www.CostaRicaTicas.com

How do I start a trip report in this new generational era of uncertainty? I feel somewhat special to be in company with several founding members that were eyewitness to the first ink print of text written in these forums that highlight a rich and beautiful country challenged by everyday life struggles for wealth and happiness.

As first time visitors to Costa Rica we had all kinds of expectations and visions of what we wanted or thought we would experience in this small what some say third world country. We heard the stories of a proud Latin culture, of traditional foods, fresh tropical fruits and passion for life that exceeds all what we would want to have in our home country.
The bonus plan was to find companionship that would stretch the mind of possibilities if not for a long weekend, or weeks, months and yes for some a lifetime.

Sure we all have met and now network with likeminded peers for good times and great laughs in this tiny destination getaway. But it’s that open honest and best of all passionate female companionship experienced that runs paramount to all things general.

Special memories long ago but now new ventures had with this most recent trip completed just days ago. I know how much some just love loathe long winded post but that’s who I am and always been.

For me, years of membership does not equate to time spent dedicated to posting or traveling specific to CR. I’m one of those that branched out to other destinations like RIO before putting a big pause in all travel plans. It’s just in these most recent two or three years that I’ve once again dusted off a clean sheet of paper to add another chapter to the book of dreams and reality.

Funny, even to this day it doesn’t seem real that what I see, hear and taste in a land outside my own borders exist. How fortunate we are to have the freedoms we do have and the unlimited opportunities that exist within our own borders.

This trip report will not be an advocate briefing on whom to see what to do or where to go… just a mention in time and a personal release of energy and thoughts I have left from my most recent trip to the Land of Smiles.

What was planned for a solo trip to destress and relax turned into one of the typical multi group crew drives where you have seasoned players wanting to return to the game, and new wingbacks looking to step into the arena. All just waiting for that reason to push the green light go button if only there were an excuse. I was that conduit and so there went the solo relaxing and destress objective.

Flying Jet Blue once again out of Fort Lauderdale International I use to fly AA out of Miami but when told about Jet Blue flying out of FLL it was a done deal plus AA for me was getting old and impersonal and my last few flights with Jet Blue were spot on… Leather seats, individual TV’s, more leg space and advance boarding options.. It’s just an overall better flying experience now flying with Jet Blue for me.

Landed in San Jose easy smooth flight, the airport looks great compared to the travel days in the early 2000’s. Sailed through customs-immigrations, point of reference here would be this is usually a check baggage stop point for me. Yes I’m one of those who do bring many “extras” for former and future novia’s as well as trinkets of all sorts for the crew to amuse themselves and “others”.

Pre-scheduled a ride into town with Steve Pura Vida Transport for no other reason than I like to have someone very familiar with the area of travel I’ll be going to and has good communication skills for someone that has one word slang Spanish skills.

I should have taken Don Gordo’s advice to how he learned Spanish as he walked his turf here in Florida during his working days he would have his Sony Walkman or I-pod on listening every day to Spanish lessons. Still remember his last days here in the USA when we surprised him with an early B-Day party at the Hard Rock Hooters.

Lots of Florida Chapter guys showed up to pay respects for the Legend Don Gordo. Too many tag names to remember but I recall Admin 1 setting this all up and there was a special lady friend of a friend show up and was giving walking tours in the parking lot don’t remember her name but I believe there was a chapter member that has two letters MH and he may have firsthand knowledge of all she was up too LOL.

We even had Mr. Wonderful from Jacksonville fly in for this outing. Think of a traveling Circus for clue to who this special person was.

I brought goodie bags for everyone and as a special gift for Don Gorda a Gigantic Marti Gras Balls & Beads Necklace. He proceeded to ask every Hooters girlif they wanted to touch his Big Balls. DG was so happy to be retiring from his job and moving to CR.

I hear his health not doing so well these days and maybe back here in the states for treatment? Prayers to the legend as he was as for many the very first communications link to all things Costa Rica.

