Costa Rica Recomendations

I wanted to include a few quick hotel recommendations for Costa Rica in this entry. If you aren't going to Costa Rica any time soon, you might find this entry borr-ing but if not, just sit back and look at the pics at least! Our first hotel was Hotel Grano de Oro, in San Jose'. It was an old restored mansion with a wonderful restaurant, shown in the photo.

The hotel restaurant was one of the city's finest. They also have an amazing little courtyard where you can dine al fresco! We loved this hotel and found the people to be kind and the service superb.

The rooms were spacious, clean and most of all, very affordable.

Next, we stayed at Hotel Arenal Paraiso in Arenal. We rented a jeep in San Jose' and drove there after staying for one night in San Jose'.

Overall, the hotel was good. The hot springs were nice, but there were a few things at the hotel that could have used an update, such as the decor and main swimming pool. It was fine for a few days but I wouldn't want to spend a week there.

Lastly, Ecoplaya was where we spent seven lovely nights. It's located in the far northwest corner of the region of Guanacaste, only about thirty minutes from the border of Nicaragua. We adored this hotel. We had our own kitchen, spacious bathrooms and bedrooms, and a p-i-m-p swimming pool and beach access. The beach isn't exactly swimmable because of the wind and creatures that we saw swept up on the beach. There were puffer fish and manatee but as long as you stay poolside you're fine! There are other really nice beaches only a mile or two away that are better.

For our adventures, we did ziplining at Hotel Arenal Paraiso, which according to our Lonely Planet was one of the best tours in Arenal. There were 12 different platforms/stretches of ziplining, and the views were amazing.

For the Twilight Safari cruise and white water rafting, we used Rios Tropicales, which I'd highly recommend.

That's about it for now. I'm so ready for this weekend and a little bit of R&R, as the Fredster would say. So far on the agenda we have a welcome reception for the students and a possible pool day for tomorrow. Holllerrrrr.

August... in a whirl!

This August's vacation was definitely one of our most unique and adventurous vacations. It was also kind of bittersweet because I know it will be the last time I will ever be able to enjoy a vacation for three whole weeks! I feel lucky to have a job that allows me ample vacation time and know that once we move back to the States that I won't be this lucky. :(
Here are some of my favorite photos from Costa Rica and Dallas.

Here's Chris ziplining through the rainforest.. like a natural.

Me ziplining.. not as much of a natural. I accidentally braked on the first run (there were twelve different stretches), got stuck, and had to pull myself in instead of "zipping" or sliding through. Oops. After that I got the hang of it and was fine.

Juan Aleman took us fishing one day. This is when we saw the whales, soaring through the air!

We drank frequently from these pipas, which were basically coconuts that weren't ripe.

You can't really tell, but there's a porcupine in this photo. We saw it in the Monteverde rain and cloud forest.

In the Monteverde cloud forest.

We ate really well! My favorite were the plantains and corn tortillas. The food was very similar to Mexican food. DELISH.

These were the sweet little signs that MC made for me on the day of my birthday. Thanks to my sah-weet photography skillz, you can't really read them. But they say "30 is the new 20," "the world needs more L.A's," "Whoop," and many other delightful things. She also decorated the hotel room with balloons! It was a big surprise, because I had no idea she and the gang were doing all of this. I mean, I went to bed before them only ONE night (wink wink) and the sneaky little terds were decorating right under my nose! :)

This is the one night that us girls cooked! The boys usually spoiled us with their cooking each night, but this night was our night to prepare some tastiness for our men.

We were lucky enough to see a turtle lay eggs on our hotel beach. This only happens ONE day out of the year and we were fortunate enough to experience it and see it with our own eyes.

After Costa Rica, we were able to hang out with the fam.

I also got to meet JM and KS's little ones. :)

On the boat w/ my new buddy.

Julio and I on the boat.

Out for sushi with the girls.

After our whirlwind time in the States and Costa Rica, we came back right in time for J&S's wedding, where I was a bridesmaid.

The wedding took place at a lovely setting in Chianti, near Siena.

It was a gorgeous wedding!

Junk

Currently reading: The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

I'm halfway through and so far I'd give it a 9 out of 10 stars. (sorry for the sideways photo but I'm too lazy to go in and chang it).

The latest around here:

Chris is working like a dog at a restaurant/butcher shop in Chianti and loving it! He's gone a lot but is learning so much about the art of butchering and getting some great experience in the kitchen. He's meeting some great people, too.

We are counting down the days till the US/Costa Rica. We leave EARLY this coming Tuesday morning for a short lil' layover in Dallas, before we board yet another plane to Costa Rica to celebrate my 30th! We can't wait to see our friends Mickai, who will be meeting us there.

