Fun times in Costa Rica

(Warning: This is a long post)

I didn't think it would would take me this long to get around to posting, but since I promised...here goes.

First off, Costa Rica is very beautiful. So green and lush with trees and vegetation everywhere. We arrived on the tail end of their rainy season, which also makes for extreme humidity as well.

It was night when we arrived so we couldn't see much, but when we got up this was one of our views from just outside our room.

And this view is looking from the main lobby area down towards our room. Pretty nice, huh?

The first full day we just took it easy and hung out at the beach, snorkeled, ate and relaxed. While we were getting ready to leave the beach there were a group of howler monkeys jumping from tree to tree right above us. There were probably about twenty or so of them. I was able to get pretty close to a baby one and capture it snacking on the leaves.

The next day was a blast. A big group that were all staying at the resort and were part of the main company that John's associated with all signed up to go on a combo tour. The first part was to get all geared up and fly through the trees going zip-lining.

Here's John zipping from one tree to the next.

Here's me finishing one of the lines.

So, after we got to do 11 zip-lines through the trees, we got into swimsuits and hiked a trail to arrive at the head of a narrow, cement waterslide. You used an intertube to help protect your arms and elbows from getting banged up. And they even made you wear a helmet for the slide.

Here's what it looked like as we hiked up to the top of the slide.

Here's what the end of it looked like.

And here's what it looked like from John's point of view actually going down the waterslide!

After the zip-lining and the waterslide, we had worked up an appetite, so we were treated to a typical Costa Rican lunch. The meal was incredible! Nothing spectacular, but flavorful and new. Good stuff!

Then, came the next facet to our adventure...horseback riding. It took a while to get 36 people set up on their horse before we could head out on the trail. John got a really old horse that decided if he couldn't be right up front to lead the pack that he wouldn't bother and fell to the very end. My horse liked to keep up with the pack.

Once we came to the end spot for the horses we finished the end of the path where we found the last of our adventure which was a natural hot springs. You caked on the mud, washed it off then sat in one of the pools to relax and enjoy. It was very refreshing.

It was a full day. The scenery could take your breath away. Good times!

The next day we had made plans with a dive shop to do an early discovery dive and then go with a PADI (certified instructor) diver into the ocean scuba diving that same day. Well, the bad news came when we were filling out the waiver information and John told them that he had just been getting over pnemonia. They said absolutely no, that he could not dive. We were a little bummed, but we decided to catch a ride on the same boat and go snorkeling while the other divers were diving.

We did get to see some interesting things that we hadn't seen snorkeling before. Using the waterproof camera John captured a picture of an eel. The film is pretty grainy but you can still see the eel pretty good.

We also saw a sting ray and lots of different kinds of fish. We were gone on the boat for the better part of the day.

On our last day in Costa Rica we caught a taxi to Coco Beach were we just did a little sightseeing and souvenir shopping.

We were told by many people to be sure and eat at one of the local restaurants called "Seafood Papgayo". They were the best place to get fresh seafood. Well, they were absolutely correct! We had the best shrimp corn bisque and I enjoyed the "catch of the day", which happened the be the biggest piece of tuna that didn't look I had even made a dent in by the time I was full. John got a mix of seafood in a garlic cream sauce. Mmmmm, my mouth's watering just remembering it.

We had to get up pretty early in the morning to catch our plane to Houston. As you can see the airport in Liberia, Costa Rica is less complicated than other airports. We even climbed stairs to get onto the plane.We had a wonderful time, we would probably go back, but we're glad to be home again.

An adventure to the ice caves.

While still in WA, the weather was cooperating and so we set out for our adventure to see some ice caves. The drive took a little more than an hour to get there, and next thing we knew we were headed onto the trail. No big deal, mostly paved, beautiful scenery. Until we passed some people who had wet shoes, or the bottom of their pants or shorts were wet. No big deal, they probably just liked playing in freezing river water, right? Back at the beginning of the trail, we now remember seeing the small sign that read "Bridge is out". What bridge could they mean? There are actual several small bridges that go over small brooks, but they all seemed to be intact. Then we get to where there is no access to the bridge and you can hear the water rushing. We had to cross the river on foot. The bridge has been completed taken out by an avalanche of downed trees and snow, that has since melted. We survey the river for the shortest distance and least deep place to cross. My brother-in-law, Dave, rushes into the water to see if it's truly crossable, followed closely by my brother, Randy. I can see their shorts and pants getting wet (they have removed their shoes). My mom is not completely thrilled with the idea, but begins removing her shoes for the watery journey. I watch as others who are wearing "river" shoes traipse across in record time and realize that they knew the bridge was out. So we managed to make it across with only a few wet spots. We continued down the trail where we found many more trees that had been knocked down by the force of an assumed avalanche and then had to be cut just to keep the trail clear. We got closer to the back of the mountain when the ice caves came into view. They were amazing. The closer you got to the ice, the faster the temperature would drop. Here is my brother headed into the largest opening to go check things out...against my mother's better wishes. He couldn't go too far though because it became very dark inside. Here is my sister, Colleen Marie. You can't really tell until you get up close how large the caves are.
So after visiting the ice caves, we made our way back down the trail to head back. As we got closer to the river crossing we wanted to see if there was yet another shorter and less deep crossing. A fellow hiker pointed us farther up the river. We found a good spot to cross, but on the way down a steep incline my sister slipped and hurt her good arm. We tried to hurriedly make our way across the chilly river so we could enjoy the picnic lunch we brought. This last picture was actually taken before we started hiking. This is me, my mom, my brother, Randy, and my sister, Colleen Marie.