Before heading to town I always head upstairs to convert US $’s to Colones at that banking kiosk located to the right all the way at the end of the terminal as you are walking into the upstairs check-in areas. Exchange rate received Sept. 23rd 528. My brother arrived one day later and made the rookie mistake that many make and converted his US $’s at the lower baggage claim area. As everyone says Don’t Do That unless you don’t care about budgets and you’re just a free-spirit.

That’s what is so great about trips you can research all you want and decide what you want to do and that goes for exchanging monies, paying monies, eating out or staying in, tripping out of the city for entertainment pleasures or hanging out just in your one-stop-shopping hotel. It’s your choice and freedoms you have coming from where you have been and where you just might end up it’s all yours to make and who should say its right or wrong do your thing as I’ve always said.

However, freedoms do have a drop point and if you just remember one thing and respect the words whatever you decide to do - we are visitors in a foreign country respect the laws, culture and the people you meet and all other freedoms that you control will guide you to a very happy and rewarding trip!

Easy ride into the city with Steve who has a good knowledge for the city and or surrounding areas for all who would want to have a safe bet if in need of transportation. Steve did mention he is more for the group outings and airport transfers if I understood him currently. Also understand there are other transport options you can choose from with one being a sponsor on this site that I’ve used before without any issues.

I digress if I may, is there anything that compares to our early days morning breakfast on the rail at the Hotel Presidente. Safe to say the old crows that flew the skies way back when will admit that was the best of what was the best of times. And the other afternoon rail was Del Rey and with so many stories and life lessons told during the golden years.

Finding a safe and comfortable place to stay in comparison to the Presidente was very difficult but we have to give credit where credit belongs and say Bill met the challenge with what he was able to do in upgrades made to the The Sportsmans Lodge over the years.

I celebrated my 50th Birthday at the Sportsman with a rather large crew occupying that Penthouse Suite. If looking to celebrate a half century of living or just a fun special occasion no one does it better than Bill and his staff.

As mentioned I don’t post in the forums like the early years but for that Trip I wrote a trip report but decided not to share only because things went just so wild and crazy words could never describe. If you want a small indication of what all went down on my 50th in the Sportsman Penthouse party of parties rent the original movie The Hangover and instead of celebrating a wedding it was a birthday and insert CR for Las Vegas.

It’s safe to say I have no complete recollections of all that went down that night but the next morning we didn’t have any surprise tiger sightings but we did end up missing the a person who was the actual host of the party and owner of that penthouse suite LOL … He went missing and never came back! The actual names of people attending the party shall continue to remain nameless for that party of all parties.

My two room preferences at the Sportsmans have always been Leon, and Toro which I believe is the room with jacuzzi right in the bedroom. Both are in the new mansion wing area and excellent choices to make for very comfortable room accommodations. Question for Bill can a bathroom get any bigger than the one that’s in the Leon!

I’ve also stayed at The Dunn Inn. As been mentioned many times before very nice smaller hotel and very quiet location stepping stones away from the old Mona Lisa and a block or so from Zona Blue and Soda Peru. If you like quite settings and clean small rooms it works. I personally take the larger king suite that is located 2nd floor over the bar area when I’ve stayed in the past. If you want a huge room space tiled floors and a nice bathroom this is the preferred room. Noise from the bar can be a bit of an annoyance and the internet access is sometimes spotty but all in all price and overall felling of The Dunn works for me.

For this trip it’s a new hotel destination point La Amistad.

I’ve recommended La Amistad to many here in the states on a personal level based off all the great reviews and also my time visiting the bar and restaurant area when staying at Sportsmans. Always wanted stay at La Amistad and for this trip decided to book it with the All Inclusive plan.

Outstanding would be for value you get staying at LA. There is no other place that I know of that can compared when booking an all-inclusive stay. As one of the many sponsors of the CRT site you can read what all-inclusive means and they live up to the letters printed on their list of inclusions. I’m not one to eat all of my meals in any one place especially a hotel that I’m staying at but when you have locals coming into the hotel just to have a meal in this hotels restaurant and to have food service and high end quality food that is produced from the kitchen then you know something good is going on and why venture out if others are venturing in for the good eats.

