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
Tuesday in Tamarindo
Tuesday in Tamarindo
We got picked up at 6:30am and they took us inland by the La Vieja volcano which is actually right by where we are staying the second half of our trip.
We got to rappel down a canyon wall and rock climb back up. I CANNOT rock climb, so mine was more of a reverse rappel where I held onto the rope and walked up while my poor belayer pulled me!!!
Then we loaded our rafts which basically looked like an inflatable (but completely sturdy) kayak and we went white water rafting!!! The Colorado River is in a canyon with really narrow and high walls formed years ago by the volcanic lava and lush vegetation all around it. It was absolutely gorgeous. It's impossible to try and describe how beautiful Costa Rica is! The whole time rafting we saw butterflies (even my MOST FAVORITE morphos ~ with the blue wings!!!!) and birds. We saw bats and really big freaky spiders!!! The rapids were pretty much class 2 and it was just fun and easy. I sat up front taking pictures and video and enjoying the view while my guide paddled!!! Hahaha!!! So fun!!!
We stopped to swim, cliff jump and rope swing into the water for a while. Seriously!!! Suuuuuuuper fun and gorgeous!!!
Then we went back into town and I swam and body surfed for a while. Christina and I also saved like 20 sand dollars from drying out on the sand ~ I'm sure they would've been fine without our help, but we prefer to think we saved them! SAVE THE SAND DOLLARS! This was after I picked one up to bring it home and had regrets about killing a sea creature so I put it back in the water and watched it burrow itself back to safety!! Then the ocean paid us $4! (Found money floating in the water!!)
Our dinner was at this typical Tico restaurant and my favorite meal yet. Mmmmm. Lomito con gallo pinto & papas cocidas with quesadillas. Y. U. M!!
We went to sleep early cause we really only slept 4 hours Monday night ~ but the disco across the street was playing some tropical music that ~ seriously I can sleep through anything, except apparently that!!! Had to put in earphones and listen to my own. Christina had a horrible night :( not able to sleep and with a stomach flu.
Oh! Our last sunset in Tamarindo was perfect. With some clouds ~ this place has the prettiest sunsets!!
I so don't want to leave!!!
Sunset time
Tamarindo ~ sunset
Sunset & a Coke!
Hotel Zullymar
Our hotel in Tamarindo ~ across the street from the beach
Hotel Zullymar
We got picked up at 6:30am and they took us inland by the La Vieja volcano which is actually right by where we are staying the second half of our trip.
We got to rappel down a canyon wall and rock climb back up. I CANNOT rock climb, so mine was more of a reverse rappel where I held onto the rope and walked up while my poor belayer pulled me!!!
Then we loaded our rafts which basically looked like an inflatable (but completely sturdy) kayak and we went white water rafting!!! The Colorado River is in a canyon with really narrow and high walls formed years ago by the volcanic lava and lush vegetation all around it. It was absolutely gorgeous. It's impossible to try and describe how beautiful Costa Rica is! The whole time rafting we saw butterflies (even my MOST FAVORITE morphos ~ with the blue wings!!!!) and birds. We saw bats and really big freaky spiders!!! The rapids were pretty much class 2 and it was just fun and easy. I sat up front taking pictures and video and enjoying the view while my guide paddled!!! Hahaha!!! So fun!!!
We stopped to swim, cliff jump and rope swing into the water for a while. Seriously!!! Suuuuuuuper fun and gorgeous!!!
Then we went back into town and I swam and body surfed for a while. Christina and I also saved like 20 sand dollars from drying out on the sand ~ I'm sure they would've been fine without our help, but we prefer to think we saved them! SAVE THE SAND DOLLARS! This was after I picked one up to bring it home and had regrets about killing a sea creature so I put it back in the water and watched it burrow itself back to safety!! Then the ocean paid us $4! (Found money floating in the water!!)
Our dinner was at this typical Tico restaurant and my favorite meal yet. Mmmmm. Lomito con gallo pinto & papas cocidas with quesadillas. Y. U. M!!
We went to sleep early cause we really only slept 4 hours Monday night ~ but the disco across the street was playing some tropical music that ~ seriously I can sleep through anything, except apparently that!!! Had to put in earphones and listen to my own. Christina had a horrible night :( not able to sleep and with a stomach flu.
Oh! Our last sunset in Tamarindo was perfect. With some clouds ~ this place has the prettiest sunsets!!
I so don't want to leave!!!
