I had all this up on a website that discontinued their service as a website. Live and learn ... stick to reputable blog sites for blogging trips!!
I had to copy/paste all my blog posts and pictures from the other site to this one, so they don't have accurate dates.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Sunday
Trip home ... I am so grateful that I got to come to Costa Rica for 10 days. This place amazes me. Everything I see and do here makes me want to keep coming back! COSTA RICA IS SO BEAUTIFUL. We had such great weather and we able to do all we planed for and a whole lot more!!!
I'm sad to go back to real life. I wanna stay here, at the beach ~ Pura Vida forever.
Plane, bus & train were all great and easy & I got to my car and home by 11:30pm.
Costa Rica 2012!
I'm sad to go back to real life. I wanna stay here, at the beach ~ Pura Vida forever.
Plane, bus & train were all great and easy & I got to my car and home by 11:30pm.
Costa Rica 2012!
Saturday ~ the last day ...
The last day in Costa Rica :( suuuuper sad face.
Well, Arturo attempted to ruin our day AGAIN but we had a great day anyways!!
We were supposed to go on a tour of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano national park with Cesar, the guy that gave us the serpentarium tour. We were so excited cause he's a biologist and he would've told us so much about the plants and birds and animals and he would've found them for us to see. BUT ... Arturo gave him the day off, completely disregarding that we had a tour booked with him. We were SO disappointed. LUCKILY Arturo wasn't there and the kid that was, completely knew we got screwed over so he tried his best to make up for it and have us some pretty awesome deals to make up for it!!! We got the tour of the national park with Johnny instead. Johnny is like the nicest guy ... So eager to please and make sure we were really happy. He had no knowledge about most of what we saw, but he tried his best and we appreciated it! We actually saw a tucan and some spider and howler monkeys on the tour. We saw a mini volcano and mud pools and a pool with boiling water. It was like a mini mini Yellowstone without a geyser.
We saw a small waterfall and the trees and scenery were beautiful. Again, butterflies everywhere! It's a dry forest and its cool to see all the volcano stuff right on and around a lush forest. It was beautiful!! (I really need to find new adjectives ~ there aren't enough to adequately describe Costa Rica!)
From there we walked to the Oropéndula waterfall (the one we saw our first day - but that day was overcast so we really wanted to go back and see it with sunshine) It was sunny and just gorgeous, stunning, breath-taking!!! We went swimming and even crawled up the rocks to stand behind it. There were so many butterflies in here, we saw so many blue morphos and monarchs! There was a few times when I just swam towards the waterfall, and just looked up at it and saw butterflies and the falls in the sunlight ... It was seriously one of my 5 most favorite moments in LIFE!!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!! I really just wanted to freeze that moment and remember it forever!
We walked back out and Christina had messed her knee up, so Johnny said one of the guys at the little snack shop we are walking to was a masseuse ... So he came over and worked on her knee for 5 min. Then they took us to the Thermal Hot Springs!!
They were SO PRETTY in the daylight and they are just these natural volcanic hot springs pools by a stream. So peaceful, feels so good & so warm :). Unfortunately a bunch of tourists arrived ... Not as good when it's crowded ... The worker there told us there was one pool kind of tucked away that no one was using so we went over there and it was all secluded and nice!! It was by an even prettier spot on the stream and no one was there!
We were done by 4 and the next shuttle was at 4:40 but judging from their track record, it was gonna be late and we wouldn't get back till after 5:00 and we had to pick up our cd of pix and videos!! So we decide to walk 5 km back. Ha!!!! We started walking, giant uphill followed by another uphill ... We stared regretting our decision. And after walking about 10-15 min, this car drives by with a cute, young French couple and they ask us where we are going and offer us a ride!!! WE ARE SOOOOOO LUCKY!!!! They were also staying at the hotel and had a room right by us!!! Oh my gosh, we were so thankful to them!!!
Because of all that ... We had missed lunch so we were STARVING for dinner!!!
Dinner, pack, sleep and 4:15 am pickup for the airport.
