I took my first international trip in my early 20s. Destination: Costa Rica. It was the late 1990s and I’m not really sure how we planned the whole trip as travel websites weren’t a thing yet. My mom rented a car and bravely took the wheel. Those were the days of maps, we didn’t have a cell phone or GPS device to show us the way. I remember that the roads were narrow and bumpy, the hills incredibly steep, and we felt lost a lot of the time. Yet somehow we found our way around Costa Rica.
While there are a lot of other details I don’t remember, I’ll never forget the impact of that trip. Seeing a sloth in the wild, hearing monkeys howling in the jungle at night, watching a thunderstorm at the beach, walking down uneven sidewalks in small towns, it opened my eyes to a bigger world. I always knew I’d return, but it took another 25 years before that happened.
Since my kids were young, I’d imagined taking them to Costa Rica. I had the opportunity to go back last summer. I was about the same age that my mom was on our trip. My kids were 12 and 17 at the time. We’d already traveled to more than 30 countries together by then. Yet they’d never experienced anything quite like Costa Rica.
We arrived at the start of the rainy season. The landscape was already a verdant green. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, we deal with a lot of rain so we came prepared. Rain or shine, we had a busy 9-day itinerary ahead of us. We worked with Travel Excellence CR to plan the details. They gauged our interests and coordinated the itinerary accordingly, working with established local partners.
Day 1: Portland, Oregon – San Jose, Costa Rica
Our journey took us from Portland, to San Francisco where a weather issue caused us to miss our connecting flight. We were due to arrive in Costa Rica in the early morning hours, but ended up arriving in the early evening, about 12 hours later than anticipated. That unfortunately caused us to miss our scheduled Britt Coffee Tour.
I emailed Travel Excellence CR when our flight was rebooked, and they assured me it was no problem. Sure enough, a representative from Travel Excellence CR was waiting for us when we arrived, several hours later, at the San Jose airport. She let us know what information to have ready for the customs agents and instructed us to meet her at baggage claim. Customs was easy. The officer asked where we were staying, for how long, and details about our return flight.
Our luggage arrived within 20 minutes. Our bags had to run through a scanner before we could leave the customs area. We had no issues and went on our way. As promised the Travel Excellence CR representative was waiting and led us to our driver.
The ride from SJO to the Hilton Garden Inn was about 20 minutes. We arrived at the hotel just after 8pm. It was already very dark. Due to its proximity to the equator, Costa Rica gets about 12 hours of daylight year-round. It’s generally dark by 6pm.
Hilton Garden Inn San Jose
The Hilton Garden Inn San Jose is located next to the national soccer arena. There are several restaurants around it including American fast food spots like Smashburger and McDonalds. We grabbed a quick burger before the restaurants closed and called it a night.
The rooms at the Hilton had all of the conveniences you’d expect. However, the standard double rooms are rather small for a family of four. It didn’t matter, though. After a long travel day, we were ready to turn in early, excited for our adventures the next day.
KidTripster Tip: There are two international airports in Costa Rica – San Jose and Liberia. You might consider arriving at one airport and departing out of the other based on your itinerary.
Keep Reading: click “2” to read about our first full day in Costa Rica exploring a waterfall garden
