We were on the road by 8:00. First stop was the Doka Coffee plantation. Beautiful gardens and a great tour of the whole process of making coffee. The drive up to this 3800 foot elevation was along a winding, curvy road. Kudos to our bus driver. We appreciated our guide's procedure of mounting the day's map in the front of the bus.
After our tour, back down the mountain and onto Route 1, the Pan American Highway. Not much of a road; two lanes and very heavy traffic. Lunch stop at a buffet/souvenir shop which had a beautiful garden and butterfly house in the back.
Our afternoon snack stop was quite a treat! Out behind the store were some large trees which had a bunch of squawking Macaws. We had a brief visit by a Toucan and I was the ONLY one able to get his picture!
The entire afternoon has been spent driving downhill to sea level. As we go down in altitude there is marked difference in the flora and its gets much drier. Coffee and sugar cane has become cattle ranching. It looks a lot like Hawaii and although the scenery is pretty, the roadsides are not - lots of ramshackle homes and junk yards.
We arrived at our hotel by 4:30. Its called Nammbu-Playa Carrillo in the region called Guanacasta. We aren't sure what we've gotten into! It's nothing like what we were expecting. Its a 3 year old modern hotel/resort situated on the hillside overlooking the bay and beach (except you can't see through the trees). We are all complaining that this place, as nice as it looks, is no place for a bus full of old people. Lots of up and down, lots of stairs, and it looks like getting down to the beach is no picnic! (We'll find out tomorrow!) It does have an inviting pool!
It's hot and humid but at least our room has A/C. We had a fine meal at the hotel restaurant with our "new" friends. Tomorrow we have an "off" day to enjoy this resort and just chill. It may be a boring day!
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