www.CostaRicaTicas.com

4th recent visit to CR/SJ 4/5 to 5/2
Doing this one the hard way just for fun—start 4/2 in the Pacific Northwest and fly to Tapachula via Mexico City. Spend one night there, then Ticabus thru Guatemala to San Salvador, for an overnight stop. The final day in reaching CR is a long one, beginning at 3AM in El Salvador, across the rest of that small country, then the portion of Honduras between there and Nicaragua, all of Nicaragua and on to San Jose by 10 PM.
After that long bus trip I will enjoy a 15 day break of fun in San Jose, fishing at the Rio Colorado Lodge, and a side trip back to Nicaragua to visit Granada. I will stay at both the Sportsman Lodge, and La Amistad when in the city. This consists of 9 days in town which I don’t plan very much for, and time to visit numerous locations in the SJ. I don’t have a Granada hotel reserved yet, but do have the Ticabus tickets and seat reserved for the 16th and 18th. Fishing on 9, 10, 11, and 12. With some of that time used in getting to and from Barra Colorado. I know I’m in the gulch area during Easter, and most Thursday, Friday, Saturdays during the first three weeks of April.
Then after having not learned my lesson yet about riding the bus, I have another overnight bus trip reserved on Ticabus to visit Panama. Leaves SJ at 11 PM Saturday night and arrives Panama City at 4 PM the next day. Overnight in the city at the Veneto, and fly on to Medellin at 1 PM the next day. “ Rush job” I know, but at least I’ll be in the right spot.
In Medellin I’ll be staying at the Lincoln near Laureles, and doing some city touring with Noah from Medellin Paisa Tours, and some of the other Medellin options, including some fine dining and other activities. Brief time there however, and after only 2 days I will fly onto Cartagena on Wednesday evening for a quick repeat visit to that beautiful city.
I’ll enjoy a long weekend of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until about dark in Cartagena. Stay at the Capilla del Mar in Bocagrande, and plan to visit Baru, and other boating/beach areas, and of course the old city for evenings especially.
Finally back to SJ on late Sunday night, and stay again at the Sportsman for a final 3 nights before returning home on May 2.
I haven’t used a wing man for any of my trips to CR (1st was in 1978), and have many years of Thailand, India, Nepal, Kenya, Europe, and Tahiti multiple visits in my past experiences without a wing. Now that I’m 60, and not as spry as I used to be, it is probably a better plan to include one or more sometimes. I talked to many CRT members at the various bars/venues this last Feb. and Sept. and recognize many faces from past trips. Hope to run into some more of the CRT VIP members this next trip and share stories, etc. about CR, Granada, Colombia and whatever. I recognize the wealth of knowledge I have gained by reading the forum posts since 2009, and from talking to other members during my last three trips. The search function is especially helpful in researching any subject discussed prior in the forum.
See ya all at the SML bar, or HLH happy hour, or somewhere in the near gulch vicinity!

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"What it is, is what it will be!" An expression of Jamaican pidgin about the enevibility of life.