Dag för dag: Resealbumet "BFF 50 Costa Rica" av Cecilianaslund

We´ve been friends for a long time!

We made it to Costa Rica!
Kammie came today and i arrived last night. We both had good (but loooong) flights, and the pre-booked transfer worked fine.
The hotel is in the very centre of San José with walking distance to all we need for our short stay.
I spent the morning walking around the neighborhood. I had coffee at Teatro National, and found out a consert was about to begin. I got a ticket on the third balcony and what a consert!! Shostakovic symphony no 7, I loved it!!

Kammie arrived and as always it felt like yesterday. We spent the afternoon talking, changing rooms to one with a window, resting and then out to eat. We asked the guy in the lobby for a local restaurant and had, what we think, some Costa Rica food.. A good meal.
Jet lag hit us and it was an early might. Leaving tomorrow early for new adventures.
La Pura Vida has begun🇨🇷

We’ve got a hammock on our balcony and we can order drinks from the bar to the beach. We’ve tried both!
Early start this morning. We had a good breakfast and were picked up at the hotel by the shared shuttle service that we had pre booked. We shared shuttle with some Danes and Germans and were brought safely on narrow serpentine roads, along miles and miles of banana plantations and through Palm tree forests to the Atlantic ciast.
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is very peaceful and rural. Our hotel is small, simple and beautiful. We love it! The Banana Azul.
It’s right on the beach and as soon as we got here that’s where we headed. We ordered drinks and later on lunch and just hung out there for a few hours.
After a walk on the beach and more relaxing (now on the balcony) we had dinner at the hotel.. Jet lag is still an issue so it’s gonna be another early night. It’s really warm and humid, and there’s no air condition in our room, but I think I’ll sleep without any problems.
Pura vida🇨🇷

We’re good at that, not making great plans but rather go with the flow and letting life surprise us! And today it all worked out great.
We woke up early and decided that even earlier would have been great. People gather at the beach for sunrise at 5.30 and we’ll try that tomorrow.
Had a swim in the Carribean Sea before breakfast. We saw a sloth in a tree right next to our balcony and took its dvise to go slow.
Went into town, walking on the beach in rain- it is the rainy season and we’ve had some rain every day. A walk on Playa Negra is great! The sand is so soft.
The nice guy in the reception at Banana Azul had shown us a good place to have coffee and we went there. Great coffee! It stopped raining as soon as we had shelter (!) but I found myself even more wet after the rain. Kammie is used to it being humid, but I am not! I constantly look as if I’ve had a shower!
The nice lady at the coffee place suggested a great spa and we decided that was exactly what we wanted to do. She booked us up for massages a couple of hours later and we went shopping in this adorable town. Got us some nice earrings made of bananas and headed for lunch. Streetfood, avocado sandwiches turned out to be a good choice. Really nice people there and we found ourselves treated to raw cacao from a fresh friut that he cut for us. All kinds of people there and we got names for good places to have dinner. Lovely, friendly people.
The massage was amazing! I had chocolate massage and K had passionfruit. All fruity and relaxed, we went back to the hotel to relax as shown on the picture. With good drinks we stayed on the beach to see the sunset. As for sunrise, people gathered again.
We had dinner in town tonight at a great restaurant that we were recommended, called the Flip Flop.
What a great day! One thing led to another and we made the best of it. We’re catching on to that pura vida.

Up early to see the sun rise at 5.30 and having coffee on the beach. So beautiful! We took a walk, went swimming and just hung out as the day begun. Pura vida!
Today we were going on a trip, and our guide picked us up at 10. We always make the best of everything, but let’s just say we won’t recommend this guide on trip advisor😉
Kayaking was great though! First we kayaked the sea, following the beaches and managing the waves. It was raining but warm and as always beautiful.
Then we went down the river. So peaceful! Bamboo, Palm trees, cacao and mango trees and just lovely. We saw turtles, sloths, guanas and lots of birds as we followed the river upstreams. We were heading for the place were the monkeys are, and we could hear them from a long distance. Screaming loud! We caught a glimpse of them high up in the trees, but they decided to take off.
Had lunch on the shore of the river that our guide had brought, and then we went back.
We loved it!
Now we were supposed to go on a hike to spot birds, but it was more of a walk in the neighborhood! We saw a tucan and never got the hike that was advertised.
Oh well, go with the flow!
Back at Banana Azul we went straight to beach and stayed to see the sun set.
We had dinner in town at Lidia’s place. Good caribbean food- shrimp and Fish.
Another beautiful day in Costa Rica.

