For Jer's Birthday, we decided to run away. And we wanted to go somewhere new. We found cheap flights to Costa Rica, so why not? The flight would be cheap, because they don't charge extra for surfboard bags AND if we could fit all of our stuff in a back pack (ea.), which we did!
So, we left Gavin in charge (with Grandparents as assistants), and left on Wednesday 2/13. It was basically a whole day of flying. No direct flight to Liberia, Costa Rica. So, we had to stop in Houston first. We arrived in Liberia around 10:00 PM. I had done so much research on how to get around and had booked a shuttle to take us to our Air BnB in Playa Grande. They were waiting outside for us, got us loaded, gave us water and snacks and got us safely to Casa Camaleon in Palm Beach Estates around 11:00 PM. Here was our cute home for the next 4 days!
Good Morning Playa Grande!
We slept in and woke up to a HOT, but beautiful day on Valentines Day! Our little place was just a quick walk to the beach. This is Marker 29, where we spent most of the day. Usually, the surf is breaking here. But, of course, the week we chose, it wasn't. But it was still beautiful, relaxing and we got alot of swim time in.
After relaxing hard on the beach, we went back to our casa and took a nap in the A/C. Since it was Valentines Day, we thought we would go out to a nice dinner at one of the Resorts nearby. Unfortunately, the one we chose had terrible service, so we opted for Cafe Mar Azul just down from our place. They didn't have any tables available, but let us sit at the bar and order dinner. We fell in love with this little cafe. The staff was so friendly and the food was so good. It was the perfect way to celebrate!
On Friday, we decided to check out the touristy town of Tamarindo. There was a $1 water taxi close to where we were staying, that took us into town across the estuary. We need to get some cash, so we went on an adventure to find an ATM. The beach was pretty, but crowded. The streets were busy with people and cars. And it was HOT!
We found an ATM and even met a nice lady who helped us book a a rental car and an excursion. We ate lunch right on the beach at Witch's Rock Surf Shop and then took the water taxi back to Playa Grande. We decided to walk all the way along the beach to the actual town of Playa Grande...
We got about 3/4 of the way there and stopped to rest and watch the sunset. Then took our out of shape bodies back to our cafe and then our casa.
Saturday we were up early to meet our friend Chris and his brother, Moses, who would be taking us up the Estuary for a little tour to see crocs and birds and monkies.
I'm so glad we did the early morning tour. The water was glassy, it wasn't too hot, and we got to see lots of birds, 4 crocodiles and a family of monkeys resting in the trees!
We learned so much about the area, the country and it's inhabitants.
We were so tired from our exhausting (hee hee) estuary tour, that we went home and took a nap! Then we headed into Tamarindo to get our car. That is when our adventures really began. We looked up the "must see" places in the area and went to Pirates Bay (Bahia de los Pirates).
This place was magical! And empty! We walked, hiked, took a ton of pics, swam and got in a beautiful sunset...
On Sunday we had a "Day of Adveture!" We booked an all day excursion at the Rincon de la Vieja National Park. Our day started with a horse back to ride to see the volcano...
Then we tubed the rapids...
Had a delicious lunch, followed by zip lining through the trees and caverns!
We ended the day with covering our bodies in volcanic mud, washing off in a cold river and then soaked in natural hot springs. IT WAS AWESOME!
There was still a little daylight left and we needed to continue our sunset over the ocean tradition. I plugged in the gps to find the closest beach to us. We set off to Playa Hermosa and caught the sunset just in time!
We took the "coastal route" home. Stopped in Playa de Cocos for dinner, almost died on the Monkey Trail, but made it safely home!
Monday was our last day and Jer wanted to find some good surf. We headed south to Playa Negra. It did not disappoint! He got in some great surf, I got in some great sun tanning and swimming and we enjoyed some yummy food and beverages on the beach.
We had to return "Monkey Trail" by 4:00 PM and then took our last water taxi back to Playa Grande.
We were sad to leave our little slice of paradise...
We changed and headed down to Marker 29 for one last Sunset...
Then we had our last supper with these guys! Victor, Jesse, Arturo (Abuelo) and Jose!
We absolutely loved our stay in Costa Rica! We can't wait to go back! We had to leave (really) early Tuesday morning to go home. The shuttle got us to the airport nice and early. It was a long journey home. But we were glad to be reunited with our kids. And so grateful for this amazing time we got to have together, just the 2 of us. Pura Vida!
