Hello Readers!

This past week I was lucky enough to spend some time in Costa Rica and Nicaragua with my parents. I really had no idea what to expect when going to these places so I just went along with it and kept an open mind. Our trip started off very early Saturday morning with our flight leaving at 7am.

Once we got through security we got some food to-go and boarded the plane. The ride was nice and easy nothing too eventful which was a nice way to start the week. After 5 hours we landed in Costa Rica! When we got through security we found our transportation and started the hours journey to the hotel (Flamingo Beach Resort and Spa). The drive was nice minus the road construction. I was exhausted from getting up early so I saw the landscape through tired eyes and very long blinks.

When we got to the hotel we were greeted with a passion fruit smoothie and shown to our room. The room was nice and very big,but we didn’t have a great view. The parking lot out our window didn’t host much noise at night which was nice. After settling in a bit we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool to relax for a while, and to unwind from a day of travel. Since we had been up since 3am we were all very tired and struggling to stay awake.. We decided to get some food and then head up to the lounge to watch the sunset. While we were sitting up there we met a family form Georgia and ended up spending the night talking to them which was really fun.

Day #2:

Today was a nice relaxing day by the pool. We started the morning with a walk on the beach which is something I could do every day. We only made it down one side when we decided that we were hungry and should get some food, so we walked back to the hotel to eat. After we ate we relaxed by the pool for a while, playing, reading, and trying to figure out what excursions we wanted to do.

When we were at the pool my dad thought that he spotted someone he knew so he went up to them and sure enough it was someone both my parents knew from Northfield! What a small world. After talking to them for a while we cleaned up for dinner and called it an early night.

Day #3:

Today we did an excursion to Buena Vista, which is a protected park in Costa Rica. We started the morning with a two hour ride to the actual park. The ride was fun, it was interesting to see how the landscape changed from the dry area and to the more rainforest areas. Once we arrived to the main area we got on a harness and helmet and began the walk to the zipline! It was a long walk, but well worth it. There were about 10 different lines we were on which was the longest course I had been on. Since my mom is afraid of heights she hung out with our tour guide and got to see some of the wild life.

After the zipline we reconnected with my mom and headed for the waterslide through the jungle. We had to wear a helmet, inner tube and a leather dipper (yes, this is what they called it). While they weren’t the most fashionable it was to protect our bums from the rough slide which was nice. Since the slide was so much fun we ended up doing it again.

When we were done with that we got some fresh coffee, which was really good even though I don’t like coffee; we also had a variety of homemade corn snack which were also really yummy. After the small snack we got lunch at the buffet before going to the hot springs. We had the option of taking horses down to them, but since none of my family are big horse people we took a tractor ride down instead.

Once we got down to the pools we started in the steam room which was to open our pores. I wasn’t a big fan of this because it made it hard to breathe so I was ready to get out after about a minute. After the steam room the next step was the mud bath, so we got covered in mud and let it dry before rinsing off and heading into the hot springs pools. There were a total of five different pools that were all a different temperature.  We tired all of them and decided our favorite was the middle temperature. After the springs we got back on the tractor and headed back to the hotel.

By the time we were back it was about five so we got a spot at the lounge and watched the sun set and got dinner. We walked around a bit and sat in the lounge again but were all tired from the long day so we relaxed in the room and went to sleep.

Day #4:

Today was another relaxing day. We started the morning with an exciting encounter with freshly hatched turtles that  we helped to the ocean and we got to play with hermit crabs! Once that excitement was over we got some breakfast and took our spots by the pool. We spent most of the day playing in the pool and a bit of the time in the ocean too.

We ended up getting more sun today than planned so we went back to the room and showered to get ready for dinner. After showering we watched the sunset on the beach where I was able to get some cool photos. On our way back to the hotel we ran into Kathy and Jerry (the people we knew form Northfield) and ended up having dinner with them. After dinner we parted ways, played cards for a while and headed to bed.

Day #5:

Today was a relaxing, hot day at the resort. We started the day with relaxing by the pool and ended up having to get in every 15 minutes because it was so hot out. until about noon we were at the main pool where we swam and did water Zumba . After the class we went to a smaller pool out back to visit with Jerry and Kathy and make plants to go into Tamarindo, a larger surf town about twenty minutes away from Flamingo Beach.

A while later we met up and headed into town. We ate at a cute little restaurant called the Shrimp Hole. It was on the farther end of town and consisted of a little shack and about 24 chairs on a corner. It may not have been the most traditional, but it was the best shrimp I have had so far.

After dinner we walked around a bit but it started to get back so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Day #6:

Today’s the day! We started with a 3:30 am wake up call to catch our bus to Nicaragua! We left the hotel at 4:30 and drove about thirty minutes to get breakfast and meet up with the rest of the people on the tour. I have no clue what the name of the restaurant we ate was because I was sleepy, but it was delicious regardless.

After eating we got on the bus and headed to the border. There were five steps to getting across the border.

1.       Get off the bus and get our exit stamp to leave Costa Rica
2.       The police come onto the bus and check everyone’s passport to make sure they have one, its theirs and that they have the exit stamp.
3.       Give the tour guide our passport so he could fill out more information at the border

•       While they were getting the proper paperwork we had some time to use the restrooms and shop at the little stores.

4.       Go through a car wash to get off the bugs and kill any bacteria
5.       And lastly a guard on the Nicaragua side came onto the bus to check out passport and entry stamp.

Once we were all cleared and into the country we drove for a while before stopping at a restaurant by the lake where we could use the restrooms, get some food and take photos of the volcanos. (I also got to pet a really cute dog!)

 

 

 

When we were done there we went to the volcano! It was very cool to see, but we could only be next to it for ten minutes at a time because the gases from the volcano were toxic. It was crazy to be able to stand next to a live volcano and actually hear the lava bubbling. After the volcano we went back to town and ate at a delicious restaurant called El Corral.

With out bellies full it was time to see the city. As a surprise we got to take a horse drawn carriage ride to look at the city. At the end of the tour we got dropped off in the center of town for some shopping and more sightseeing before having to get back on the bus to Costa Rica. When trying to get back into Costa Rica we had to do the same five steps, however, this time we needed our flight itinerary to prove that we were going to leave Costa Rica, but we weren’t told this before having to leave so with a bit of panicking and explaining we were able to get through the border and back to our hotel.

 

 

 

It was late by the time we got back so we ran in for the last three minutes of dinner and relaxed in the lounge before calling it a night.

Day #7:

Today was our last full day in Costa Rica so we spent it baking in the sun. Like the other relaxing days we just hung out by the pool and ate way to much.

Day #8:

The last day. Today was sadly our last day in the sunshine and warmth. We didn’t have much time before we had to leave so we got some breakfast and relaxed by the pool before catching a van to the airport.

Once we got to the airport we checked in which took forever and then had a very long wait in the security line. When we finally got to the front a guy behind me got really sick, and threw up everywhere which was just lovely because it was echoing through the entire room (sorry for the details). So that wasn’t so great but we eventually got through the line and went up to our gate only to learn that our gate had changed and our flight we delayed with no way of finding out why. After a bit more searching we found our new gate and learned that our flight wasn’t delayed too long (yay).

We played cards to pass the time and finally were able to board the plane only to learn that we were stuck on the runway because there was a problem with our clearance to leave the country. After 20 minutes we were cleared and on our way home.

I had a great time in Costa Rica and was not ready to come back to the cold.

Until the next adventure!