Four Seasons Papagayo Trip Report

An interestting trip report on a new resort.
Author: quantum
Date: 06/16/2004, 10:57 am
Message: My girlfriend and I just returned from a relaxing and
adventurous journey to Costa Rica. We stayed at the Four Seasons
Papagayo for 9 nights from May 30 ? June 8, and we ventured off on 4,
one-day tours to Palo Verde, Monteverde, Rincon De Le Vieja, and
Arenal. All of these tours were booked with and provided be Vargas
Tours.
Ricardo Vargas & Mike Mills
http://www.costarica-realestate.com/...yo%20Tours.htm
The following is about our daily life and daily excursions while
vacationing in Costa Rica. Please draw whatever conclusions you like
from our trip experiences, and I'll try to answer questions if I can.

Sunday we flew from our hometown to Atlanta, and then we had a 3 hour
and 20 minute flight to Liberia. We had arranged transportation from
FS for $25 each, and they had a luggage greeter waiting to meet us. He
grabbed our baggage and took us over to customs where the officer
glanced at our stuff and motioned forward. The FS greeter handed our
luggage off to another greeter who loaded us up in a Chevy SUV and we
headed off to FS leaving the rain shelter airport behind us. The drive
to FS was only about 35 minutes. The initial view approaching the
brick road entrance looks from a cliff out towards Culebra Bay. I
never grew tired off seeing that view. After our complimentary chilled
towels and cold juice of the day at the reception, Alex gave us a tour
of the grounds and tucked us into our room. The views and the room
were wonderful. I'm thinking, I'll have no problem getting use to
these surroundings for 9 days!? We decided to order room service for
dinner and dine on our screened in porch. Dinner was adequate but
expensive for what we got. The rest of our meals would come from
restaurants other than our coffee, fruit, and pastries for breakfast.
We were both tired from traveling and fell asleep around 8pm and 9pm
Costa Rica time.

5:30 am the alarm is going off! Hey, wait a minute, we didn't set an
alarm.?? It was just the birds singing outside. Every day they started
at 05:30 and were done by 6:00. Just long enough to wake you up. I'm
glad I fell asleep early last night. It started a good routine for
rest of the week. We did the pool from 07:00 to 11:00 then had lunch
at Congo?s. When we returned to our room, Mike Mills from Vargas Tours
called and offered us his advice and services if we desired. I had
some email correspondence with him prior to our departure. We were
trying to plan a day of rest in between each day of adventuring, so we
spent the rest of the afternoon comparing what FS (they use Swiss
Travel) offered and what Vargas tours offered. We went with Vargas.
This ended up being one of our best choices. Therefore, we booked a
trip to Palo Verde for the next morning, and made tentative plans for
Monteverde on Wednesday. We had rented 3 movies at the Atlanta
airport, so we watched 1 then went to bed. Ricardo would pick us up at
09:00 am.
Tuesday morning 05:30 am. The birds are singing their sounds of alarm.
We meet Ricardo in the lobby at 09:00 and we are off to Palo Verde.
Instantly we are both very comfortable with Ricardo and look forward
to a great day. Our drive out was through small rural looking towns,
down wooded dirt roads, and ended at a muddy dock next to a shallow
creek. The tide was going out and there were small crocs along the
shore. We saw an abundance of wildlife on the sides of the river and
in the air. There were crocodiles, howler monkeys, scarlet macaws,
bats, parakeets, giant grasshoppers and all the other wonders of a
river environment. We even saw the largest bird in Costa Rica flying
by and we got close enough to feed some whiteface monkeys. It was a
great trip on a nice sunny day! After the river, Ricardo took us to
Ortega and a small restaurant where we had a typical Tico lunch. It
ended up ranking up with one of my top 5 meals for the week. On our
way back to FS we stopped in Liberia at a gift shop and bought some
coffee and souvenirs. Ricardo had us back around 05:00 pm, so we
washed up and went to Papagayo?s at FS for dinner. I had some
excellent sea bass. During the day we had enjoyed Ricardo's company
and his strength of character, so we planned a trip to Monteverde for
the following morning. He was taking 2 other couples and would pick us
up at 05:45 am.

