Today was our first, and only full day of relaxing on the beach! We took advantage of every moment of sun, and the all inclusive meal/drink package. We had breakfast at the resort in the outdoor area, the breeze coming in from the ocean was such a relaxing way to start the day. During breakfast we noticed something hanging from the ceiling of the outdoor area. Come to find out, it was the tail of a pretty massive lizard that lives in the beams. Keeping our eye on that huge tail, we kept eating. Of course, the one second we looked away from the tail.. it vanished! I was slightly freaking out when I noticed a woman taking pictures behind the trash can. Walking over to see what she was looking at, my eyes fell upon a huge, almost 4 foot, lizard! He was just hanging out eating a piece of pineapple that someone dropped. The lizard grabbed the pineapple in his mouth and started back up the wall for his little secret hideaway until the next piece of food ended up in his territory. After breakfast we ended up by the pool. I always think it's stupid when people sit by the pool when there is a beach 20 feet away... but I kind of forgot about how terrible sand is. Also, there's no swim-up bar in the ocean. The sun is so extreme in Costa Rica that even a short amount of time in the sun is quite enough.. and sunscreen is beyond necessary! Mom and I were pretty pumped about getting massages, and BHW was just as excited about unlimited drinks. The hour before my massage, I had my mom put more sunscreen on my back. It seemed like she got it everywhere.. but apparently she got it NOWHERE. By the time I got to my massage, my back was like a lobster! My massage started out with a body scrub with coffee grounds that made me feel like my skin was falling off. When I went to my massage, I let the masseuse know that my back was burnt and to please avoid that. Thankfully she did, she was literally rubbing coffee grounds on my skin until it almost became unbearable. Just as I was about to tell her to stop, she put a warm towel on me to gently wipe away the grounds. Ahhh relief! I had a regular massage after the body scrub, it was wonderful! Once my massage was finished, BHW and I went out to the beach to watch another beautiful sunset and then to dinner at the restaurant at the resort. It was 'Tico' night! Tico is the term that Costa Ricans use to refer to themselves. There were, obviously, beans and rice, but many other options of tasty food! We had a late dinner so afterwards we all headed to our rooms for the night.. but not before grabbing a few beers to take back with us. We signed up for SCUBA diving for tomorrow, it will be BHW's first time! I haven't been in a while, I'm pumped!
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Today was our last day of Costa Rica so we decided to go out with a bang! We signed up for PADI certified SCUBA dive from our resort. Our morning was filled with cheesy videos about safety and the learning of the 11 essential underwater hand signals. We also spent some time in the pool getting accustomed to the SCUBA gear. My mom and myself (I think) are certified divers. But it has been long enough between dives that it wouldn't hurt to reacquaint ourselves with the underwater world before diving in.. literally.. haha. BHW has never been SCUBA diving before so this was a whole new experience for him! I was so excited for him to get the chance to explore in the deep blue sea, it's something everyone should at least try! In the afternoon we loaded up the boat and headed out for Catalina Island. It was just a short boat ride away from our hotel. Once we found a good spot, we geared up. The gear is super heavy when you're on land.. I can hardly walk with all the gear on my back. I was taking my new camera in the water for the first time, I was more nervous about that than the actual dive! After our instructor, Jessica, BHW was the first to go in. You don't actually 'dive' into the water.. you actually never dive.. you just kind of step/flop into the water. It's a pretty ungraceful act. There's honestly no pretty way to do it. So, you just have to go for it. We all descended for our first dive. My mom and I made it to the bottom pretty quickly. BHW was a little worried about equalizing his ears and the worrying proved to be necessary. He took a bit longer to make his way down. Once he and Jess got to the bottom, we were off in search of creatures of the sea! I don't know the names of everything we saw, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I will note that we did see a SEA TURTLE! I didn't get a good picture of it, but I'm not too worried about it. The experience itself was absolutely unforgettable. I was extremely impressed with my camera! The pictures came out beautifully, ones that I'll cherish forever! We went on 2 dives that were each about 30 minutes long. The visibility was so-so but we all had such a great time that it was a minor thing. Once the boat took us back to land, we all hopped in the shower to get ready for dinner. BHW had only a couple 'must do' things on his Costa