Sunset time
Tamarindo ~ sunset
Sunset & a Coke!
Hotel Zullymar
Our hotel in Tamarindo ~ across the street from the beach
Hotel Zullymar
Walk ...
I haven't had wifi for like a day!!
Right now I'm sitting on a very deserted beach. It's 8:30am and I just walked down the coast to the point, past the point, to the next point ... It's kind of addicting. If time wasn't an issue, I'd end up in Panama!!
It's our first overcast day since we got here. The weather has been amazing. It's gonna clear up by later and be sunny but we're leaving Tamarindo in a couple of hours. Super sad face!!!
I was going to sit here and write about yesterday but instead I'll just write about sitting here! I wanna enjoy the ocean instead!! I can't get enough.
Right now I'm sitting on a very deserted beach. It's 8:30am and I just walked down the coast to the point, past the point, to the next point ... It's kind of addicting. If time wasn't an issue, I'd end up in Panama!!
It's our first overcast day since we got here. The weather has been amazing. It's gonna clear up by later and be sunny but we're leaving Tamarindo in a couple of hours. Super sad face!!!
I was going to sit here and write about yesterday but instead I'll just write about sitting here! I wanna enjoy the ocean instead!! I can't get enough.
Monday ~ Tamarindo
What a fun day!!! On the itinerary it said: free day at Tamarindo ... Here's how we spent it! We took kayaks from shore to this little island. The water was pretty rough and it was windy ~ it was a little intimidating knowing there are crazy currents and rocks to crash into. One option was to go around the island on the kayak but its open ocean with waves and rocks ... Didn't wanna risk it. So we parked our kayaks on the island and went to explore. It was basically a giant tide pool!! It was gorgeous and it was fun just climbing on the rocks and enjoying the view. One side of the island was covered with these white shells, looked like a shell graveyard. Awesome!!
The way back was tricky because the wind was picking up and it was kinda rough!!! I had to kayak through two breaking waves ... I was so worried they were gonna tip me over!!
Back at shore, you also have to surf the waves ~ and I made the first but got dumped on the second! Hahaha.
Best thing: I swear we were out for like 2 hours and they only charged us $20!
We had just enough time for lunch, and then we went on an ATV tour to a pretty beach and to watch the sunset from some place called Pirata rock!
We decided to share an ATV instead of each getting our own and when we started going up a couple steep things, I gunned it too fast and almost lost Christina ~ so we decided it might be a better idea for her to ride with the guide instead of with throttle-happy me!! It was a good call cause on the next uphill, Christina said my front wheels left the ground for a little bit. Eeek!! And, I'm sure the guide was NOT bummed to have Christina behind him, hee hee!
Riding the ATV's was fun!! At one point we heard this loud growl. I thought, was that a bear!?! So we stop and its some howler monkeys. SO COOL!!! Later we found a tree with a whole FAMILY of howler monkeys!!!! Sooooooo coooooool.
We rode for like an hour. And got to this gorgeous beach. We had some time to swim and enjoy it. The sun was almost setting while we were there. It was further north than where the catamaran took us.
Then we took off for Pirata Rock and that sun was setting FAST. He had to take us somewhere a little closer so we wouldn't miss it, and guess what?! We missed it. We missed one of our four Tamarindo Sunsets .... Nooooooooo!! But we only missed it by a couple of minutes and it was still gorgeous and breath taking!!!
I got so full of dirt from riding behind the guide ... It made for some hilarious pictures! HA!!
Then we ended our day with some Sushi and guess what?!? The owner and server were some of our party people on the party boat! We chatted like old friends ;) Costa Rica is the friendliest. Pete (the owner) was cracking up cause we told him he looked good with clothes on!! (He was rocking a speedo and a bow tie on the boat!!)
The restaurant had a disco going on so we checked that out for a minute too.
A++ day at Tamarindo! Tomorrow it's white water rafting ....
The island we kayaked to!
The way back was tricky because the wind was picking up and it was kinda rough!!! I had to kayak through two breaking waves ... I was so worried they were gonna tip me over!!
Back at shore, you also have to surf the waves ~ and I made the first but got dumped on the second! Hahaha.
Best thing: I swear we were out for like 2 hours and they only charged us $20!
We had just enough time for lunch, and then we went on an ATV tour to a pretty beach and to watch the sunset from some place called Pirata rock!