I will share a few photos of the meals that I had during my stay A++ for the food.

All you can dare to drink from the bar is part of this goodwill package and again another huge savings when adding up all the checks that could have been.

I’m all about having a nice landing spot at night and Room#202 met all my needs for room space and overall feel. Room #202 is one of several suite rooms I was very happy to have a room that had so many windows, nice sitting areas, king bed with body hugging mattress, nice size bathroom and an industrial size Jacuzzi that could have probably fit four people. Not to mention this room also has a hot sauna room. Side Note: Luna likes the wooden planks in that sauna room. LOL

Five Train Toots for Room#202 ….

That train LOL. Even my guest I brought into my room warned me about da train.

One of the most important things for me as a traveler is to stay someplace where you feel safe, clean, and staff actually cares when you walk into their doors. I have a saying here back in the states mi case su casa and that’s what I expect and get when staying at The Sportsman, The Dunn Inn and now La Amistad.

I didn’t mention anything about the staff at La Amistad but any report missing a huge thank you and salutes to the Chef in the kitchen, the girls on the floor cleaning the rooms, Jenny and Carol at the bar and Rudy behind the desk would not be complete. Top off the credits with GM Darren who provides that hands on approach equal to Bill from the Sportsman and you have what many would recognize as the A-Team looking out for you best interest and enjoyment while staying in Costa Rica.

About now is where you would want to normally read about all of the literal juicy blow by blow entertainment interest and fun factoids.

Many already know where to find both the cultural side and sexy daytime and nighttime activities. The search button is your friend!

I did pay respects to a few old and new friends that are near and dear to our hearts. Monica’s says hello with many new friends waiting to be your study guide. Dorms seemed to be full of legal aged college students and once they get bored at 25 they move on to other educational opportunities. But if looking for a nice meeting place to bone up on educational and curricular thoughts this may be a place of interest. Dean Robert knows the books and can assist with your special needs if anything. He suggested an hour seminar and he throws in a free beverage. Now what school throws in a free beer if you book a study room for an hour?

If looking to make a Score you’re still out of luck … but Coach Jimmy next door still proving all he knows for the winning ways for happiness at Team Zona.

His training crews are all ready and willing to educate you on the hard knocks of endurance training and push and pull methods of running defense and offense. With CRT you never have to worry about someone scoring over 60 on you. Unless you in need of extra Band-Aids or nourishment then you be tagged with overtime fees. I was offered but game day pricing was all I needed to find my happiness.

Hotel DR that old pyramid of strength and power has crumbled a bit and still has the original building blocks holding up the foundation. There is not much new construction here thinking as many have noted that all new developments for new, current up to date, and in code building materials now surfacing in a beach town party located a few miles out of San Jose. You can still mine for gold at the DR but patience would be the word here if looking for that special nugget.

I guess I would call myself lucky as my pot of gold was adequate. I prefer nuggets that are short and narrow vs. the thick and plump kind that are so easy to find. Again you just have to have patience when mining for gold in the big house.

My new personal mode of entertainment connections was used for this trip and I strongly recommend anyone that needs a direct line to your happy trails would be to download the Whatsapp.

Again this has been mentioned many times before but for me it was easier to RSVP a movie ticket in advance and have popcorn and cookies in my room. For new travelers without a playbil this may be somewhat difficult until you are able to acquire your own directors list of players.

Now for the ones that wanted names of the actors who played a part in my show of shows this trip I can list them as the following: Nancy, Maria, Candy, Sofia, Veronica, Melissa, Stacy, and the wonderful Luna.

More to write about Luna who craves the spotlight and welcomes true hearted companionships new and old as she continues to write her won chapters of life’s storybook of tales. Awesome personality, great talker, and mutual happiness always a given when spending quality time with this trailblazer.

Pura Vida to all new friends and old acquaintances.
I do miss the early days but time moves on and the way we do certain actions must change as well. Not a typical report I would have generated years ago and for many probably not enough meat for a hearty appetite.

