Looks like Matty P and I got the best of the rain during our 3 day excursion to Liberia, Costa Rica. Arriving Tuesday early afternoon, sitting in Delta's First Class, we met up with what would have been our tour guide had the weather worked out the next day, Jose Avispas. Avispas Adventures was highly recommended by my captain and after doing a little bit of random internet research, we knew that they would be a perfect choice for our quick trip. It was easy working with the company and they came and picked us up as promised even on short notice. They dropped us off at a hotel in Hermosa Beach, taking care of all the reservations, called Villa Huetares that they recommended costing us $45.00 USD /night w/o extras. They did have WIFI using a long WEP key, two computers that were open for use, clean rooms but because of the timing, the villa looked like a ghost town. The website shows a couple of pictures of the place it definitely shows off the best of what they have. It wasn't a 2 or 3 star place, but it was a cheap place and "better" than a Hostel.

It wasn't looking good for us at the time due to the torrential down pour, but it cleared up after a bit so Matt and I decided to head to the beach. We met a local fisherman selling us a boat trip and with little haggling, we got a 3 hour trip for $120 ($100 + $20 tip). Included was the boat, fishing poles, a crew of three (don't know why) and the guarantee that we would have a great time "fishing." We caught two bait fish and hung out for a bit, but ended up with nothing. The view was great, the boat ride gave us great views of the coastline including the all inclusive Four Seasons Resort, and I would have to to admit that it ended up being worth it. Albeit disappointing with no catch and a couple of nibbles, but hey, it's fishing and we were in Costa Rica!. Little did Matt and I know that it be the last tourist thing we would do.

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That night, our tour local guy recommended that we eat at a local bar where we ordered Garlic Buttered Grilled Fish. It was definitely a great eat. I should have taken a picture of the plate but by that time, 1900 local, we hadn't eaten since the plane ride. Hoping tomorrow would bring up better prospects, we decided to take advantage of the night as it cleared up and head out to Coco Beach.

After arriving and searching around Coco Beach, we came to the conclusion that it was definitely a better place to stay so we asked around a bit on the going rate. Coco Bay hotel was going to charge us $80 USD /night where as the hostel was around $15 USD. We found a bar with some expats who offered us tourist advice and sat down. We had quite a few beers, met some random locals, became friends with the bar tender (relocated from Gulfport, MI) and the cashier who chatted us us.

Being a Tuesday night during the off-season along with the rain, no one was touring the area except for the few hookers and guys hanging about. Definitely not the right time to come, but who would have known?

Getting a ride back was easy after the local guy we were hanging out with called us a cab and back we went with no plans for the next day except to have some breakfast back at the restaurant where we had the awesome fish!