us to all get into one vehicle instead of the normal two.

I think we were the most serious buyers there (Nate came down to get the same deal we got, but knew he would probably not be buying this trip), and it showed looking at lots. We were the ones saying "can you stop here?" or "we want to look at a couple of lots up here."

We certainly got our exercise for the day by lunchtime. Speaking of lunch - did I ever mention that my life is very food-centric? - I am always looking forward to the next meal. Lunch consisted of a good variety of food - baked pork pieces (I don't remember the name), and various other things I can't remember right now. It was all very good, though.

In the afternoon, Don took us down to the beach (Playa Ventanas) - wow! what a beautiful area. The coconut trees grow up to the beach (as does a nice carpet of grass-like ground cover) and the coconuts they drop start to grow new trees.

As 96% of the coastline in Costa Rica is public access (as are all of the waterways), you can just go down to the beach and grab a coconut tree "seedling" to plant at home.

Which brings me to another very important point - the soil in Costa Rica is so fertile that you can drop just about any seed on the ground and it will grow (the only exception is if the plant needs actual "seasons"). This makes it critical to choose what you want growing and keep other things out. We plan to have various fruit trees on our property - starfruits, mangoes, papaya, banana, coconut, and any others that catch our fancy between now and then.

So the beach was nice - amazing views as well as a couple of caves that actually go all the way through a small jungle peninsula. It was mid-tide when we were there, so you couldn't walk all the way through the caves - OK, maybe you could, but the waves were getting quite turbulent in there, so noone was willing to risk it :)

After being there for a while and having some extra time, Don asked us if we wanted to go see a neat waterfall that is not on the normal "tour". Of course, everyone said yes, and off we went.

Apparently the waterfall is on property that used to belong to the developer. Fortunately for us, waterways have public access, so we ccould still visit it. Because of recent rains, the water was really moving (and cold), so we couldn't go as far into the pool as normal, but we enjoyed the natural beauty and got a nice picture of Rebecca, Nate, and I in the pool.

Afterwards we attempted to ruin our dinner at a local tilapia farm where we went fishing, then ate. OK, "fishing" may be a stretch - they put bait on the end of a line attached to a handle for you and you throw it in to the pool they are growing the tilapia in - needless to say it does not take long to catch one.

The appetizers (bocas) we had were a salad, flattened and fried plantain slices (can't remember the name), and fried fish. The fried fish is slightly different than you would see in the states - they still gut the fish, but then they chop it in cross-sections (instead of fillets) and fry everything but the head. So skin, fins, and tail is still on the fish. Don said we had to try a tail or fin as they were like potato chips - he was surprisingly correct.

Rebecca doesn't eat seafood (at least nothing that tastes fishy, which really leaves only lobster), so I was surprised when she tried the fish. I was even more surprised when she liked it - it did not have a fishy flavor because it was fresh - just a few minutes (or maybe hours) from catch.

Apparently the ceviche available in the roadside stands is very similar - they catch the fish (usually Maui Maui) in the morning, make ceviche in the morning, sell it all day, then use any remainder for bait the next day. (If you don't know, ceviche is another boca consisting of chopped up fish that is "cooked" in lime/lemon juice along with cilantro, onion and perhaps other seasonings. It is not heated but the strong citrus juices sort of pickle it, I guess. Rebecca's brother loves it, but it is hard to find in Kansas City because of the general lack of fresh seafood.)

So we demolished the three appetizers, then headed back to the guest house for dinner (after I took a nice dip in the pool). Again, I don't remember exactly what we had for dinner, but it was good! I do remember the bananas foster for dessert, though, which was great even without ice cream.

Nate, Rebecca, and I played a little bit of pool, we grabbed pictures off of his camera (since we forgot ours in the afternoon), and then Rebecca and I spent time deciding which lot(s) we wanted.

We still didn't have complete understanding of the package we bought for $1500 (we were to get it clarified in the morning), so we came up with two options: 1) if we did not have a price freeze on land until 2010, then we would just get a couple of lots and put off building, or 2) if we did have a price freeze on land, then we would get one lot and start the desin process for our custom house.

Our top two lots were (drumroll please...):

1. NWA-D, lot 37 - over 1/2 an acre and backs up to a river area. This provides the "down in the jungle" feel that we want (and it is cheaper since it is not an ocean view).
2. NWA-D, lot 7o - this lot was more expensive, but potentially provided mountain views in 2 directions (from the top of a ridge). It also had the slope most of the way down into a valley to get a little of that "in the jungle" feel.

Tune in tomorrow to see what happens!

Costa Rica - Day 1

This was what we woke up to our first full day in Costa Rica - for being the middle of the rainy season, it sure was a beautiful day!

It apparently gets light around 5 am, and it gets bright so quickly that it really is tough to sleep much past 5:30 or 6 am unless you have done a good job of sealing the light out of the room!

