Bridge over the Tempisque River near the Gulf of Nicoya

This is the "Friendship with Taiwan Bridge" that carries traffic over the large mouth of the Tempisque River at the north end of the Gulf of Nicoya.  Before he bridge was built traffic to reach the Nicoya Peninsula had o go across a ferry, which of course took a lot more time.  This route is used by people coming from San Jose and central Costa Rica to the northwest provide of Guanacaste, where Tamarindo is located.

The bridge yes its name from the fact that the Taiwanese built the bridge.  It was a very nice thing for the Taiwanese to do, as it has made a long-lasting improvement to the transportation and infrastructure of the country and has achieved a substantial convenience for a lot of people..

I am sure tha the Taiwanese are disappointed that Costa Rica has subsequently used mainland Chinese resources for substantial construction projects.   The Chinese built Cosa Rica's new national stadium, used for soccer/football matches and major concerts and other events.  There is talk of using financing and construction resources from mainland China to upgrade the highway from San Jose to the Caribbean coast.


This week we have photos of the architecture of Portugal posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

A comment about utility lines

While on the main street of Tamarindo, which is the beachfront road, taking the photos that I have posted during the last few days, something caught my eye about this scene at one of the buildings of the Tamarindo Diria Resort.

What it was, a closer view, and a bit of opinionated commentary by me, not surprisingly to regular readers, will be shown tomorrow.

Today's photo illustrates that underground utilities have not arrived in rural and small town Costa Rica. That is not surprising, as underground utilities are rare throughout the world.  Costa Rica has a lot more infrastructure needs, such as improving rural road conditions, before putting money into burying utility lines.

Overhead power lines never bothered me very much, until I became serious about photography.  I do not use photoshop and do not have the time to edit photos to try to take out unsightly power lines.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are returning to show a few more photos of Nicaragua, featuring the waterfowl in the maze of islands along the shores of Lake Nicaragua.  Naturally, they look a lot like what you would see in Costa Rica.

Sansa Airlines flying in to Tamarindo

This is a different type of post for me.  I usually show beach scenes, tropical flowers, wildlife, etc.  On my July morning stroll on Langosta Beach that I have been showing lately, I did notice an airplane flying instead of the pelicans who usually fly by.

This is a Sansa airline plane, with landing gear down, getting ready to fly past Tamarindo beach and then land at the small airport in Tamarindo.  The best part of these flights is that the wings are above the windows, so everyone has a good view.

The first time Julie and I came to Costa Rica, we spent a little more than a week traveling around the central highlands and over to the Caribbean coast, then we took a 45 minute Sansa flight from San Jose to Tamarindo.  We fell in love with Tamarindo and bought our first condo there.

On all of our later trips, we have flown into the international airport in Liberia, just one hour away.  My son has flown into Tamarindo on Sansa or Nature Air several times, and having a small airport nearby is an asset for bringing some of the tourists to the area.

This week we have more photos of Julie's recent raft trip through the bottom of the Grand Canyon on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Country road

After the car that I showed in yesterday's photo passed by, the dust settled and the road quickly returned to normal, with the bicyclist a little further down the road on the right, and more pedestrians coming into view.

Because there are so many people walking or bicycling on country roads in Costa Rica, I make it a point never to drive fast when I am there there.  It helps that when I am at one of our condos in Tamarindo, I am much more relaxed and not in a hurry like we often are back in Arizona.

We have photos of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Horses evading road grader

After I passed the horses that I showed yesterday, a road grader came rolling up.  The driver is supposed to be smoothing out the shoulder of the road, but as you can see in this photo he detoured to the center of the road to avoid getting too close to the horses.

Naturally the horses scampered from the road up to the grass to keep a safe distance.  I guess the driver will smooth over that section of the road on his return trip, perhaps when the horses have moved.

Today is Earth Day, and we should take note of the importance of man living in sustainable harmony with plants, animals, and our natural resources of water and air.   Costa Rica and Bhutan compete for being rated as the happiest places on earth, and they are the two countries closest to being carbon neutral.  Is that a coincidence, or is living in harmony with nature an essential component of human happiness?

Today is Sunday so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos from our trip last month to Bhutan in the Himalayas.   We have wanted to go there for years, and it was well worth traveling such a long way.

Duty Free Shop

Here is part of the duty free shop in the Liberia airport. I have never bought anything in here, but I do browse every once in a while, perhaps because the two shops in the airport are air conditioned.