Oropéndula Falls
Well, Arturo attempted to ruin our day AGAIN but we had a great day anyways!!
We were supposed to go on a tour of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano national park with Cesar, the guy that gave us the serpentarium tour. We were so excited cause he's a biologist and he would've told us so much about the plants and birds and animals and he would've found them for us to see. BUT ... Arturo gave him the day off, completely disregarding that we had a tour booked with him. We were SO disappointed. LUCKILY Arturo wasn't there and the kid that was, completely knew we got screwed over so he tried his best to make up for it and have us some pretty awesome deals to make up for it!!! We got the tour of the national park with Johnny instead. Johnny is like the nicest guy ... So eager to please and make sure we were really happy. He had no knowledge about most of what we saw, but he tried his best and we appreciated it! We actually saw a tucan and some spider and howler monkeys on the tour. We saw a mini volcano and mud pools and a pool with boiling water. It was like a mini mini Yellowstone without a geyser.
We saw a small waterfall and the trees and scenery were beautiful. Again, butterflies everywhere! It's a dry forest and its cool to see all the volcano stuff right on and around a lush forest. It was beautiful!! (I really need to find new adjectives ~ there aren't enough to adequately describe Costa Rica!)
From there we walked to the Oropéndula waterfall (the one we saw our first day - but that day was overcast so we really wanted to go back and see it with sunshine) It was sunny and just gorgeous, stunning, breath-taking!!! We went swimming and even crawled up the rocks to stand behind it. There were so many butterflies in here, we saw so many blue morphos and monarchs! There was a few times when I just swam towards the waterfall, and just looked up at it and saw butterflies and the falls in the sunlight ... It was seriously one of my 5 most favorite moments in LIFE!!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!! I really just wanted to freeze that moment and remember it forever!
We walked back out and Christina had messed her knee up, so Johnny said one of the guys at the little snack shop we are walking to was a masseuse ... So he came over and worked on her knee for 5 min. Then they took us to the Thermal Hot Springs!!
They were SO PRETTY in the daylight and they are just these natural volcanic hot springs pools by a stream. So peaceful, feels so good & so warm :). Unfortunately a bunch of tourists arrived ... Not as good when it's crowded ... The worker there told us there was one pool kind of tucked away that no one was using so we went over there and it was all secluded and nice!! It was by an even prettier spot on the stream and no one was there!
We were done by 4 and the next shuttle was at 4:40 but judging from their track record, it was gonna be late and we wouldn't get back till after 5:00 and we had to pick up our cd of pix and videos!! So we decide to walk 5 km back. Ha!!!! We started walking, giant uphill followed by another uphill ... We stared regretting our decision. And after walking about 10-15 min, this car drives by with a cute, young French couple and they ask us where we are going and offer us a ride!!! WE ARE SOOOOOO LUCKY!!!! They were also staying at the hotel and had a room right by us!!! Oh my gosh, we were so thankful to them!!!
Because of all that ... We had missed lunch so we were STARVING for dinner!!!
Dinner, pack, sleep and 4:15 am pickup for the airport.
Oropéndula Falls
Friday at the Hacienda
We got up early in the morning to hike over to the Chorreras Waterfalls and hopefully catch them with some sunlight and go swimming. It was about a 20 min walk and it was soooooo cool because we got the whole place to ourselves for a whole hour!!! It was cold, but so so so so pretty!!!!
We hurried to be back by 8:30 to do the tubing an hour early so that we could fit in the thermal hot springs at the end of the day ... But the jerky guy from the first day ~ Arturo ~ was there to ruin the fun. That guy was SUCH a jerk ... And his little smirk the whole time you talk to him. Grrrrrrrrrr!!! He made us wait till 9:30 for tubing.
Tubing was SO MUCH fun!!!!!! You just float down the river in an inner tube with handles to hold during the rapids. The rapids were small so it was just fun!! I saw SO MANY butterflies, including the blue morphos which is my most favorite <3. The butterflies were everywhere, it was spectacularly beautiful!!
