Paos Volcano

What a great morning for a tour!

Marbella Tour operator via Expedia for the Paos Volcano tour

$155 per person

Pickup was a nice 12 passenger van @ 6:20am with Mario

To note: Sunrise is at 5:15 a and we are 2 hours behind EST.

There were 5 of us on this trip: A Honduras couple from Dallas, a French lady who spoke barely any English and No Spanish, and my cousin and I.

First stop was a quick drive to a coffee farm. I've done this a handful of times: Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba.

Little different but learned something new: the darker the roast, the less caffeine- figure that.

Before we started the coffee farm tour, they did serve us a traditional CR breakfast with coffee!

Note: Again, when traveling overseas- most places, including Air BNBs but excluding high end resorts and hotels, you do NOT throw toilet paper in the toilet- no matter WHAT number you are dropping or how prissy the place seems.

CR water is good to drink from tap though.

Next stop: Paos volcano.

So this was kind of uneventful. We walked a 10 min track to get to a balcony overlooking a crater filled w/ steam. The air reaked of sulfur so many people had to leave quickly or use a mask to help. There wasn't much to see- maybe there was just too much smoke to appreciate it in person. The gift store was the same as everywhere else: overpriced! Even for Americans. I mean, a small lapel pin was $10. I can't fathom how a 3rd world country with a low minimum wage with tourism as their #1 Industry (prior to, say, the 1980s, it was the coffee bean)- but still, everything is doubled in price. I hear things at the Central Market are better-BUT- HECHO EN CHINA!

Trick I learned from the Honduran woman: the cost in CR colones ✗ 2= the cost in USD.

ie: 500 Colonies= $1

ie: 5 mil (5000) Colones= $10

So back to the bus! on to the last stop: La Paz waterfalls.

What I didn't know is there is an animal sanctuary there. All are native and borrowed from the state. Once we finished, we walked through another gift shop, waited for the shuttle, and took the long traffic-filled drive back. Mario was great though. Very knowledgeable about the plant life and engaging and funny. I tipped him as a traditional would- 10% which was 15 mil colones or $30. My cousin and I came back to the apt to refresh and head out to dinner at the Apothecary which is supposed to have live music.

Apotecario:

Chorizo appetizer-7.400

Chipotle Ranch Burger-9.200

Falafel Burger-9.2

Lavender honey highball-6.000

Mint Lemonade-2.300

Beet Cheesecake 3.300

Carrot cake-complimentary

Dinner was fairly nice. Good upcoming urban neighborhood although still quiet for a true city person. Great service and ambiance. They say online there is to be live music but not when-and tonight wasn't it. The drinks were actually mixology worthy! The food-burgers good but one step overcooked. The chorizo was bomb. The carrot cake per my cousin who bakes this at home, she took one bite and was done. It was bland and dry. I tried the beet cheesecake- like, who creates a beet cheesecake?! It was good though. Reminded me of fig, but not super sweet.

The downpour started and we were on our way back to the apartment.

Tomorrow is a resting morning (for my cousin).