Costa Rica - Week #2

After two training sessions for snorkeling in the pool, the kids were finally ready to go for their snorkel adventure! Our guide took us to a very calm and safe spot just off of Playa Penca. We took a short 3 minute boat ride from the beach and set up day camp on an island.

The group:

Kara got to hold a star fish!

It was a great week in camp that included a trip to a local fruit stand, cooking lessons, walking adventures, and they learned about a local holiday (Costa Rica annexation of Guanacaste, which is where we are staying).

Over the weekend we took a trip with a small group to Monte Verde - about a 4 1/2 hour drive from our condo. We first drove to Liberia, then got onto the Pan American Highway towards Monte Verde. Once we got off of the Highway and onto mountain roads it was a slow and bumpy journey, which is why it takes so long to get there. Most of the roads are unpaved and really difficult to maneuver! We stayed at the UGA Ecolodge. Really cool place! The region is officially called the "cloud forest" but it felt like a rain forest - it rains pretty much every day, on and off all day.

While in Monte Verde the kids learned about insects, reptiles, nature, trees, etc. Lots of cool stuff!

Kara catching a moth:

Jack checking out the insect boxes in the lab:

Me & Matt in front of the Ecolodge main building (cool storm clouds rolling in over the mountain behind us):

 

Cow milking was first on the agenda Saturday morning. The kids loved it! The cows on campus provide all of the milk for the students on campus and all of the guests (like our group).

 I couldn't resist taking snaps of this calf. Two days old. So cute!

We also got to do a reptile tour at a local park. Snakes and frogs!

 

The most exciting part of the day was zip-lining (aka canopy tour). Ainsley and Jack were beyond excited and ready. Kara was scared to try it but decided to be brave (which she was of course very proud of once we were finished!). Everyone had a great time.

 

On Sunday we wrapped up our weekend trip with a coffee plantation tour and then lunch with a local family.

Coffee beans growing:

Learning to press sugar cane:

Cocoa beans inside of the cocoa fruit:

After they ferment and dry, then you crack the shell...

Pressing cocoa beans (after shelling them). We used this, mixed with sugar and milk, to make homemade chocolate!

 

Lunch with a local family! They served traditional Tico Food (Costa Rican food) - rice, lentils, fried plantains, tortillas, and Imperial beer. After lunch we made the drive back to Playa Flamingo!

Weekend - Playa Flamingo & Playa Tamarindo

Matt arrived on Saturday and the kids were SO excited! We enjoyed exploring the area near our condo. We went to Playa Flamingo, a very close beach (2km) from our condo. The waves were pretty strong so we didn't get to swim a ton, but the kids enjoyed running from the waves and building sand castles.

These pics are some of my favorite. Pure joy and laughter caught on camera!

 We hung out at Playa Flamingo most of Sunday afternoon. We were lucky to have overcast skies to provide relief from the heat and humidity!

Sunday evening we drove to Tamarindo (~30 min drive) to a restaurant called Pangas, on Playa Tamarindo. Most nights we have been eating in, so it was nice to eat out and enjoy some local seafood! Matt ordered sea bass, I ordered lobster -both caught fresh the same day. The kids ate fish sticks and rice.  The views were incredible and so was the food. So glad we made the journey! (I call it a journey because the roads here are not marked, not lit, very very bumpy, and fraught with crazy bikers, hitch hikers, pedestrians, drivers, chickens, cows, and horses.)

The restaurant:

The view from our table of Playa Tamarindo:

Hammocks the kids enjoyed while we waited for our food (Kara not pictured because she was pooping):

Sunset at the end of the evening (sun sets at 6:30pm):

One side-note benefit of the restaurant is the owner/waiter spoke great English so we got exactly what we wanted instead of a version of what we thought we ordered but really did not :-)

Costa Rica - Week #1

We had a great first week in Costa Rica! The kids and I flew without Matt since he had some work to finish during the week - the flight here went smoothly, the kids were great, and we were very happy to arrive!

We have  a rental car and the drive from the airport to our condo was ~50 minutes. We are near Playa Flamingo, and also near Playa Potrero and Playa Penca.

The kids go to camp each morning (from 8:30am - 12:30pm) with a group of students, led by one of their teachers from Magellan. They are enjoying the camp -- some of the things they have done: 1) walked to the local bank to exchange 1 USD for local colones; 2) visited a local bakery; 3) learned a local dance; 4) explored the forest near us, with the local bugs and plants; 5) broke open and ate coconuts from the village; 6) visited the local beaches. Some pics from the beach:

 Kara:

Jack:

(Ainsley):

 

Kara:

They learned to snorkel in the pool (in preparation for a ocean snorkel trip next week):

On Friday night we enjoyed an evening trip to the beach and a bonfire. As a special bonus we got to see lots of cows that apparently like the beach too!