My journey to Costa Rica began late last night. I should preface this entry by informing you that this is my first time out of the country, and the main reason I’m going is because I was hired to shoot a destination wedding. This is my first (hopefully of many) destination weddings, and I couldn’t be more excited about it!
I finished packing my things when I got home from work last night. I was waiting to recieve my FABULOUS new Epiphanie camera bag, and thank goodness it showed up in time!! It’s even more amazing than I imagined, but I’ll blog more about that specifically soon. So I finished packing, gave my Quincey about a bazillion kisses and headrubs and told him how much I love him and how much I’ll miss him while I’m gone. Mark helped me pack my suitcases into the car, and away we went.
Checking in was a cinch, I only had one checked bag, and we got there plenty early. My flight was scheduled to leave Portland at 11:55pm, but they notified me while checking in that it was running almost 2 hours behind. Good thing for the 4 hour layover I was supposed to have in Houston! Whew, no worries there, I would have plenty of time, delay or not.
Mark and I went over to Stanford’s for some dinner before I left. We made it in time for happy hour, and it was yummy! I even got a chocolate sundae 
Mmmmm. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Stanford’s, but they make their own chocolate sauce for the sundaes, and it’s to die for, just FYI
Mark walked me to the security checkpoint and kissed me goodbye. I didn’t cry like I thought I would, but I had to tell myself that everything would be fine and I wouldn’t die, and I’d see him soon. I don’t know why, but ever since my trip to Hawaii a few years back when they had to re-install an entire new engine on our plane, I absolutely HATE flying alone. It’s awful. So anyways, I was trying to focus on the good things, and the excitement, and it worked.
The security line was about a mile long, which i was fairly surprised about since it was about midnight after all. Thankfully I was in no rush, so going with the flow was not stressful. I finally passed security, and then had to wait another 2 hours to board the plane. At this point I was extremely exhausted! Working all day, trying to finish everything up before I left for a week, then coming home, packing, double checking, saying goodbyes to Quincey and Mark, I was just spent. Thankfully I had a window seat (my favorite!). However un-thankfully, someone was sitting in MY seat… so awkward. I look at him, look at the isle number and seat letters, and ask him if he’s in the correct seat. Luckily a flight attendant came to my rescue and butted in, telling him his seat was on the isle. Whew, awkwardness mostly avoided.
The guy who sat in the middle seat next to me decided it would be grand to introduce himself, and shake my hand. He proceeded to call me “sweetheart” (which for some reason I really love when people just assume that I’m a nice, sweet person, so I really don’t mind it at all, it’s almost comforting), and then spit out his chew into a coke bottle. Yummy.
I tried to sleep, but didn’t really get much rest. I’ve never been able to sleep on planes, just can’t get comfortable enough, and my neck always ends up killing me. Since the flight was delayed, they comped the DirectTV and Showtime movies, so I put on The Blindside. I fell in and out of sleep most of the way. Waking up sometimes to the man who was sitting next to me being gone, and by the end of the flight I didn’t recognize him at all… I wondered if he’d switched seats with someone? But it had to be him, I was probably delusional.
We reached Houston, and everyone is eager to get off of the plane. I think the majority of us had connecting flights, and luckily there was a flight attendant standing right outside directing people. My gate had changed, so it was a good thing I asked where I was going! It was about 7:30am Houston time at this point, and after what seemed like a very long walk, I found my gate. It was nice to be up and walking though, so I didn’t mind it. Plus I still had about 2 hours before my flight. I grabbed a strawberry smoothie, and a chicken sandwich. I wasn’t really hungry, but figured I should eat something since I wasn’t feeling too hot.
Can I just say, the Houston airport is, well, ghetto. The carpet at my gate was absolutely disgusting, there were crumbs/food smears all over the seats/walls, it smelled stale, and there was just an overall feel of contamination. Mark wouldn’t have even sat down. Good thing my layover was chopped in half on the way there… now as for on the way back, I’m looking at a 7 hour layover… ugh. That will be interesting!
They checked our passports again, and we were able to board the plane. Of course, I get to my assigned seat, and someone is sitting in it!!! Seriously!? No luck this time, and I didn’t have the energy to question it, so I just sat down next to them, in the isle… which I have decided I dislike very much! I was also really bummed because I wanted to get some video of us landing in Costa Rica out the window… if I would have thought of this right when I got to the seats I would have mentioned something, but being so tired, I just spaced it until about 20 minutes after I sat down. Too late. Sad panda.
