My goodness our trip was so much fun to Costa Rica. It was wonderful to have a trip that both of my siblings were able to come to along with my Mom after 38 years she is making the trip down so see where her AFS brother lives. I think Andy and I have already begun planning where we want to go and do for the next trip down there. The kids had an amazing time, and got to see so much in the time we were there. They were begging us to come again next year for vacation.
Day 1 was a long one. We flew out at around 2 with a 45 minute layover in Houston, and then it was on to San Jose. This was the only part of the trip that I was nervous about. I was worried we would miss the connecting flight with it being so tight. Jeff was the last one on the plane, but we all made it. We got there around 8:00 that night, and it is crazy when you are coming out the door. People are all over trying to get you in their taxis or those meeting people. Above the chaos I see Juan Carlos jumping and waving to get our attention. We get to him and are on our way to the hotel. That night we stayed at a Courtyard right by the airport and it was nice with a friendly staff. Maria Laura, Cata, and Juan Carlos ate dinner with us there and then it was off to bed.
Bright and early Friday morning our guide showed up along with the car rental. We hopped in our cars, and we were off to the rainforest. The drive was so beautiful as we made our way into the mountains. We stopped at La Pez Waterfall garden and our guide Fabian took us through the park. It was very rainy this morning, and cool but the kids did not really complain at all as we made our way through the trails. Though it was rainy, it was still so pretty and powerful. We ate lunch after the waterfall hike, and then we went to see the animal sanctuary. There was a sloth, monkeys, a butterfly garden that Finley lost her mind in, snakes, frogs, and jaguars.
After we were done, we went on to our eco-lodge. The kids were able to swim for a bit. It was a nice little pool with great birdwatching. After the kids got cleaned up, our guide came back to take us out to eat. We heard the food wasn't great at our hotel so he offered to come take us out on the town. The restaurant we went to was very good, and they had dancers that Finley loved watching. Then it was back to our room to try to get to sleep. This was out of all the nights on our trip a little rough. We stayed in a hut that was circular with interior doors that went into each room. The rooms were simple, but clean. The hardest thing about the night was bats that flew around the interior of the hut so you kept thinking they might just fly in your room, the gaps on the doors were pretty good so I worried about something getting in, no air conditioning, and lastly the howler monkeys that kept me up all night. I kept waiting for the kids to come into our room , but they never did. Briley said she heard the noises outside, but she wasn't about to get out of bed much less her room.
Fabian was back again that morning to take my Mom, Finley, Baylor, Atticus and I on a float trip. The rest of the crew went zip lining. Our trip was slow, and Finley complained of being hot, tired, long, etc. She didn't enjoy herself, but we did see a lot of wild life. We saw a sloth, a crocodile, cayman, monkeys, and iguanas along the way.
After we finished our trip we cleaned up at our lodge, and were on our way to Turrialba. The rest had gotten there before us so they went for a quick swim. Briley was swimming along, and then she spotted an iguana swimming along with her. It preceded to poop in the pool, and Briley was done. That night we arrived at Juan Carlos and Floria's home. We said goodbye to our wonderful guide, and spent the evening catching up with them and Amity and Billy. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to Fabian already. He was really a great guy, and we said we would like to have him come on all our trips with us. We learned so much from him.
Our family stayed at a little lodge not far from Juan Carlos and Floria's house since they didn't have room for everyone. The lodge was small like a bed and breakfast, but we really liked it. The views were spectacular to wake up to. We had a floor to ourselves so the boys had a room, the girls had a room, and then we did. Everyone slept so well after our night in the rainforest.
The next day was our big family meal with Juan Carlos's family. It was great to see his dad, Julio, Zaritza, and her family again. I only wish we could have communicated more, but the language barrier made it difficult. That evening we went to town to a pizza restaurant. Maria Laura, Cata, and their boyfriends ate dinner with us before driving back to San Jose to study for finals.
Sunday we were off to the beach. It was a five hour drive to get there, but again the views were so wonderful that it wasn't too bad of a drive. We stopped to eat lunch at a marina before heading into Quepos. We had two houses that were right by each other. Our family had their own little house that had just been built so it was really nice. Everyone else was at a house next door. The kids swam in the pool that night, before going to bed. We took them back to our place, and as Andy was getting the beds ready he spotted a gecko in their room. We tried to get it, but it went behind the armoire. The kids would not sleep in there so they slept in the living room. Atticus didn't mind sleeping with the gecko so he had the room to himself.
One of the things the kids loved in Costa Rica was all the fruit trees everywhere. Baylor picked a dozen limes and lemons, and he and Amity made juices every night with them. We also had grapefruit, mango trees, and many others that had fruits I had never seen. One of the interesting things with meals here is that you often times get the choice of a juice with your dinner. These juices are made with all kinds of different fruit, and are homemade, frothy goodness. Atticus did have an incident with one that he tried. I couldn't tell you the name of the fruit, but he drank a glass, and then it came right back up. Lovely at dinner time, but he was fine afterwards.
The next day we were off to the beach for the day. The kids did some boogie boarding and some of us parasailed that day. It was a little overcast but that made it not too hot. Later that afternoon we had a late lunch at El Evion before heading back to our house. The kids swam a little longer in the pool, and then we put pajamas on. They were all asleep on the couch by about 7.
Our final full day was at Manuel Antonio National Park. We walked some trails to two different beaches. The veiws were gorgeous. I can see why it was voted one of the top beaches in the world. They didn't have beach chairs which was kind of a bummer, but you were shaded back by the trees. The other part was the monkeys, iguanas, and raccoons were not afraid of people so you would be laying there and then all of a sudden they were around you trying to steal your things. It was entertaining unless of course you were the one in the middle of them;) That evening we had dinner at El Dorado right next to our house so we sat there for awhile taking advantage of their buy one get one free cocktails. The kids swam again that night, and I went with Juan Carlos to pick up some souvenirs for the kids. Briley and Baylor both wanted Costa Rican soccer jerseys.
The next day we let the kids swim, took some pictures, and packed up. We dropped Amity and Billy off in Jaco for their next adventure of surfing, and then we went on to San Jose. We ate at the restaurant across from our hotel, and then said our goodbyes. It was such a fun trip, and I hated that it was over too fast. Such a wonderful country to explore and I miss it already. As Finley would say, "people are so lucky to live here, we just live in Kansas."
Favorites of the trip:
Finley: Exploring Juan Carlos and Floria's house, and Fanta soda
Atticus: Monkeys, sloths, birds, ducks, and he didn't like the butterflies
Baylor: The waterfalls, Fanta soda, best water he has ever drank, boogie boarding, sloths, and monkeys.
Briley: Everything...parasailing, zip lining, sloths, waterfalls, sloths.
0 comments:
Post a Comment