After Costa Rica, I'll be in Dallas again with my fam from Aug 12-20. Can't wait to eat some good ol' Mexican food and delicious Texas BBQ.

I especially can't wait to meet my two of my best friends' lil' ones, KM and GS. :) They are six months old now and I have never met them before now.

Street art tribute to MJ

The street artists in Florence are even including Michael Jackson in their chalk exhibits.

~*~ Family Circle just named my hometown, Rockwall, TX, as one of the top ten most family-friendly cities in the country!

~*~ Only 14 days till I'll be in Dallas. I will be only be there for one and a half days before we take off for Costa Rica, but I'm looking forward to eating some Mexican food that night and hangin' with the fam before we leave again! (I will then be back in DFW on August 12 for eight more days, though!)

~*~ I've made a personal list of things that I can't forget for Costa Rica:
1. waterproof mascara
2. backpack
3. OFF bug spray
4. rain jacket
5. sunscreen + hat (duh)
6. Nike's
7. Lonely Planet Costa Rica
I'm sure there's tons more that will come to me in the next two weeks but I wanted to jot these down here in case I forget.

~+~ I just started reading my friend's sister's blog, which describes her experiences in one of my most favorite, dearest places of ALL time, the Dominican Republic. It makes me miss the warm and friendly people! She's lucky she gets to stay there for a whole month! Luccckkyyy (in Napolean Dynamite voice).

Costa Rica Twilight Safari and White Water Rafting

I just booked this Twilight river boat trip for our Costa Rica vacation!! Sounds incredibly freaky and fun. I am hoping to see some alligators, sloths, and maybe a squirrel monkey or two.
I also booked the one day Pacuare white water rafting trip, which is "arguably the most scenic rafting in all of Central America." I booked it all through Rios Tropicales. Only 35 more days till we leave.

RiosTropicales Twilight Safari Deluxe

Enjoy this gentle float trip at dusk to see and hear the jungle shift into nocturnal gear.This dusk tour is great for the entire family staying around the Arenal/La Fortuna Areas. Float down the gentle Penas Blancas River looking and listening for the nocturnal wildlife of the area.Experience the Jungle Transform from Day Into NightTheTwilight Safari Deluxe is a unique float trip that offers an exceptional up close experience of nature, and of local traditions and food at the end. You will get on your rafts at dusk as the sun is just starting to fall and enjoy the mystic way the light disappears from the sky, leaving you in the peaceful darkness of the jungle. Our bilingual river guides, trained as naturalists from the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, will begin by explaining to you that more than 60% of the mammals in Costa Rica are nocturnal. With our specially designed lighting system you will then embark on a journey to discover this wildlife. Don’t be alarmed when those red eyes pop out of the banks to stare at you…this is the part of this unique experience that makes floating on a tropical river in the night magical.
The trip begins with a twenty minute drive from Fortuna to the river. . There we will embark on our float down the Penas Blancas at dusk. We'll float for approximately two hours (just the right length for the youngsters.) Our naturalist guides during this time will help point out and talk about the nocturnal wildlife of this area. On your float you will have a chance to see (or hear): the Common Opossum, Common Gray Four-Opossum, Brown-throated three Toed Sloth, Hoffmann’s Two-Toed Sloth, Long-Nosed Bat, mantled Howler Monkey, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Spectacled Owl and lastly, the American crocodile. You'll see plenty of baby crocoodiles, no longer than a foot. Your guide will focus on the animal and plant behavioral transitions from day to night.
At the end of the river portion of this trip guests will arrive at a local working farm where the owner is a well-known Costa Rican horse breeder and trainer. Their daughter (already a competitive rider!) may share a traditional style dance for you while you sit down to enjoy wonderful native food, all fresh from their farm. His wife makes delicious typical style food like yucca bread, home made cheese, sweet fried plantations, and serves these treats with our famous coffee made the old-fashion way in a special “sock”. Fresh juice is also served. The barbecue is revved up to make tortillas filled with fajita meat. Upon request, horse shows are also available. The trip concludes with a twenty minute drive back to Fortuna.

Costa Rica here we come!

Thanks to a lovely wedding present of a free one week stay anywhere in the world at one of C's family friends' timeshare, MicKai and C and I will be going to Costa Rica in August '09. Wooh-hooh!
Now I just have to pick up a copy of Lonely Planet Costa Rica and we're officially set. We'll have twelve nights total on our first Central American holiday.

Tickets bought: Check
Timeshare for 7 nights verified: Check
Approximate itinerary put on paper: Check

Now we just have to wait....um...nine.more.months....