VIP contributor status results?

[enewseven]

Hi Curt,



I will tell all as soon as I know where. Right now we are really interested in St. Lucia and have our eye on a few places there. We are also interested in Anguilla. Hopefully we'll decide on something soon, I usually will book something immediately but since this is "the Honeymoon" I want it to be over the top and perfect!



E

[bonniejoy03]

Hi E.

Please do not hesitate to email me direct if you want Anguilla info. We spend alot of time there and might be able to give you direction.

[curtiejoe]

hi bj03

Morgan's Rock must be a pretty special place in Nicaragua. Please let me know all about it once you're back from vacation. We've heard some disturbing things about Nicaraguans and their poor behaviour aginst the peace-loving Ticos to the south. Say it isn't so.

Glad to see you're also heading to neighbouring Costa Rica.for a few nights. we sure loved our stay there this past November at the Occidental Grand Papagayoon the Pacific Coast not so far fromLiberia.

curtiejoe

[curtiejoe]

hi e



You're certainly right to want to make sure that this next trip of yours' is very special. After all, for most people still, theirhoneymon vacation islikely a once-in-a-lifetime event (at least the first one....)!



curtiejoe

[bonniejoy03]

Hi CurtieJoe. We visited Nicaragua last February and loved it. We stayed in Managua, Granada, and Morgan's Rock. We are excited to be visiting again so soon. We enjoy the visit because we can truly relax, learn about another culture and help a little. (We bring supplies to the local small school.) This is so rewarding! The Nicaraguans are very nice people. It is great to see the younger ones really trying to grow tourism. Most of the staff at MR are relatively young. They are so accommodating, friendly, and really trying to show people the beauty in their country. We try to go to Costa Rica once a year. This year it will be twice. Northern Costa Rica next week and then Punta Islita in November. This is our first time flying into Liberia. We always fly into San Jose. I hope it is much better. San Jose airport is quite crowded! We will be staying about one hour from the Liberia airport.



YEAH VACATION TIME FOR ME!!!!

[curtiejoe]

hi bj03



Great to hear you speak glowingly of the Nicaraguans you've met on your travels there. Wonderful that you're also taking time to go to Costa Rica.



This past November we landed at the international airport outside Liberia. Customs and baggage pick-up were a breeze (about 10 minutes in total!).



Departure a week later was anything but...in fact a horror show. Took over three hours to get through three different lines for Departure Tax, Baggage check in and boarding pass, and finally for Customs/Security clearance. Totally disorganized and mismanaged. Unbelievable in light of the easy time on arrival. The hot, humid weather made it worse. Tempers flared among the hundreds of bedraggled and confused travelers lined up in a chaotic mess of snails' pace lineups all outdoors behind the terminal building.



Be forewarned. Take lots of bottled water. DO NOT CHANGE TO WINTER CLOTHES BEFORE YOUGO TO THE AIRPORT (you will boil)!!!



curtiejoe

[bonniejoy03]

WOW! Thanks for the heads up. And I thought San Jose was crowded! I will be prepared. This now makes sense as to why our driver wants to get us to the airport so early! Is it a bigger airport than San Jose? I didn't think alot of flights would be arriving there. I appreciate your help!

[curtiejoe]

hi bj03



Liberia's airport's a lot smaller than San Jose's, so that could be a reason for the departure fiasco. When we left, there were two other big 737 planes about to go out also. What was really dumb, as we learned from other poor bedraggled tourists suffereing in the lines with us, was that all three planes were scheduled to depart in the late afternoon about 4-ish within about 30 minutes of each other!!!



Total stupidity to say the least. Why the airport authorities and the airlines (American, Air Canada, and United) couldn't have gotten together long before this to plan a much more efficient departure schedule truly amazes me. For we also found out that, most days at Liberia Airport, there are in total only three or four flights that depart from there.



In my mind, what's also totally unbelievable about this horrendous situation is (from what our erstwhile tour guide told us with pride)that apparently the Costa Rican government in general and their Tourism Ministryare promoting tourism to the hilt. It's now that country's #1 industry having surpassed coffee beans and bananas. Alarmingly, the CR government is pushing and facilitating the development of many more and bigger resorts in Guanacaste, the NW region along the Pacific Ocean closest to Liberia!!! So worse travel out of the airport ahead....unless it too is vastly enlarged and run in a much, much more organized manner.



Let's hope, for Costa Rica's a fabulous country to virit, its people are warm and friendly, and the resorts (like our Grand Papagayo) outstanding.



curtiejoe

[bonniejoy03]

Curtiejoe. Thank you again. I am packing now and thinking about what you passed on. I was wondering why MR wanted to get us to the airport so early! (plus they told us border crossing could take additional time.) I was also playing around with flight schedules for November and found that US air isn't flying as often into Liberia. With what you passed on and the flight schedules, we might continue to use San Jose. It isn't that bad and we typically stay at the Melia Cariari as an airport hotel. They used to have amazing tennis courts available for guests. (that has changed, they now take you to a far away place to play!) We are also looking at Finca Rosa Blanca. Oh well, will have a better feel this week as to the airport situation. Can't wait to visit again. I just checked the weather and it is 90! (I guess not too much different than our East Coast weather this year!)

[curtiejoe]

hi bonniejoe03



Yeah, the weather up here's been amazingly warm since Christmas! Have a great vacation and I sure hope all goes smoothly for you.



If you decide on San Jose airport, you should know that it's at least a 3 to 3 1/2 hour drive north to Liberia on the Pan American Highway,



curtiejoe