Costa Rica

For awhile now Mark has wanted to travel to Costa Rica.  I have been less excited about this idea for many reasons such as: its hot and humid there all the time, it's known for beaches and I am scared of the ocean and don't like spending multiple days or long stretches at a time at the beach, and it's expensive. That being said we went for our Fall break and had a really nice trip. I was admittedly sad to leave VA during the most beautiful, perfect weather but I did my best to embrace Costa Rica and had a lot of fun. Our flights worked out great, (we flew into Liberia and stayed in that part of Costa Rica) we got on the flights we wanted and got seats together. We even got first class for the flight home which was a nice treat. Sadly, Mark's Mom's flights did not work out.  She was planning to meet us there and all of the flights out of SLC looked awful for standby.  This was such a bummer.  She ended up going to Arizona to visit Kristi so not at all Costa Rica but time away from home somewhere warm. Our Air bnb was awesome.  There was a ton of space, a beautiful yard with 2 pools and a playground.  It also had a really fun swing that Jared, Lydia and I all enjoyed.  It was in a really good location too.  It was a great place to stay.  Not a great deal like other places we have used but it was really nice.  I am not sure if this is the case year round in Costa Rica, it could be given its proximity to the equator but it is fully dark by 5:30 pm and fully light by 5:30 the next morning. The roads we traveled on were in good shape but Mark did not want to be out late driving.  Since we knew we would be waking early we tried to be in bed by 8:00 each night.  We could not sleep past 6:00. We had too much to do while the sun was out and it's just hard to sleep when it gets light so early.  We were always out the door by 7:30.

We were on the third floor on the right. 

We cooked dinner at the air bnb each night and had a larger meal for lunch each day.  I typically find simple foods that feel like home to make at the air bnb  (Lydia especially needs this on trips) and then we try to find local dishes for lunch. In Costa Rica that meant a lot of rice and beans which Mark and I love.  

A book, smoothie and macaroni and cheese. Lydia was happy as can be. She made good use of this balcony.  It was huge. I know we ate dinner out there one night and it was lovely.  While still plenty humid and hot, it was actually not as bad as I thought it would be which was a pleasant surprise. 

Pool #1

We went at night which was really fun and not something we do often. Our last day we hung out at the pool for 2 hours.  We were down there just after 7 am. 

Pool #2

The Swing!

It was attached to a branch so high up in the tree which made you able to swing really high. 

The condo manager recommended this place so we checked it out the first night we were there. Mark was happy to have an abundance of fresh juice.

 

 I asked everyone in our family what words came to mind when they thought of Costa Rica. 

Jared: Beaches

Lydia: Ocean

Mark: Eco-Adventures

April: Jungles

We were able to spend time doing all these activities and never be more than 2 hours from one spot or the other.  We were worried about the weather because November is technically still the rainy season but we only had rain the first day.  So super lucky.  We stayed in a little town called Playa Hermosa and our air bnb was a 5 minute walk away from the ocean.  We arrived around noon Thursday and our first stop was a local grocery store to stock up.  I always enjoy seeing what is stocked in grocery stores and figuring out what things are and what we will all like to eat. We ate a lot of cereal this trip, I brought it with us which worked out really well. One of the little tricks I have figured out since we started traveling.  Cereal is cheaper (and better tasting to us) in the US.  Since we ate such big lunches we didn't need big dinners. We got settled in and then took a walk to the beach.  We didn't stay long as shortly after we arrived it started raining but we were able to go back a few more times which was nice. 

Playa Hermosa

Sunset #1

Sunset #2: same beach just opposite end.  We walked down to the end of the beach so we could see the sun go down all the way. 

It was a really nice place to stay and a very different vacation for us.  Lydia said she is going to live in Costa Rica when she grows up.  This from the girl who says she loves winter?  We all did really enjoy our trip.  When Mark asked them about it Jared and Lydia both said it was their favorite trip that we have taken. I am still team Iceland but appreciate the beauty and diversity of Costa Rica and love the memories we made.