Up to see the sun rise, coffee on the beach and a good walk. What a great way to start the day!
We decided to stay on the beach until it started raining. Turned out there wasn’t any rain today so we stayed til sunset😎
Cocktails, fresh friuts, a dip in the sea every now and then, guacamole and good books to read kept us going. No complaints!
Turns out spf 20 isn’t enough though. Need at least 50 in this strong sun. We’ve learned that the hard way.
We’re leaving tomorrow so this is our last night here. We’re hanging out on the balcony after a super dinner at Koki in town. Great place right on the beach. We’ve had such a good time here and are happy to recommend Banana Azul if you are ever in Puerto Viejo.
New adventures ahead of us😊🇨🇷

Early morning, sunrise, coffee and a walk on the beach- you know the drill! This was our last morning here and such a beautiful one.
Our pick up was at 11 so we had plenty of time for breakfast, packing, more coffee. A good morning.
The shared shuttle system works great. We changed shuttles once and made it to La Fortuna in Arenal. Along coastline, lowland, up in the mountains along papaya plantations and yucca fields- beautiful scenery!
We are staying at Arenal Rabfer on the foot of the volcano. We haven’t been able to see it because of cluds and rain. Heavy rain here tonight.
We went out to eat ”casadores” and came back to the hotel for drinks.

Up early to see the sun rise, only we”re practically in a cloud and the rain was pouring. It got a little clearer, but it was raining all morning as we walked around town shopping, having coffee and enjoying ourselves. We had lunch and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the adventure of this afternoon.
We went with a small group and a great guide for a hike in El silencios by the volcano. We followed the lava trail through the rainforest to a lookout point. Had it been clear we would have seen it, but we were still fascinated by the magnificent view. The volcano had its kast eruption in 1968 and is still active. Our guide was great and had so much to tell.
After the hike we went to a spa with hot springs. How wonderful! 15 different pools with rainforest all around and we enjoyed it so much. Had dinner there and got home totally relaxed and happy.
Another great say in Costa Rica.

We sure know how to make the best of every day! Rainseason in Arenal means lots of rain and we decided to go and see the coffeeplantations. We got a great guide and she taught us so much about how to grow coffee, cacao and sugarplants. Very interesting and informative. We also got to see how it was processed and got to taste it. A great morning!
Our guide Karol suggested the Waterfalls so after a quick stop at the hotel to get pur swimsuits, we got us a taxi and went to the falls. There was an entrance fee, and as we were about to start going down, it started pouring! Heavy rain! We waited for it to pass and had a great lunch at the restaurant.
It didn’t stop raining so we went down anyway. Steps, bridges and absolutely beautiful! The rainforest is amazing.
Since it’s been raining a lot, the current was real strong so we couldn’t swim at the falls, but just down the river was a place for it.
500 steps up and it started to rain heavy again. We were wet anyway so it didn’t matter- playing in the rain is fun!
The coffee we had as we got up tasted great.
Some rest at the hotel, and then out to eat, still raining!
Tomorrow we leave early, pick up is at 7 am. Pura vida🇨🇷

As leaving Arenal this morning we got the best view of the volcano. You could ALMOST see all of it, just the very Top still in a cloud.
We got in the van, this shared shuttle system really works great, and went across the mountains and cloudforests if Monteverde. Beautiful! And cloudy😉
As we came down the mountains, we got on a ferry in Puntarenas. It took us across the Bay of Nicoya to Tambor. Great ferry ride with sunshine and the breeze of the sea.
Then a van again all the way to Santa Teresa. Not long in distance, but the roads here are.... let’s just say you can’t go fast. Santa Teresa Main Street is a dirt road with more holes than actual road.
It’s surfer’s town! Really laid back. Our place is called Esencia and is great. We have a villa with a kitchen and there’s a nice pool area. Not far from the beach.
We were so hungry and tired, and after having had late lunch, we went to the beach.
Amazing!
We hung around with the surfers and tried to swim between all the boards, and stayed until the sun set.
Really tired after a long day on the road, we went to bed no later than 9pm. Pura vida.

