My Green Life

Day 9: We hopped aboard another shuttle that took us around curvy roads and scenic overlooks until arriving at the beach about two hours later. Manuel Antonio is a very small, tourist driven town near Quepos on the Pacific Coast.  Here, we took a day to soak up the sun, which was still elusive, and try our hand at surfing the Costa Rican waves. We started with fish sandwiches at a fun restaurant across the street from the beach and then rented a long board to test our skills. James was able to get up without too much difficulty, but I was not quite able to ride a wave like I hoped. After a refreshing shower, we headed back to the beach for a romantic dinner with views of the sunset over the beach. Not a bad day. But I think James’ favorite part was capping the day off with some NBA playoff action (in Spanish of course!).

Day 10: Our only free day at the beach and we wanted to make the most of it, so we woke up with the sun around 6:00 to walk the beach before the temperatures started to rise. We wandered back to the hotel (about a quarter mile) for breakfast of fresh fruit, pastries, and juice. A group of white-faced monkeys joined us navigating the ropes across the street that led them to the tree right above our table. The morning was then spent relaxing, enjoying the sun while trying not to get burnt, reading, body surfing, and eating burgers-which we found out are very popular among Costa Ricans. We thought it was just available for the tourists, but it turns out the Ticos are big fans as well! We had to get our surfing fix in, so even though it was raining, we decided to go for it. I got up this time, but then the thunderheads rolled in, and we decided to evacuate the water, but not everyone was as easily chased out. A group of about ten surfers continued surfing through a massive storm, but it made for good waves! So, we got enough surfing in to whet our appetites (for now) and we showered, ate dinner, and watched a movie before slumbering.

Day 11: We rode two hours down to Sierpe where we hopped on a boat that took us to Drake Bay and the resort we splurged on: Aguila de Osa. The boat docked right at the resort and the manager quickly ushered us to the restaurant for complimentary drinks followed by lunch. The resort was very community oriented and all the meals were family style with all the guests staying there (usually 8-14). We were upgraded to the larger suite where we enjoyed the views and a siesta. Then borrowed a kayak and headed up the river then out to the sea to discover a small, secluded island not too far away. Then headed back to clean up for appetizers and dinner. Appetizers consisted of guacamole and chips which were both amazing, and I don’t usually care for guacamole. Dinner was wonderful as well with good conversation flowing among the 6 couples (3 of which were on their honeymoons too). Then an early night to bed to rest up for our big day!

Day 12: We had breakfast then met our guides who were to take us snorkeling and diving on Cano Island, one of the premier reefs in Costa Rica. We loaded up our gear then headed out on the hour boat ride to our first dive stop. The day was clear and sunny, increasing the already decent visibility. James snorkeled while I dove with the guide. We both saw white tipped reef sharks, barracudas, lobsters, eels, parrot fish, and other schools of fish. We then resurfaced to the boat to head to the island for lunch at 10:30 and then relax in the sun. Afterwards, we headed back out with another tank to a new location for similar marine sightings. Overall, I was pleased with the sightings, except for the lack of turtles which I did not expect to see, but I was still hopeful. We were returned to Aguila for a free afternoon which we used to experience the local culture. There was a womens’ soccer tournament in the small town nearby, so we headed down to watch and take part in the excitement. It was a typical small town match like you would see in the movies with people standing around a field with no out of bound lines (there was a hill on one side and a fence that people sat on at the other side), no nets on the goals, and very few wore shinguards, but the crowd of about 150 people were enthusiastic and the women were fearless. It was great to watch the community come together in that magnitude. After the game, we headed back to get ready for dinner and play a little ping pong. Dinner, as usual, was amazing with fresh caught bass, steak, and veggies.

Day 13: Another full day of sightseeing and activity. We were shuttled by boat after breakfast to Corcovado National Park-San Pedrillo for a guided tour where we witnessed tapir tracks, scarlet macaws, agouti, wild turkeys, and lots of mosquitoes. We then had a snack of fresh fruit to re-energize before the big hike to the waterfall which led us up a large hill then back into the rain forest where we saw a group of spider monkeys leap from branch to branch as they made their way over our heads. At last, we arrived at the falls for a dip to cool down before spotting two poisonous snakes on the short hike back to the ranger station for lunch. There, we spotted a crocodile sunning across the stream before heading back to the resort for another relaxing afternoon followed by ping pong and dinner.

