A Bumpy Road

The last few days have been full, but a common theme has been this:

You probably wouldn't guess it, but this is a highway in Costa Rica. Not a back road or a driveway, a highway. Dillon and I rented a car to get around and I'm so thankful it's 4WD. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to leave the city.

Since I posted last, we've gone from Grecia to the Arenal Volcano, to Monteverde, and now down to the Pacific Coast on the Nicoya Peninsula. The drives have been absolutely beautiful, but also long, windy, and bumpy. We've even forded a few rivers...

So, let me share some highlights from each place. After leaving Grecia, we made our way northwest to the Arenal Volcano, which is the most active of Costa Rica's 5 active volcanoes. Since we are visiting in the rainy season, there was a lot of cloud cover and we weren't able to see any lava action, but we did hike up the mountain to see the old lava flow of 1994. This sounded great in theory, but our guided tour was canceled, and by the time we finally found a trail that wasn't too expensive, it was getting dark. Not the wisest choice, but we made the hike at dusk and in a thunderstorm. I think that will be another theme of this trip...thunder and lightning storms. Though the last 2 days have been dry for us, we've at least seen them in the distance every day. 

Needless to say, the hike wasn't awesome. BUT afterwards, we went to Baldi Hot Springs for a buffet dinner and swimming until 10pm (late by Costa Rican standards since it gets dark here at 6pm). Baldi has 25 different pools of varying temperatures. The first one at the top of the hill is 107 degrees and then as you move down the hill, the pools get cooler. The pools and saunas were all inter-connected and I was so impressed with whoever designed the resort. A lot of the pools had swim-up bars, and I can just imagine what a party the place must be in tourist season.

On our drive to Monteverde, we drove around Lake Arenal. We made a pit-stop at the only micro-brewery in Costa Rica for some free beer tasting and our first monkey sighting!!

We made it just in time to Hotel Belmar in Monteverde to drop our bags and change before we were picked up for our zip-lining and canopy tour at Selvatura Park in the Monteverde Cloud Forest.

Zip-lining is probably my most favorite thing we've done on the trip so far (other than laying in the sun, on the beach). It was just enough adrenaline, but with an amazing view. The longest zip-line was 1,000 meters and I loved soaring over the canopy. It was like being in the Planet Earth documentary when they fly over the rainforest. Of course, Dillon and I were the only people in our group so we had the guides to ourselves. They were a lot of fun and Dillon and I enjoyed the Tarzan Swing at the end and going tandem on the last zip-line.

And to answer your question: No, I have not worn the same outfit every day. It's merely an illusion.

Nosara updates to come!

Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com

Pura Vida

Our first two days in Costa Rica have been amazing. One of our flights was delayed an hour on the way here, but otherwise everything went smoothly. On arrival to San Jose, I panicked a little bit when we got off the plane and the reality of being in a foreign country hit me. In Europe, I was so used to traveling and winging it, I had forgotten the initial intimidation of arriving in a place you don't the language or culture. We found our ride pretty quickly after getting through customs and I was relieved to see my name on a sign in the crowd of taxi drivers. Enrique loaded us up in the old land rover (think Jurassic Park) and we set off in the dark humidity. The roads here aren't well-maintained or well-lit and as soon as Enrique pulled off on the dirt road to the hotel, I thought for sure we were going to die. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. We made it in one piece to the Vista Del Valle Plantation Inn. 

Before bed, Dillon wanted to rinse off and found company in the shower:

I was almost okay with having a spider experience right away to get it over with. I've been hyping up the spiders in my head since I first started reading my Costa Rica guidebook (I would highly recommend Fodor's Guides), and yes, all of the bugs have lived up to expectations.

I didn't sleep too well, but waking up to this view of the canyon was well worth it: 

Dillon and I did some exploring of the hotel grounds before we had breakfast. I still cannot get over how beautiful everything is...and abundant. Before 10am we had seen lizards, hummingbirds, leaf-cutter ants, and the craziest spiders I've ever seen. Not to mention, there are butterflies every three feet. An orange one took a liking to Dillon and wouldn't stop hovering over him at the pool.

Vista's welcome sign:

Coffee beans! Breakfast was complete with Costa Rican coffee...which I would rank right up there with French espresso:

Lizard pals:

Banana spiders the size of my hand:

The waterfall at the end of our mini-hike:

Bamboo outside our villa:

Yesterday was really relaxing: we explored, had breakfast, went on a hike, got our rental car, spent an hour or two at the pool, and THEN...

We went bungee jumping in a thunderstorm.

Seriously.

I can't believe I did it. Dillon jumped first (250 ft.) and then we had to wait on a rubber mat for the lightning to pass for my jump. It was literally the craziest thing I've ever done. I was just so resolute to not let down everyone watching that I didn't hesitate when our 'jump master' counted down from 5. The jump was exhilarating, so much so that I will never do it again. We took some pictures, but I don't think I'll be able to load them until I get home.

That's all for now. Dillon and I are headed from Grecia to La Fortuna today. We are hiking the Arenal Volcano this evening and hopefully enjoying some hot springs.

xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com

shaking with anticipation?

20 injured as major earthquake damages Costa Rica coast

Take off is still tomorrow...
It's calming that the tsunami warning was called off and the magnitude was .3 less than originally reported. But still, I'm a bit uneasy. We'll have to get there and reassess traveling to the Pacific Coast. The Caribbean might be calling my name instead.

Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com