talking with roo yesterday (roo and the fabulous day! it sounds like a children’s book. but sassy!), we realize how little time there is between not only now and the holidays, but between now and when we head off to costa rica.
sure, there’s this week, but then next week people already start fucking off because it’s the week before christmas, and people start leaving early for the holiday. the week after is useless because it’s between christmas and new year’s, and the week after that is not only short but people are just spinning back up from after the holidays. right when people are ready to get back into gear, we’re leaving for costa rica that friday night and don’t come back until late january.
that means that practically january is shot. and in fact, since there seem to be so few actual worthwhile working days between now and christmas, i’m practically mailing it all in already! consider me done until february. i should possibly feel bad about this. i notably don’t. go figure.
now that we’ve settled that matter, i can concentrate on trying to figure out our trip. my copy of lonely planet costa rica 2006 arrived today. (yes, we ended up with lonely planet because hmc is a lonely planet person. i don’t know why i try and fight it or even bother to look at other books every time we plan on going somewhere. i think it’s because i’m an idiot.) i think that tortuguero is actually out of our itinerary, despite all the recommendations. yes, turtle watching is at the top of our priorities, but tortuguero is best for green sea turtles, and they don’t nest there between november and february. in fact, the best time seems to be july or august, which is about six months too late/early. i think we’re going to shoot for the leatherbacks, which should be nesting at playa grande in january. hopefully.
i wonder if we can get straight off the plane in san jose and catch a bus the same day to somewhere relatively close—like monteverde or something. it seems like the buses may require advance booking in this high season, as would monteverde lodgings. perhaps we can dig up a costa rica-specializing travel agent to finesse the beginning part for us. otherwise, we may end up at the jade museum for days on end.
Posted at December 13, 2006 11:48 PMI made it to Arenal from San Jose the day I arrived… I had arranged a private car service (which was a guy and his van). Car service is slightly more expensive than the bus, but it can be more comfortable. Not that the buses are that bad, but they’re a little cramped when full (they’re basically ten-passenger minivans).
I’d definitely recommend booking the buses and hotels ahead of time.
Posted by: Ken at December 14, 2006 7:24 AMif you’re going to use that guide book, you have to call it the lonely bollocks. it’s just better that way.
Posted by: bartlebee at December 14, 2006 6:25 PMyour commonwealth speak is confusing to me. i speak american. yee-haw!
Posted by: e at December 14, 2006 6:30 PMComments are now closed for this entry. Thank you for playing.