The flight was about 3 hours but seemed to take forever. I really couldn’t sleep this time, people were constantly walking by, so if my head was leaned towards the isle, I was getting bashed over and over, and there was a little boy, about 9 sitting next to me, so i didn’t want to creep him out and lean my head the other way either… so I tried leaning my head on the seat in front of me. That worked for about 3 minutes until the lady sitting in it decided that she couldn’t get comfortable, and wouldn’t stop moving, therefore making my head a bashing board for the seat. Awesome. The flight seemed to take forever, as did the landing, but finally, eventually, we made it
The pilot announced that we would be using the “Air Stairs” in both the front and the back of the plane. Since I was sitting about 4 rows from the back, this was good news for me… but what are “Air Stairs”??
OMG!!! I always wanted to enter/exit a plane using the stairs!!! It seems so exciting and old school! I walked off feeling like I was really on an awesome trip… I know it sounds silly, but it’s one of those things I always see in movies, and always wondered what kind of places you go or planes you ride in that you get to do it!
When I walked out, the 95 degree humid air was a breath of freshness! The plane was freezing, so it felt SO good. As we piled off of the plane, and walked over to the airport, I wish I would have taken out my camera. Everything was outdoors. The main airport area was covered, but still open to the outside, which was awesome. I immediately knew that this place would be different. We had to snake through the roped area to get to the check-in point where they checked your passport, and took the paper you filled out on the plane stating your reason for visiting, etc. The lady didn’t like my pink passport cover, and made me take it off.
Once I was through there, I could see the luggage claiming area just off to the right, but since it hadn’t started moving yet, I went over to the travel guide’s desk. I had no idea how I was going to get to Tamarindo at this point. I flew into Liberia which is about an hour away from Tamarindo, and I figured there must be a shuttle or something I could take into town. So I asked him how I was to get to Tamarindo, and he asked me “Well do you have a reservation?”… “umm no…” I said “My friend booked the condo, and she got here a few days ago, I’m just meeting up with them.” He proceeded to tell me that usually when you make a reservation, someone is here to pick you up from wherever you are staying, but since that wasn’t the case for me, and I was unaware that I needed a reservation to get on the shuttle, he informed me that a Taxi to Tamarindo would be $81 American Dollars. My jaw dropped for a second, and then I just said “ok, if that’s what it is, that’s what it is”. I mean, honestly what am I going to do?! Right? He looked at me, and I think he felt a little bad, as obviously I was by myself, a girl, and completely confused about everything… he pulled one of his co-workers over and they rattled back and forth in Spanish for a minute. Then he gave me a brochure, and told me that if I can get on the shuttle, it would be $18 American dollars.
I was completely relieved!!! Whew! Still a bit confused, as they were being a little discreet about telling me this information, but I took the brochure and walked over to the baggage claiming area. I hate waiting for baggage. It’s almost like waiting to hear the winining lotto numbers…. will my bag come? Did it make it?? What will I do if it doesn’t roll out on the conveyor belt? But finally, eventually, it did. I looked behind me and the line to get your passport checked was CRAZY long! I must have made it in awesome time and avoided the crowd Sweet.
I walk over to “customs”, aka the 2 people standing at a desk/podium like thing in between baggage and the travel guide desk, and pull out my other paper that I filled out on the plane. He looked at it as I prepared to lift my bags up onto the table “No need, go on” he said. He didn’t even look in my bags? That was weird! I guess they just trust that what you write is the truth. This is truly a different place.
So I move on, walking back outside into a huge crowd. I feel like I’m at an award show walking down the red carpet… there are people holding signs, taxi drivers shouting at you “need a ride!?”, “You come with me!”, and “over here, I take you!”. It was quite overwhelming. I kept looking around, hoping that I’d see my name on one of those signs, but knowing that that was impossible. I looked for Jaimee, but she wasn’t there. Yep, definitely should have thought this part of the trip out MUCH better. So I walk past the crowd and look at the brochure I was given. “I need to find the Tamarindo Shuttle” I say to myself and turn around, bounce up on my tip-toes, and start looking for the people with the shirts with the same logo, like the woman inside told me to do.
