Costa Rica-"No Artificial Ingredients"

We're back. Costa Rica was amazing. Never did I think the country would be so beautiful.

Day 1-took a 4 hour busride to Monteverde Rainforest. Stopped for breakfast along the way and had the 'typical' Costa Rican breakfast which consists of rice & beans, scrambled eggs, sweet plantains, potatoes and fresh fruit. Awesome! Good thing we had a substantial meal because we sure needed it for our first adventure.

We checked into our hotel, Monteverde Cloud Forest, which was beautiful. Our room was really a cabin set amongst the rainforest. Beautiful grounds and stunning views all around.

A bus then picked us up and took us to the rainforest for...SkyTrek!

WOW.

Words cannot describe how AWESOME this was. It's essentially 11 different ziplines set up OVER the trees of the forest. So much fun. At first we were nervous but after the first one you realize how secure the lines are and how professional the staff is and you are put at ease.



Matthew coming in for a landing
Me
Matthew, Andy, Simone & David

Afterwards we ate lunch in the local town, went back to our room for a "nap" around 6:30 and didn't wake up until the next morning at 6am! We then went to the rainforest again for a "SkyWalk" across 6 suspended bridges above the rainforest. Although we didn't get to see too much wildlife, we did hear the birds and howler monkeys on our journey.




Next day a bus picked us up at 5:50am for our white water rafting adventure on River Pacuare. After a 2 1/2 hr busride we arrived in the middle of nowhere to a beautiful operation center where we were given a full buffet breakfast. We then took the bus to the river to begin out adventure.

My legs shaking from fear as well as the steep downhill climb to the river, we listened to the guide Ryan tell us the rules. We learned forward, left back, right back, back, lean in, and, most importantly, GET DOWN. In all we did 19 miles of river & rapids, about 4 hours.

Everything went smoothly until we approached the rapids called Upper Cemetery. This was our first class 4 rapid. We listened as Ryan told us forward, stop, ok now left back. HUH? We all looked at each other like what does that mean again? A second later Ryan screams LEFT BACK and then immediately followed by Get Down. GET DOWNNNNNNNNNNN! and BOOM! three of us literally FLY out of the boat. Launched as if from an ejector seat. First David and Matthew, then me. Only I was stuck! My foot was caught in Andy's foot. I struggled trying to get free and finally he let me go and I flowed down the river along with Matthew and David. Our guide Ryan flew into action. He was amazing. Like Superman. Before I knew it he yanked me out of the water by the lifejacket. Then boom, Matthew was yanked out. As we caught our breathe we saw David float down the river and get pulled up by another boat in our group. Afterwards Ryan went over the commands again as he realized we didn't quite get it the first time. After that we were careful not to goof around and took the rest of the trip very seriously. The rest of the rapids were awesome and the final leg of the river was in a definitely the most picturesque. We were in a gorge between 2 mountains with tiny waterfalls all around. We swam this part and it was oh so beautiful.

After the rafting fun we were taken back to the main center for showers and full buffet lunch. Luckily they had a photographer follow us along on the river and he was able to capture all these great shots, which they show you on the tv's while you eat, and that you can later purchase on a cd. So cool!
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Next day we drove to see an active volcano Volcan Arenal. It took about 3 hours to get there an again it was a stunning drive through mountains and gorgeous scenery.

We checked into our hotel which was right across from the volcano. Unfortunately the volcano was covered by clouds. Some people actually never get to see it because of the cloud cover.

We had lunch, had a swim and a drink in the pool, and then a nap. In the evening we went to what was the highlight of the trip, Tabacon Hot Springs. OH. MY. GOD. PURE beauty. Never have we been to such a place. You literally felt like you were in a James Bond film from the 60's. Beautiful natural pools set amongst lush landscaping and winding paths. And EVERY pool was warm, hot or really hot. PIcture do not do this place justice. You MUST go. We never wanted to leave. The main pool was perfectly warm and had a great slide and swim up bar. Other pools had waterfalls and were of various depths and temperartures. Lots of privacy. Mostly adults. No lifeguards to blurt out rules. Just perfect. I actually cried as we drove off wondering if I'll ever visit such a place again.




Next day we had a great buffet breakfast while overlooking the volcano which was finally in full view. But alas, not liquid, hot, magma. Apparently there are plenty of times where you can see the magma flowing, but not this day. Still, so beautiful. So powerful. We took a drive and actually had to stop because a bunch of horses got free and were wandering on the street! I got out of the car and began clapping to make them move. They took off and I followed them to get them out of the road so cars could pass and also so they wouldn't get injured. They all obeyed me and took off except one. ONE horse decided he had had enough of me and turned around, looked at me, and started to charge! I ran back into the car and decided I won't do that again!

We then went to the Volcano Arenal park and hiked until we found the lava field caused by a flow in 1992. Amazing stuff. We could actullay hear the volcano rumbling and saw rocks constantly falling from the smoky top. At times it even sounded like it was breathing, Darth Vader style. Simply amazing.
View from our hotel

Lava field
Lunch at La Choza De Laurel w/ volcano looming in the distance

Our last day we took it easy and drove to Jaco Beach. Great surfer town. Beautiful beach. But dirty. Trash strewn about. But the waves were good and the sunset gorgeous. A perfect end to our trip.