We decided to share an ATV instead of each getting our own and when we started going up a couple steep things, I gunned it too fast and almost lost Christina ~ so we decided it might be a better idea for her to ride with the guide instead of with throttle-happy me!! It was a good call cause on the next uphill, Christina said my front wheels left the ground for a little bit. Eeek!! And, I'm sure the guide was NOT bummed to have Christina behind him, hee hee!
Riding the ATV's was fun!! At one point we heard this loud growl. I thought, was that a bear!?! So we stop and its some howler monkeys. SO COOL!!! Later we found a tree with a whole FAMILY of howler monkeys!!!! Sooooooo coooooool.
We rode for like an hour. And got to this gorgeous beach. We had some time to swim and enjoy it. The sun was almost setting while we were there. It was further north than where the catamaran took us.
Then we took off for Pirata Rock and that sun was setting FAST. He had to take us somewhere a little closer so we wouldn't miss it, and guess what?! We missed it. We missed one of our four Tamarindo Sunsets .... Nooooooooo!! But we only missed it by a couple of minutes and it was still gorgeous and breath taking!!!
I got so full of dirt from riding behind the guide ... It made for some hilarious pictures! HA!!
Then we ended our day with some Sushi and guess what?!? The owner and server were some of our party people on the party boat! We chatted like old friends ;) Costa Rica is the friendliest. Pete (the owner) was cracking up cause we told him he looked good with clothes on!! (He was rocking a speedo and a bow tie on the boat!!)
The restaurant had a disco going on so we checked that out for a minute too.
A++ day at Tamarindo! Tomorrow it's white water rafting ....
The island we kayaked to!
Villa 420
Our hotel is called Zullymar, but I'm renaming it Villa 420. Our neighbor downstairs likes his weed and smokes quite a bit of it each night and each morning. I really like hanging out on the balcony for some reason, and then, oddly, I'm super hungry for some munchies ;)
Day 2 in Tamarindo
I woke up to a GORGEOUS sunny day. We had some free time this morning, so we walked down to the beach (which, by the way, is across the street and from our hotel!) ... And GASPED! Cause the water was so far and there were all these rocks!! It looked like a completely different place from yesterday!!!
I guess there's a very dramatic high tide/low tide. Every 6 hours it shifts - and looks so different, I LOVE IT!!!!
The beach was gorgeous and we walked all down the one side. It's such a huge beach!
Grabbed some salads and headed to our Catamaran Cruise. Wow! So ... We got put on a PARTY BOAT! It was some girls's 21st b-day party and she had half the town celebrating it with her plus a handful of other tourists and us! They brought a Dj and all his equipment on board! Basically, they were these party people from all over the world that live here in Tamarindo. One of the guys owns the big disco here - and, well, everyone in that party was gorgeous and crazy!
Let's just say it was a PARTY! And that we had fun ~ cause we did! It took us to this gorgeous cove with an island to swim and snorkel. We got to hold some starfish a guy scraped off a rock. There was some dancing on the boat ... Light lunch ... And the most loud, party sunset I've ever watched!!!!!
We have the night free. Sure doesn't feel like Sunday ;)
Ohhh, there were two catamarans. One was a church group and one was the party group ... That just made me laugh cause I so should've been on the church one, but I know I had so much more fun on the party one ~ it's just Costa Rica and you've gotta just PURA VIDA!!!! (and we had no choice!)
And yay for being here with Christina cause its more fun than alone!!
Tamarindo Beach
Rocks that were under water yesterday!!
Tamarindo
Catamaran cruise
Catamaran cruise
I guess there's a very dramatic high tide/low tide. Every 6 hours it shifts - and looks so different, I LOVE IT!!!!
The beach was gorgeous and we walked all down the one side. It's such a huge beach!
Grabbed some salads and headed to our Catamaran Cruise. Wow! So ... We got put on a PARTY BOAT! It was some girls's 21st b-day party and she had half the town celebrating it with her plus a handful of other tourists and us! They brought a Dj and all his equipment on board! Basically, they were these party people from all over the world that live here in Tamarindo. One of the guys owns the big disco here - and, well, everyone in that party was gorgeous and crazy!
Let's just say it was a PARTY! And that we had fun ~ cause we did! It took us to this gorgeous cove with an island to swim and snorkel. We got to hold some starfish a guy scraped off a rock. There was some dancing on the boat ... Light lunch ... And the most loud, party sunset I've ever watched!!!!!