This week we are showing photos of San Pedro de Atacama, the main town in the Atacama desert of northern Chile on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Waiting in the airport departure halll

This shows photo shows why they needed and built a new airport terminal at the Liberia airport. This is a departure hall in the current airport terminal. You may notice the giant ceiling fan. Yes, that means that it is not air conditioned. It is a basic, no frills facility, with open sides, including open to the tarmac, for air circulation.

The new terminal is air conditioned and will make a much more pleasant experience for arriving and departing passengers.

This week we are showing photos of San Pedro de Atacama, the main town in the Atacama desert of northern Chile on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

New terminal at the Liberia Airport

Here is another photo of the new terminal building at the Liberia airport. It will provide a much better first impression of Costa Rica than the existing collection of airport buildings.

The airport was supposed to open in October, but there are still issues between the government and the company that built and will operate the airport that need to be resolved. The newspaper had an article that companies that expected to operate in the airport, such as Cafe Britt which will have three gift shops, had hired workers and purchased inventory, but they cannot start their operations. The Ad Astra Rocket Company, started by Costa Rican Astronaut Franklin Chang, opened near the airport so that high tech products could be shipped in and out from the new terminal.

The high season for tourism has just begun, so hopefully the airport will open soon.

This week we are showing photos of San Pedro de Atacama, the main town in the Atacama desert of northern Chile on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

New terminal at the Liberia International Airport

This is the new terminal at the Liberia International Airport. It is quite a contrast to the collection of buildings that I showed yesterday. Already about one-third of the international tourists who come to Costa Rica fly into Liberia rather than the capitol of San Jose, and that number is expected to increase in the future with the new airport terminal.

The new terminal has not yet opened, although the building is complete. The government is doing inspections of the interior construction work by the contractor before opening the terminal building. The airport will be operated by a private company that won a bid for a long term concession to build and operate the airport.

This week we are showing photos of San Pedro de Atacama, the main town in the Atacama desert of northern Chile on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Liberia Airport

This is a view of the International Airport in Liberia. It is not much to look at now, but a new terminal has been constructed, which I will show in the coming days.

The addition of direct flights from the USA to Liberia about a decade ago has transformed the northwest Pacific region of Costa Rica. Our area is the most popular destination for tourists in Costa Rica, a country known for its tourism industry. Major international hotel chains, such as the Four Seasons, J.W. Marriott, Hilton, etc. have opened resorts. Lots of vacation homes and condos have been built. All of this is made possible by the fact that it is just one hour from the Liberia airport to the beach resorts.

These airport terminal buildings, shown today from the window of an airliner, are very basic. The terminal is functional, but not impressive. We will explore this subject a little further in the next few days.

This week we are showing photos of San Pedro de Atacama, the main town in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Country road

People who inquire about renting one of our condos often ask about the roads in Costa Rica. The road to Tamarindo is paved and in fine shape.

There is only one paved road into Tamarindo, and there are lots of country roads in the area that are unpaved. This photo is a typical scene of a country road near Tamarindo.

In the mountainous areas of Costa Rica, there are plenty of roads that are more of a challenge.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are showing a few more photos of the villas in Bellagio, Italy, on the shores of Lake Como.

Nuns waiting at the airport

While I was waiting for Julie to arrive at the airport, there were several nuns who were waiting also. They were standing along side all of the cab drivers holding signs to meet arriving passengers. They met a young woman.

There is a large, modern airport terminal under construction next to the current terminal. By the end of this year, people will be waiting indoors, with air conditioning. And passengers will walk through jetways from the plane to the terminal, rather than walking down a portable staircase to the tarmac as they do today.

I took some photos of the new terminal from the window of the airplane during my last flight out of Costa Rica. I will post them in the future. The photos are still in the camera. I have not downloaded them to my computer because Julie bought a new Macbook, which means that after she transfers all of her photos to the new computer, I will get her "hand-me-down" computer to replace the MacBookAir that I now use, which was also a "hand-me-down" from Julie. That is also how I got my last two cameras. You can tell the pecking order in our household.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are posting photos of the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. It is unlike any place that we have been. Unique. Colorful. Desolate, yet with pockets of plant and animal life.

Need a ride?

When tourists emerge from the arrival hall at the Liberia Airport, they are confronted with a crowd of drivers waiting to see if they need a ride. In many cases the drivers will hold signs for people who have made reservations.

