Join fellow travelers at 8:00 this morning to meet our Costa Rican guide and Sky & Telescope tour leader Gary Seronik for a welcome breakfast and orientation. After checkout, we’ll board our private motorcoach for the journey west to our Star Lodge, reserved exclusively for our stargazing pleasure. Located on the Gulf of Nicoya, our dark-sky lodge is in a prime birding and wildlife habitat.
    Lodge rooms feature two beds, private bath, ceiling fan, and screened windows on three walls, enabling the evening breeze to keep us comfortable. Rooms will be outfitted with red lights to allow stargazers to preserve dark adaptation and enjoy the truly dark viewing conditions. (Away from observing areas, non-stargazers will find a lighted area near the restaurant to enjoy reading, card games, and socializing.)
    The lodge’s manicured lawn faces an open southern sky, and it’s the perfect site for setting up telescopes and other equipment. The open-air restaurant and lounge area, overlooking the hotel’s beautiful swimming pool and the ocean beyond, offers a comfortable meeting place day and night. Meals at the lodge are served buffet style and feature fresh local ingredients, including locally grown chicken, beef, and fish, tropical fruits, and traditional pintos de gallo, a wonderful rice and bean dish. Throughout the night, stargazers will be served famous Costa Rican coffee, tea, and cookies.
    Join us tonight for the first of five nights under the glorious southern skies.