Costa Rica Trip June/July of 2004

Jennifer and Quentin got to go to Costa Rica in the summer of 2003, leaving Kenn behind to work all summer. They had an incredible time.
The following year, Kenn took off 16 days from work and decided to see the tropical paradise for himself. We packed up our gear and caught a plane for the 8 hour ride on America West Airlines. The flight was good except for the fact they lost our luggage for 3 days, but other than that, uneventful.
We arrived in San Jose to a nice muggy night. Bob and Claudia (Jennifer's parents who live there) picked us up from the airport and we drove to Grecia where they live. It is about a 45 minute drive from San Jose, the Capital.
The following morning we awoke to the sounds of birds and the bright sunshine. Kenn laid on the hammock for an hour just taking the surroundings in. It was AMAZING. You could never envision the beauty of the rolling hills or miles of rain forest that make up Costa Rica. Quentin played hard and even got his slip-n-slide out and played on that for a while. With so much to see and so little time, we had no idea where to start.
Our first adventure was to go to Manuel Antonio, a nature preserve along the coast. On the way there we drove through Hacko beach which is a famous surfing town. We stopped and visited a black beach just south of Hacko. Finally we made it down to the preserve. We stayed the night in a hotel that was very rustic just outside of the preserve. The next morning we awoke and caught the row boat ferry to the entrance of the park. We decided we would go to a cove where monkeys come right down to the beach, you can get within 1 foot of them (not always a good idea, but they make for good pictures). Bob and Kenn went out snorkeling and didn't see much of anything because of recent rains. Quentin enjoyed playing in the surf and the sand for hours on end, wearing down most of the adults. After snorkeling Jennifer and Kenn went for a 4 mile hike where we saw monkeys, lizards, birds, crabs and heard howler monkeys. After the day at the preserve, we headed back to Grecia.
The following couple of days we took it easy just relaxing around the house and exploring the town of Grecia, including a trip to the ice cream parlor.
The next adventure that was in store for us was to see Arenal Volcano. This was a bit further drive and took a good 6 hours or so. We reached the volcano in late afternoon and after much bargaining in Spanish, Bob acquired an amazing hotel with great view of the volcano. We stayed on the North side because we were told that is the side to see lava if it flows, however, that night it flowed on the South side of the volcano. We watched the volcano for hours and never saw lava, but we did see the top which we are told doesn't happen very often.
The following day we located a place that has zip lines at the bottom of the volcano. Zip lines are cables that are stretched high off the ground from anchors. You get on a pulley, lock yourself in and go. This place we went you got up to 45 mph and 500 feet off the ground (you went across a gorge). You take a gondola to the top, then take a series of 7 ziplines, zig-zagging back and forth down the gorge until you reach the bottom. Wewere excited but didn't know if Quentin would enjoy it. The age limit was 8 but since Quentin is big for his age, they let him pass. He had to ride with a guide of the company because of his age. It is an experience you can't even begin to explain. Take the best roller coaster you have ever been on and multiply by 100 and that might get close. Quentin loved it and wanted to go first every time. Everyone made it and had a great time. We packed up our gear and went to the hot springs at the base of the volcano. There were 8 pools and all were different temperatures. This was a lot of fun to see and swim in. After a nice, easy, relaxing time in the hot springs, Bob drove us back to Grecia.
Again we laid around the house, went to the farmers market down town, and used the hammock a lot.
Bob and Claudia then took us to Poas Volcano which is relatively close to Grecia. We went up there for the day and saw the lake inside the creator. That was very interesting and beautiful. Close to the volcano is a butterfly farm and waterfall park. Jennifer and Kenn took a stroll through it and saw a butterfly being hatched. You take a series of trails down along the river where there are 6 or so waterfalls all right in a row.
The following day we decided to go to the zoo where wild animals are taken when they get hurt. The animals are cared for and then sometimes released back into the wild. The fee to enter the zoo is used to help the animals and care for them.
That was the last day of vacation. It was time to get to the airport and say our goodbyes. We were sad to leave Costa Rica, but at the same time the sound of McDonalds (which was what we ate for dinner the night we got back) was music to our ears. We highly recommend going to Costa Rica and we are planning another trip in the spring of '06. We would like to say thank you to Bob and Claudia for the time they took away from their lives and became our tour guides. Thanks for the experience.












Pictures:
Monkey on the beach at Manuel Antonio
Jennifer and Kenn in front or Arenal Volcano
The family riding the gondola for the ziplines
Quentin and the guide on the zipline
Poas Volcano
Butterfly at the butterfly farm
Waterfall - look closely and you can see Jennifer under the waterfall