REPOST: Comprehensive Review of Our Day with Oscar Brown and Danny

[charlielinda]

I had contacted Oscar Brown and arranged for a tour for myself and another couple that I had been corresponding with on Cruise Critic. I had mentioned to Oscar that I would try to bring along some others on the tour if anyone showed an interest. He had mentioned he had a van that would hold 10-14 people.

By the time we arrived in Costa Rica I had formed a group with a total of 11 people for our tour. I figured the more the merrier and what a wonderful way to meet new friends! We all meet at the gangway early in the morning and were off the ship to met Oscar at the end of the pier. We didn’t know that Costa Rica time is different than the ship’s time so we were a little early which gave us time to all introduce ourselves and start taking pictures. There were men at the end of the pier who were guides, they were all were very helpful and even called Oscar for us to see how many minutes he was away from the pier.

Oscar showed up promptly along with his brother-in-law Danny with two vans. It turned out that Oscar was going to be very busy that day with tours and asked if we would mind going off with Danny in his van; insisting that we would have the same tour and great experience (he was right). Just a note, the van had an ice chest that held sodas and water for anyone that would like one.

As we left the pier Danny introduced himself and we were off! We were in Costa Rica on Good Friday, which is a National Holiday so, the government, schools and most of the stores were closed. This also meant that the local beaches were crowded with normal folks having a nice day off from work and school.

Our first stop was to visit a small monkey and a sloth at a “private” home. The fellow that lived in the home showed us the monkey and let us take pictures and presented all the ladies with a beautiful flower. We all tipped him $1 (bring $1’s with you in Costa Rica!). We started down another road and were stopped by the local police to check Danny’s “papers”, which were in order. It seems that since it was a holiday the police were out in force.

Our next stop was to see another sloth. We were allowed to hold this “little lady” who was pregnant and have our pictures taken with her. It was great to get upclose and personal with a sloth! We tipped our $1 and were off to the plantation.

We all jumped out of the van at the banana plantation and Danny gave us a wonderful talk about the growing cycle of bananas and how they are harvested. It was fascinating. I understand that if the packaging plant had been operating that day we would have been able to go there also.

Next we were off to the Tortuguero Canals. We pulled into a small area, which was the jump off point for the canal tour. Oscar was there to greet us and give us all a “coin” to be able to use the restrooms there. Then all eleven of us boarded a small boat and off we went. I can’t remember the boat driver’s name, but he was proud of the fact that he had twenty-seven children: 12 with his wife and 15 with other “ladies.” Two of his grandsons were on board with him, since it was a holiday. The young men proved in be invaluable (and very cute) at spotting an alligator, sloth, termite nests, iguanas and other interesting animals. Ricky and Phillippe who were eight years old did a great job and of course they each got $1 for their help. We also tipped the grandfather – but it was the boys who were adorable.

Danny was awaiting us when we hopped of the boat and was ready to end the tour. We mentioned that we really would like to have lunch at a Costa Rican restaurant and wanted to go to a grocery store he said sure. It turns out that he had another tour to pick up but said he would figure something out. We ended up running into a “cousin” of his on the road; Danny told him that he was continuing with us and that was the last we heard of it.

At this point we headed up to one of the highest points in the area at a restaurant called El Forno. It was wonderful – we sat out on a covered terrace overlooking town and there was a wonderful Calypso band playing. The service was great and the prices very reasonable. If you go the arroz con polo was great; others had various dishes, including seafood – everyone had a great meal. They brought out a “salsa” to use with our meals and we all fell in love with it and mentioned in to Danny. Danny told us that we could purchase the salsa at the grocery store along with coffee.

While at the restaurant Oscar appeared again to be sure that our group was being well taken care of – we had a resounding yes for him! We were totally enjoying our day. Oscar came up to me separately and said that since I had gotten so a large group together that my tour was free. Obviously that was a nice surprise but not the reason I put the group together. Of course, I tipped Danny quite nicely.

Off to the supermarket we went! We all walked into the one open supermarket like we were on a field trip. Danny helped us with our purchases of salsa and coffee! I started getting hot in the store so went to sit down by the ice cream parlor at the store and spent some time talking with a young woman who was an English student at a local university.

During one of my discussions with Danny I discovered that we could have also gone to the Sloth Sanctuary about an hour away (I’m sure this would be an additional charge) if we had wanted to. Just wanted to let you know about this if you are interested.

At this point it was about 2:30 and we were beginning to fade in the Costa Rican humidity. We confirmed with Danny that we had seen everything we needed to and decided to head back to the ship.

When Danny dropped us off all of us were sorry to see him leave – we all had to have hugs and get lots of pictures! I can’t think of a better way to spend the day in Costa Rica than with Oscar and Danny.

I understand that they are trying to start a small business so can use lots of support. Whenever I can use a local tour guide instead of a ship’s excursion I do. I found Oscar on the Cruise Critic Board -- I like to support the local economy, I like meeting folks that are proud and knowledgable about their country and I like setting my own schedule. The cost of the tour is $45/person.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I will try my best to answer them. I highly recommend Oscar and Danny! It’s great being able to design your own tour.

Oscar’s contact information is:
Oscar Cell: 011 506 350 6415
Home number: 011 506 758 1881
E-mail: [email]cbrown@costarricense.cr[/email]

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- April 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

[Driftwoodgal]

What a wonderful review of your day. I was wondering what we will do on our next trip there. We will definitely use Oscar on any return trips. I didn't know about the Sloth Sanctuary, so thanks for the heads up. I wish we were able to eat at that restaurant. We ran out of time, our ship was late arriving in Costa Rica. I just wish I was back looking at that big smile of Oscars instead of typing here at home..... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Oh well.... thats why we have our pictures and memories. Our day with Oscar was the best of all of our port days.

God bless you and yours.

[gracecarmo]

Basketlady: thanks for your review. I have contacted Oscar through e mail and arranged with him a tour for next Feb. He said he is already taking reservations for 05. I printed out your review and will take it with me. Your itinerary and activities for the day sound like it would be what we want to do. I know Feb. is a loooong way off, but I really wanted to get something reserved for this port early. I am hoping to get others, as you have done, to join us.

Oscar was very prompt in replying back, and he seems like a nice person.

Grace

[ljones]

Grace - What dates / ship are you travelling to Costa Rica in Feb. I, with my son (age 23), will be on the Horizon Feb 11th cruise. I did the Canals on my last trip to Costa Rica & enjoyed it & would like to add to it. LJ

[gracecarmo]

LJ: we will be in Costa Rica (Limon)on Fri.2-11. We are on the Summit.
Last year on the Summit, we were unable to get the ship's tour to the Tortuguero canals. (we were with friends, and they did not want to take a taxi/tour).
We went to the sugar plantation instead.

Grace

[charlielinda]

We had a great day!

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- April 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

[akeka]

Which Costa Rican port was Oscar working?

[khuff7]

I know he does tours out of Limon, but I am not sure about Puntarenas. I don't know how far the ports are from each other, but I know they are on opposite coasts.