I wanted to capture some general thoughts I had about our trip.
Lowlights: None
Highlights:
- Selvatura Park zip-ling and suspension bridges
- La Fortuna Waterfall and hike
- Isla Chorta Kaya
- Cacao Plantation tour
- Arenal Volcano from our room at Arenal Paraiso. Pictures don’t do it justice… it loomed large right in front of us.
- Rainstorm at the swim-up bar in Arenal
- Fireflies Aidan spotted on first night in Samara
- Banana eating Iguana on Isla Chorta
- TONS of hermit crabs on Isla Chorta
- Fruit bats, owl, leaf-cutter ants on first night in Costa Rica with Emanuel
- All of the drives around the country
- ¡Pura Vida!
- Maleku tribe
- Aidan’s movie
- Geckos, geckos everywhere!
- Nacho (kitten boys met)
- Family sized showers
- Second dinner at Restaurante De Lucia, wine, silliness, and lots of laughter
- The rocky road to Monteverde
- Getting lost on the Wal-Mart trip
- Monkey!
- Lunch in Las Juntas
- First night thunderstorm in Samara
- Shopping at Palí
- Imperial Cerveza
- Playa Samara coral and low tide
- Lazy, rainy morning in Playa Samara
- Rafael at Arenal Paraiso
- Whole family reading bed in Samara
- Mr. Itchy (3 toed sloth)
- Talks with Karen on the patio on the first night in Samara, in the room in Monteverde, around Arenal Paraiso, on the car drives.
Other general thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed each of the activities we did. I expected to enjoy the La Fortuna waterfall, and Monteverde Zip-lining, but I did not expect to enjoy them as much as I did. I constantly found myself with a smile on my face telling Karen, “I am so thoroughly enjoying myself.” And that was enjoyment unlike any other that I can not put it into words. THe best I can do is to say that I felt a great sense of inner happiness radiating from my core. I enjoyed the Cacao Plantation and learning all about chocolate, when I expected that to be one I was taking for the team (cause Karen wanted to do it). I expected to enjoy the kayak and island, but it was so much more than I expected.
Before we left for Costa Rica, many people asked if I spoke Spanish to which I replied “nope.” Well I actually remembered waaaay more than I thought, and was proficient enough to handle some routine tasks completely in Spanish, such as buying a SIM card at Wal-Mart, adding minutes to a cell phone in La Fortuna, asking for two chicken breasts from the meat counter in a grocery store, asking for the location of some items in a grocery store, and talking to an 11 year old boy from San Ramón.
Karen and I made a good team in that respect because there were many times that she understood better than me, and I could speak better than her. By the end of our trip, I was starting in on Spanglish, and found myself thinking in Spanish (or trying to when I didn’t know the words). That was very surprising and a little inspiring… for the first time in my life I feel I could learn another language if immersed in it.
Here is a map of our trip… the lines are where we drove, and the pins are where we stayed.
View Costa Rica Drive in a larger map
Although we asked to experience the local flavor, and that is exactly what we got in Playa Samara, next time a visit to Manuel Antonio will be on the itinerary.