March 14 - moving from Playa Grande to Playa Hermosa

We got up today to a lovely breakfast with four people we don't want to say goodbye to, as well as to say adios to this lovely bed and breakfast. Anyone who is journeying to this part of Costa Rica needs to stay here; we have so enjoyed it.

Mahmoud and Nadia took off for Monteverde and then to Atenas, so they have a long day, but, they are young and will have a grand time. Nina and Rhianne took off to see the Monkey Farm where monkeys are rehabilitated. The place sounds interesting and we were invited to go; they do aquaponics etc etc there. But, it is in the opposite direction of where we needed to go today, so we, regretfully declined and said goodbye to them, too. But, we are sure that our paths will cross again in the future.

We did get slightly lost; we took the grey route on the map which was mostly dirt road. But, we got lost right away as the road was not marked outside of Potrero. But, we asked directions and did a little backtracking. The directions were to go around the soccer field (where we had actually turned around 15 minutes earlier!) and take the unmarked dirt road. We were happy we took the dirt road - no traffic and beautiful countryside. The photo below does not show how steep and narrow the road was; it just can't capture it.  Then, when we got near the coast, we went to the wrong Villas Del Sol - the one in Playa de Coco, not Playa Hermana. Again, no harm done as they are pretty close together.

We are now in an all-inclusive large resort, not in a town, but near the beach. It is situated on a big hill, so we have awesome views. We had to wait several hours to check in, but had lunch at the buffet style restaurant. This is the first all-inclusive we have ever done, rather like what we imagine a cruise ship is like with the opportunity to eat and drink too much. We plan to do the opposite - stick to the salad bar, fruit and a little bit of meat. The alcohol does not tempt us.

We are in a single room, but it is spacious and has a little fridge. We have a nice balcony and the bathroom is great. So, although this place has mediocre reviews, we think it will be fine. And, we are close enough to the lobby that we are getting wifi in our room , something we did not expect.

We had dinner at the restaurant. It was quite good. We read a lot of negative reviews, but, the Mexican-themed dinner was delicious and the service was excellent. Overall, a very nice day.