Day 9: Manuel Antonio – San Jose – Houston – Portland
Our earliest wake up of the week came on our departure day. We had a 4:15am pick up from the hotel. It’s about three hours to the airport. But traffic is often slow between Manuel Antonio and San Jose. We did’t want to take any chances so we left plenty early.
KidTripster Tip: Our drivers at Travel Excellence CR were always punctual and professional. During each ride, we were provided water and wifi access. The drivers also made stops for restroom breaks, scenic lookouts, and snacks.
The airport experience was easy. We got through security without any issues. We had extra time, which we used it to do a little last minute souvenir shopping. You can never bring home too much coffee or chocolate (in my opinion). I loved that there were coffee samples available throughout the airport. What a treat!
It was a long travel day home. It was four hours to Houston, where we had a four hour layover, then it was another four hours home to Portland.
The team at Travel Excellence CR did a fantastic job coordinating the details of our trip. They have 30 years of expertise planning family vacations to Costa Rica. Their well-planned itinerary allowed us to see a lot of Costa Rica, both the landscape and the wildlife.
We liked that each day had one or two planned activities for our family, and some open time for spontaneous exploration. We also appreciated having someone else do the driving. My husband is often the driver on our international family vacations, and it was nice for him to get to relax and enjoy the scenery, too.
It was so fun to experience Costa Rica through the eyes of my kids. They, too, were awed by the wildlife we experienced and the adventures we shared together – like rafting, ziplining, and walking through the jungle at night.
When I traveled to Costa Rica, it was my first international trip. When my kids arrived in Costa Rica, they’d already traveled to over 30 countries. They weren’t as impacted as I was by the cultural differences, as they’d experienced it before in many other places. But that was actually cool because they had the perspective to notice what makes Costa Rica so special. For instance, how how nice the people were, how different the landscape was, and how much bigger the spiders are in Costa Rica compared to other places!
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