Overseas Adventure Travel – Destination NOW

Biella, Italy

What?! You never heard of Biella? Before this trip, neither had I. That’s one of the many reasons I choose to travel with OAT. Their itineraries include places I didn’t know I wanted to visit until I got there.

Our hotel, the Agora Palace, is across the street from a beautiful park. Unlike the USA, Biella has public sources of pure mountain water, like this one, from which you can fill your water bottle.

Also near our hotel is a small mall with a grocery store and an inexpensive clothing shop. Because the weather has been unseasonably warm, and we were ALL expecting cold temperatures, most of us went shopping for lightweight clothes. For 30 Euros, I got a tee shirt, shorts and a long skirt. I wasn’t crazy about the slit in the long skirt, but that’s all Piazza Italia had in stock. (That’s the name of the store).

Before we arrived, Luca explained Biella is a quiet town, without much going on, so we were a little surprised when we encountered this:

Turns out, an “old car” race with over 100 cars was taking place that night. We were a little puzzled by the cars departing one at a time, but we learned it was a TIMED race, and unlike most “races” , the speed was not the point. It was actually an opportunity to show off your old car. Supposedly, the race went on all night!

Babes, band & cars — in a “sleepy” town??

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were unable to visit the ice cave in Chamonix, so Luca negotiated with the OAT office to replace THAT activity with vermouth tasting at a historic bar.

We were all quite delighted with the change in activities!

Our second day in Biella started with a guided tour of the city’s highlights, namely churches, including this baptistry.

We’ve all seen churches, and the remainder looked like every other church I’ve visited, so I took no photos.

We then hopped onto a bus, which whisked us up to the old section of Biella, where we toured La Palazzo La Marmora. Here’s another reason I love OAT. The palace is normally closed on Sunday, but it was opened just for us.

Our guide, the marquis, was a member of the illustrious family, whose tree adorned the dining room wall.

To say the artwork and antiques were interesting would be an understatement.

The matriarch who commissioned the following family portrait gave birth to 16 children. The girls all moved away after marriage, so the artist had to visit the homes of the daughters to create “sketches” that he later incorporated into the portrait. Of course, the gathering of all surviving children portrayed in the painting never occurred. (Was this the forerunner of Photoshop or AI?)

I thought I could figure out who was who by matching the clothing, but apparently the artist preferred different outfits.

The 4 sons on the upper right were all generals in the Crimean war. So what do you do when a cannonball almost kills you? Why, if you are a member of nobility, you bring it home, melt it down and recycle it into a chair.

One final example of the artwork, before we move on.

For some unknown reason, the marquis didn’t point out this mural on the dining room wall. Perhaps he didn’t want to have to explain what his ancestors were thinking about while they were munching on their Cheerios?

After the tour, most of the group chose to take an optional cooking class, but Susan and I decided to skip it. Instead, we had lunch in upper Biella at the “Hasta La Polenta” restaurant. How could we resist a restaurant sporting a plaque that said ( in Italian) “Ernest Hemingway never was here”?

I absolutely LOVE the Italian sense of humor. Take a look at the English translations on their menu.

Of course, after our entree, we HAD to have dessert. Here’s Susan, showing off her selection.

After our wonderfully filling lunch, Susan and I worked off some of our dessert by walking back to the hotel.

By then it was time to get ready for a “home hosted” dinner with Marcelo and Claudia in their historical home, built in the 1800’s.

Our group of 14 split up to have dinner with 3 different families.

For final day we visited a cheese farm, to partake in what OAT calls “A day in the life”. As the name suggests, OAT travelers are given an opportunity to experience the area’s daily life. The best part? We walked part of the way there — and the weather was perfect!

We all got a chance to “make” cheese, while we learned more about Elisa, our host. Although she has a degree in economics, Elisa decided she preferred to take over her grandparents’ cheese making business.

OAT group at a Day in the Life, with our hosts

We ended the day with a visit to (what else) the church complex at Oropa.

This “new” church was built for a papal visit

The original church incorporated this rock into its wall, presenting the perfect backdrop for yet another group photo.

