Costa Rica Trip, Day 13 – Playa Ocotal

Playa Ocotal was the most interesting beach we visited in Costa Rica. The surf was very strong while we were there, so we didn’t go in the ocean much. The beach itself had dark gray sand and there was a lot of rocks at the surface, which was kind of scary considering how rough the waves […]

Costa Rica Trip, Day 12 – Barra Honda Caverns

I was out of my mind. I wanted out of that cave so bad. I climbed, shakily, looking up at the pinhole of light that was the exit. I climbed that ladder like you wouldn’t believe, smashing my knees against the rungs and smearing guano all over my arms and chest as I clutched the ladder like my life depended on it.

Costa Rica Trip, Day 11 – Playa Conchal

The water at Playa Conchal is that gorgeous turquoise color everyone imagines when they think of beach resort vacations. I really don’t know how Conchal could be covered with shells and have turquoise water while right next door Brasilito is just regular old sand and regular blue/gray ocean water color.

Costa Rica Trip, Day 10 – Playa Hermosa

The next morning, we ate Cheerios on our balcony and gawked at the view. This area reminded me a lot of the Southern California coast – except way less developed. Maybe this is what Southern California looked like 50 years ago. We saw all kinds of fun things from this balcony. Dogs wandering happily on […]

Costa Rica Trip, Day 9 – Getting to Playas del Coco

In the morning, we had our final breakfast at Hotel Tangara. By this time I was going to weep if I had to eat another banana, but fortunately they switched up the fruit so we got to have pineapple and papaya instead. We drove in the rain most of the way back to Ruta 1. […]

Costa Rica Trip, Day 8 – Ziplines and Rafts!

We spent our final full day in the Arenal area doing the most adventurous stuff we could handle – ziplining and whitewater rafting! I’ll admit that I was a little nervous about it. I’d never ziplined OR whitewater rafted before this. I’m not really afraid of heights, but I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about […]

Costa Rica Trip, Day 7 – Hanging Bridges

We spent Friday exploring the hanging bridges at Arenal Sky Adventures. It was a very warm day, and there was a lot of hiking to get to each bridge. We saw many cool trees and plants, and we even saw capuchin monkeys! The hanging bridges were neat, since they let you walk up in the […]

Costa Rica Trip, Day 6 – Thanksgiving with Hurricane Otto

Thanksgiving has long been a favorite holiday of mine. Getting together with my loved ones and sharing massive quantities of food – what’s not to love? Thanksgiving 2016 strayed a bit from tradition for us. Not only were we in a foreign country, far away from family, but said country was expecting to be hit […]

Costa Rica Trip, Day 5 – Baldi Hot Springs

So many hot springs, so little time… Ecotermales, Tabacon, Baldi, The Springs Resort, or the free springs by the side of the road? We decided to go to Baldi Hot Springs because a.) it was the cheapest, and b.) it offered so many different pools (supposedly 25, but that’s counting the little cooling-off pools next […]

Costa Rica Trip, Day 4 – Arenal Volcano & Ecocentro Danaus

The main attraction of La Fortuna is Volcan Arenal – the tall, nearly-perfect cone that lurks just west of town. The history of the volcano is so interesting to me – people used to live and farm at the base of it, either not realizing it was a volcano, or thinking that it was dormant. […]