March 20, 2009 - Melissa Fields

San Francisco, CA - Like a first time tourist!!!

This is the view from our hotel room! We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott on 2nd Street in the SoMa area. SoMa means South of Market. It was a great hotel at a great rate! Very clean, and there was a little bar that stayed open late. The hotel was only a short walk from Market and the huge mall on Powell Street. We took cabs to North Beach at night, and it cost about $10. Not too bad. There was a great pub/restaurant about a block away called the Thirsty Bear. It was awesome! Organic house made brew, incredible food from local sources, and great service. Check it out! I'm definitely going back.

We bought one of those 48 hour hop on hop off bus tours, and it was awesome. We were able to take one part of the tour across the Golden Gate. It was a gorgeous day, and it was great seeing the bridge from this angle. I would definitely recommend the bus pass. It was a great tour and transportation all around the city wrapped into one package. Inexpensive, too. Only about $50 per person, and the tour guides are full of San Francisco stories. 

Ahh, the city by the bay! This picture makes me want to meander up all those hills... and you will probably need to after all the food in the city. Great food, great people, great pubs...

September 12, 2008 - Melissa Fields

Costa Rica – Road to Tortuguero

This is my first travel blog, and I have to admit that I am very late in writing it. I recently had the pleasure of touring Costa Rica on a light blue bus with some other travel agents, a couple guides, and a representative from Way to Go Costa Rica. It was a fast paced adventure full of hotels, singing on the bus, Costa Rican beer, a volcano, and oh... so much more.

We started off in San Jose, and we were bused over to the Best Western. The rooms were relatively plain, but welcome after my first redeye flight. (I will have to pause here and add that we flew on Taca airlines and changed planes in San Salvador. They serve food and alcohol for free on Taca. Yes, free. And the service is friendly. The change of planes was not bad in San Salvador, either. The gates were very close and it was unintimidating.)

We settled into our rooms, and everyone went their own ways to grab food and relax for a bit before our hotel inspections for the day. For those of you not familiar with hotel inspections they entail walking around a hotel and checking out the rooms, grounds, and services. They are great for travel agents because we get the chance to really understand a hotel and are better able to recommend it to our clients.

My first Costa Rican Meal: I left the Best Western and went right next door to a small shopping center where they had a food counter of sorts. I had black beans, rice, fried plantains, and a tiny salad. It was delicious! So inexpensive, too. My first meal was a whopping $4.

At this point the other 11 travel agents and I boarded our shuttle and made our way to some hotels in San Jose. I won't list them all here at this point, but if you have any questions, please contact me! I'd love to share. I will say that I saw the San Jose Marriott and Casa Roland among others.

That night we had dinner across the street from our hotel, and then enjoyed our first (of many) Costa Rican beers back at the Best Western bar for Happy Hour. Their happy hour was great! Free drinks for an hour and a half. FREE! They served the national alcohol of choice: Guaro with fresh fruit juice. They also served free beer. We sat outside and talked while drinking our free beverages. We all felt relaxed and like we had finally arrived!

The next day we had to meet our bus at 5:45 AM. They toured us through the city of San Jose before our drive to Torteguero.

The drive to Tortuguero was so fun! Let me just tell you about the roads, though. Most of the times the roads are bumpy, and sometimes they are windy. But if you are traveling with a good group and a good driver you won’t even notice! On the way to Tortuguero we stopped at the banana plantation and I had my first fresh coconut. It was delicious, especially because it was really hot and humid outside. After a while we stopped at a little restaurant on the side of the road. It was outdoor seating and buffet style. They served Costa Rican’s national dish – Gallo Pinto. Delicious! It is basically black beans, rice, lazano, (the salsa of Costa Rica), onions, cilantro… and maybe a few other things. Sooo good! Traditionally they make Gallo Pinto from the leftover beans and rice from the previous nights’ dinner. The restaurant also had my other favorite – fried plantains. Seriously good.

When you arrive to the canals of Tortuguero there is a large convenience store that sells all kinds of snacks and drinks. They also have a tiny kitchen that sells chicken and tortillas for about a dollar. We stocked up on some Imperial beer for the two hour boat ride to our lodge. It was beautiful on the boat. The day was so hot, so it felt great to glide on the water in our open air boat. Our tour guide was amazing. His name is Victor, and he could tell us the name of specific birds just by hearing their calls. The canals are lined with thick foliage, and it opens to the Caribbean.

I would have to say that Tortuguero was my favorite part of the entire trip. The thing about the area is that it’s completely cut off from the rest of the world. The lodge we stayed at had a ceiling fan, beds, and a bathroom. That is about it. There are rocking chairs on the porch, and a water cooler outside every few rooms. And you don’t miss the internet or TV or even air conditioning. In Torteguero you are immersed in the wild life and the jungle of it all. It is just you, the rainfall, the monkeys, the birds…

I really could go on and on about Costa Rica, and soon I will tell you more. Next time I’ll tell you about Arenal. We got to see the volcano without cloud cover, and I hear that makes us very lucky. I’ll also tell you about Manual Antonio and our close encounter with over twenty monkeys. Until then, happy travels!