Dinner was on our own, so four of us went for pizza at Doppio Zero. It was very good, but very different.

Next stop Lugano, Switzerland.

Goodbye France, Hello Italy

OAT made the right decision to start this adventure in Chamonix! Our hotel, the Lykke, was ideally located. We could walk to the many restaurants, bars, trails and attractions. And we DID.

Not only that, but if you needed down time, the hotel’s pool/ whirlpool /sauna complex was the ideal spot to relax and recharge. I visited there twice during my four day stay.

The MAIN attraction of Chamonix, however is the mountains in general, and Mont Blanc in particular. During our stay, we rode the classic cog train to view the glacier which either starts or ends at Mont Blanc. I forget. But really, who cares?

Unfortunately, the gondola was not accepting passengers, but we saw its practice run.

We were SUPPOSED to ride the gondola to an ice cave, but because of climate change, the cave was closed. A new ice cave had to be built nearer to the glacier. Because the pace of warming is escalating, our guide told us over the last few years, a new ice cave had to be constructed every year.

I find it hard to understand how someone cannot “believe” in global warming and climate change. Yes, I know, our planet has been through ice ages and warming trends, but those changes took centuries to occur, not years. But enough on that topic. For those of you who will never visit Chamonix, here’s what you would have seen.

The vertical arrow shows the current position of the glacier. The horizontal arrow near the bottom of the photo marks where the glacier ended four years ago.

And if you were lucky enough to get Luca as your guide and Francois as the local guide, this is who you would have seen it with.

It wasn’t a problem that we missed out on the gondola ride, because the next day, we rode two huge gondolas to get to the Mont Blanc viewing platform.

60 of us were jammed into the gondola. It felt like a NYC subway, minus the hanging straps.

The photos can’t possibly capture the grandeur of the mountains. But those of you who have been following this blog know I’m going to try!

Yes, those ARE clouds in the photo below. That’s how high we were.

Although WE rode the gondolas, others chose a different method for getting to the top.

None of us had a death wish, so that’s why we chose the safer, more boring option. We DID manage to walk through an ice cave, AND we made it to BOTH viewing platforms shown in the header of this post, which required us to mount several flights of stairs.

Luca, our guide, emerging from the ice cave

If we wanted, we could stand in line for about an hour to step into “the void”, which was a transparent cube that allowed you to see to the bottom of the mountain. I imagine that on one’s instagram feed, it would look like the poster was suspended in mid air. The photo taking was undoubtedly why the wait to enter the cube was so long!

One of the MANY photos this couple took!

Since none of us have an instagram feed, we skipped that experience.

Instead, we used our eyes to take in the spectacular views.

The views from the gondola , on the way up and down

Before we leave Chamonix, one last photo of almost all of the single ladies at dinner at the Rose du Pont

Me, AB, Stephanie, Susan and Kay. We are missing Gail, the photographer

Although we ended up in Brielle, like most OAT trips, our bus ride was broken up by a stop in Aosta, a charming town along the way. Mike would have LOVED Aosta, because it was chock full of ancient Roman ruins. Back then, it was called Augusta Praetoria, shorten over the ages to Aosta.

He heard there was gold in them thar hills, so he decided to “ veni, vidi, vici”.

The original arches are 32 steps below the surface of the modern city. I don’t recall why or how they were preserved, but I’ll bet you don’t care either.

After sharing a half a bottle of this

with my new friend Sarah, I decided to press send without proof reading.

Biella deserves its own post, and once I sober up, I’ll get to it. But until then, happy reading and thanks for coming along.

The Alps with OAT

Okay, so plan A was to spend most of the month of May on the OAT trip to Azerbaijan and Turkey, but when OAT canceled the pre-tip to Azerbaijan because of its proximity to Iran, I decided it was time to activate Plan B. Turkey ALSO shares a small part of its eastern border with Iran, and because US leadership is wildly unpredictable these days, I decided not to take a chance. It’s too bad, because I was really looking forward to travel with my buddy Janis. Maybe we will travel to Turkey in the future, once things settle down.