Rica list.. one of them was visit Volcano Brewing Company. Thankfully it was just a short drive away from Flamingo Beach. By the time we got there it was dark but we could hear the ocean peacefully rocking its waves upon the sand when we arrived. There was an outdoor seating area on the beach and they had live music along with a huge bonfire. I guess the place started as a surf camp and has morphed into the brewery and also 2 restaurants! It was such a great night with good beer, great music, and the sand between our toes while we ate. Today was our last full day in the Arenal area before we head to Flamingo beach for a few days to wrap up our trip. After breakfast we hopped in the car and headed to Rio Celeste. We started our road trip to Rio Celeste on the nicest and well marked highway of the trip. We were giddy and smiling, thinking this was going to be a breeze compared to yesterdays off-roading adventure. Well, I can shove that thought right back into my head and never, never, EVER let them escape again. Just when we started getting used to the nice roads we turned left. We drove on possibly the worst roads in North America. There was a hill we went down that once we were at the bottom of, BHW muttered the words 'I sure hope we can get back up that thing'. NOT OKAY. I think everyone in that car was gritting their teeth the entire way. I'm so thankful we got the rental car fully insured because I think we may have caused some damage to the under body of that poor sedan. *Disclaimer: When booking the trip, the travel agent suggested we get FWD. I decided against it to save some money. ROOKIE MISTAKE. After a grueling 2 hour drive (which only one hour of it was actually grueling) we arrived at the entrance to Tenorio Volcano National Park, the access point to Rio Celeste. Of course, out of the 20 or so vehicles there.. we were one of the only cars. The locals had to have thought we were idiots. At this point in the trip, we would have agreed. The hike was a total of 6km to get to the falls, the blue lagoon, and the starting point of the river. Wait, why is the river so dang blue anyways? The short answer: The awe-inspiring Rio Celeste (Light Blue River) is turned a bright milky blue due to the emanation of sulfur from the volcano and precipitation of calcium carbonate. Two crystal clear rivers meet up, combine elements, and merge to create Rio Celeste. We reached the stairs to the waterfall and my jaw literally dropped. I've seen plenty of photos of this place.. but seeing it in person was unreal. I've had quite a few jaw dropping moments this trip; the night hike with the frogs, the hummingbirds, and this. Once we admired the falls for long enough, we hiked back up the bazillion stairs to go on to the starting point of the river. The hike was fairly muddy and hard at times. Before the trip I was worried about when and how I was going to work out.. but these hikes are kicking my booty! We were almost to the starting point of the river when we passed this couple with their huge camera out taking a photo of a tree. I walked by casually, BHW pulled me back and pointed up into the tree. Up on a branch was a SUPER DEADLY SNAKE all curled up taking a snooze. The lady taking pictures said it was so deadly that if it did bite you, you had an hour to get to the hospital or you'd be dead! Yikes, I guess I was right the first time when I hiked right on past them. Reaching the starting point of the river involved crossing two shady bridges. And by shady I don't mean shaded from the sun.. I mean, 1.5 feet wide, built out of splintering wood, here's a little string to hold onto, maximum capacity 2 people at time bridge. There's an old tale about how the Rio Celeste got so blue; When God finished painting the sky, he dipped his brushes in the river to clean them, giving the water the milky blue hue. I'm not one for old tales.. but I really like this one. Once we hiked back to the car, we all prepared ourselves for the drive ahead. I was especially worried about that dang hill we had to climb up. We DID make it up that hill, but not after almost flying off the road and into the trees. Reaching the paved road may have been the highlight of my day, just kidding, but it was a close second. After 4 days of amazing (but intense!) hiking and driving on beyond terrible roads, it was official, we deserved a little relaxation time. Momma bear plunked down the $$$ and we went one of the most luxurious places in Costa Rica, Tabacón Grand Spa... which just so happened to be right down the road from our hotel. The spa has a natural river running through it, which is heated by the nearby Arenal Volcano. Aside from the river, there are 18 different springs (some natural, some were created) that are fed by the river where you can sit and relax. There are windy paths to and from the springs, making you feel as if you're lost in the jungle! We started the evening by exploring the grounds and gardens, trying to find the coolest spots to relax. We ended up at the 'Adult only/Hotel guest only' access area. The man at the bar waved us