Up, up, and away!

I have learned quite a lot about getting around Costa Rica this past week as I figure out how to get from one place to the next on our January trip. The pieces are gradually falling into place.

I originally was insisting on taking public buses everywhere so as to both save money and see more of the country. But I’ve come to see the wisdom of the person who said crossing the country would take 2 days by bus. So we will be doing the first leg of that trip on a tiny Nature Air plane like the colorful one in the picture above. From Nosara to San Jose takes 45 minutes by plane and 5-1/2 hours by bus. It will be the best spent $89 (each) of the trip.

Small planes like these often have serious weight restrictions. It turns out we can check one 30-pound bag and bring aboard a 10-pound carryon. Given my Samsonite that has wheels which move in all directions is also quite heavy, we went luggage shopping online and found this Delsey duffel which weights just a little over 8 pounds.



We still must hook up with a bus to the Caribbean coast in San Jose. And the word is that buses sell out, especially on the weekend (when we will be traveling). So through a friend, I managed to find a guy in San Jose who (for a reasonable fee) will purchase our bus tickets in advance, meet us at the airport, and deliver us to the Gran Caribe bus terminal to catch the Mepe bus to Puerto Viejo, only a 4-1/2 hour ride. But at least that way we get there in one day if all goes well.

I’ve been having a lot of fun reading travel forums and just learning from the experience of others. It’s sort of nice to go to places off the beaten path where you have to work a little to make it happen.