I was really lucky to discover OAT’s Alpine Europe trip was not only deeply discounted, but it also had single availability AND the timing was perfect. This particular departure offers neither pre nor post trips, but that suited me just fine.

Ignore those boxes on the map at the top of this post. Instead, follow the red arrows. I flew into Geneva a day before the tour starts, got picked up at the airport and driven to Chamonix, a small town at the base of Mont Blanc, about an hour away. Eventually 18 days later I will end up in Innsbruck, Austria.

There are 14 of us on this trip, 4 couples, and 6 singles. We are already a very congenial group, with 12 of us choosing to have dinner together for what was supposed to be an “on your own” night.

Luca, our trip leader, took this “selfie”

The restaurant Luca chose, The Rose du Pont, is located right by the river, which winds thru the center of Chamonix.

Earlier that day, I had hiked along the river walk and saw that I could have booked a river rafting trip,

or gone paragliding, had I planned ahead.

Only joking…walking along the river is as adventurous as I get these days.

In the afternoon, I took advantage of the pool and whirlpool. The outdoor hot tub and sauna were being cleaned today, so I wasn’t able to use them, but we have another full day here, so maybe.

I’ll end the first day of our tour with two night shots. The first is of four of the “single ladies”, with Mont Blanc clearly visible behind us.

The second is the night view from my balcony.

OAT VS TAUCK

I’ve had several friends ask me to compare and contrast these two travel companies.

Full disclosure: I have only taken one Tauck tour, to India, in late October, 2025.

I have taken over 20 OAT tours, to every continent except Antarctica, with the most recent one being to Costa Rica. Obviously, I’m far more familiar with Overseas Adventure Travel.

Having said that, BOTH are excellent companies, and you won’t go wrong choosing to travel with either. It was either Socrates or Elvis ( maybe both) who said “Know thyself”. And that’s the most important factor in determining which travel company to select. It all boils down to what kind of experience will make you happiest.

Let’s start with what BOTH companies have in common.

Both offer small group options. OAT’s maximum is 16; Tauck’s is 25, however I have been on OAT trips with only 9 travelers. There were 17 on my only trip with Tauck.

Both offer large group options: OAT uses its sister company, Grand Circle, which maxes out around 44. Tauck’s big groups are similar sized.

Both have excellent trip leaders, whose job is to oversee all aspects of your experience. They choose the local guides, the restaurants, and add additional experiences that are not on the published itinerary. If an OAT trip leader doesn’t get high ratings on the customer survey, they are not rehired. Not sure whether the same applies to Tauck.

Both allow for free time and meals on your own, with the trip leader available to offer suggestions.

Both include cultural activities.

Both take care of tipping, except for trip leaders. Tauck also takes care of tips for hotel housekeeping; OAT does not. OAT tips the bus drivers, Tauck does not if you have the same bus driver for most of the trip.

Both will handle airfare, however both will allow you to make your own flight arrangements. OAT includes the cost of the flight in their quoted prices on their website, Tauck does not. If you choose not to use OAT for your flight, you simply deduct the airfare cost from the total price.

So what’s different? The biggest difference is the cost of the trip. Tauck is significantly more expensive. However if you only take one or two trips per year, and you want to have your every need taken care of, Tauck is an excellent option.

I’m not at that point yet. My preference, RIGHT NOW, is more trips, less luxury.

PRE-TRIP INFORMATION

I really like the booklet OAT mails out a couple of weeks before the trip starts. It includes helpful hints, the full itinerary, the hotel names and addresses, and a list of the group participants.

With Tauck, you won’t know how many are traveling with you until you get there. At our introductory meeting, our trip leader gave us a piece of paper with the names of our fellow travelers and would email (and print out) info about the following days. I strongly prefer having the booklet because all of the info is in one place, which makes it handy for taking notes.

Being slightly obsessive compulsive, I like being able to plan in advance for free time.

The trip leaders from both companies send travelers a welcome email, full of helpful information but OAT travelers who have taken more than 3 trips, also get a phone call from the trip leader who can then answer any questions one might have.

