Drew P. Chen
The more I look into a Costa Rica trip the better it sounds. I found out a friend of mine lived there for a while, and she said it's pretty easy and affordable to get around the country. She did say the buses can get crowded, though, and you might be standing up and clutching a handrail for a very long journey...or stuck in a cramped seat next to someone holding a chicken. (The chicken doesn’t sound too bad, though. I usually along with animals.) She recommended spending a bit more and using shuttle services.
Her experience, though, was in and around San José. Maybe if I’m lucky the buses will be easier to use in Liberia.
Liberia seems to have lodging options that run the gamut from budget to extravagant, and the former don't seem to be out of the way or in shady neighborhoods. (I'm guessing this based on my clicking and scrolling on Google Maps. Surrounding businesses and whatnot are usually a good indicator.)
Hopefully I can find an affordable tour that picks up in Liberia and goes to Arenal Volcano National Park. It would be weird to go to Costa Rica and not check out at least some of the wildlife. A bus ride to the Nicaraguan border seems like a good idea, too, but I'm not sure what I'd even do once I crossed into Nicaragua. But it would be great to say that I've been there, for whatever that's worth.
Maybe I'm just coming up with elaborate justifications to waste more and more money on travel, but it also occurred to me that before taking the plunge on a Costa Rica trip, it might make sense to go on a smaller, cheaper adventure in Mexico, just to make sure I have the practical Spanish vocabulary and other know-how to travel around Central America.
Hermosillo seems like a good destination for a two- or three-day trip. There's not a ton of stuff to do there, but enough to make on overnight stay seem justified: a history museum, an art museum, and a museum of indigenous culture. There are also apparently trolley tours you can join at an area called Plaza Zaragoza (which is itself worth a visit, from what I've read). And as a former comic book geek, I would definitely want to eat at the original location of Mexico's comic book-themed restaurant chain, Comicx, though I'd have to figure out which of the three locations in Hermosillo is the original. (There's also a location in Nogales, which I'm hoping I can visit with clockworkalien at some point.)
Getting to and from Hermosillo should be fairly inexpensive if I use Tufesa. They have a route that picks up in the south part of Tucson, stops in Nogales on both sides of the border, and then continues on to Hermosillo.
Her experience, though, was in and around San José. Maybe if I’m lucky the buses will be easier to use in Liberia.
Liberia seems to have lodging options that run the gamut from budget to extravagant, and the former don't seem to be out of the way or in shady neighborhoods. (I'm guessing this based on my clicking and scrolling on Google Maps. Surrounding businesses and whatnot are usually a good indicator.)
Hopefully I can find an affordable tour that picks up in Liberia and goes to Arenal Volcano National Park. It would be weird to go to Costa Rica and not check out at least some of the wildlife. A bus ride to the Nicaraguan border seems like a good idea, too, but I'm not sure what I'd even do once I crossed into Nicaragua. But it would be great to say that I've been there, for whatever that's worth.
Maybe I'm just coming up with elaborate justifications to waste more and more money on travel, but it also occurred to me that before taking the plunge on a Costa Rica trip, it might make sense to go on a smaller, cheaper adventure in Mexico, just to make sure I have the practical Spanish vocabulary and other know-how to travel around Central America.
Hermosillo seems like a good destination for a two- or three-day trip. There's not a ton of stuff to do there, but enough to make on overnight stay seem justified: a history museum, an art museum, and a museum of indigenous culture. There are also apparently trolley tours you can join at an area called Plaza Zaragoza (which is itself worth a visit, from what I've read). And as a former comic book geek, I would definitely want to eat at the original location of Mexico's comic book-themed restaurant chain, Comicx, though I'd have to figure out which of the three locations in Hermosillo is the original. (There's also a location in Nogales, which I'm hoping I can visit with clockworkalien at some point.)
Getting to and from Hermosillo should be fairly inexpensive if I use Tufesa. They have a route that picks up in the south part of Tucson, stops in Nogales on both sides of the border, and then continues on to Hermosillo.