Oh, it's funny - they transport is in these school buses and they treat them like 4x4s! We even drove through a shallow river with the bus - A SCHOOL BUS!!!
After tubing, we had our tour to the symbiosis volcanic mud spa. We were going to go early and get massages and then catch the last trip to the thermal pools but ... Arturo said NO. We had to wait till 2pm to go ... So when we got there, here's what you do: you sit in a dry sauna for 10 minutes ... Then they scoop up some volcanic mud from one of the spots where it bubbles up and you paint it on you ... Sit to dry and go wash it off in a thermal hot pool (luke warmish). Shower off and you're done. Because the shuttle was running late, we had to forfeit our massages :(. (Grrrrrr, Arturo)
But ... Our shuttle back took all the employees back also and the massage therapist said she could do our massages at the hotel ... So, we actually still got our massages ;) Mine felt so wonderful after doing so much and being sore and a little bit worn out!!
Oh and I got to go out to this mirador to watch the sunset before the massage! It's a little place that's supposed to harness the energy from the volcano on one side and the coast on the other and fill you with good vibes. ;)
We have been going to sleep around 10pm here - hahaha!!!! So weird for me!
Boooo for Arturo but we still had an awesome day!!!!
School bus, you know, for some 4x4 action!
Sunset
Sunset
We hurried to be back by 8:30 to do the tubing an hour early so that we could fit in the thermal hot springs at the end of the day ... But the jerky guy from the first day ~ Arturo ~ was there to ruin the fun. That guy was SUCH a jerk ... And his little smirk the whole time you talk to him. Grrrrrrrrrr!!! He made us wait till 9:30 for tubing.
Tubing was SO MUCH fun!!!!!! You just float down the river in an inner tube with handles to hold during the rapids. The rapids were small so it was just fun!! I saw SO MANY butterflies, including the blue morphos which is my most favorite <3. The butterflies were everywhere, it was spectacularly beautiful!!
Oh, it's funny - they transport is in these school buses and they treat them like 4x4s! We even drove through a shallow river with the bus - A SCHOOL BUS!!!
After tubing, we had our tour to the symbiosis volcanic mud spa. We were going to go early and get massages and then catch the last trip to the thermal pools but ... Arturo said NO. We had to wait till 2pm to go ... So when we got there, here's what you do: you sit in a dry sauna for 10 minutes ... Then they scoop up some volcanic mud from one of the spots where it bubbles up and you paint it on you ... Sit to dry and go wash it off in a thermal hot pool (luke warmish). Shower off and you're done. Because the shuttle was running late, we had to forfeit our massages :(. (Grrrrrr, Arturo)
But ... Our shuttle back took all the employees back also and the massage therapist said she could do our massages at the hotel ... So, we actually still got our massages ;) Mine felt so wonderful after doing so much and being sore and a little bit worn out!!
Oh and I got to go out to this mirador to watch the sunset before the massage! It's a little place that's supposed to harness the energy from the volcano on one side and the coast on the other and fill you with good vibes. ;)
We have been going to sleep around 10pm here - hahaha!!!! So weird for me!
Boooo for Arturo but we still had an awesome day!!!!
School bus, you know, for some 4x4 action!
Sunset
Sunset
Thanksgiving at the Hacienda Guachipelín
Thanksgiving at Hacienda Guachipelín
This is how to do Thanksgiving!! We started the day with our canopy tour ~ zip lining. But there was so much more to it!!! We got to rappel UP SIDE DOWN and then rock climb back up. There were spots where we got to Tarzan swing across and via ferata traverse or climb. On one of the Tarzan swings, they spun me around so much!! A couple of the cables for zipping went from one high wall of the canyon to another with the river below. It was thrilling AND gorgeous!! On the last zip, you also got to go upside down!!! I can't wait to see the pix from that!! We have a photo/video package we are getting where the camera guys follow you to all your activities and are your paparazzi :) then we get it all on a cd.