WEBSITE

Although both companies offer websites from which you can print out your itinerary, I find the OAT website far easier to use. I thought it was because I was more familiar with OAT’S website, but Joann, one of my favorite fellow travelers, said she felt the same way about Tauck’s website—that it wasn’t easy to find what you were looking for.

ARRIVAL

If you buy your airfare from OAT, you also get transfers to and from the airport included. If not, you can either pay OAT for transfers or arrange your own.

With Tauck, transfers are automatically included in the price of the trip. Because I made my own flight arrangements, I can’t comment on flight services Tauck provides, but I CAN say that they do everything possible to make sure your arrival goes smoothly.

HOTELS

Both companies select clean, safe, comfortable hotels, but with Tauck, replace the word “comfortable” with “ luxurious”, at least that was my experience in India.

OAT and Tauck, however, were using the same hotel during my stay in Halifax. For the Egypt trip, both used the exquisite Aswan’s Cataract Hotel.

On the whole, however, I believe Tauck tends to use the best hotel in the area, generally 5 star, while OAT usually choose hotels by location, normally within walking distance to restaurants and sights.

I think the best comparison I can come up with is Four Seasons (Tauck) versus Marriott or Hilton, except OAT tends to choose local, non chain lodgings. Because I have taken so many trips with OAT, I know that the hotels vary greatly from one country to another. In Morocco, for example, the riads were over the top gorgeous,

While in Costa Rica, they were more rustic.

FOOD

Based on my sole experience with Tauck, I would say that the food on their trip is truly outstanding. The buffet breakfasts offered an amazing array of choices,

while the OAT breakfasts tend to offer the basics, with little variety.

Tauck, like OAT, had some included meals at which we were all served the same.

Generally for OAT, there are lots of buffets.

For some of Tauck’s included meals, on the India trip, at least, we were offered a choice of restaurants, and were able to order whatever we wanted from the menu.

Although OAT’s included meals offered limited choices, the group always dines together at the same time and at the same restaurant. For solo travelers this could be a huge plus, particularly if the other travelers prefer to dine with their travel companion(s)

BEVERAGES

Both companies offer some included alcoholic drinks, but you are free to purchase whatever you want.

LOYALTY PROGRAM

This is an area in which OAT excels. People who have taken multiple trips with OAT are recognized with pins, gifts, and special perks (which vary by trip leader), plus a host of other financial incentives.

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES – OAT

All travelers get a percentage of the cost of the trip if they take another OAT trip within the following two years.

If you recommend OAT to someone who has never traveled with them before, you each get a $100 credit. The friend saves $100 immediately, and the “recommender” gets $100 toward a future trip.

After 10 OAT trips, if you take more than one trip in a given year, you save $350 per subsequent trip. Before your 10th trip, you save $250 per subsequent trip in a year, but I have forgotten if you need to take a minimum number of trips for that credit to kick in.

It all adds up. Especially for someone like me, who LOVES to travel.

OTHER TRAVELERS

The group on the sole Tauck trip I’ve taken was wonderful! That was also the case with most of my OAT trips. (As one would expect, occasionally you get one or two clunkers, when you take over 20 trips with the same company).

If I had only taken the Costa Rica trip, I would be exclaiming how outstanding OAT travelers are.

That’s all I can think of. Feel free to correct any misconceptions and add your experiences with either company in the comments section.

Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Our farewell dinner took place at L’Olvio, the Italian restaurant around the corner from our hotel. The food was great, but this is definitely not a restaurant to frequent if you are in a hurry. It was an hour before our food started to arrive, one dinner at a time. But the food was very good, and luckily, we were not in a rush.

Randy managed to get everyone (except himself) into one photo,

so I fixed that by taking this photo of him with his lovely wife,Cindy. I’m so glad that they are coming on the post trip, along with Mike and Jo-Lynne, Jolene and me.

The start of OAT’s post trip was a little sad, because we had to say goodbye to Esther, Cindy, Edwin, Lee Fa, Phil, Marianne, and Lester.

We will miss them all greatly, but especially Edwin’s superb translation skills, and Phil’s excellent photos. At least we still have Malo, who is an amazing photographer. I’m sure he will miss Edwin the most, because Malo will now have to do ALL the translations…no breaks for him!

