I've been sort of dreading posting about our amazing adventure to Costa Rica! Because: 1. I have so many pictures to sort through and 2. There is just so much to say and write and share, but even then I won't be able to adequately express the experience and 3. It will make me sad not be in CR anymore and to be stuck in this "real life" adventure. Waaaaahhhh. (See, I am already getting sad. It was just so nice to forget about all the issues that we are faced with at home, sigh.) Actually, there is one more reason, so 4. My pictures do not load in the correct order and it is the BIGGEST pain to move them around on my phone or computer. Ugh. So maybe they'll be in chaotic order, which is so frustrating . . . (I just re-did my uploading of photos . . . only adding 3 at a time. Which takes forever when you have as many photos as I do . . . And, even those 3 don't always end in the right order. So Ugh.)
But here we go . . . Part 1 contains our leaving, arrival in San Jose, and our two days in Tortuguero National Park.
We left on Friday for the Montrose airport - leaving our home at 12:00 for our 1:15 flight. Seeing as we're only 5 minutes from the airport and we did not have any bags to check, it seemed like a good time. We had actually meant to leave at 11:45, but you know how it goes when 6 people are trying to finish up the final getting-ready! Our great neighbor Greg, who was taking us, said he felt like he was watching the Home Alone scene where everyone is getting ready. Haha. There was a little blip in our departure as we were boarding the plane as they ran out of room for our carry-on luggage. So then we were supposed to send our luggage as checked (Ugh, we had bought carry-on and planned our whole packing to avoid this situation) and would get it at our final destination - which was 24-hours away. Long story short, we made sure we could get them at our next stop in Chicago - before our 12-hour layover.
Our flights were all fine. We arrived in Chicago and spent the next 10 or so hours there. We stayed at the Hilton (I think it was Hilton), which was inside the airport and was quite convenient. We had to wake up at like 2:30am our time, but whatever. We had a nice place to sleep for a little bit. Then we continued to Miami and then from Miami to Costa Rica!
Upon checking out of the customs area at the airport, we exited and went were all the other tourists went looking for a sign with our name on it and our tour company. We were to meet our driver there and he was to take us to the hotel. So we looked and looked and looked . . . and looked. We were getting a little worried! Okay, a lot worried! No one had a sign with our tour company on it or our name! All sorts of thoughts were going through Ben's and my mind . . . like had we been swindled?! Ben had the good sense (and we found a kind gentleman who lent us his phone - we had try to text and call the numbers we had been given for our tour people but they either weren't going through at times, as well as they just weren't there and we had to leave messages, etc.) to call our hotel and make sure we had reservations. We did and so some Costa Rican arranged a taxi ride for us (by the illegal taxi drivers, ha) and we had to pay both the man who arranged it and the driver, of course. :) But whatever, we made it to our nice Hilton Garden hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica. The kids were delighted to find out we had three rooms (we had three rooms for our entire stay there and it was awesome). We finally connected via phone with our guide and it turned out that the American tour company we went with (Thomson Family Adventures) uses Unique Adventures in CR and so that's what was on the sign. We were not told this at all - and, yes, I provided this feedback later.
The first place we ate in CR was . . . McDonald's! How lame yet awesome is that, ha. It was literally across the street from our hotel. The kids were needing a quick snack to tide them over until dinner. And guess where we ate dinner - the Japanese restaurant across the street from us, too. Haha! We spent the evening walking around the area. There's a huge National Stadium (made in China . . . okay, not quite but China financed it. There is some weird stuff going on with China and CR . . . ) that was across from the hotel and there was a big music concert happening that evening - Coldplay, which is actually a musical group even I had heard of. In fact, we could see the awesome stadium and light-show that night. It was fun!
At the Montrose airport - excited to leave!
I thought the clouds looked like "Goblin Valley," only white and in the air. :)
First time out of the country for these kids! Ben's been to Canada. I had only been to Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala.
Just chillin' in San Jose. We got lots of looks - there weren't too many Americans walking around. :)
The view from our hotel was pretty awesome.
We had a good night and then the next day (Sunday) we met up with our guide for the week, as well as our driver. Our guide was Shirley - she is a native Costa Rican and was perfect! She was so great to have and so knowledgable about her country and just really amazing to have to ourselves. She wasn't too much nor too little. Gave us our space if we wanted it, etc. She was a treasure. Our driver was Juan Carlos and was cute and such a great driver - I mean, compared to what we experienced at the end of our week . . . (spoiler alert: SCARIEST taxi ride of my life - and Ben's!). We became really appreciative of Juan Carlos after that, ha. He was really fantastic, too.
Anyways, we met up with them at the hotel at 7am and then loaded our luggage in the van (a nice and spacious van with lovely AC). We drove for an hour or so and then took our first break in Guapiles. That's actually where Shirley grew up. There was a nice restaurant there that serviced tourists - luckily we just beat the buses that showed up after we had gotten our food. Most of our meals were buffet-style - so you had a lot of choices. It was our first meal and was delicious! It was our first time eating their classic breakfast of gallos pinto (beans and rice - Spotted rooster is the exact translation). The parents and boys ate it for every breakfast - it was simple, yet so good.