in, he said when it's slow he let's the day pass visitors in. There was soft music playing in the background and private lounges to relax. My mom decided she wanted to stay in there, BHW and I explored some more. We hopped into the main waterfall area where there were a couple other people. We asked this older gentleman to take our picture. The sun was shining, the falls were beautiful, it was going to be an awesome shot. He said he took 4 photos of us. Great! Thank you kind sir! After grabbing some drinks at the swim-up bar (best invention ever), we hopped around from hot spring to hot spring, and eventually ended up hanging out in the river itself. Our dinner reservations were at 8PM.. by around 7:30PM, we were getting hungry and decided to go to the private lounges to relax. I was scrolling through our pictures from the day and whaddaya know.. there wasn't a single picture of us and the falls.. the only one I saw was one I took of BHW when playing around with the self timer. Sigh. I was really excited to have that picture.. but ya know.. life happens. We went back to the main falls to take another photo, it was dark.. but it'll do. I mean, it's just a picture after all. Dinner was included in our day pass and they had a full buffet. BHW was like a kid in a candy shop. I was too when it came to the dessert table, there were tons to choose from! After an evening in the warm waters and being stuffed full of delicious food, it was time for bed! Tomorrow we are off to the beach!
Another early morning for us! A 2.5 hour drive was between us and the Pacific Ocean! When walking to breakfast, we passed a banana plant with a couple Toucans having breakfast of their own! They didn't have a care in the world that we were there watching from below. Such beautiful.. and loud.. creatures! After breakfast we packed up the car and hit the road. Our 2.5 hour drive turned into a 4 hour drive due to the windy roads stuck and behind dump trucks or slow movers, not many opportunities to pass. BUT, We drove the ENTIRE 4 hours on real roads! We even saw a street light! It was glorious! At the beginning of the trip we passed the magical tie dye trees of the tropics! I yelled at BHW to pull over so I could get a photo. I was so giddy, I think it may have been the most excited I've been the whole trip. The Rainbow Eucalyptus tree is pretty much what would be in a Unicorn forest. They're so bright and colorful, quite unbelievable actually! After the Rainbow Eucalyptus moment, the ride was pretty uneventful. Except for when we passed a road sign that said 'Filadelfia' was 50KM ahead. Made BHW and I giggle a little, and also remind us that 'the real world' is waiting for us come Monday! Meh. We got to the resort and were blown away by how nice it was! The lobby was open and there was a warm breeze blowing through. A young man came up us and gave us a little green drink. It was mint, passion fruit, and guaro (a sugar cane liquor common in Costa Rica). I had read the Flamingo Beach was a pretty developed area and that our hotel, Flamingo Beach Resort, was a high rise luxurious hotel right on the beach. I was expecting something like Miami or Cancun.. tons of hotels and beaches packed with umbrellas and sun bathers. I was pleasantly shocked at what Costa Rica thinks 'developed' is. Our hotel is only 3 stories tall, with only 1 floor having rooms. The beach was fairly small (which I like!) with only a few people. Although we are hitting the end of 'high season' I was still surprised.. and thrilled.. about how few people were around! When checking in, it was suggested to us that we purchase the all inclusive meal plan for the resort. I have never experienced an all inclusive resort before! I talked it over with my mom and BHW, we decided to do 2 days of all inclusive and the last day be on our own. After 4 days of adventures, we were ready to just relax and not have to worry about anything. After hardly dropping off our bags, we were at the restaurant having drinks and lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon laying around and exploring the beach. Also, who knew the swim up bar was such an amazing invention?! This trip is the first time I've experienced one.. they're awesome! While at the bar we ordered the 'Costa Rican Classic' the chileguaro shot. It's a shot with guaro, chile pepper, and black pepper.. the bartender warned me before I drank it, telling me to be careful. It wasn't too spicy, kind of tasted like a bloody mary! I wouldn't order it again, but it was totally worth trying at least once! The sunset was gorgeous and having dinner while listening to the waves crash right next door was so relaxing. The fun and food tuckered us out pretty quickly and we went to bed early. Tomorrow is another lazy day on the beach for us! Another early morning for us! A 2.5 hour drive was between us and the Pacific Ocean! When walking to breakfast, we passed a banana plant with a couple Toucans having breakfast of their own! They didn't have a care in the world that we were there watching from below. Such beautiful.. and