Before we posed at the airport, I told Randy I’d hang all over him so he looks like he travels with TWO chicks. Is it my imagination, or does he look a little worried? Cindy was rightfully unconcerned.

I’m glad the 7 of us were the only passengers because the plane was TINY! So how many times do you think I bumped my head?

Our boarding pass was almost as big as the airplane!

Here’s what Mike and Jo-Lynne think about our flight. They were in the second row. Now how did THEY get to be in business class?

Because we were flying so low, we were able to get a spectacular view of Costa Rica, starting with the arial view of San Jose,

and ending with the Caribbean Sea.

We still had another leg of our journey, because you can only get to Tortuguero by boat. No cars or buses are allowed on what is essentially a sand bar and yep, I bumped my head yet again climbing into the boat.

We had just enough time to watch a short video about the efforts to save turtles from extinction and walk into town before we checked into our lodge.

Where did our group end up? In a bar, overlooking the river, of course.

Malo told us that Tortuguero’s nickname is “the little Amazon” because of the abundance of wildlife along the river. That was also the case by our lodge’s pool. For those of us willing to get up early, (Jolene and me) Malo offered to take us on an optional tour starting at 6 AM. Our reward? Rare footage of a spider monkey pooping,

and having the jungle (and pool area) all to ourselves.

Because weather has always been somewhat unpredictable in the tropics, and now even more so due to climate change, we were very grateful we were given ponchos for our morning cruise.

It’s impossible to show how hard the rain came down!

Despite the poncho, I still got soaked, but the wildlife we saw made the intermittent showers inconsequential.

Tonight is our last night at the Pachira Lodge. Our return to San Jose is first by boat, then by bus. We spend the night in San Jose and fly home the next morning.

My last afternoon in this paradise was spent by the river, with a tropical drink, catching up with some of the important people in my life and writing this post. The perfect ending to a wonderful trip!

Next adventure, Antarctica in February.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

More sunshine!

It’s hard to pick a favorite location, but Puntarenas would definitely be high up there on my list.

Malo had told us to expect rain when we moved from the Caribbean to the Pacific Coast. Boy, were we delighted that he was so very wrong about the weather. Both days were perfect; not too hot, and just enough sunshine to quickly dry us off after our water activities.

For the drive to Puntarenas, I sat in the front seat. It was truly amazing how much the roads had changed since our first visit in 2007.

I was even happier to be here when I checked my driveway on the ring camera.

I texted my snow plow guy, who will make sure my driveway is clear by the time I return home. At that point, I may even be ready for some cold weather.

I used to think that traveling by bus would be tedious. That was before, when I had a mind that was partially closed. Now I am able to appreciate how surprisingly wonderful some stops can be. For example, on this bathroom break, we saw an iguana, macaws, and bats.

Malo changed our itinerary, moving Friday’s boat ride on the Tarcoles River to Wednesday afternoon so that we could maximize the probability that we would see birds. And we sure did!

An unexpected bonus? we didn’t need to be on the bus till 9 AM on Friday morning to return to San Jose.

These are just a few of the birds along our “jungle cruise”. Mike and I took the very same cruise in 2007, which is when I took this photo with my Panasonic LUMIX.

At one time or another, we spotted most of the 60 birds pictured in the guide we were given. How very lucky were we! Of course, Malo had a lot to do with our “luck”. The reason he modified our itinerary was to choose a time when the tides were at the optimum level for viewing wildlife.

Phil and Malo took great photos so I was able to gaze at the birds thru my binoculars, knowing that one, or both of them, would capture the moment.

It’s pretty clear why I preferred their photos to mine, although I DO like this video that I took.

But wait…there’s more! Our second day in this heaven on earth was jam packed with adventures.

We started by rowing our outrigger canoes to Limoncito Beach,

where we were able to splash around in the warm water, snorkel and enjoy lunch on the pristine beach

Our guides provided EVERYTHING! Lunch, chairs, snorkeling equipment, noodles. They even took photos of each of us.

