I had the pleasure of returning to Costa Rica two years later when I was invited to help a beach resort.
Time Share was sort of just beginning and was relatively new. This property had decided to do some timeshare however it chooses to do timeshare for weekends for people from San Jose.
This was all well and fine except that they never could book the hotel for seven days because of the weekend they were full of the timeshare people!
Plus the timeshare people did not use the bars or restaurants! So it was a big problem and it took quite a bit of ingenuity to sort it out and allocate some weeks here and there and generally tidy up the deal.
While I was there a major hurricane swept the area.
The pools and hot tubs were rapidly filled with sand, logs endlessly crashed against the boat jetty, chairs and tables flew through the air.
I literally hugged a tree whilst trying to direct the staff by the jetty.
When it was over the damage to the grounds was severe but the hotel survived remarkably well.
It was my habit to walk the beach every morning quite early. and I often met a local man with several children also walking the beach.  They lived on the edge of the nearby river close to the beach.
the children were beautiful and spoke English really well.
I enjoyed my little chats with them.
 After the hurricane, I walked the beach and I saw this man alone and I said to him “glad it’s all over now”.  I asked him @where are the children“?
He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said “I wish I knew”.
Their home had been washed down the river into the sea and he endlessly walked the beach looking for signs of them.

Water surged into the pool area

The aftermath

Two days later

Picking up trees that had been  uprooted

After the Hurricane part of the road to San Jose was washed out and the minibus could not get through.  So one bus drove as far as a washed-out bridge and dropped up off.  We then had to scramble down a long steep bank with our suitcases, walk over a  turbulent river on some tree trunks and scramble up the steep bank at the other side where another minibus waited.
I took one look at that raging river and said “I don't think so” turned around got back on the bus and took a three-week vacation at the hotel!

During my surprise vacation, I did many things I went into the mountains, saw volcanos took a trip over to Limon, which is a very rural coastal area, and went hunting for snapping turtles (not very successfully) and most interestingly, one day in my little tiny chalet I was staying out near the beach, I heard talking very early in the morning. I went outside and I couldn’t see anyone and then I looked up in there right above my head almost nose to nose was the cutest little monkey you ever could see.

One night we went out on the beach with red flashlights to see the giant tortoises laying her eggs.
Mamma dug a hole, squatted over it, and squeezed out over 100 eggs in rapid succession.  She then filled in the hole with her flippers,  sat on top of it, humping her heavy body up and down until she had patted the sand flat.  
Her job done she then waddled into the sea and swam away.
Another day we watched newly hatched babies scramble to the surface and scurry down the beach and into the water.
As turtle eggs are a delicacy beach guards walk the beach every night looking for people who would steal the eggs.