loud.. creatures! After breakfast we packed up the car and hit the road. Our 2.5 hour drive turned into a 4 hour drive due to the windy roads stuck and behind dump trucks or slow movers, not many opportunities to pass. BUT, We drove the ENTIRE 4 hours on real roads! We even saw a street light! It was glorious! At the beginning of the trip we passed the magical tie dye trees of the tropics! I yelled at BHW to pull over so I could get a photo. I was so giddy, I think it may have been the most excited I've been the whole trip. The Rainbow Eucalyptus tree is pretty much what would be in a Unicorn forest. They're so bright and colorful, quite unbelievable actually! After the Rainbow Eucalyptus moment, the ride was pretty uneventful. Except for when we passed a road sign that said 'Filadelfia' was 50KM ahead. Made BHW and I giggle a little, and also remind us that 'the real world' is waiting for us come Monday! Meh. We got to the resort and were blown away by how nice it was! The lobby was open and there was a warm breeze blowing through. A young man came up us and gave us a little green drink. It was mint, passion fruit, and guaro (a sugar cane liquor common in Costa Rica). I had read the Flamingo Beach was a pretty developed area and that our hotel, Flamingo Beach Resort, was a high rise luxurious hotel right on the beach. I was expecting something like Miami or Cancun.. tons of hotels and beaches packed with umbrellas and sun bathers. I was pleasantly shocked at what Costa Rica thinks 'developed' is. Our hotel is only 3 stories tall, with only 1 floor having rooms. The beach was fairly small (which I like!) with only a few people. Although we are hitting the end of 'high season' I was still surprised.. and thrilled.. about how few people were around! When checking in, it was suggested to us that we purchase the all inclusive meal plan for the resort. I have never experienced an all inclusive resort before! I talked it over with my mom and BHW, we decided to do 2 days of all inclusive and the last day be on our own. After 4 days of adventures, we were ready to just relax and not have to worry about anything. After hardly dropping off our bags, we were at the restaurant having drinks and lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon laying around and exploring the beach. Also, who knew the swim up bar was such an amazing invention?! This trip is the first time I've experienced one.. they're awesome! While at the bar we ordered the 'Costa Rican Classic' the chileguaro shot. It's a shot with guaro, chile pepper, and black pepper.. the bartender warned me before I drank it, telling me to be careful. It wasn't too spicy, kind of tasted like a bloody mary! I wouldn't order it again, but it was totally worth trying at least once! The sunset was gorgeous and having dinner while listening to the waves crash right next door was so relaxing. The fun and food tuckered us out pretty quickly and we went to bed early. Tomorrow is another lazy day on the beach for us! Today we had a road trip between us and our destination, Santa Elena Cloud Forest. We got on the road around 8AM, knowing we had a 3.5-4 hour trip ahead of us. Snaking our way back around Lake Arenal we headed south for the reserve. Once we passed the small town of Tilaran, the road turned to gravel. When I mean gravel, I mean; dangerous, potholes the size of bathtubs, how is this even considered a road, gravel. BHW looked at me and laughed, a good sign that this is way out of his comfort zone (he will argue with this observation, wife knows best though). The terrible condition of the road and his nervous laughs continued for the next 1.5 hours. About every 20 minutes he hit a huge unavoidable pothole or fling a rock underneath the car and BHW mumbles.. 'Well, that didn't sound good.' My brain was literally knocking around in my skull by the time we reached the city of Monteverde, where Santa Elena Cloud Forest is located. We made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up at the entrance to Monteverde Cloud Forest. After an exhausting drive; we decided to go there instead of Santa Elena. Monteverde is the more well known cloud forest in the area, hosting up to 200,000 visitors a year in comparison to the 20,000 that Santa Elena receives. I wanted to keep my distance from here and visit the lesser known but equally as beautiful Santa Elena, but I gave in and we entered Monteverde. Everything was so green inside the cloud forest! I cannot get over how many species of plants and animals even just one tree has on its bark. I mean, you can't even see the bark of the trees because it's covered in moss, air plants, orchids, and many other plants! We hiked for about 3 hours, encountering even more and more beautiful things as we got deeper into the forest. For hosting up to 200,000 visitors a year.. I was impressed that during our hike we only encountered about 8 other people. The forest was impossibly quiet. The animals and bugs were making their noises.. but everything else was silent.. even our voices felt muted in the dense forest. Upon exiting