We have the night free. Sure doesn't feel like Sunday ;)
Ohhh, there were two catamarans. One was a church group and one was the party group ... That just made me laugh cause I so should've been on the church one, but I know I had so much more fun on the party one ~ it's just Costa Rica and you've gotta just PURA VIDA!!!! (and we had no choice!)
And yay for being here with Christina cause its more fun than alone!!
Tamarindo Beach
Rocks that were under water yesterday!!
Tamarindo
Catamaran cruise
Catamaran cruise
TAMARINDO
Tamarindo is gorgeous! Got in around 3 and went to eat cause we were starving! Mmmmm, yummy Costa Rican food!!!
Then I went for a swim in the ocean. I can't post pictures right now .... But wow!!! I will post a few, but because I didn't bring my iPad, i can only post the pics I took with my cell, not my camera!!! I'll have to remember to take some cell pix as well so i have some to post here!!
Nice waves, warm water & it was around 90 degrees! We watched the sunset and then went swimming again post-sunset till it got dark!!!! JUST THE BEST!!!
The sky was so pretty and ... Yeah ... It's hard to describe just how pretty it is!!! Plus it was a beautiful sunny day with barely any clouds.
We are both pretty beat. Bed before 11pm is sounding good right now! And if this post makes no sense it's cause of me being tired.
Oh, I let an ATM machine eat my debit card today. Ooops. I have a backup but I was bummed!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT HERE!!!!
Tamarindo Beach
Tamarindo Beach
Almost sunset time!
Then I went for a swim in the ocean. I can't post pictures right now .... But wow!!! I will post a few, but because I didn't bring my iPad, i can only post the pics I took with my cell, not my camera!!! I'll have to remember to take some cell pix as well so i have some to post here!!
Nice waves, warm water & it was around 90 degrees! We watched the sunset and then went swimming again post-sunset till it got dark!!!! JUST THE BEST!!!
The sky was so pretty and ... Yeah ... It's hard to describe just how pretty it is!!! Plus it was a beautiful sunny day with barely any clouds.
We are both pretty beat. Bed before 11pm is sounding good right now! And if this post makes no sense it's cause of me being tired.
Oh, I let an ATM machine eat my debit card today. Ooops. I have a backup but I was bummed!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT HERE!!!!
Tamarindo Beach
Tamarindo Beach
Almost sunset time!
Flying
Miami from the plane
Lake Nicaragua
View of the coast coming into Liberia
Coming into Liberia Airport
View before landing
Liberia Airport
Admiral's Club
I randomly got an invitation to try out America Airline's admiral's club. So when we arrived in Miami, we went straight there. They have comfy seats and complimentary food and snacks. You feel all VIP hanging out in there. But the greatest was that they have showers! Wow! If I travelled for a living, I'd for sure invest in a membership like this.
Christina
So my friend, Christina, is joining me on this trip. We booked our flights on different days so we have different flight times to and from Miami ~ but at least we're on the same flight to Costa Rica!!! We met up at LAX for about a half hour. Neither one of us got much sleep last night! Ha!!
Tired, but so excited!
Tired, but so excited!
TRAIN, BUS, PLANE
I decided I didn't want to inconvenience anyone with driving to LAX and back on a Friday night, so I looked into Amtrak and FlyAway. I thought it sounded like a fun adventure and I could leave my car at the Irvine station for free.
I took the Pacific Surfliner to Union Station. There, I jumped on a FlyAway airport shuttle. I even made $1.00 cause they wouldn't take cash so I got tix for these Australian girls that didn't have credit cards ~ and they wanted me to keep a dollar!!
I'll be getting to LAX early, but that's OK. More time to relax, which is what vacation is allll about!
The adventure begins in Irvine.
My Train!
Surfliner arrives at Union Station
Union Station .... While looking for the FlyAway Bus!
http://youtu.be/a8p14rA6MNw
FlyAway Bus from Union Station to LAX
Inside the FlyAway ... Pulling into LAX
I took the Pacific Surfliner to Union Station. There, I jumped on a FlyAway airport shuttle. I even made $1.00 cause they wouldn't take cash so I got tix for these Australian girls that didn't have credit cards ~ and they wanted me to keep a dollar!!
I'll be getting to LAX early, but that's OK. More time to relax, which is what vacation is allll about!
The adventure begins in Irvine.
My Train!
Surfliner arrives at Union Station
Union Station .... While looking for the FlyAway Bus!
http://youtu.be/a8p14rA6MNw
FlyAway Bus from Union Station to LAX
Inside the FlyAway ... Pulling into LAX
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