After we returned to Agujas Beach, Malo took us to the local bar, where he treated us to Chiliguaro, a local concoction consisting of moonshine, chilies and sugar cane. Did we like it? Well, you be the judge.

But wait…there is still more!

After fortifying ourselves with what could pass as a gin and something that slightly resembled tonic,

Marianne and I got the bright idea to walk (stumble) to Playa Blanca. We were soon joined by Cindy and Edwin, who were usually up for anything. Luckily the shuttle stopped to pick us up before we got to the steep part.

Edwin, our translator, comedian, and overall great guy!

While on the beach, we were entertained by the capuchin monkeys. I wasn’t fast enough to get a video of one while he was stealing food. Man, they are FAST!

The shuttle stops running at 5, so we decided to grab the 4:30 one, to be able to make a final stop before heading to dinner. That’s where we found Mike and Jo-Lynne,

who responded to Edwin’s many personal and pretty hilarious questions about their relationship. The 6 of us going on the post trip to Tortuguero will definitely miss the 7 that will be returning home at the end of the main trip tomorrow.

Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Our great luck has returned! The weather during our stay in Guanacaste was absolutely wonderful. It made me realize that I appreciate sunshine much more when it follows two days of rain.

The Hacienda Guachipelin was perfect in every way. None of us wanted to leave. Two nights here just didn’t seem long enough, given the many activities offered.

During our too brief stay, we managed to catch the sunset,

This is for *you,* Jean. The sunset photo is the post header

go horseback riding ( it was much more fun when I was younger),

and soak by a waterfall.

The hardest part was getting in and out. The rocks were slippery and plentiful

As usual, Les was the first one in, followed by Cindy, then me. The others didn’t believe us when we told them there were warm spots in the water. The depth varied greatly—I moved a few inches to my left and I quickly realized the water was going to be well over my head, so I reversed course. But not before the bottom of my hat got quite wet.

That was just the morning activities. In the afternoon, we went to the hot springs where we discovered we could smear ourselves with mud.

I didn’t have my man with me, so Les was kind enough to do the honors. He did my back and I did his.

I left my phone in my locker, but Malo took this photo of Mike, me, Les and Jo-Lynne.

Cindy brought her cell phone protector with her, so she became our official hot springs/ mud bath photographer.

My “what the hell was I thinking”expression

We had a choice: we could rinse off in the river or under the nearby shower. I needed to use both, but ultimately we all cleaned up well.

We ended our day with dance lessons courtesy of Malo. Sadly, the photos don’t show how our mud bath vastly improved our skin. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Our time at the Hacienda was so magnificent, I skipped right past our activities on the drive from La Fortuna to Guanacaste (Rincón de la Vieja). Clearly, I need to backtrack!

The scenery along the way was spectacular

By lunchtime we were ready for a break. Fortunately, a cacao farm was perfectly located in this very remote area.

Not only did we learn we about the multiple steps necessary to produce the chocolate that we all love, we also spent the morning enjoying the beautiful plants — like ginger.

Our guide was exceptional! He pointed out the male and female cacao flowers, and described the pollination process, which I have already forgotten. But I DID remember the female buds are the ones on top.

Here’s our guide, showing us the inside of a mature cacao plant.

We also were able to taste coconut water, coconut jelly, and coconut meat. Probably not the terms he used, but hey, I wasn’t able to take notes.

And yes, we DID consume chocolate. Here’s proof.

Lunch at the cacao farm was delicious—plantains with bean paste, and tamales. Marianne shared this video of the unwrapping the tamale.

For those of you who wonder how I find time to blog, this one was written on the bus on our way to Puntarenas.

La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Up until day 7 and 8, we had been incredibly lucky. Although it rained periodically, it seemed to happen only when we were on the bus, in a restaurant, or back in the hotel. Until La Fortuna. That was where our fortunes changed.

It was impossible to see the Arenal Volcano during our morning hike,

but I took pictures when Mike, Augusta and I were here in February of 2007. Back then, it was quite active. We were even able to see the bright red lava flows at night from our hotel room.