From there, we got to go to the coolest serpentarium I've ever been to!!! It was the coolest cause it was outside so not as stressful for the snakes ... And the guy giving us the tour was studying biology and herpetology and caught most of the snakes there himself! He catches a male and female, reproduces them and let's them go ... Recycling and protecting them. He even hand feeds these poisonous little vipers till they're old enough to eat for themselves!!! They were all like his favorite pet and he told us so many cool things about them and let us hold a couple, including a boa!! We saw some frogs too. One is the frog Kermit the Frog was modeled after!! And the butterfly garden ... Some stupid tourist let all the butterflies out the day before. So they're buying some from another to replenish. But honestly, everywhere we go, we've seen the prettiest butterflies just in nature I don't even feel like I need to go to the butterfly garden!
After that we had lunch and our Canyoning tour got delayed by a half hour so to make up for it they took us on horses over to the chorreras falls. It's one fall that splits into two and the pool is aquamarine and just gorgeous!!! We just got to look but we so wanted to go back for a swim there!! Then the canyoning guys: monkey #1, 2 the other monkey, King Kong (the driver) and our paparazzi picked us up to go play!!
It was a little sketchy cause they just had all their ropes and gear with them - and were setting things up as we went. Everything else I've done is pre set and with sturdy looking cables and ropes. This was fine, but at the moment - it really made us nervous! We started on a platform above a little waterfall on the river and rappelled into the water. The rope wasn't long so you had to jump in the water at the end of your rappel, no matter what! About an 8 foot drop ... Easy if you slowed down while you still had rope!!! Then you climb up the via ferata that's set up below the waterfall - unless you are Jeannie and with the extra water weight and with flimsy water shoes and slippery steps and the water falling on you ---- you can't!!! But if you're Christina, you climb right up and get to jump again ;)
Then we walk over to another spot, and rappelled down a rock to a spot next to a larger falls - Victoria Falls. There, it was really scary.
I went first and they were strapping me in for literally 15 minutes while I stood on a rock on the edge of the waterfall!!! I was already freaked out cause of the small, on the spot, ropes ... And now they are making me stand on a wet, slippery rock while they tug and adjust and ... I don't know what they were doing!!! But a few times, they tugged hard enough that I was gonna loose my balance and fall off the rock! I was freaked out!!! Finally, they got me all secured and I got to jump into the Tarzan swing, and back into the waterfall, which spits you back out and you just keep swinging in and out of the waterfall for a while!!!! Super fun!! I can't wait to see the pix and videos of that either!!!
This is the longest post! We did so much!! When we got back from canyoning, we had just missed the shuttle over to the thermal hot springs (they are 5 pools with the volcano hot springs continually refreshing them) The hottest was 102 degrees, the others just a little cooler but still hot!!! And it's gorgeous because they are green color and they're by the river! So you can spread volcanic mud on yourself and go rinse off in the cold river and jump into the hot thermal pools!!! They got someone to drive us over anyways so we could go enjoy it for 50 min. We didn't have much time so we skipped the mud. Christina had seen pics of this place on Pintrest and has ALWAYS wanted to find out where it was to go!!!! She was so surprised when we walked up to it!!! We really wanna go back and enjoy it at daylight cause when we got there, we had about 15 min of daylight and then it got dark!!!
We caught the last shuttle back to the hotel, had dinner and a GREAT night's sleep!!!!
WHAT A DAY!!!!!!!!
This is how to do Thanksgiving!! We started the day with our canopy tour ~ zip lining. But there was so much more to it!!! We got to rappel UP SIDE DOWN and then rock climb back up. There were spots where we got to Tarzan swing across and via ferata traverse or climb. On one of the Tarzan swings, they spun me around so much!! A couple of the cables for zipping went from one high wall of the canyon to another with the river below. It was thrilling AND gorgeous!! On the last zip, you also got to go upside down!!! I can't wait to see the pix from that!! We have a photo/video package we are getting where the camera guys follow you to all your activities and are your paparazzi :) then we get it all on a cd.