the forest we wanted to visit the nearby Hummingbird Gallery. Of course we drove right past it the first time around. We have yet to get into our 'driver/navigator' roles. Let's face it, I will never be able to successfully manage a map. The Hummingbird Gallery is basically a souvenir shop for Monteverde Cloud Forest. The kicker is that they have about 10 hummingbird feeders where hummingbirds flock. They flit around so close that their wings graze your skin! It was a serious thing of beauty. The hummingbirds who weren't flitting around the feeders sat peacefully in the trees. I couldn't believe how close they let me get to them for a good shot. I thought one was going to dive right into my camera! The Orchid Garden was our final thing to do for the day in Monteverde. We thought we would take a quick walk through and see some amazing orchids before our treacherous 3 hour drive back to our hotel. When we bought our tickets the guy at the desk said the tour would start momentarily. We weren't really interested in a lengthy tour.. but I'm so glad that we stuck around for it. The guide kindly informed us that if we just walked around the grounds we would miss almost every orchid to see. He was not lying one bit. He introduced us to orchids and the structure that they all share, no matter how big or small. He even showed us how to pollinate an orchid, using his pencil, it was pretty awesome. Halfway through the tour he showed us the worlds smallest plant! I was honestly in shock at how tiny this thing was. The ride back was just as awful as the drive in, except this time it was dark. Once we hit pavement I think we all let out the gulp of air we were holding in the entire drive. We stopped at dinner at Lake Arenal Brewing Company. Unfortunately we all just wanted to get home so we rushed through dinner. BHW also didn't feel so hot so we wanted to get home even more. Once we got to the hotel I think we all collapsed into bed and were asleep within minutes. Whew. What an adventure! Tomorrow is full of more hiking, less ridiculously terrifying driving, and some spa time! I had looked into some places to eat for dinner, just out of curiosity. We ended up eating at this place called 'Lava Lounge' and I swear to you that everyone there was a tourist except the servers. I admit, not my favorite place to be, but the food was amazing. We stopped at a little 'soda' for lunch before hiking down to La Fortuna Waterfall. A soda is basically a little family run restaurant on the side of the road. The food was delicious and pretty cheap! I got shrimp and rice, trying to mix things up a little. The waterfall entrance was only a short, but bumpy ride away. Once we paid our $11/person to get into the area, we hiked up and down about 500 steps. The first half or so wasn't so bad, the steps were nice and there were handrails. About halfway down that all stopped and the steps turned into rock and little paver stones and the handrails turned into loose chains. Once the whole stairway gets completed, it will be much more user friendly. It was fine for us to get down, but maybe not for everyone. There were quite a few people on the trail down, not true for the volcano! By the time we were leaving everyone else was arriving, I'm guessing the earlier the better for most 'attractions'. We passed a couple tour groups taking their 2349502 pictures and reached the bottom. The falls were so tall, so loud, and so beautiful! There were rose petals scattered on the rocks leading up to the waterfall, I think someone must have gotten married down there the weekend before. I hope they were hooked up to microphones, no way would anyone be able to hear anything if not! BHW and I stripped down to our bathing suits and made our way into the chilly water. The current was extremely strong near the falls, there was a point where we just couldn't get any closer because the water kept pushing us away. After playing around near the falls we walked a little further down stream and found some calmer water to splash around in before we made the trek back up. The walk up was, well, exactly what we did coming down except worse. The stairs were pretty steep but there were a few resting spots on the way if need be. I opted not to rest at all but I was pretty out of breath by the time I reached the top! After the waterfall we tried to hook up with a chocolate tour but they were booked up. It was a spur of the moment thing so we weren't let down about it. On our way back to the main road we came across a guy making smoothies in his front yard. We stopped and got some, they were delicious! I thought it was so funny he was having to run into his kitchen when he needed more ice. Once we got back to the main road we stopped into a little grocery to grab some snacks for the next couple days. BHW got some local beers and I got a snickers bar, sounds about right if you ask me. We got back to our room pretty early in the day, around 4PM. We took showers, did some planning for tomorrow, and relaxed until dinner. To whomever wrote, 'In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight!', please visit a jungle and correct your lyrics. Nothing sleeps out here, they're all too busy being loud. All jokes aside, the jungle is loud. There were about 3 solid hours last night when all was calm, or I was just knocked out and couldn't tell the difference. The noises of the jungle are absolutely beautiful though, just maybe not at 4AM.
