Friday, February 22, 2013

Travel with Teens: Costa Rica

Family travel always seems to mean with kids.  Meaning rugrats.  Meaning small children.  Meaning not my kids.  I for one do not want to sacrifice my sanity nor my vacation.  I want something/somewhere I want to do/go but will meet the needs and wants of ALL travellers.  No whining from the kids.  No whining from the adults.  And in some cases, no whining from the grandparents.
COSTA RICA
Fly into San Jose' and 40 minute ride to Peace Lodge here
Beautiful.



This hotel was breath taking.  The room was one of the most romantic I have ever stayed in.  Large King bed with a fireplace and two couch/futons that each kid slept on.  Sigh.  There was a balcony with two lounge chairs, a hot tub, ahmmock, and hummingbird feeders to attract multitudes of hummingbirds.  The bathroom had two sinks, toilet, a rock shower with overhead rain shower, and a tub with a waterfall.  I know.  Amazing.
La Paz Waterfall Gardens are attached and you have free access to the gardens.  They have a butterfly house, a bird aviary, and at night for a little money you can go to the reptile/amphibian house.
From there we did excursions to white water raft, horseback ride, visit a coffee plantation, visit a volcano, and zipline.
Coffee Plantation
Kids with Grandpa getting ready to ride
Paos Volcano

Yes, they let you zipline on one route
Spider Monkey
Nice things about Costa Rica for Americans:
  1. Take US dollars
  2. Speak English
  3. The roads are in good shape so travel is not a chore.
After staying at The Peace Lodge for several days, we packed up and took a flight to the Papagayo Peninsula on the beach.  We stayed at the Grand Papagayo here:


    This resort was beautiful but reminded me of a typical resort in Florida.  A bit too touristy for me.  The spa was lovely and the Japanese Restaurant was so much fun for the whole family.  The employees were delightful and made our stay relaxing.  We did take a walking tour of the surroundings.

    Next it was back to San Jose for the flight home.  Because of the flights we had to stay in San Jose for one night.  So, we picked Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation & Inn here.
I would recommend two nights.  It was beautiful and in the evening it was one great big family dinner with everyone staying.  Absolutely delightful people and the food was GREAT!

Old people, middle aged people, and young people.  We did everything as a group, well.. Grammy did not white water raft or horseback ride but she did zipline.

2 comments:

  1. That trip looks amazing. Good for Grammy - I cannot imagine my grandmother having had the nerve to do the zipline!

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    1. As she said...gotta try everything once. The kids were quite impressed.

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