From there, we got to go to the coolest serpentarium I've ever been to!!! It was the coolest cause it was outside so not as stressful for the snakes ... And the guy giving us the tour was studying biology and herpetology and caught most of the snakes there himself! He catches a male and female, reproduces them and let's them go ... Recycling and protecting them. He even hand feeds these poisonous little vipers till they're old enough to eat for themselves!!! They were all like his favorite pet and he told us so many cool things about them and let us hold a couple, including a boa!! We saw some frogs too. One is the frog Kermit the Frog was modeled after!! And the butterfly garden ... Some stupid tourist let all the butterflies out the day before. So they're buying some from another to replenish. But honestly, everywhere we go, we've seen the prettiest butterflies just in nature I don't even feel like I need to go to the butterfly garden!
After that we had lunch and our Canyoning tour got delayed by a half hour so to make up for it they took us on horses over to the chorreras falls. It's one fall that splits into two and the pool is aquamarine and just gorgeous!!! We just got to look but we so wanted to go back for a swim there!! Then the canyoning guys: monkey #1, 2 the other monkey, King Kong (the driver) and our paparazzi picked us up to go play!!
It was a little sketchy cause they just had all their ropes and gear with them - and were setting things up as we went. Everything else I've done is pre set and with sturdy looking cables and ropes. This was fine, but at the moment - it really made us nervous! We started on a platform above a little waterfall on the river and rappelled into the water. The rope wasn't long so you had to jump in the water at the end of your rappel, no matter what! About an 8 foot drop ... Easy if you slowed down while you still had rope!!! Then you climb up the via ferata that's set up below the waterfall - unless you are Jeannie and with the extra water weight and with flimsy water shoes and slippery steps and the water falling on you ---- you can't!!! But if you're Christina, you climb right up and get to jump again ;)
Then we walk over to another spot, and rappelled down a rock to a spot next to a larger falls - Victoria Falls. There, it was really scary.
I went first and they were strapping me in for literally 15 minutes while I stood on a rock on the edge of the waterfall!!! I was already freaked out cause of the small, on the spot, ropes ... And now they are making me stand on a wet, slippery rock while they tug and adjust and ... I don't know what they were doing!!! But a few times, they tugged hard enough that I was gonna loose my balance and fall off the rock! I was freaked out!!! Finally, they got me all secured and I got to jump into the Tarzan swing, and back into the waterfall, which spits you back out and you just keep swinging in and out of the waterfall for a while!!!! Super fun!! I can't wait to see the pix and videos of that either!!!
This is the longest post! We did so much!! When we got back from canyoning, we had just missed the shuttle over to the thermal hot springs (they are 5 pools with the volcano hot springs continually refreshing them) The hottest was 102 degrees, the others just a little cooler but still hot!!! And it's gorgeous because they are green color and they're by the river! So you can spread volcanic mud on yourself and go rinse off in the cold river and jump into the hot thermal pools!!! They got someone to drive us over anyways so we could go enjoy it for 50 min. We didn't have much time so we skipped the mud. Christina had seen pics of this place on Pintrest and has ALWAYS wanted to find out where it was to go!!!! She was so surprised when we walked up to it!!! We really wanna go back and enjoy it at daylight cause when we got there, we had about 15 min of daylight and then it got dark!!!
We caught the last shuttle back to the hotel, had dinner and a GREAT night's sleep!!!!
WHAT A DAY!!!!!!!!
Hacienda Guachipelín
Wow. We got here at 1:00 and couldn't check into our room till 2:00. The receptionist was so not helpful and I knew we had a horse back ride to the waterfalls scheduled ... So I was all worried about checking into that on time. We had to go over to the Adventure Tours Office ... And they said to just come back by 3:00.