After eating breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we had to catch a flight on the local airline from San Jose to Palmar Sur (near the property we were going to visit in southern Costa Rica).

We were told to be at the SANSA offices by 9:00 am for a 9:30 am flight, which seemed a little tight, so we got there by 8:45 am. Turns out that 9:00 am is fine because it only takes about 2 minutes to get your boarding pass and two minutes to go through "security" when your flight is called. Oh - and the flight often doesn't leave until 10:00 or later.

I have been on small planes in the states, but this was by far the smallest "passenger plane" I have ever been on. That is Rebecca and me in the picture with the only other person on our flight in the background. (He apparently is a Costa Rican - a "tico" as they proudly call themselves - and he tried to bring his new chainsaw on the plane with him. I was glad that they did not allow him to carry it on (or even check it), and I had more confidence in the air safety of Costa Rica after that.)

It is also significant to note that with a full flight, they may enforce a maximum baggage weight of 26 lb per passenger. We would have been in trouble if that was the case, but fortunately, we were less than 1/2 full. (I think it should really be weight of passenger and bag together, personally.)

We arrived uneventfully in Palmar Sur and was picked up by our guide for the next 2 days - Don. It was about a 25-minute car ride back to where we stayed - mostly on the coastal "highway" (the highest speed limit we saw was 80 km/h or 50 mph - largely because of the pedestrian, bicycle, and other miscellaneous traffic, I suspect). The last 5+ minutes was mostly uphill it seemed on dirt roads that 4-wheel drive was very helpful on - though we saw a lot of people getting around OK in 2-wheel drive cars.

We stayed at the property developer's guest house - next door to their house - about 900 ft above sea level (though it was only about 10 minutes to the beach, even on bad roads). Their older developments were in that general area, while the newer developments where lots are now for sale are about 15 minutes closer to Palmar Sur and where the new international airport will be going in.

We had a wonderful lunch - chefs on staff get produce from the local markets in order to prepare meals for the day - in this case a cheeseburger (ironic, isn't it - but Nate said the fresh one was much better than the one in the restaurant) with fresh vegetables, french fries, etc.

In the afternoon, we went to look at properties in the nearby development with houses in various stages of construction. We got a feel for things we liked (open space, integrated into the environment) and things we didn't (closed buildings that don't take advantage of the beautiful environment).

Besides construction details, we also got a feel for lot sizes and shapes and views. There were some lots that were about 1/8 acre (because they were developed just after 9/11 when people wanted to be close again), and it was amazing what could be done with relatively little land.

Many of the lots were also on hillsides for views, which made it convenient to design with several stories (some lots are limited to 1-story construction on the front side in order to preserve views for others).

It was cloudy much of the afternoon, but the rain held off for our construction tour, which we were very thankful for.

A wonderful dinner (fresh prawns, vegetables, and cooked sweetened pineapple in chocolate ice cream for dessert - as well as something else I can't remember) and talking into the night finished off day 1.

Rebecca and I also spent some time determining which available lots we would be interested in seeing based upon views, price, size, and location relative to others. But like Don said, the 2-dimensional maps almost go out the window when you actually see the properties.

Things We Learned About Costa Rica

We learned that because Costa Rica is close to the equator, you get right around 12 hours of daylight year round. Because there is no "daylight savings time" it gets dark around 6 pm. For most people, by 7 or 8 pm it seems really late and you have to fight the urge to go to bed (if you choose to...).

We also learned that bugs are not much of an issue once you get up in elevation a little bit. I guess mosquitoes and other biting insects become a problem around twilight down at the beach, but we never noticed ANY up in the mountains. We did see a number of bugs (and the geckos were on patrol for food), but they just don't bite so they really aren't a problem.

Overall, a wonderful first full day in Costa Rica. Tomorrow we get to look at available lots and try to pick the one we want to buy! No pressure - we have all of about 4 hours to look at scores of lots and pick the one we want...

Costa Rica - Day 0

Well, we just got back from Costa Rica - what a trip! Instead of trying to sum up everything in one huge post (because there is a lot!), I decided to summarize the trip by days to provide logical divisions and see it unfold from our perspective. (I would have liked to do this every day, but I did not have internet access, and I was not forward-thinking enough to just do it in Word.)

Without further ado...

Day 0

We flew from Kansas City to San Jose, Costa Rica today (September 28, 2007). I travelled with my wife Rebecca and our good friend Nate. Got to watch a couple of movies on the plane, which was a pleasant surprise (Surf's Up and Evan Almighty). By the time we got in - about 9 pm - it was dark, but temperature was still very pleasant (apparently it had been raining in the afternoon).

Rebecca and I had Chipotle (mmm...Chipotle) for lunch and a "dinner" on the plane, so we weren't very hungry, but we shared a delicious ginger/lemon grass flan (more like sweetened butter - quite good but filling) while Nate had a cheeseburger at the hotel restaurant. (I couldn't believe Nate got a cheeseburger at a restaurant in Costa Rica :) )