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The first days of our Costa Rican Honeymoon

The first days of our Costa Rican Honeymoon

October 23 – 24, 2008

Xandari – Alajuela Costa Rica

It was a long journey to Costa Rica and our car trip to Alajuela added to the intensity. San Jose is very busy and the roads are not marked. We were given directions by architecture, ‘when you get to the mall, go straight’ type of thing. BUT when we arrived, it was all worth it. Xandari is an amazing place and because we arrived at the end of the ‘Green’ season (no, that doesn’t mean the environmentally friendly season, green means lots of rain), we were the only couple there for the first night.

They were very accommodating to my veganism. They served fresh, organic meals that were grown on the premises. Our wait person, Christian, was so kind and quite friendly, even bordering on overly talkative. Yet we were hungry for not only the food he was serving but for the information he fed us. He was well versed on the places to visit in Costa Rica, from a local’s perspective. We very quickly discovered that the Tico’s are friendly folks, in general. Even at the airport (excluding the stoic and abrupt customs guy), people were friendly. We had the same experience at the Charlotte airport, so that layover made for a nice transition to Costa Rica.

Glasswing-Butterfly
Glasswing-Butterfly
Boy and waterfall
The boy in the waterfall

Anyway, back to Christian, he remembered (as did another person, Rebecca) our choices of food. They even had a bottle of wine waiting for us upon our arrival in celebration of our recent nuptials. Christian asked the restaurant manager at Xandari to get Soya for me so I could have cereal and milk. At the spa, Conrad gave me a lymphatic massage, because my throat was sore. He then called his wife at home to see what would be a good remedy for my throat. I don’t even recall receiving customer service like that in the past. THEN the receptionist at the spa ordered some ginger from the garden, had the gardener deliver it and created a health cocktail of honey, lemon, ginger. A concoction that soothed both my throat and my soul. She also gave me some Chamomile to take back to my room with me. I felt as if there was a milieu of healers at my service.

Scott and I took the walking trails on the grounds, There were five waterfalls, one 70ft high. We were entertained by two young boys showing off their ability to climb the Falls and jump in to the cool waters below. So cute…yet my maternal instincts were up, and I wanted to caution them of the danger. I didn’t. Mostly because I didn’t know any of those words in Spanish. On our journey, we saw at least five different species of butterflies along with amazing unique flowers and plants. Xandari has a coffee plantation and an organic herb farm and an orchid house. Wild orchids were growing throughout the grounds. They have one trail dedicated to botanics. Scott swam some laps in the pool while I did some research on the internet for vegetarian restaurants at other places we’re visiting. It was only one of two times I sat in front of a computer…ah, the freedom of being unattached to an electronic device.

Xandari offers stunning, lush grounds, an expansive view of San Jose from our lovely tiled balcony, fresh healthy organic food, open air accommodations, charming architecture and art (one of the owners is an artist), and fantabulous customer service.

If you’d like to follow all the Costa Rican posts, click click click away and enjoy!

This is Post #1:  The first days of our Costa Rican Honeymoon here
Post #2::  Little Grape Big Grape here
Post #3:  First Monkey Sighting here
Post #4:  Spazztacular Sunset here
Post #5:  Looking at Lava with my Lovah here
Post #6:  The Sanctuary here
Post #7: More of the Sanctuary here
Post #8:  Playa Pan de Azucar here
Post #9:  Yes We CAN!  here
Post #10:  Back at the Sanctuary here
Post #11:  Adios Sanctuary!  here

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