It’s all good for me the old crew knows my style as I miss theirs with knowing a few have passed on to hopefully better days and others who are like long term homesteaders still planted very comfortably but flying under the radar.

Side Note: I hear there still is an alum member called Circus but doesn’t venture far from home base anymore. It’s a shame that he let that little hotel of his go to pieces.

JB

JB

Good to hear your return to the gulch was a successful one and Feliz cumpleaños

Great report. Have to agree on both the hotel room choice and la Luna sighting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

JB,

Good to see you out & about again. Great report!

Pura Vida,
Mucho Gusto

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

JB,

Good to hear of your visit to CR! Yeah, there's not many of us 'old-time' members still active, especially those
from CRS, the board that CRT evolved from. Sorry to hear about Don Gordo's health. I remember those pink T-shirts that you and Mighty1 had
Regarding the SL, Toro Negro is indeed a great room
As you mentioned, the airport sure has changed since the early 2000's! Do you remember that nice cafeteria they had on the second floor? Good food! Also, how about that tiny bar they used to have, facing the front of the airport
As you know, the Del Rey used to be packed, seven nights a week (with many Colombianas ). And the Beatle Bar was the place to go in Jaco.
Weren't you in attendance at the first (and second?) CRT anniversary party at the Zona Blue? There used to be videos of those parties on the board, but I think they got 'lost' when the new ownership took control. I have the video of the first party.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

Good, informative, intelligent report. This is what the forum should be about!

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I am NOT a Cien Boy!!

Johnnie B you are alive. I remember those days well. I haven't seen or heard from your buddy Mighty 1 in a long time.

GT – Fun Times indeed. M1 still around but doesn’t have his wings anymore! They were permanently clipped one day before a small group of 10 of us were scheduled to fly into Rio back around 2006. It was a total game changer for him having to make a tough decision that took him off the grid and he has been missing in action since. I still stay in contact with him and he’s doing well.

The T-shirt idea initially came from M1 and I just tweaked it a bit having custom pink tank tops shirts designed to represent our South Florida CRT chapter. Just another example of foolishness that we use to do for entertainment back in the early days and now with the current state of affairs unity props just don’t work anymore.

The two rooms I mentioned at The Sportsman with addition to the Penthouse are my favorite rooms. All provide the comforts of home and then some. If anyone has not yet had an opportunity to check out the Penthouse room stop by and see Bill or one of his staff they would gladly escort you to the Top of The Mansion and you will see for yourself what a party room is all about. Just the spa wet area will have you shaking your head no way but your mind will be saying bring it on!

GT you mentioned that Airport, you have a much better memory than I do all I remember was how tiny and actual third world it was in design having practically no amenities to speak of. My objective was getting in as quick as I could and get out. Very similar to the women I use to meet back then as well.

And finally how could I forget our CRT anniversaries at Zona. I was the one assisting Admin 1 setting up before all you young bucks showed up to plant your horns into the ground. It did have its advantages; someone had to do quality assurance testing on the entertainment pre-party. LOL

If you recall the 1st party or maybe it was the 2nd anniversary party we had at Zona. I placed our fearless leader center staged and then encourage the gals attending to offer up their special lap dance for our amusement Admin1 was not expecting any of that. Then there were the pacifier blinky’s I passed out for everyone to save for their own private dance partners.

All Good Times!

Thinking that was the same year we all rented a bus to go play golf in the muck. That was when I first got Rocio’s number which changed my world forever once I finally met and experienced the hands of the goddess. Her massage talents were second only to her awesome looks and personality.

Now you have me going down memory lane which is not a bad thing but getting a bit off topic. Glad you responded to my post and great to see you are still active here in the forums. I’m still holding you to that bottle of rum or I’ll just settle for a good drink at the bar next time or whenever we cross paths again.

JB

Yes sir still swinging the bat around but the balls are a bit worn. Great seeing you are still active as they say and we need to get scheduled a Tampa Chapter Meeting one of these days. Invite some of us old school guys to the party.

I get up your way occasionally and next time I'm in town I'll give you a bump to see what's all happening. M1 still around and he would be happy to join in when we get something lined up.

JB