04:30 am Wednesday morning and we are awake before the birds start
singing. I tell my girlfriend that I wish I could go shake the tress
and wake the birds for a change. Just a little payback. Ricardo has
hired Alfredo and his mini bus for the drive today, so we head over to
Allegro resort to pick-up the other 2 couples. While waiting at the
entrance to Allegro there is a group of howlers in the trees and we
watched them play. I could watch them for hours. After 4 hours of
driving and a pit stop in Canas we arrived at Selvatura in Monteverde.
The last 2 hours of our drive was a bone jarring, shaking, experience,
so we were all ready to leave the minibus. Ricardo arranged the day
for us, as usual. It would be butterfly garden, canopy tour, lunch,
hiking, and the hummingbird garden. This was my most favorite day of
the week. It was filled with exhilarating zip lines, good food, and
flora and fauna (we saw a male and female quetzal), with clouds, rain,
and sunshine. The microclimates seemed to change continually and it
was so beautiful. Also, the hummingbird garden was awesome. After our
day of activities the group decided to drive down to Liberia for
dinner. After another shaky, zigzagging, bumpy, 4 hour, drive we
arrived in downtown Liberia. The area and restaurant was very eclectic
and interesting. Drank a few Imperials and everyone was ready to call
it a long day.
Thursday morning we slept right through the birds singing. A day of
rest and relaxation at the FS. The FS property didn't seem to have
many guests while we there. Therefore, it made for a peaceful,
relaxing environment. Plus, the staff was very accommodating and
helpful, and the grounds were tranquil.

Friday morning, I hardly even notice the birds any more. I'm feeling
very much into the ?Pura Vida? spirit. Ricardo picks us up at 09:00am
to go ride ATV?s at Borrinquen, which is at the base of Rincon De Le
Vieja. Borrinquen is a huge spa resort that had only 1 couple staying
there. The property had quaint little houses for guest and a full
staff and restaurant. I couldn't believe we had the whole place to
ourselves. The beef tenderloin I had for lunch there was the best meal
I had the entire week. Also, the ATV rides was fun and exhilarating
especially after I flipped my ATV going up a hill. Not the smartest
decision of the trip. All in all it was another great day.

Saturday was another day of rest and relaxation at the FS.

Sunday morning Ricardo picked us up with another couple at 06:00 and
we all headed to Arenal. Another 4 hour drive one way with lots of
bumps and curves. There my girlfriend and I rode horses to a waterfall
while the other couple did a canopy tour. The waterfalls were nice but
the hike up was about 500 steps and humid. After our tours we had
lunch at the bottom of the volcano. It was a clear day and we just sat
there starring at the entire volcano with awe. Then we headed to
Tabacon to soak in the pools and eat dinner. Tabacon was beautiful,
but I wasn?t much for getting in hot water while being in such a hot
and humid climate. We left around 07:30pm and got back to our rooms
close to midnight. It was a long day and our last trip with Ricardo.
We were going to miss seeing him after just spending 4 days with him.
I never thought we would develop such a strong friendship with him. He
was like family.

Monday we relaxed at the FS and prepared for our departure on Tuesday.

Our flight out was at 02:00pm, so we left the hotel around 11:30. We
paid our $26 exit tax then stood in the customs line. Every other
person was having their suitcases completely emptied and gone through.
Luckily we were not one of them. Costa Rica is a beautiful country,
with friendly people and a lot of bad roads. Plus, we had a great time
immersing ourselves in their culture and landscape. There are 3 things
that have stuck with me from our trip, which I hadn't expected. One
was the amount of exotic wildlife we saw. Secondly, was the quality of
their beef. And, finally was the friendship of Ricardo. What a great
vacation!

Spammer wrote:
An interestting trip report on a new resort.
Author: quantum
Date: 06/16/2004, 10:57 am
Message: My girlfriend and I just returned from a relaxing and
adventurous journey to Costa Rica.

If you just returned, then why are you posting from Costa Rica?

miguel
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