This fellow is typical of the tourists arriving in Costa Rica. He looks a little bewildered as he surveys the scene and figures out what to do or where to go.

I always make a reservation for a rental car in advance, and the car rental company will always have a driver with a sign with my name when I arrive. Most people who rent our condos do not rent a car, and my property management company has two drivers who will meet their flights with a sign with their name and bring them to the condos.

As you can see in this photo, the drivers are respectful and stay behind the fence.

We are showing photos of Bellagio, Italy, and Lake Como this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Come see the location that inspired a Vegas casino.

Liberia International Airport

This is the outside of the terminal at the Daniel Obuder International Airport in Liberia, the largest city in northwest Costa Rica. About 10 or so years ago they started to route international flights to this airport, which is what spawned the tourist and development boom along the northwest Pacific area of Costa Rica.

With international flights to Liberia, Tamarindo and other beach towns are just one hour from the airport, in contrast to 4 - 5 hour from San Jose. About one-third of foreign visitors to Costa Rica now fly directly to Liberia, bypassing the capitol and central valley area of San Jose. We are excited that flights from Europe are now coming into Liberia, making it more convenient for European visitors to come to our area.

A new terminal is now under construction. In the future, the airport facilities will be much larger and more modern. The local tourist industry expects that the new airport will lead to more flights coming to the area. In fact, just last week Delta Airlines just announced that beginning in January they will add a non-stop flight each Saturday from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Liberia. That should be popular for people wanting to escape the cold and enjoy the sun and the beach.

We are showing photos of Bellagio, Italy, and Lake Como this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Come see the location that inspired a Vegas casino.

Exaggerated roadway signage

I think the highway engineers got a little carried away when they designed the sign in this photo. I have never seen a car on a hill this steep. Not even in San Francisco.

I think this sign succeeds in getting attention and communicates its message.

This week we are showing photos of Iceland on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Signage on curvy, hilly road

If Costa Rica is going to start putting up signs like this around all of the curvy, hilly roads, I recommend an investment in the sign company. This signage and the guard rail look like what one would expect in the USA, not a rural Costa Rican road.

We have good, paved roads all the way to Tamarindo. There are many country roads in the area that are still unpaved

This week we are showing photos of Iceland on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

New hilly, curvy road

If there are condos in the hills around Costa Rican beach towns, there must be roads to reach them. Here is an example of a new hilly, curvy road to reach some of the hotel and condo deveopments in the area around Playas del Coco, Playa Hermosa and Playa Panama.

This reflects that Costa Rica has made improvements and investments in its roads in rural areas. People who own projects in areas that are waiting for the completion of paved roads are encouraged by new roads such as this, and hope that the roads will be upgraded in their areas soon.

This week we are showing photos of Iceland on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Ox cart

Here is another view of the ox cart I showed yesterday. A traditional ox cart would be made of wood, with a large wooden wheel without spokes, and fancy painting all over it. To see my previous posts of the beautifully painted ox carts, check out this link.

This is a working ox cart, made of metal, with automobile tires for wheels. The ox cart was being driven along the main highway that runs from Liberia, the provincial capitol, to Santa Cruz, the largest town near Tamarindo.

The highway is in good condition, but it is not limited access. I never speed on it. It goes through villages and towns, and at times you may encounter livestock, dogs, people riding bicycles, or, in this case, a family on an ox cart. I leave myself a full hour to drive from Tamarindo to the international airport in Liberia

We are showing photos of the Norwegian fjords this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo website.

A new soccer ball for the airport

The ground crew at the airport obviously agreed that the soccer ball shown yesterday was past its useful life and they also had a new soccer ball on the airport grounds to amuse themselves while waiting between flights.

Football is very popular in Costa Rica, as I will show in a few upcoming posts.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are showing some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

Soccer/football at the airport

Tamarindo has a small airport about 2 minutes outside of town. This is the terminal. Tamarindo is served by commuter airlines from San Jose, a 4 1/2 drive or 45 minute flight away. Most people fly into the area at the international airport in Liberia, one hour away by car.

In between flights into or out of Tamarindo, things are pretty slow at the airport. The guys who handle tickets and luggage, and serve as the ground crew for the flights, have time to play a little football, or soccer as it is called in the USA.

As you can see by this soccer ball next to the terminal, they have had time to play a lot of soccer. They need a new ball, don't you think?

This week we are showing photos of one of our favorite cities, and certainly the most unique city on earth, Venice, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. It is a photographer's delight.