The beautiful and lush forest near the restaurant.
Enjoying our first Costa Rican meal. All of their places (homes, stores, restaurants) are like outside-inside places. They are all open to the outside, yet covered. It was delightful.
We spotted our first Red Dart Frog. So cute!!!
After breakfast and a walk around the place, we headed back out in our van to our next destination of Cano Blanco. The drive was just so fun - the boys loved checking out the funny trucks and cars and we all just loved checking out a whole new country. It was just so different and just so delightful to see everything. We mostly drove through tiny villages with homes and shops that all look abandoned - yet most were not. You could see right in through many of the houses (which were as big as our living room) as most don't have windows or doors - or the curtain door was tied over, allowing you to see inside the sparsely-decored home. The vegetation was amazing to look at. The people on their bikes, etc., were just so fascinating to observe.
The driving is just crazy there, by the way - it's like nobody follows the right rules, but everybody drives pretty courteously. Like, tailgating happens like crazy there. But it's not out of rage, it's just how they drive. Side-gating (like driving inches from the car in the other lane, going to opposite direction as roads are only 2-lanes wide) is common, too. It's nuts. I do not know how their whole country is not dead because of the crazy driving out there. Honking is always going on - someone, somewhere is honking their horn. But, again, it's not because they are mad - it's just like, "Here I come, not stopping at the stop sign, so just be aware. Thanks." Ha.
We drove through several amazing banana plantations. No one was working that day because it was Sunday. But we saw the thousands of trees, the bagged bunches, etc. We drove by a Dole and Chiquita plantation, I think. And maybe even a Del Monte. CR is the 2nd-largest exporter of bananas.
We finally arrived in Cano Blanco and had to pay to use their gross toilet facilities. At this point, you could only take a boat to reach our destination spot of Tortuguero. The boat seated probably 50? And it zoomed - like 45 MPH. It was speedy. It was a gorgeous ride through the rain forest. And, seeing as it is a rain forest . . . it rained a ton! We had to put down the plastic curtains, which was sad because it blocked our amazing view, at certain times because the rain was quite intense. But awesome at the same time. It took a little under 2 hours to reach Tortuguero. Actually, that was the town and we stayed across the river at
Pachira Lodge. It was a fine place - but it was like a four-plex and you could hear everyone around you! They had no windows - only screens and curtains. And then the room on your side wall - you could hear everything! Like Ben and I heard all the conversations that our neighbors had. So we felt like we had to whisper while in our room, which was kind of weird. We had to remind the girls several times to keep it down, ha. But they were fine rooms and the place was really great.
One of hundreds of coconut trees we saw while there.
Ben and I enjoying the awesome boat ride.
After we checked in to our rooms and had some down time, we took the boat across the river (a 3-minute ride) to the actual town of
Tortuguero. There are no roads there, as you can only access the town via boat. It was a a cute, yet very poor, town.
Shirley took us to the see the Caribbean ocean! There was some weird seaweed thing happening, but it was still an awesome beauty.
We enjoyed walking around, seeing the shops, checking out the school, etc. So fun. The boys loved this town and want to move there, haha.
We took a lot of pictures of the signs there - so Jonas could make a slideshow (and earn extra-credit) for his Spanish class.
Our adventure for the evening was a "Chocolate tour." This lady, I do not remember her name at all, has this little chocolate room - which is part of their house, somehow. She was fun and we had a very unique experience!
I am pretty sure, and it would make a lot of sense, that on the bottom shelf behind Lucy - those are all cocoa fruit.
So you cut open the fruit and then take out the big pods. You can suck off the pulpy fruit on the pods - it was very tasty! My kids just keep sucking and sucking and the lady kept giving them more and more pods. :) Then you take the pods, open them up, and inside are the cocoa beans.
First up was making a chocolate drink. But it was nothing like chocolate milk . . . think of something more like unsweetened chocolate water. Ha. I guess it was quite the thing to drink way back when. It signified wealth and royalty.
And it was disgusting, ha! I think the boys drank theirs, but they are weird.
Then it was on to roasting the seeds . . .
And next to pulverizing them into a chocolate paste. The boys made up a batch - adding in some sugar (not enough . . . ha) and some spices (chili, etc.). When they tasted it that evening, they all agreed it was pretty gross. We Americans sure do like chocolate - when it comes creamy and with a lot of sugar. :) We girls made up a batch and were smart enough to just add sugar (more than the boys, but not quite enough to be really good) and vanilla. :) It was a really fun and different experience.
Leaving the little town and heading back to our lodge for the night. The food was always good and there was always something that the kids could find to eat. I mean, Emmy, really, as she's the picky one. There was always fresh fruit (CR pineapple is THE BEST. So sweet without the bite or acidity found in America. I loved the papaya, too.), fresh veggies, meat or fish, gallo pinto (served literally at every meal), fruit drinks (not the sugary types here - and fun flavors of watermelon, pineapple, papaya, etc.), baked and sweetened plantains, etc.