When we walked in the National Park, it was raining so hard, even my underwear was soaked, despite wearing a rain jacket. These days, if it’s not fun, I ain’t doing it, so halfway through the hike, 5 of us returned to the bus.

Marianne got creative. She took a black plastic shopping bag and with Edwin’s help, made holes in the sides so she could stick her arms through to keep her red jacket dry.

Those of us who chose to forgo the hike DID get to see Lake Arenal from the bus as we were leaving the park. Sorta.

Here’s the 2007 view.

Some brave souls decided to go zip lining despite the rain. Having ziplined twice before, I opted to return to the hotel. Had I known about the Tarzan swing, I might have made a different decision. But probably not.

Les, on the zip line.

Marianne, channeling her inner Tarzan. Jane??

Costa Rica has micro climates, so although it was pouring a few miles away, it wasn’t raining at our hotel. I walked the grounds, where I discovered multiple private hot tubs. Oh, to be with that special someone on a sunny day!

On our second day in La Fortuna, we cruised the Rio Frio, to search for wildlife.

I briefly regretted not bringing my camera, but I was very grateful for my binoculars.

Even with binoculars, it was NOT easy to spot the wildlife.

Were you able to find the “Jesus Christ” lizard in the first photo? For the second photo, I used my phone’s zoom, which is clearly not as powerful as my camera’s.

Why Jesus Christ lizard? Because the basilisk lizard (official name) looks as if he can walk (run) across water.

Check out the difference in quality of these monkey photos. The first was taken with a phone, (by one of the other travelers); the second is from the 2007 trip with my Panasonic LUMIX, way before cellphones had cameras.

Our guide posted photos of the birds we saw in WhatsApp. Of all the birds we observed, the kingfisher was my favorite.

Before our cruise ended, we made it to the Costa Rica/ Nicaragua border, where Malo took this photo of our wonderful group.

My very favorite highlight of our time in La Fortuna was our dinner at Selva Rustica. Raul, our bus driver, offered to take us to and from the restaurant, which was a very good thing because it was raining heavily ALL evening.

We all agreed that this was the best meal of the entire trip, so far. Sorry, Malo. From now on, we are going with Raul’s restaurant recommendations. Although we each ordered something different, we were all very happy with our choices. My grilled tuna atop vegetables and potatoes was heavenly.

Have you ever had a flaming margarita? With a blue Jell-O shot in the bottom of the glass? Neither had I. This was definitely a video worthy experience. Thanks to Phil for capturing the moment.

Next stop, Guanacaste.

Aguas Zarcas, Costa Rica

As you can see from the map, we are traveling throughout Costa Rica during OAT’s Pura Vida tour.

This means we need to move from one place to another every two days.

On day 5, we departed from Sarapiqui after lunch, which gave us time in the morning to visit Tirimbina, and walk across its quarter mile suspension bridge over the Sarapiqui River.

TWICE. Over and back.

I have to tell you, the shaking and swaying reminded me of car rides during my childhood. Even without all the smoke from my parents’ cigarettes, that continual motion almost made me feel carsick! But was I glad I did it? Hell yes.

After our stroll, we had free time until lunch, so I plopped myself in the “bird” area to enjoy the wildlife.

This gray cowled wood rail was HUGE, and unafraid. He stared right at me in between bites of papaya. He was probably thinking “ if she even tries to bother me, I’ll just peck her eyes out”.

Were you impressed that I knew the name of the bird? Don’t be. I sent that photo to Malo, who identified it for me.

During lunch, we were all grateful to be under the roof watching the torrential rainfall. How lucky were we that we weren’t rafting during the downpour. Yes, I know we were already soaked, but at least the sun was out, so we had a warm respite between rapids.

Our lodge in Sarapiqui was full of signs, but this one was my favorite:

Our next hotel, in Aguas Zarcas, had multiple pools, supposedly at different temperatures, but they all felt lukewarm to me. Still, it sure was pretty at night.

On day 6, Malo led us on an optional tour of the property, where the non-Florida natives were thrilled to watch this heron check out a potential tilapia breakfast. He looked like a human, staring into a lobster tank, trying to choose one for dinner.