Day 14: A sad day. We have to leave our resort. We enjoyed our last breakfast at the resort and loaded up the boat to take us back to Sierpe where we caught a shuttle to the domestic airport. We climbed into the 18 passenger plane to take us the short (40 minute) trip back to San Jose. Once we got to San Jose, there was a misunderstanding, and our shuttle was not there to greet us like normal. So, we were resourceful and with the last bit of cash we had, hired a cab to return us to hostel Bekuo, coming full circle to where we started our adventure. We had a very lazy afternoon at the hostel, and ordered in casados for dinner to satisfy our craving for one last meal of chicken, rice, and beans. Then we played some more Wii, watched the NBA playoffs, and headed to bed.

Day 15: Long day of airport hopping to arrive back home in the United States. Overall, it was an amazing trip and James and I can’t wait to go back for our surfing trip!

For pictures, please click here.

Day 5: James decided just driving to La Fortuna was not adventurous enough for us, so instead, we went by horse, boat, and van. We met our caballero who did not speak ANY English. Almost everyone we encountered while in Costa Rica spoke some English, but not our cowboy! So, we acted out enough objects to communicate and started on our trek along the beautiful Arenal Lake. Unfortunately, it rained almost the entire ride so the views were not quite as easy to enjoy. But we made due, and survived until lunchtime where we stopped for pineapple and watermelon while joined by three little pigs from a nearby farm. Then we continued on after lunch until arriving at a very random boat in the middle of nowhere. We hopped on and were shuttled across the lake to meet our shuttle that took us to our Casa Luna Hotel. Then we took siestas, relaxed, and walked about 35 minutes into La Fortuna for dinner at 4:30. We, once again, had delicious casados and headed back to Casa Luna to watch some tv and head to bed early.

Day 6: Dined on omelets and cereal for breakfast at the hotel, then we were picked up by our canoe guide, Marcos, to head out to the river for some wildlife viewing. We had a leisurely float down the Penas Blancas (White Cliffs) River when James did all the work while I got to enjoy the views and take pictures. We saw lots of animals including basilisks (otherwise known as Jesus Christ lizards because they can run on the water), a group of about ten howler monkeys, two crocodiles, and a lot of birds. Of course it rained almost the whole trip until we stopped for some veggies and wraps then headed back to dry off at our hotel. On the way, Marcos stopped suddenly and pulled off to the side of the road. James and I looked quizzically at each other as Marcos was tossing pineapples from a harvested field to our driver as by-passers honked their horns. It was quite entertaining! Then we made one other unexpected stop at a little open air restaurant where Marcos told us to grab our camera. We went to the back and there were about 50 iguanas sunning in the sun. Marcos fed them papaya and cabbage which they devoured with pleasure. Then we headed back to the hotel until our evening at the hot springs. Eco Termales hot springs were naturally heated with about six different pools. We had a very relaxing evening with dinner included.

Day 7: Another beautiful morning on the Penas Blancas River, but this time in a raft where I had to do even less paddling! Another honeymooning couple joined us and the guide as we viewed a sloth (which actually looked more like a termite nest), monkeys, and a poisonous frog (wearing “blue jeans”). We had a snack of fruit after our float then headed to the La Fortuna waterfall after dropping off the other couple. We climbed about 450 stairs to get down to the bottom where the view was amazing. Then we headed back to town for lunch then joined a 2:00 tour to the Arenal Volcano where it was so wet and rainy, we did not get to go too far due to safety concerns. Then we headed to another Hot Springs, Tabacon, which was even nicer than the first and had a delicious Asian buffet for dinner where James tried one of everything. It was a very fun-filled day of adventure!

Day 8: We got to sleep in!! Victor arrived to pick us up at 10:00 for our day of canyoning and rappeling. We arrived, put on our gear, had a very brief lesson on rappeling ourselves down, and started on our first mini rappel. Our guides had a lot of fun with us, splashing us, having us cannonball into small bodies of water, and pose for the photography was we headed down the stream. We had two large rappels of about 200 feet each which were a little scary at first, but once you were descending it was such a rush. We took a short side track to a waterfall, then headed up the hill to lunch before heading back to town for a lazy afternoon and packing for the BEACH…

Target stores are banning plastic bags! Unfortunately this trend has not made it to the US yet, but at least Australia is doing their part.  As of June 1, 2009 (today!) 283 Target stores in Australia will no longer have plastic bags available for free. They are not leaving the customer in want, however, and instead they are offering reusable bags for a dollar and corn based compostable bags for 10 cents that will then be donated to a children’s charity. It’s good to see a retailer doing their part to encourage reducing the use of those plastic bags.