Costa Rica, December 2006

In December, 2006, our family joined 13 other brave souls for an adventure planned out by REI Adventures in Costa Rica. This is the second REI trip that Marina and I have been on. We went on the REI Adventure inside the Grand Canyon in April 2004, and that trip is documented here. As this was also a successful trip, we will continue to use REI Adventures.

At various points in this travelogue you will see scanned images from National Geographic's "Costa Rica Adventure Map". National Geographic has kindly given me permission to use them:

Costa Rica Adventure Map, copyright National Geographic Maps. Used with permission.

This link below will take you to their store to purchase. I found and Jimmy also commented that this was the most detailed map of the country. 

I also have a discussion on how I put our positions on the maps here.

As I am worried about loading time with all of the pictures, I have divided the travelogue into sections which can be viewed by clicking on the day links below.

The itinerary for the trip was as follows:

Dec 15, 2006 - Friday
Arrive in San Jose Costa Rica, one day early, spend the night at the Courtyard Marriott San Jose using miles.
A link to maps.google.com showing the hotel is here.

Dec 16, 2006 - Saturday
Spend night at the Hotel Bougainvillea and meet our guide Jimmy and our driver Jose. A link to maps.google.com is here.

Dec 17, 2006 - Sunday
Leave San Jose by van and travel to the put in point on the River Suerte, to kayak to the Mawamba Lodge in Tortuguero. Satellite overhead here.

Dec 18, 2006 - Monday
Morning, Kayak in Parque Nacional Tortuguero
Afternoon - free

Dec 19, 2006 - Tuesday
Morning - Chartered flight from Tortuguero to Quepos. Sea Kayak in a bay
Afternoon - Check into Mariposa Hotel; afternoon free;. dinner on our own. Satellite overhead here.

Dec 20, 2006 - Wednesday
Morning - hike in Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio; dinner on our own
Afternoon - free - dinner on our own

Dec 21, 2006 - Thursday
Morning - hike in the private reserve, "The Rainmaker"

Dec 22, 2006 - Friday
Morning - hike in Parque Nacional Carara
Afternoon - drive back to San Jose  and Hotel Bougainvillea - official end of trip (REI portion)

Dec 23, 2006 - Saturday
Move back to the Courtyard Marriott and loaf.

Dec 24, 2006 - Sunday
Travel back to our home.

One link that has a number of national park links in it can be found here. Some of the maps that I have used were taken from links found on that page.

Some thoughts about the country can be found here

Unless otherwise noted, all pictures posted from these trips were taken by either Don, Marina, David, or other members of the trip.

All rights to these pictures are reserved.