Travelling to Costa Rica -- Day 1

For the following days, I am going to be posting about my trip to Costa Rica, I took last month, I hope you enjoy!

Upon arriving in the Liberia, Guanacaste airport, I was struck with the nice warm air. We landed at exactly 7:00, or 19:00 local time. It was immediately noticeable the thriving tourism industry since all of the advertisements in the airport were in English. The immigration officer was the first Costa Rican we talked to -- it is incredible how well people speak English here. In the moment of filling out immigration paperwork, we left one of our pieces of luggage at customs, but thankfully we remembered right before boarding the taxi. When we returned, we commenced our short ride to the Mangroove hotel. In the taxi, we were able to practice our Spanish with the non-English speaking taxi driver.

The taxi ride seemed short, but in reality lasted a half an hour. I was entertained by discerning figures in the dark as our taki creeped down the bumpy road. At around 8:00, we arrived at the beautiful Mangroove hotel. Although nighttime, the scenery was incredible, with massive trees, and thatch huts as a restaurant, and a waterfall behind the front desk. We were walked to our room after checking in at the front; I was awestruck by the bridge over a pond we crossed to reach the spacious hotel room with a couch room separated by a wall to the room with the beds and bathroom. Just in time for the restaurant to close, we at dinner. Both restaurants were next to each other, one was fancy, and one was more casual. We were tired from the day of traveling, and we needed the more up beat and casual one with a floor made of sand and next to the pool. I ordered the most Costa Rican sounding dish, it was skirt steak with pico de gallo and potatoes.

We promptly returned to the room to rest for the following day.