This was a very educational walk. We learned that bats sleep rolled up in leaves like this one. How did Malo know? The bat makes three holes in the leaves— all in a row.

During our stay in Aguas Zarcas, we made two trips to the local grocery store—the first was on the way to the hotel, where I stocked up on wine. Hey, who knows if I’ll have another opportunity?

I know my friend Anthony is probably horrified by my choices. My criteria? It had to have a screw top. It’s times like this that I’m grateful for my unsophisticated palate.

Fortunately, we made a return trip to the grocery store the next day to buy ingredients for our home visit.

By then, I had washed my hair with the only option provided by the hotel. Let me assure you, the outcome was NOT attractive, so I was glad to have the chance to buy real shampoo.

One of OAT’S distinguishing features is the home visit, where we visit with a family, share a meal, and sometimes help prepare it. This was one of those times.

I opted for salad duty where I’m pleased to report I excelled at chopping lettuce.

As a bonus, our host’s daughter Natasha danced for us, with son Damien performing the role of DJ and boom box operator.

We ended our visit with a group photo.

Our final event was dinner in town, at a karaoke place. Sadly, the words never appeared on the screen, so we were unable to sing along.

Cynthia, Marianne, Lester, Randy, Cindy, Esther. Where was Edwin?

Me, Jo-Lynne, Mike, Joleen, Lee Fa, Phil. photo by Randy

Because dinners were not served together, and the food took a looong time to arrive, we all got a free drink. My friend Phil and I got to choose another drink because we were served last and didn’t get the barbecue ribs we had ordered. My margarita was delicious, as was the small drink we all received.

After “before dinner wine” (happy hour back at our hotel), a half a bottle of beer, a frozen mango margarita and the little “mystery” drink, I was feeling absolutely NO pain.

Jo-Lynne and I were ready to “party hearty”, but the rest of the group wanted to go to bed, so we were saved from embarrassing ourselves. At least so far. We still have another 10 days.

On to La Fortuna!

Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Remember how everyone tells new moms “once you see your new baby, you forget all about the pain of childbirth”? Yeah, well for me, THAT never happened — which is one of the reasons Greg is my only child.

The pain of getting to a trip, now THAT’S a different story. Once I arrive at my destination, any flight challenges — delays, cancelled flights, jet lag—all those “minor inconveniences” are instantly forgotten. (Thank you, Joann)

Our first day in Sarapiqui was picture perfect. The accommodations were a bit rustic, but comfortable, wildlife was abundant, and the location was ideal. I was able to walk to the nearby Sarapiqui River, which was FAR calmer than upstream, giving me a false picture of what our raft trip was going to be like.

Not too bad, right?

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Our morning began at 6AM with birdwatching and listening.

It made me regret that I hadn’t brought my camera, because a cell phone just doesn’t do it—unless, of course, you are as prepared as our guide, Malo was.

After breakfast, we were ready to start our rafting adventure. We expected to get wet, so I stored my cell phone with the change of clothes I brought. Not a problem, because the rafting company had photographers stationed along the river.

At the start of our trip, the water was moving fast, but the “rapids” certainly looked manageable.

That quickly changed! The following photos were taken by the rafting company from their vantage point on dry land.

Yes, we were on that raft. Here’s proof.

We were quite pleased with ourselves that we had made it thru. What we DIDN’T know was there were many, many more rapids before our journey ended.

Across from me is 83 year old Esther, who was a trooper, smiling even though during our 1.5 hour journey, she almost fell into the river.

Her daughter Cindy is in front of me. We had quite a rhythm going, even after our helmets smashed together during our transit thru one of the rapids.

Although you can’t tell from the above photo, we were all completely soaked. We are smiling because we knew that dry clothes were waiting for us.

That was quite enough adventure for me, so I spent the afternoon hanging out by the pool, with Randy and Cindy, instead of touring a pineapple plantation.

This will give you and idea of what our second day in Sarapiqui will be like.

On to two days in Chachagua, where Malo tells us we will be able to enjoy the hot springs.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: