Honeymoon
- Jason
- Dec 10, 2016
- 3 min read
COSTA RICA
December 3, 2016-December 10, 2016
We planned a late honeymoon on purpose. Technically, our wedding was a destination wedding because we live in Georgia, although Liz went to Beaufort, NC growing up and her family lives in NC.
We flew in directly from Atlanta on Saturday, December 3 and took private transportation to Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort located in the province of Alajuela at the bottom of Arenal Volcano towards the middle of the country. There were beautiful views on our 4 hour drive, where we saw the Arenal lake and windmills. Our good friends Bonnie and Jonathan sent a bottle of champagne and snacks to greet us on arrival-such a nice surprise! We spent a lot of time at the pool, eating amazing meals, and got a couples massage at the spa. I enjoyed sitting at the pool just watching the steam coming off the volcano. On Tuesday, December 6 we took private transportation to Cala Luna Hotel Boutique & Villas in the Province of Guanacaste near the town of Tamarindo, about a 2.5 hour drive. We spent time at the pool here as well. We made several trips to Tamarindo to go shopping and for dinner. Monkeys and wildlife were more abundant on the coast, we noticed. On Thursday, December 8 we took a sunset catamaran tour on board the Panache Catamaran. We enjoyed the views of the the northern western Pacific Ocean near Flamingo Beach. The crew was amazing accommodating our needs. We had cocktails and afternoon snacks, saw dolphins, and Liz went snorkeling. We came home on Saturday, December 10.
ALS related (Liz writing): This trip was HARD. Jason can walk, but for short distances. He has braces on both feet, but we stayed in resorts, plus getting through that Atlanta airport... We decided to use wheelchairs in the airport and at the resorts. The wheelchair at the airport was easy-and it pushed us to the front of the line in customs too. Although we checked a bag, having someone help us with the bags was key! The first resort, Tabacon had a wheelchair. That poor thing was falling apart, but it served our needs. If we locked it overnight and unlocked it the next morning, some rubber would fall off! We found a bartender that would make smoothies and she made them everyday. This resort was split between 2 areas, the rooms and the natural hot springs. This meant that we had to take a van to the other area-their vans are not accessible to people who have trouble going up steps. On day 2, they found a wooden block to help us get in and out of the van. The second resort, Cala Luna, did not have a wheelchair, but they called a clinic nearby and we rented one! We took it with us into Tamarindo and around the resort. A bartender made our smoothies here too and he was the only person during the whole trip the inquired to what was "wrong." Try explaining to a spanish speaking person, when english is a 2nd language! The staff at this resort wanted to do all the pushing of the wheelchair to the pool, our room, the restaurant-it seemed to please them to help us. Remember that we went on a catamaran-we had convinced ourselves that we would get there and not be able to do it. You got on a boat to get onto the catamaran, which is up a ladder on the side of the boat. The crew basically did all the work getting Jason onto that boat and never batted an eye about doing it. A Pennsylvania couple on the boat gave up their seat to make it easier on us AND went and got us drinks (several times)! A very intoxicated ER doctor from Texas kept Jason entertained while I snorkled-I think he was happy for me to get back-HA! To say the service industry in Costa Rica is impeccable is an understatement. All they seem to want to do is help. They were AMAZING! No one ever seemed to mind helping-and I seriously teared up remembering them when writing this.
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