One of the gentlemen from another car service overheard me, and shouted “TAMARINDO SHUTTLE?!” and looked over the crowd. He shouted it again, and finally found the guy. He came back to me and directed me over to where the Tamarindo Shuttle was. HOW NICE?! Seriously, I was so thankful for him. He didn’t have to do that at all. He could have very well told me to come with him, etc. Insert sigh of relief.
I get to the Tamarindo Shuttle driver, and he looks at me, then looks at his list. I’m not on the list. He asks me if one of those names is mine, in very broken English. “No” I say “I don’t have a reservation”. He looks at me again, then down, then at me again. At this point I’m completely confused. “Can I come on the shuttle?” I ask. “Yes, it’s ok” He says. “You put your bags over there?”. I thought he wanted me to put my bags in the car and come back out and wait with him. Confused I say “No, I go with my bags.” “Yes,” he says “we take them over there, you wait for 5 more people”. “Ok” I said. And he took my larger bag for me and lead me to the shuttle bus. It was back behind about 3 rows of other buses, and on the way back I had a thought- “What if he’s taking me back there to kill me!?!?” But of course he wasn’t, and he loaded my bags onto the shuttle that read “Tamarindo Shuttle” on the side. I was refreshed by the air conditioning he had left running in the shuttle, because by this point I was totally getting warm. I wasn’t dressed for 95 degree weather by any means, and it was getting hot.
“You wait here” he said “ok, thank you!!” I said with a smile. Whew, I’m on the shuttle, all I have to do now is wait.
I still had no idea where in Tamarindo this shuttle would take me, but I had the name and number of the condo Jaimee gave to me, so hopefully I’d be able to find it. This adventure was exhausting.
After about a half hour, the driver comes back and apologizes to me for the wait. “Solo yo?” I ask. “No, haha” he says, and moves the shuttle much closer to the crowd of people. Six other people have their luggage tossed on, and board the bus. Four older women who actually sat directly in front of me on the plane, a teenage boy, and an older gentleman. The guys load their luggage into the back of the bus, close to where I was seated. I didn’t want to lose sight of my luggage for one second. The “trust no one” motto was my leading sense being in a foreign country, alone, and not sure of where I was going, or how I was getting there.
Apparently there aren’t many laws when it comes to driving, because they piled the luggage up in the back completely covering the back window. Oh well. I saw another young guy outside talking to the guys loading the luggage. He seemed to be asking about the price, then proceeded to board and sit across from me. They asked him exactly where he was going, and he responded “Tamarindo, other than that I don’t really know”. I laughed and said “don’t worry, I don’t really know where I’m going either!”. We chatted, and it was nice not to feel so alone, knowing that he was on just as much of an adventure as I was. We were finally off, after about another 30-45 minutes of waiting.
So- the reason that everyone was being so weird about the shuttle? Well, apparently if you don’t have a reservation, it’s the law that you HAVE to take a Taxi. I guess they can make whatever laws they want here? Lol. Anyways, enough people had pity on me, and i was able to sneak onto the shuttle, whew! What a relief!
“Just wait, these roads are crazy, and the drivers are even crazier here, i don’t think they have any laws” the boy said. He said he’d been here once before, and that he was meeting up with his sister here in a few days to surf. We chatted a bit, mostly about how crazy it was to see all of the little houses/shacks, and about everything outside. There were cattle, horses, more fences made out of random sticks & stumps than I could count, fields, trees, natives, people sitting on their porch drinking tea, people working in their yards, kids riding horses bareback, clothes hung on a line… everything you see in those national geographic shows. It was a little surreal, and completely solidified that we were in a third world country.
About halfway there, we stopped for gas. Then a little bit after that we stopped again at some random check-point where another driver from the same company was waiting. He came n and announced some “Playa” (beach). But that was all he said. Between he and our driver, no one could figure out if they were supposed to get off here or not. So no one did and we kept going…. until about a block later when the younger teenage boy realized that that was his ride, so the ride caught up with us and he got off.
We finally reach Tamarindo, and it’s adorable. Everything here reminds me of Hawaii, only more spread out, and probably much more poor. We drop off the elder man at the Best Western hotel (the prettiest best western i’ve ever seen), and continue on. I spot the beach for the first time, and it’s gorgeous! The boy tells me that there are mini crocodiles in the river off of the ocean, cool!!!
