After going through security, we had a little time to spare before boarding our flight so we stopped for a bite to eat in the United Lounge.
The flight to Liberia International Airport in Libera, Costa Rica took just over three hours. Chris was so tired that he slept most of the flight.
I think my small luggage was one of the first on the baggage carousel, but the workers pulled all of the luggage off the carousel. The carousel wasn’t a continuous loop, so the luggage would have just gone back through the flaps and onto the ground outside the airport.
I didn’t see my bag behind a bigger bag and thought maybe my bag had not arrived. Fortunately, upon closer inspection, I found it.
While I was looking, Chris let the Hertz people know that he had arrived. They gave him a “Hertz” sticker so the shuttle driver would recognize us as we came through customs.
We had to put our luggage through a scanner one more time at Customs.
The car rental lots were probably 5 to 10 minutes away from the airport. Perhaps Hertz isn’t so popular there because we were the only ones on the shuttle.
We were also "surprised" with an extra $150 government insurance fee added on to our bill. It was mandatory. And that was the lowest amount if you denied additional coverage.
We found a nearby Walmart to pick up a few breakfast and snack groceries.
Note * We could have gotten groceries closer to our Airbnb and probably for similar pricing. We just didn’t know.
We drove for maybe an hour until we reached the small town of Playa Hermosa. Playa means beach. We had a vacation rental at the Hermosa Heights and met the property manager at the security gate.
Our rental car, a Chery, was gutless (it is a Chinese brand). The community was built into the side of the hill, and the car could hardly make it up the hill in 1st gear.
We got situated in the vacation rental. It was lovely. Big enough for our whole family with 4 queen size beds. Although I would say the beds were not the best feature. In fact, I wondered if they forgot the mattress and just had us sleeping on the box springs! It’s what it looked like!
The outdoor space was the real draw. We had a private pool to ourselves and the sight lines to the neighbors on all sides were obscured.
We just enjoyed the pool, relaxing on the deck, and the amazing sunsets.
Fernando, the property manager, recommended that we go for Taco Tuesday at El Velero Hotel. We found it easily enough with Google Maps and enjoyed dinner on the beach.
Because Costa Rica is so close to the equator, the sun goes down each night at 6 pm and it starts to get light at 5am. There is no daylight saving time in Costa Rica, so in the summer months, there is no time change from mountain time in Colorado.
In the winter, Colorado would be one hour behind.
Sure makes it nice to not have to worry about jet lag! At least from this trip. Chris had just returned from London two days before we left and was still working through it.
For Taco Tuesday, we had one of each kind of taco: fish, chicken, and ground beef. They were delicious. We walked along the beach for a little bit after dinner but had to use the flashlight on our phones to light our way.