ddbartleys Blog on RealTravel

Chamje journal: Tibetan Hotel

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 06:34:13 GMT

First hotel in Chamje. The shower is nice and the room was very adequate. Food was ok nothing special.

Bahundanda journal: A real toilet!!!

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:37:06 GMT

I think the rooms were supposed to be 140 rps but we got it for 80 rps. Very clean rooms and the bathroom had an electric shower and a flush toilet. The food here was really great also. Super nice owners

Besisahar journal: Find another place and don't stay here.

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:00:46 GMT

San Jose journal: La Fortuna to San Jose

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 13:40:55 GMT

December 21st - Day 6 Woke up at a leisurely pace and went to breakfast. The plan for this morning was to drive to the La Fortuna waterfall and hike in. We headed out around 9am since the waterfall is only a short ways from town. We paid $6 US each for entrance. The hike down is rather steep and a bit tricky with 2 and 3 year olds but by now they are seasoned hikers and take it in stride. It took about 30 min to get down to the huge waterfall. Really very beautiful. The kids played around in the area where you can wade in the water before we headed back up. There is another very big ...

La Fortuna journal: Monteverde to La Fortuna

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 13:37:14 GMT

December 19th - Day 4 We had to get up early to get ready for the zip line tour through the jungle at Selvetura Park. The baby sitter was ready at 7am and our van picked us up at 7:45. The kids loved the baby sitter so it was no problem leaving them for a few hours. After a few more pickups we were at the park. We quickly signed in and were gearing up. Kai loved being greeted by a furry pig that was just his size. We only saw it once and then it was gone but boy was it cute. Everyone put on harnesses, helmets and gloves and headed back to the vans. We drove a short way down the road ...

Monteverde journal: Manual Antonio to Monteverde

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 13:34:27 GMT

December 18th - Day 3 We got up and running fairly quickly since we knew we had a really long drive. First things first and that was to run on fumes to find a petrol station. Luckily Mike gave us great directions and we limped in. Full of gas we headed north to Monteverde. Again the roads aren't marked to well so we thought we were lost a couple of times. We would be great on the amazing race since I drive like a bat out of hell and Amy navigates with the best of them. We made pretty good time and then the road turns to just gravel, ruts and holes. Fun driving though. At times we were ...

Manuel Antonio National Park journal: Los Angeles to Manuel Antonio

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 10:15:07 GMT

December 16th - Day 1 After an overnight flight direct from LAX to San Jose we were ready to roll. We were travelling with our friend Cindy and her two children, Sophie and Sam. Amy and I have three kids, Solee who is 7, Kai is 3 and Keira is 2. Previously we have taken quite a few trips with Cindy and her kids to the Dominican Republic, Fiji and New Zealand/Australia. The direct flight was the way to go since everyone fell fast asleep and when we woke up we were there. Getting through Immigration and Customs was a breeze. We did find the ATM hilarious as we watched people pull out ...

Costa Rica journal: Costa Rica 2006

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 15:18:11 GMT

A short trip to Costa Rica with our friend and her kids. What could happen with 3 adults and 5 kids?

La Fortuna journal: Great fun for the family

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:14:21 GMT

http://www.sunsettourcr .com/

We had a 40 minute drive to the Peñas Blancas River in an air-conditioned van. The guides got the raft ready and we launched them on the slow moving river. The guide quickly found sloths, monkeys, toucans, and many species of birds.

We floated for around 2 hours or so then stopped a the farm of Don Pedro. He has owned this farm for 71 years and is now 96 years old. There is no electricity or roads but the farm is really a great place to visit. The family prepared snacks and coffee. We met Don Pedro and through a translator asked questions about ...

La Fortuna journal: Wonderful Fun for everyone

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 12:15:54 GMT

http://www.selvatura.com/

Our van picked us up right on time for the canopy tour. We chose Selvatura mainly because they would take kids from 4 years old on the zip lines. We checked in and then were greeted by a friendly furry pig which my son adored. They geared us up and off we went to the zip lines. The kids were taken care of wonderfully and rode tandem with the guides through all the zip lines. The older girls did a 50 foot tarzan swing that was spectacular and the hit of the trip. Just hiking throught the jungle was wonderful. The entire operation was very professional and ...

La Fortuna journal: Spectacular views of the volcano

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 11:57:00 GMT

www.arenalvolcanoinn.com Wonderful hotel in the heart of everything. The volcano was erupting on this side so one of the two nights we stayed we watched the lava pour down the sides from the comfort of our room! The rooms are big and clean. They have a large pool and a kiddie pool as well as a spa. The hotel staff helped organize our raft trip with a wonderful company for half the price of the other rafting companies. The wood fired pizza was simply the best ever and the daily breakfasts were top notch.

Monteverde journal: Spectacular views and great hotel

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 11:27:00 GMT

http://www .monteverdemountainhotel .com/ Wonderful hotel with great rooms. We chose the larger superior room with all the kids while our freind stayed in the smaller room. After checking in we checked out the spa. They fired up the spa and also the sauna much to my delight. The kids had a ball with the place all to ourselves. Plenty of grounds to roam around and play for them. At sunset the view was spectacular. Breakfast in the morning was really great. We were leaving on a zip line tour so we also hired a babysitter. She was right on time and wonderful with the two 2 year olds. ...

Manuel Antonio National Park journal: Hiking, Beach, Nature watching

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 10:54:42 GMT

http://costa-rica-guide .com/Natural /ManuelAntonio.html

Manuel Antonio National Park journal: Family friendly and wonderful fun for everyone!!!

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 08:09:36 GMT

Owner Mike Auvil made us feel right at home. Terrifically located very close to the beach but with plenty of privacy. There are four air conditioned bungalows and three other themed rooms. Our friend stayed in one of the bungalows and we stayed in the Monkey Room. They kids LOVED this place. The pool and spa were really refreshing but they loved the monkeys that came everyday for a quick visit and also a deer that would wander through the grounds. Breakfast was spectacular also. Very very family friendly and great atmosphere.

http://www.laposadajungle .com/