We love to make our clients happy...
Here's what the The Roderick Family had to say ~ Summer 2010
"OK – where do we start? It was a FANTASTIC vacation, and we’re just
going to try to summarize how it went.
First off, it was SO COOL to have somebody at the airport with our
name! I’ve never had that before, and it was comforting to come into a
new country and feel that we were welcome and someone was looking out
for us. And that feeling was echoed throughout the entire vacation – it
was wonderful to have people say “are you the Rodericks?” 
Especially when we were wondering if we were in the right
place!
Let’s start with the first night – the Grand Oro was beautiful, and we
loved the layout – very different from the standard “hotel/motel” in the
states – do they have straight hallways in Costa Rica? I hope NOT!
Mike mentioned that we could probably have stayed somewhere a little
less pricey because we weren’t there to enjoy it (and he has a point –
we were there less than 12 hours), but it was beautiful and gave us a
taste of what was to come.
I can’t say enough about the trip to Tortuguero – I would have never
planned the trip by bus/boat to Manatus – I probably would have set up a
flight via Nature Air – and what we would have missed! The trip
through the mountains (banana and pineapple plantations – gotta admit – I
thought pineapples grew on trees!) and the boat trip (saw a big croc 2
minutes into the trip and he was eyeing a cow – yikes!) were one of the
highlights.
The guides from Manatus were awesome – and very patient with our Spanish
(or lack thereof) The arrival at Manatus was incredible – I remember
you mentioning a “complimentary fruit drink” – OK that sounded nice, but
the whole atmosphere was just so warm and inviting! The tours there
were awesome – boat tours – lots of incredible wildlife and how Chito
spotted them, I don’t know. We had monkeys that peed on us and spiders
that could jump! And the turtles – the night we went out to watch the
turtles we saw one coming in, one laying and one returning to the sea –
WOW! When we were leaving one of the sites and the guide whispered for
us to move on once we were ready, Sam almost stepped into another nest –
no lack of turtles there! The village itself was very gracious – no
pushy shop owners – a surprise! And the flight out was cool – I really
like the airport and the air traffic controllers (guy in shorts standing
at the end of the “runway” with a clip board).
Renting the vehicle – make sure that people thoroughly investigate
insurance options. Hertz made us call American Express to verify that
we had coverage. If we had not set it up ahead of time, we would have
been charged extra. You let us know that (thank you!), but you might
want to emphasize it! And the GPS is a MUST. You know, you guys
should think about marking the roads with some road numbers:) The GPS
won’t get you everywhere, but it will help. And your directions were a
big help!
Mike here-I loved driving in CR! Intense, but organized. The lines in
the middle of the road mean nothing to these people; however, we never
witnessed a single collision during our 10 day stay. Lots of cool,
twisting, turning mountain roads that provided a visual feast to all of
us. Such a clean country. Just wish we could figure out the school
schedules. Saw kids in school uniforms walking the roads all through the
day.
Tropical Bungee will be one of my most memorable experiences. It should
go on everyone’s Bucket List! The guys were cool, I felt safe, I got a
cool DVD and most importantly, Sam Sarah and I lived!
Leaves n'Lizards ...what can I say? Must admit we never thought we
would get there, and our poor little BeGo sounded like it was gonna fall
apart – but it made it! And it was well worth the trip. The cabins
were beautiful and the views were incredible! Love those front porches
and those rocking chairs! The cabins were constructed of native
hardwoods (bamboo and teak – I think), and the view – well what can I
say? We loved the atmosphere – very laid back – and very GREEN. Mike
loved looking out at the cattle grazing on the hillside, toucans perched
in the trees. Steve and Debbie (the owners) were very gracious and they
are doing wonderful things with that piece of land. We hiked trails . .
. .milked cows . . . .ate wonderful food and all with an incredible
view!
Rappelling with Pure Trek was cool – pretty touristy, but we still
enjoyed it! Had to deal with one diabetic lady who collapsed on the
trail – an exciting afternoon!
Now let’s talk hot springs – we really had no idea what to expect, so we
picked the middle of the road – Baldi. This was the only “touristy”
place that we visited, and gotta admit – we could have done without it.
We did hike the trail up the north side (I think) of the volcano – near
the Observatory Lodge – this was a treat! Think you should mention it
to folks visiting Arenal.
On to the canopy tours and superman zip lines! This was very cool, and
the kids and Mike are glad they did it . . . . .and I tried. I really
did! However, once I reached the platform, I realized that my fear of
heights was not going to be conquered on this trip! I politely excused
myself and headed to get my book. The also provided some very cool
pictures and the gift shop was pretty cool.
Now to the beach and the night of the twilight zone. We left Turu Ba Ri
and headed for Timarai Resort. We made it to Parrita fine, but the
directions from there were sketchy to say the least. We got to the
beach road and took a left, and then it said “follow the signs” – there
were none – and after 4 Km in the rain, it was getting dark. Then we
ran out of road . . . .it ended . . . .washed out – despair set in –
then Mike spotted tire tracks to the left. We followed them . . . .
.around the back side of three properties. All of the sudden it turned
and we saw lights! Could we have found civilization?? We were very
happy to see lights and Mike got out to ask directions to Timarai – a
man offered his umbrella and asked “are you the Rodericks?” It was
Xavier and he loaded up our luggage and led us to our room . . .cottage .
. . . our cabin . . . .Swiss Family Robinson’s treehouse – VERY cool.
Our first night there was a little ifffffffy. Part of it was the dark
and the rain. Part of it was that Sarah was sick. The waitress (after
bringing a menu to our cabin), ended up ordering for us (bamboooozled as
Mike put it) and ordered the seafood platter for all of us – one of the
worst meals that we have ever eaten! We had no hot water and asked
about it – next thing we know we have HOT (like peel the flesh from your
body HOT) water. It was Friday night and well into the evening the bar
was open with the music loud (admittedly, if Sarah had not been sick,
this might not have been a problem). But by the end of the night, we
were not sure we had made the right decision.
Sam and Mike went on the Manual Antonio National Park tour (Sarah wasn’t
feeling up to it.) At first they felt a little like cattle as they
were herded into the area, but they saw sloths and white-faced monkeys!
So it was worth it!
And then we woke up the next morning and went to the beach – I don’t
know how to describe it! It was beautiful and deserted. As far as you
could see in any direction . . . there was no one! At low tide, the
beach extends out hundreds (yes hundreds) of yards – incredible! And
the sand dollars! I have never found a sand dollar on the beach IN MY
LIFE – and here we saw over 60 – WOW! The 2nd night we decided to order
in – nothing extravagant – but the food was good. The breakfasts were
OK (compared to other spots), but there was something different about
Timarai. The other places we stayed were very gracious – took very good
care of us. Here, we were a sideline to their own little world. I now
understand what the reviews were trying to say – but we don’t regret
staying there. The cabins were really cool and the beach was
incredible. You did have to put up with erratic showers – water
pressure and flow was inadequate to non-existent; however, it is a
beautiful spot, and I’m glad we got a chance to see it!
And then to Adventure Inn – very nice – hard to comment much because we
weren’t there for very long. We did have dinner there and it was very
good – comfy beds – the rooms were noisy and you couldn’t shut out all
of the “people” sounds. Perhaps offer a less expensive option?
Thanks for all your help. This was definitely the trip of a lifetime!"
~ Mike, Jenelle, Sam and Sarah Roderick
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