After a semi restful nights sleep; we woke up and had breakfast at our hotel. I'm not even really sure I can call it a hotel. It's a bunch of little cabins, some with just 1 room, and others that are 4 hotel rooms connected. Anyways, the breakfast provided was tasty, more beans and rice.. I'm not complaining about that yet, but it may get old after a few more days. ha! We started the morning off by visiting the Arenal Volcano, which you can see from our hotel. It was cloudy this morning and I was a little weary of going to try to see the volcano, but we did anyways. I've read that many people visit this area just to see the volcano and leave never having seen the whole thing. Apparently the clouds sit over it almost 100% of the time. The cost was $10/person to enter the park and hike. There were 3 different trails to choose from; we chose the 'Lava path from 1968'. Arenal Volcano erupted in '68, wiping out an entire town beneath it. My mom was 6 then, she says she doesn't remember that happening... ;) Before we began our hike the guy taking our money said to make sure we backed into our spot. That way if 'something were to happen' we would be able to get away quickly. Not what I wanted to hear when entering the park, but I thanked him anyways. The weather was pleasant, it was hot but there was a nice breeze to keep us cool. About 3/4's of our hike was shaded so that was also quite helpful. We hiked for a couple hours and began to head onto our next activity. I was a little sad that we didn't witness the entire volcano in all it's splendor, but it was so beautiful that my disappointment didn't last long. And, as we were driving out of the park, the clouds parted and we did get to see the entire volcano! I yelled at BHW to stop the car so I could get a good shot. The volcano remained uncovered for about 10 minutes, hopefully all the people just arriving to the park as we were leaving got some great photos! Our adventure started before 6AM this morning, not the best time considering we didn't even get to sleep until 1:30AM. After I said a few choice words to the alarm clock, it was show time. We stayed the night in Newark, New Jersey last night because our flight left from there today. It saved us a lot of time, and waking up even earlier than we already had to. The hotel provided a free shuttle to the airport, so thankful for that! Getting our bags checked was pretty simple, between the 3 of us, we only had one checked back, the rest were carry-on. We boarded our plane, watched the new quirky United Airlines safety video, and after that was right around when I fell asleep for most of the plane ride. I woke up a time or two to snack and look out the window, but sleeping on planes is basically a skill that could go on my resume so I stuck with that. I'm not one for led tours but I'm so happy we went on this tour. Our guide, Anna, was great! She was so friendly and fun to be around, I could totally have seen myself grabbing a beer with her after the hike if I hadn't been so tired from traveling. Anna armed us each with a flashlight and let us know that if we needed to run from anything.. like a jaguar, she would be sure to tell us. Yikes! The hike started at dusk and we went to view some crocodiles that were being nursed back to health. Night quickly fell over us and it was pitch black besides the dancing of our flashlights. Our group was made up of 4 folks from the UK, Anna, and us 3 Americans. We helped Anna search for weird things and, I have to admit, we did an awesome job of helping her! She showed us a termite camp on a tree and gave us some interesting info about eating them if ever lost in the jungle. The said to avoid the fruits/vegetation because it could be poisonous but to stick with water and termites.. apparently they're loaded with protein. Anna ate one and then asked if any of us wanted to try one. She said they tasted like carrots, so BHW went ahead and said I would eat one. Uhh, thanks for volunteering me babe?! I'm not one to back down from a challenge so, yes, I did eat one. I didn't mind it actually. Besides eating termites we spotted tons of wildlife! Mainly frogs and insects. Anna could not believe how many different kinds of frogs we saw in one night! It was so much fun wandering around some jungle at night with just a flashlight. My mom said she felt like she was 7 years old again, I had to agree. After the hike, which was 2 hours packed full of crazy animals(!!), we were starving. We found a little place down the road from us and got some traditional Costa Rican cuisine; rice, beans, fried egg, fried plantain, and chicken. It hit the spot after a long day of not eating much of anything! Tomorrow we have a lot of hiking