The next morning (Monday) we got up early for a 6am boat tour into Tortuguero National Park. Again, seeing as it is the rain forest . . . it rained! But it was a warm, delightful rain. Shirley was quite impressed when none of us put on the ponchos they offered. We had our raincoats and were already soaked in the first 2 minutes, so why bother!?
As we were waiting for our tickets into the park, we spotted this man and his shirt that didn't make any sense. Some of the translation must have been lost on the shirt-makers. :) It read: "We will stay continue to in our way we." What the?!
Early and wet - yet loving it!
Oh, looks like Lucy used the poncho a bit. :) We saw so many creatures in the rain forest! Like monkeys, sloths (still sleeping and not moving and way high up), iguanas, caymans, and birds galore. The pictures we did take of the creatures don't do justice at all to them. You can't even see them in most, ha!
Like, what's in this one?!
It was just an incredible experience through a rainforest. Words and pictures can't capture it at all.
After getting back and eating breakfast (fruit and gallo pinto for me!), Ben and I did a little exercise routine while the girls enjoyed the pool. The boys? Jonas probably slept and, seeing our phone charges upon arriving home, Miles was probably on his phone . . . Lameness, but whatever. It was an early morning!
A friend Ben found near the pool. :)
A crazy cool cayman. Shirley joked that he must have been "Made in China" as he never blinked! :) Emmy was scared that we were so close.
After lunch, we decided to just go over to the town and walk around before our next river adventure. So we took the boat ride over and the boys headed out on their own and the rest of us walked around, bought a few things, bought some treats (Ben and I almost bought a drink with alcohol . . . ha), etc. It was delightful!
The boys went to check out the beach some more. It was beautiful.
Just some of the homes there - they look abandoned, but they weren't.
We checked out the beach, again, too. So pretty.
Dogs are EVERYWHERE in CR. Like maybe 3 dogs per human? I mean, every home, shop, grocery store, boat guides, had dogs. We were lucky to come across some cute puppies, too. Awwww.
See the path made by the leaf-cutter bugs. So cool. So cool.
They started up on some tree, went down, followed the path, and then crossed to the other side. They were impressive!
School was in session that day because it was Monday. Education is very important to CR. They all have to wear uniforms. Every village we went through had an escuela. Shirley told us as soon as a village had 80 kids, a school was built. The kids were cute. :)
After touring around the town, we went on another river adventure. The chocolate lady's husband took us on a canoe tour. It was a bit different than the other boat tours because we went through the water canals where only non-motorized (or very slow motors, as he had a motor on his canoe) could go. Again, we saw amazing creatures! We saw lots of iguanas - which were hard to spot.
Pretty sure there's an iguana in there . . . oh, or maybe a basilisk. We saw a few of them! But, see, the pictures don't even show them - so go for yourself and see. :)
There were just so many crazy cool birds. And I hate birds! But I loved them there! They weren't swooping over my head and so they weren't so bad.
This one was such a crazy, fascinating bird - it's known as the "snake bird." It bobs its skinny neck out of the water and it looks like a snake. This one had a fish in its mouth/beak. We followed it as it bobbed in and out of the water. It finally made its way to a log, got up on it, slammed the fish on the log a few times, and then gulped the fish down. It was incredible to watch and we were lucky to have caught it! (It's on the 10 1/2 minute video I posted on YouTube and will link at the end of my CR posts.)
A funny bird drying out, or something.
A monkey! We saw spider monkeys, white-faced monkeys, and howler monkeys. They were so cool.
Our chocolate tour host and canoe guide. Wonderful people! Their son had come home from the city - and, lucky for us, had spotted a sloth right behind their house. Even luckier for us, he had a telescope so we could see it even better. They are adorable.
The foliage, trees, etc. of the rain forest were so unique and impressive! This tree, or its roots, were called a "buttress." For obviously good reasons.
We had a good, full day in Tortuguero National Park and the town. We had a good evening. The next morning we got up, ate, packed up our stuff and headed back out on the 1 1/2 hour boat ride back to Cano Blanco. It rained less and so we were able to see out of our boat the whole time. It was just cool sitting there watching the wonders of the rainforest. Oh, side note, the rain pounded the area at nighttime. Like more rain those two nights and days than Montrose sees in ten years! Ha, that's just something I think Ben came up with - but in looking it up . . . Tortuguero gets about 138 inches a year . . . Montrose gets about 12. So, yep, 10 years!
Upon returning to Cano Blanco and paying to use their gross facilities again, Shirley got us all some coconut water. It was okay . . . at least for me and Lucy. Actually, I think Lucy hated it. I liked it, but only a little. The rest of the family loved it. :)
(Not taken by us)
It was mid-day Tuesday by the time we arrived back in Cano Blanco. We passed by the banana plantations again and this day we saw the workers out - or at least one worker! He was pulling like 20 gigantic bunches of bananas via a pulley thingy . . . And not an automatic one. The worker actually had to pull/lug these bananas along. Shirley told us that most of the physical laborers in CR are actually Nicaraguans. We didn't get any good pictures of the banana plantations, but here is a good link to what it looked like:
https://www.magney.org/photofiles/CostaRica-Bananas1.htm
We then continued our drive to our next destination - in the central cloud-forest region of CR - Sarapiqui. . . Stay tuned.
