Costa Rica, Day 2, March 25

Day 2: March 25

The airport for Nature Air was the smallest I had ever been in. First our luggage was weighed, then we had to step on the scale while holding our carry-on bag. The young man wrote out our boarding passes by hand. Then we waited. There weren’t many seats in the waiting area. After a bit, we wandered upstairs to take the view from there.

The entire airport for Nature Air

At the boarding call, we marched across the tarmac and packed into the tiny plane. There were two seats on one side of the aisle and one on the other. I suspected there would be no beverage service.\

Boarding the plane. The pilot (white shirt) is walking behind Terry (blue checked shirt)

The inside of the plane

The view from the plane was spectacular. I tried to figure out what kind of farms were below. There were shrubs, which I thought were probably coffee, and palms, which could have been bananas or oil palms. We’re not in Kansas anymore.

Costa Rica coast from the plane

We landed on a grassy airstrip near Drake Bay. A driver awaited up in an old Toyota Land Cruiser. He climbed on top to position our bags on the roof rack. We climbed inside for a bumpy trek over dirt roads and through a sizeable stream to get us to the north end of Drake Bay.

Ground transport from the airstrip (Tom, left, Jerome, center, Terry, right)

Diane had warned us that there was a “water landing,” and we should wear sandals and shorts. Sure enough, we got out of the van and into a boat. Bronzed young men hopped off the boat and commandeered the luggage. I was not accustomed to having people do this for me. It felt positively British colonial.

The first of many water landings

After a short and choppy boat ride across the ocean bay, we entered a river, passed by several landings for other resorts, and debarked at the La Paloma Lodge landing. Our bags were loaded into a trailer behind a Kubota tractor while we started hiking up the hill. And quite a hill it was. Also, it was hot and humid. My clothes were soaked when we reached the sign to La Paloma. Whew, I thought, thank goodness that hill is over. But there were more stairs!

The hill and "main road" from the dock

The entrance to La Paloma Lodge from the main road

But there were more stairs!

We went to the main Lodge for check-in and orientation. We were warned about the capuchin monkeys. Don’t leave shiny things in the bathrooms. The tap water was okay for teeth brushing, but drink the water from the pitchers. Jerome and Barbara’s rooms were ready. The ranchero that we would be sharing with Diane and Tom wasn’t cleaned from the last guests. We could wait in the owner’s house until ours was ready. While there, we saw a pair of scarlet-rumped tanagers (recently renamed cherry tanagers).

Male scarlet-rumped tanager

After lunch, we walked to our home for the week. Diane and Tom took the upstairs with the better view and no deck. We had the deck with a hammock. We had separate bathrooms. The monkey warning made more sense to me after I’d seen the accommodations. There were no windows in the bathrooms. There were no screens. It was just open. To my surprise and delight there were no mosquitos.

Our deck and hammock

The grounds around La Paloma were spectacularly landscaped. There were all sorts of birds-of-paradise in flower. Some flowers stood upright. Some hung upside down. Some were red, some orange, some pink.

There were many, many flowers I’d never seen anything like.

One of many birds-of-paradise

Beehive ginger

After we got settled, we walked down to the beach.

The beach

And then we walked up again. Did I mention it was hot? I don’t know how hot. We had no thermometer. Maybe 85-90 degrees. In any case, we went for a swim in the pool when we got back. It felt great to stretch out in the cool water. Diane informed us that the habit was to have a cocktail by the pool at 5:00. Hors d’oeuvres were served at the Lodge at 5:45, and a four-course dinner was served family-style at 6:45. She recommended the mojitos.

We changed out of our swim suits and into casual clothes for dinner. I decided I didn’t need my camera. Ha! While we were having happy hour, a band of capuchins came by. So I went back to get my camera. Also, the sunset was spectacular.

Mother capuchin with her baby on her back

Sunset over the Pacific

Dinner was excellent. The tables were set with three forks. The napkins were folded decoratively in the wine glasses. The first course was tomato soup with basil and Parmesan. The salad was red lettuce with papaya (I think—it was orange) and strawberries with a balsamic vinaigrette that packed a powerful punch of garlic. I’d picked the fish curry with rice for my entre. It came with optional garnishes of coconut, pineapple, and raisins. The pineapple was surprisingly good. The raisins, not so much. Our dessert was chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.

When we got back to the ranchero, a gecko was hunting for ants in the porch light. I took a shower and went to bed.

Gecko stalks an ant (left). A few seconds later, the ant was gone.