planned, hoping to get a good view of the Arenal Volcano and then head over to the La Fortuna Waterfall for a swim! For now, I can hardly keep my eyes open, goodnight my friends! xo Once we landed we were blasted by hot muggy air. I wasn't complaining. I am so ready for winter to be over with. We hopped on a shuttle to take us to our rental car and were on our way. Armed with a road map, we immediately got lost. I am always quick to ask for help so I stopped and talked to an older man, he seemed to know exactly where I was trying to go, and told me in 100% Spanish how to get there. I nodded a lot and tried to read his mind in English and also interpret his elaborate hand gestures. It apparently worked and we got on the correct path towards our hotel. Whew. The roads weren't as terrible as we expected, but, like the guidebooks warned, there aren't a lot of road signs. Thankfully there's pretty much one way to get to La Fortuna/Arenal so it would have been hard to get lost once we got headed in the right direction. The drive was pretty brown for a good hour or so, I was just starting to get a little disappointed when we entered the outer edge of the lush forests. As we neared Lake Arenal everything turned a vibrant green! We stopped to take a few photos, but didn't hang around long because we were trying to make it to the hotel in order to join a night hike through the jungle! After we passed some guy walking his dogs while holding a huge machete(?!), we reached our hotel and it's beautiful. There's a hot springs right by our room, a pool, tons of common areas to hang out with other people, and free coffee. Unfortunately we didn't get to wander the grounds for too long because we had a hike to be on! We will explore more later though.
A short list of the things I feel like I need to have on or with my while traveling. I won't consider myself 'well-traveled' but I have been to a number of places so I feel like my list could potentially help those 'Travel Bug' new comers. This list could be crazy long, but I went ahead and kept it to the basics.. beside the obvious like a suitcase or passport. Viber: it's a FREE app that lets you talk/text/facetime with friends and family that also have the app! There's also an option to 'Viber-out' which is calling people who don't have the app, that costs money though. I have never had any problems with this app, not a one! The reception with the app is actually better than the normal reception when making a call on my iPhone! It's crystal clear! So, if you're looking to keep in touch during this trip or have friends/family in a differing country.. I would highly suggest downloading this app.. remember.. it's free! Comfortable walking/hiking shoes: Are you really going to wander around The Acropolis in flip-flops? No, because I already did that for you and it was awful. No matter where you are going, unless it's to a beach with nothing around it, dearest Lord please bring some decent shoes. If you want to experience a city, a mountain, a jungle, some ruins, you're going to want to have proper footwear to do so. When traveling anywhere I always bring my waterproof hiking boots and a pair of running shoes. I even brought them with me to Athens but was an idiot and wanted to look cute instead. Big mistake. I ended up taking off my flip flops and walking around barefoot until a security guard scolded me. Camera: I always have my iPhone with me for quick picture taking moments, but bringing a nice camera along will make all the difference when you go back to relive those memories! I just purchased my first 'big girl' camera for this trip.. and because I've needed one for at least a year now. I've always had a Canon but I just got a Nikon! I admit, I haven't had much practice with it before the trip but I can't wait to test this baby out in Costa Rica! It's waterproof up to 49 feet, shockproof (drop proof) up to 6 feet, and freeze proof down to 14 degrees! Fingers crossed this thing is Johnny-proof! I'm pretty hard on my things but this camera advertised 'made for adventure' so I'm going to put my faith in it! A scarf: I learned this while getting ready for my trip to Turkey. A thin but wide scarf can be used for a variety of things. I got one so that I could cover my head in order to go into mosques, You can also use it as a shawl, a swimsuit cover up, for shade, to keep warm, for blowing sand, and so many other things! I suggest getting one in a solid color or a simple pattern so you can match it with just about anything. They're fairly cheap depending on where you go and super easy to pack as they roll or fold very small! A good book: Let's face it. Traveling is laced with a ton of waiting. Waiting for a bus, waiting for a plane, waiting in line, waiting for a tour to start, waiting for you to fall asleep because of the time chance, waiting for help because you're stuck on the side of the road. It's great to be able to breath deeply and enjoy the moment. But, sometimes that just doesn't cut it. I always have a book or two with me while on the road. I don't often read books twice.. so if I have a book that I've finished during a trip.. I just give it to a stranger. Now, please don't do that if it's a library book, unless you're prepared to pay the fine. Try to find a book that's paperback if possible to cut down on weight and increase space in your bag. I'm currently reading Tracks by Robyn Davidson, it's about a solo trek across the Outback with 4 camels and a dog. P.S. We are here, it is gorgeous. We are about to go on a night hike of the Arenal Volcano, hopefully we will see some creepy crawlies! :) I'll update later tonight !
