Costa Rica Trip (Day 6)
January 1, 2016 - Resort Life
Today was totally unscheduled, so both Mr. E and I got to sleep in a bit. I got up at 7am for a 30-minute run. Oof! Very, very hot! I was rewarded by seeing a big female iguana in the courtyard of the hotel when I returned. After doing my weight routine in the air-conditioned Fitness Center, I changed to go swimming and swam the perimeter of the irregularly shaped pool. Unfortunately, I encountered some disappointing customer service when trying to get a pool towel and also when signing up for an afternoon Latin dance class. This was not the last time that I or Mr. E had a less then fabulous experience at this resort, despite the fact that it's supposedly a 5-star venue.
After a late-ish breakfast, we decided to go stroll on the beach and dip into the Pacific Ocean. The beach was lovely but still very hot!
We wandered around and picked up a couple of shells and some sea glass for Mom as souvenirs. To cool off, we went back to the pool for a bit before lunch. We had enough time for some shopping at the Britt Store before the Caravan-sponsored Happy Hour began at 1pm. We took our Tour Director's advice from the day before to get cocktails before lunch, so Mr. E brought his margarita and I brought my guaro sour into the restaurant to accompany our meal.
We had another round of drinks after lunch, and then I went to the late-afternoon Latin dance class in the Fitness Center. There were only four other guests attending the class, and we learned the three basic steps of the Salsa from the two instructors. We then paired up to practice, and I ended up partnering with a friendly guy from Colombia, who was there with his mami. He's lived in Houston for 15 years, and we had a lovely conversation in Spanish (he was very patient with my basic skills).
As the afternoon waned, Mr. E and I moved our dried laundry off of the lanai and sat outside to watch the sun set. With the overhead fan and heat-blocking screen shade, we were quite comfortable outside and enjoyed our final round of cocktails. We even had our own big brown moth to keep us company.
Below is a view of our part of the hotel from the lawn and beach area. Our room is on the first level of the building, third from the right, screened slightly by the greenery:
Dinner options this evening was better for me, as there was a fish option. We then decided to check out the Aperitivo wine bar, which had been closed the previous evening for the New Year's Eve party. We expected to find a full-fledged tasting room but instead the space was just an outdoor seating area above the Azul Pool Grill, overlooking the beach and ocean, with one lonely staff person watching over seven bottles of wine in two big ice tubs. Since we were already there and were the only guests -- except for a gecko -- we decided to try the merlot and enjoyed some quiet and tranquil moments as we sipped our wine.
On our way back to the room, we admired the amazing starry skies. With no cloud cover or humidity or too much ambient light, the clarity of the stars was absolutely brilliant. The lack of man-made light along the coast is partly thanks to the turtle conservation efforts. Baby turtles instinctively turn towards the brightest light nearby after they hatch, and that should be the reflection of the moon over the ocean. So if human development includes too much illumination, the hatchlings may instead head inland away from the sea and then die from dehydration.
No fireworks tonight, but we did have two brief power outages later in the evening when we were in our room. Did the 5-star resort neglect to pay its electric bill??!!
Today was totally unscheduled, so both Mr. E and I got to sleep in a bit. I got up at 7am for a 30-minute run. Oof! Very, very hot! I was rewarded by seeing a big female iguana in the courtyard of the hotel when I returned. After doing my weight routine in the air-conditioned Fitness Center, I changed to go swimming and swam the perimeter of the irregularly shaped pool. Unfortunately, I encountered some disappointing customer service when trying to get a pool towel and also when signing up for an afternoon Latin dance class. This was not the last time that I or Mr. E had a less then fabulous experience at this resort, despite the fact that it's supposedly a 5-star venue.
After a late-ish breakfast, we decided to go stroll on the beach and dip into the Pacific Ocean. The beach was lovely but still very hot!
We wandered around and picked up a couple of shells and some sea glass for Mom as souvenirs. To cool off, we went back to the pool for a bit before lunch. We had enough time for some shopping at the Britt Store before the Caravan-sponsored Happy Hour began at 1pm. We took our Tour Director's advice from the day before to get cocktails before lunch, so Mr. E brought his margarita and I brought my guaro sour into the restaurant to accompany our meal.
We had another round of drinks after lunch, and then I went to the late-afternoon Latin dance class in the Fitness Center. There were only four other guests attending the class, and we learned the three basic steps of the Salsa from the two instructors. We then paired up to practice, and I ended up partnering with a friendly guy from Colombia, who was there with his mami. He's lived in Houston for 15 years, and we had a lovely conversation in Spanish (he was very patient with my basic skills).
As the afternoon waned, Mr. E and I moved our dried laundry off of the lanai and sat outside to watch the sun set. With the overhead fan and heat-blocking screen shade, we were quite comfortable outside and enjoyed our final round of cocktails. We even had our own big brown moth to keep us company.
On our way back to the room, we admired the amazing starry skies. With no cloud cover or humidity or too much ambient light, the clarity of the stars was absolutely brilliant. The lack of man-made light along the coast is partly thanks to the turtle conservation efforts. Baby turtles instinctively turn towards the brightest light nearby after they hatch, and that should be the reflection of the moon over the ocean. So if human development includes too much illumination, the hatchlings may instead head inland away from the sea and then die from dehydration.
No fireworks tonight, but we did have two brief power outages later in the evening when we were in our room. Did the 5-star resort neglect to pay its electric bill??!!
posted by jms | 8:31 PM
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