Early Start
Today started very early in the morning; our plane was scheduled to take off at 5:15 AM, so we left the house at 2:00 AM. After stopping at the gas station for a coffee, we were on our way!
It was a quiet drive down to the airport, and everything went really well on our flight. This is a shot taken from the airplane window overlooking the mountains.
Immigration and Customs
As you know, this is the first time I have flown internationally, so I didn’t know what to expect when going through customs. Upon arriving in Costa Rica, we first went through immigration. This process entailed us standing in a long line, and waiting to get our passports stamped. After that, we had to pick up our luggage and headed to customs. I was super surprised to find out that Costa Rica really didn’t have a customs system in place. We had to put our luggage through a scanner (like you see at the TSA checkpoint), and turn in a form telling them how much luggage you are bringing into their country. Again, we weren’t asked any questions, and it was a pretty smooth process.
Next Stop : Car Rental Agency
Once we were outside, we found our shuttle driver, and were taken to pick up our rental car. This was the first hiccup of our trip. Everything was going smoothly until we had to pay, and the credit card machine wasn’t working. After waiting for an hour, we decided we should get some lunch because we had a 3-hour drive ahead of us. We walked not even a block to a soda (equivalent to an American small restaurant / bar), and ate the most delicious Hawaiian pizza we have ever had. All the ingredients were very fresh tasting, and were cooked just right. After washing that down with an Imperial (a beer brewed in Costa Rica), we decided to head back to the car rental agency.
And We're Off!
Finally! We got on the road and were headed North to La Fortuna (2 hours 30 minutes).
Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at our destination (Hotel Los Lagos), it was after dark. So we didn’t get to see much of the surrounding area, but I just looked at it as an opportunity to see even more in the morning. We did, however, spend some time relaxing in the natural hot springs that are located on the hotel's property. So it was a perfect way to end the first day there.