Tomorrow marks the start of our first 'Confetti' trip! What in the heck is a Confetti trip you ask?! BHW and I have decided not to celebrate my birthday (April 5), our anniversary (April 27) and his birthday (May 12), smash them into one event, and take a big trip! This idea came about after we got married. Last year around this time we went to Turkey & Greece, but that was our honeymoon, so this is the first official Confetti trip! We are headed to Costa Rica! We are spending 4 nights in Arenal, home of a beautiful volcano (no, not the one that just erupted), and then 3 nights at Playa Flamingo, a beautiful beach! Another first is that my momma bear is joining us for the adventure! I haven't taken a trip with my mom in years! It should be a ton of fun! She is a great travel buddy, always up for anything and everything! Thankfully, I did the planning this time.. when she plans vacations, we end up on the wrong side of countries (Ahem.. Remember Mexico mom?). We were looking at some of the places we're hoping to visit while in Costa Rica and we just got so giddy! Thanks for coming along mom, hopefully I can still say that at the end of the trip. I kid, I kid, it's going to be a blast! We are also taking our first trip together where we actually sleep in hotels! This may seem like a crazy thing to have a 'first' with but not for us! BHW and I always use AirBnB or Couchsurfing when traveling. On occasion we have stayed in a hostel. For those of you that have not tried one, the other, or both, I highly suggest doing so! It's a great way to experience a place up close and person, away from all the tourist traps. AirBnb costs money to stay the night, but you can often rent an entire apartment or house to yourself! Couchsurfing is completely free but it's just that.. you're sleeping on someone's couch, or in a spare room if you're lucky! I prefer AirBnB when traveling with BHW, just to have some privacy.. but when traveling with friends, I'm all for Couchsurfing! I also prefer AirBnB because you have a quiet place to relax midday if you choose, and also a kitchen to prepare meals so you don't have to eat out 3 times a day (or more if you're BHW). The last, and maybe most terrifying, first is that we got this trip on Groupon. For those of you that don't know what Groupon is; it's a website that's basically coupons for almost anything and everything you can think of. From trips around the world to ice cream down the street, there's a deal for it! BHW and I often use this website to find new restaurants to try near us. A lot of the deals are something like buy this Groupon for $12 and you get to spend $24 at the restaurant. As sketchy as it may seem, we have so far had a lot of really great experiences with Groupon! We've had a couple so-so ones too, but nothing's perfect, right? I found this trip while looking for other deals and thought it was worth a shot. The deal went like this $XXX.XXX for airfare, 4 nights in the rainforest, 3 nights at the beach, and a rental car. Pretty close to a tour, but far enough away that I remained interested. I talked it over with BHW and we decided to try it. The reasons being because 1) It was a good deal. 2) It involves a rental car. and 3) You can do literally whatever you want once you there, no mega tour buses filled with older folks or families, just you and the open road of Costa Rica. The Groupon was through a travel agency called Jet Set Vacations. I wish I had good things to say about them, but so far I have none. So, at this moment in time, I suggest avoiding them. Maybe I stumbled upon their one bad travel agent, I don't know, but I wish I would have skipped the Groupon and planned it myself. Hopefully at the end of the trip I will stand corrected. Please check back to get daily updates with pictures of our adventure in Costa Rica! We are so excited for the warm weather, rainforest hikes, waterfall swimming, and throwing the disc on the white sandy beaches! We fly out tomorrow morning and should land in Liberia by noon (they are 2 hours behind)! The map above is a brief view of where we will be. Liberia (the one not in Africa) is where we will be flying. We will then drive to Kokoro Arenal (our hotel for 4 nights). After the 4th night we will travel to Playa flamingo and spend 3 nights on the beach before returning to Liberia to fly back home. I couldn't get the drive time off the screen, but that's from hotel to hotel, not from the airport to our first hotel.
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