A Trip Down Memory Lane @ Papagayo Peninsula, Costa Rica

On Monday we were all due for our next rabies shot. We had planned to drive back to the private hospital in San Jose, but had heard that possibly the vaccine could be found at the private hospital in Liberia (a 2 hour drive vs. a 4.5 hour drive). Of course we had called the hospital ahead of time and been told there was no vaccine, but we had been down that path before. We decided to take a gamble and try showing up and asking in person in Liberia. The upside of this is way less driving if it works out. The downside is if it doesn’t we now have to backtrack about an hour and still go to San Jose, so way more driving. We figured we have lots of time now so the extra driving time would not be the end of the world, but would likely create some family member meltdown moments.

We walked out of our AirBnB near San Juanillo / Nosara at around 8am ready for whatever vaccine scenario unfolded.

As we left our driveway the noise of the stones on the road sounded funny, and not good funny. Damn, flat tire. We drove back up the driveway and unloaded all the kids back into the house. I then got a good morning workout changing the tire in the heat. Afterwards we loaded everyone back up and hit the road. After being delayed for nearly an hour the stakes of a Liberia Hospital having the rabies vaccine had definitely increased.

With no spare tire now we added a stop at the Adobe Rental Car office in Liberia. They were fantastic. They fixed the tire while we waited and got us back on the road. Still that was another hour gone so we were now going to get to the Liberia Hospital at around noon.

We now know the drill. in Costa Rica you go straight to the hospital pharmacy/chemist. So we pulled up to Hospital San Rafael Arcangel in Liberia and Whitney jumped out to see if they had the vaccine. We were trying to avoid at least one unload of all 3 kids from car seats if we could. After having told us on the phone on Saturday that they did not have the vaccine, Whitney returned to the car a few minutes later beaming with the comment “they have it, let’s go!” All 5 of us piled into the small pharmacy, paid for and lined up to receive our shots. We emerged after some tears, but successfully vaccinated and literally glowing at the fact we didn’t have to do the drive to San Jose. The pharmacy staff were great and even gave Scarlett and Nora extra cupcake bandaids in case their first ones fell off, a sure way to win favor with the girls.

We had promised Nora a happy meal if she got her shot, so we headed to our first McDonalds in Costa Rica to deliver on that promise.

With the girls busy in Playland, Whitney and I used the free wi-fi to find a hotel in the Papagayo Peninsula region for that night and plan out the day. We were planning to head up to this region for a day or two anyway and could now combine these trips. With the cheap cost of the rabies vaccine and not needing to get back into the car to go to San Jose both of us were thrilled.

An idea emerged. Whitney and I got engaged at the Four Seasons on the Papagayo Peninsula in June 2009. So we decided to drive out there, get some drinks at the bar and get a picture with the kids on the beach where I proposed. We would then head down the coast to the hotel we had just booked for the night. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The security at Four Seasons Papagayo is way more intense than I remember. We somehow snuck by the first security gate, but at the second gate were told that the hotel was not accepting any visitors. The security guard seemed slightly moved by the story of why we wanted in, but the answer was definitely still no. It is possible she glanced into the back seat and saw the disruption that we were likely to cause… So we fell just short of the Four Seasons lobby, bar and beach photo we wanted. A bit disappointing, but we got the following selfie to show how close we were:

10 years and 2 months after we got engaged here we returned, this time making it only as far as the second security gate but it was great to drive the Papagayo Peninsula again. Magnificent memories.

So with the kids starting to lose interest in their iPads, and that is saying something, we headed for our hotel about 30 minutes south.

We stayed at the Hermosa Heights Villas about 5 minutes drive from Playa Hermosa, a beautiful beach in northern guanacaste. We had booked it so late the owner was surprised when we called to get the keys as he didn’t think he had any more guests arriving. The hotel was perfect for what we needed that night. A lovely pool - with a couple of waterslides - and a great little restaurant. They also had a very old and semi-functional (at least it was free) mini golf course that the girls had a blast on.

Below are some pictures from our time in Playa Hermosa. The biggest plus for us was making this trip work with the vaccination in Liberia. It saved us coming back later this week for a separate trip. It was also a wonderful trip down memory lane for Whitney and I.