We finally reach the condos that I’m staying at, and I recognize them from the pictures on the website. “I think this is me!” I say, surprised that he drove me all the way straight here! And relieved. He unloads my luggage, and I pay him, $20. They don’t give change here, and I wouldn’tve wanted it anyways. I thank him again, and someone who was doing lawn work comes up to me and helps me with my luggage. The driver tells him which condo number I’m in, and he directs me to follow him. To my surprise, we go to an elevator!! These condos are literally sooo classy! I’ve never stayed anywhere so nice, and it’s funny because it’s right in the middle of what looks like a poorer area. But here, it is the Beverly Hills of the city apparently. We get to the door, knock, and nothing. Of course, right? Communication is so sparse here. My phone doesn’t work, and even if it did, it would cost me a dollar a minute to use it, so it’s off. I have no way of getting a hold of anyone here with the exception of email, so i tell the guy it’s ok, I’ll wait here. Relieved just to be here! I sit down and take out my laptop, hoping to connect to one of the networks so I could at least email Mark and my family to let them know I made it here ok, but I can’t get a connection and the networks that are available al require passwords. So I decide to change into a skirt to cool off. I’m slick, and I put the skirt over my pants, then took them off. Don’t want to be a creeper!!!
The guy sees me still waiting and tells me to come back down to go to the office. So I get all of my luggage together and do just that. The guy at the gate says that I have to wait for them to come back. “ok” I say “that’s fine”.
“well what are you going to do?” they ask.
“i don’t know, wait i suppose” I say. At this point, I’m just happy I’m here, safe, alive, and in the right place. Waiting is fine, just give me some shade. They talk in spanish, and I hear them discussing if they think I should get the key to the room or not. Two more maintenance people come up and they’re now all discussing it. Eventually they tell me that I can go down to the main office and see what they say. “ok” I said, “that’s great!”. I smiled at them, and they tell me I can leave my luggage there while I go. “No thank you, I’d like to stay with it” I say. “Ok that’s fine” they say. I felt a little bad because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings, everyone was being so nice to me! But I can’t risk it, and I’ll have more peace of mind knowing it’s with me. So the guy walks me down there with my bag and we find the lady. She asks me my name and who i’m staying with and eventually gives me the maid’s key to get inside. YESSSSSS!!! I think, I can lay downnnn!!!!
I get inside finally, and Diana is there, but she was sleeping. “courtney?” she says. “Oh hi!” I say, and explain what just happened. I guess they went zip-lining earlier and she wasn’t feeling so good. The other girls get back soon, and start getting ready for the wedding rehearsal & dinner. I put my stuff in the room and collapse on the bed, exhausted. I finally get the internet to work, and email everyone letting them know I’m ok, and I got to talk to Mark online for a bit too. I miss him so much.
Jaimee was supposed to come back to get me for the dinner at 6pm, but it’s now 7:34… I don’t think she’s coming. Kind of bummed because I got up, re-did my hair and make up and changed and everything… and i’m hungry. Oh well, I think I might just go back to sleep… it’s weird not having cell phones here. Go with the flow I guess
I’ll take more photos tomorrow, but here are a couple from today Enjoy!
Bags packed & ready to go- PDX airport. Goodbye Portland!
At the Houston Airport, waiting. I had my camera battery charging, and my laptop plugged in, using both outlets. There were TONS of outlets and even a “Cell phone charging station” at the gate… yet some lady comes over to me, looks at the plugs, literally her face was about 5 feet away from the outlet, and asks “are you using both of those??” …. uhhh… yes.
Made it on the Tamarindo Shuttle!
and it’s me! In one piece! in Central America!! Please excuse the haggardness, and lack of Photoshop and make-up.
Out the window on the ride to Tamarindo…
And one of the inside
And the view from the balcony in Diana & my room… did I mention this condo has THREE balconies!? All with ocean views! Props go to Jaimee for finding us such an amazing place for such a good deal!!!
Tomorrow is the wedding, and I’m super excited!!! I know that we’ll get some amazing photos, and I can’t wait to spend some time on the beach Until later <3
I always love to read your blogs. You bring out the memories and emotions.
Okay, so I just read your post. Umm. . . were we separated at birth? Your story sounds just like mine. You wrote my childhood Christmas’ to a t, minus the stairs because we didn’t have stairs, but you know what I mean!!! I so adore you!!! I think Gifts is the language I speak too. Oh how I loved that book. At any rate, I can’t wait a few days. Email me, text me, something. . . it’s killing me now!!! BTW- let’s get together!!!!!!!!!!!!