So we get lunch and on our way to our room this guy says, if you're going to horse back ride, you better get there by 2:00 or 2:30 instead. Then, we get there and it's a totally different tour than the one I thought was booked for us ... So I grab my paperwork and show the guy ... And he's all .... Oh, we Don't do that tour cause the road is bad ... Blah Blah. And all along he has this little smirk ... And I'm like trying to figure out how what we paid for matches with what they are taking us on!!!! I was in the worst mood over it - mostly cause this guy was infuriating with his little smirk know it all attitude.
Back to lunch, we must've arrived with a large bus or two full of European tourists that were just rude and the food was all picked over and stale - it was the WORST first impression!!!
And, yeah .... That was all not so fun. But this place actually is pretty awesome!!!!! Amazing!!!!
Once we were off on the horses, we were riding up a mountain, towards a rainbow, surrounded by butterflies!!! We had about a 45 min ride up to this gorgeous waterfall with a green-blue pool you could jump into and swim in. The water was cold!!!! And it's too bad it wasn't sunny cause that water would've been the prettiest color!!!
We came back and it was pretty much dark. Had dinner and called it a day. :)
I got tons of mosquito or whatever bites on my leg ...
All my pics are on my camera so I have none to post of the waterfall (Oropéndula)
Herding the cows ~ view from the restaurant
Stable
Grounds
Grounds
Right outside our door
So we get lunch and on our way to our room this guy says, if you're going to horse back ride, you better get there by 2:00 or 2:30 instead. Then, we get there and it's a totally different tour than the one I thought was booked for us ... So I grab my paperwork and show the guy ... And he's all .... Oh, we Don't do that tour cause the road is bad ... Blah Blah. And all along he has this little smirk ... And I'm like trying to figure out how what we paid for matches with what they are taking us on!!!! I was in the worst mood over it - mostly cause this guy was infuriating with his little smirk know it all attitude.
Back to lunch, we must've arrived with a large bus or two full of European tourists that were just rude and the food was all picked over and stale - it was the WORST first impression!!!
And, yeah .... That was all not so fun. But this place actually is pretty awesome!!!!! Amazing!!!!
Once we were off on the horses, we were riding up a mountain, towards a rainbow, surrounded by butterflies!!! We had about a 45 min ride up to this gorgeous waterfall with a green-blue pool you could jump into and swim in. The water was cold!!!! And it's too bad it wasn't sunny cause that water would've been the prettiest color!!!
We came back and it was pretty much dark. Had dinner and called it a day. :)
I got tons of mosquito or whatever bites on my leg ...
All my pics are on my camera so I have none to post of the waterfall (Oropéndula)
Herding the cows ~ view from the restaurant
Stable
Grounds
Grounds
Right outside our door
Wednesday ~ Tamarindo & Hacienda Guachipelín
After my awesome walk ... Which by the way, I almost took this little hiking path that was full of little bright orange crab ~ and I chickened out wondering what else might live in the bushes!!! And I also saw a transvestite on the beach .... Just interesting stuff!!
I recuperated my ATM card - yay!!!! And got about 40 minutes of beach / swim / body surf time on the beach before we had to be picked up at 11:00am.
We got to the Hacienda ... About 1:40 from Tamarindo and well ... I'll have to write about it later! It was a crazy bad first impression (but now I think it's the greatest!!)
We are in room 61 ... On a ranch ... At the foot of the volcano Rincón de la Vieja. It's gorgeous and peaceful and surrounded by the beauty of Costa Rica lushness!!!
I'll tell about Wednesday in another post.
Our room
That's my home till Sunday
View out my front door this morning
I recuperated my ATM card - yay!!!! And got about 40 minutes of beach / swim / body surf time on the beach before we had to be picked up at 11:00am.
We got to the Hacienda ... About 1:40 from Tamarindo and well ... I'll have to write about it later! It was a crazy bad first impression (but now I think it's the greatest!!)
We are in room 61 ... On a ranch ... At the foot of the volcano Rincón de la Vieja. It's gorgeous and peaceful and surrounded by the beauty of Costa Rica lushness!!!
I'll tell about Wednesday in another post.
Our room
That's my home till Sunday
View out my front door this morning
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