We had a walk on the beach before breakfast. It’s so beautiful! Peaceful and quiet with a stunning view. The beach goes on and on.
Nice breakfast on our little porch and then I went to a yoga class at Believe, right next to us. It was quite a challenge and I was the only beginner. I loved it! I bought a 5-pass-card so I’ll be back.
I joined Kammie at the pool and we had some relaxing hours in the sun reading and swimming.
After lunch at El Tapio (GREAT lunch!) we walked on the beach to get to downtown. It’s about 2km and a great walk! Some shopping, coffee and then we took a taxi back to Esencia after having seen the sunset on the beach.
Don’t we know how to make the best out of each day without worrying about it- pura vida!

Rainy morning so we didn’t go to the beach. Made us breakfast (avocado toast and fresh fruits) and were picked up at 8.
The van took us to Montezuma, right by the Waterfalls, and there we got on a boat. We were a group of about 29 people on the boat.
Beautiful boat ride along the coast! The formations of the rocks are stunning!
We made it to Isla Tortuga and here we snorkled on two locations for about 2 hours.
Amazing! It was a cloudy day so the sight wasn’t all clear, still we saw plenty of fish in all kind of colors. I don’t know the name of any if them but the manta ray! We loved it. Floating, swimming and diving around those rocks.
We were served lunch on the beach and then stayed for a few more hours there.
Going back it started raining. Heavy! We were soaked! But it’s the rainy season so pura vida!
We had dinner at a nice restaurant right next to us. As always, went to ved early so we can get up to see the sun rise.

Morning walk and swim on the beach, breakfast on the porch and then yoga class. I love our mornings!
Today we’ve only had like 5 drops of rain, the. a clear sky. As always, we made the best out of it and stayed by the pool for some hours. We’ve learned our lesson and now we use spf 50 and 85😉
Late lunch and then to see the sunset. Wow! First clear sky since we came hear and it was amazing!!! Absolutely most beautiful we’ve ever seen.
Had some cocktails at a place close to our villa and, as always, enjoyed it.
Pura vida!

Morning, beach, sunrise, walk, swim, breakfast, yoga- no complaints! Sunny morning and some rain as we had coffee at Café Cafka.
We decided to go to the spa; it is a 50-years-celubration so we got to spoil us a little😉Kammie had a facial and I had pedicure.
Stayed at the pool as the sun came back. and then took a long walk on the bumpy road to Banana Beach. Had some cocktails as we watched the sunset and stayed for dinner.
This is our last day in ST. We’ve had a great stay! Tomorrow we go back to San José, getting ready to go home. All things come to an end, and we’re getting there.
We both miss our families and will be ready to go home to see them, no matter how wonderful this adventure has been for BFF’s turning 50😍

Same procedure as every morning, only this was our last. Ready to leave, still a little sad that this adventure that we’ve been looking forward to has come to an end.
Our pick up was at 2, so we had plenty of time to chill, have lunch and enjoy ourselves this last day.
This time we took a small plane from Tambor to San José. It sa ed us many hours on the road and with the ferry, and the flight was only 20 minutes. Went smooth but the smallest plane we’ve ever been on! Took 15 people.
Our last night together in Costa Rica- what a great time we’ve had! The weather has included a lot of rain and overcast, as we knew it would, but also a lot if sunshine. The food has been great! We haven’t had one bad meal, apart from the companion of cats in La Fortuna.
People are friendly and easy going- pura vida!
We’ve stayed at low budget hotels and they have all been clean and nice. Friendly staff and beautiful places.
The shared shuttle system is a great way to travel. It has worked every time and we would not have likes to drive ourselves. Traffic is crazy and the roads are bad.

Kammie left early this morning. We said good bye as we’ve done before, knowing that we’ll meet again. We are so fortunate and happy for our friendship. And for this trip!
My flight has changed so I’m stuck in SJ until tomorrow night.
Always making the best of it, I decided not to dwell on it.
I went to the Cathedral and attended mass. I love visiting churches when I ’m abroad. Well, in Sweden too😊 I like being a part if the community even the traditions are different.
As I got out from service, iI ran in to a big oc parade on the big Parada. No traffic in central SJ this morning, just oxes with carts. We’ve seen this typical Costa rican caretas in shops and restaurants, and now I got to see them in use. S long train of oxes.....
After some shopping I took a taxi to the new hotel and here I am now. It’s a nice hotel with pool, bar and restaurant so I think I ’ll survive😉
Tomorrow I’m going home.

So, turning 50 isn’t bad at all! It’s Pura Vida.