Pura Vida!

A few days after our wedding we were able to go to Costa Rica for our honeymoon. We absolutely loved it! The people there are incredibly nice and it is such a pretty country with so many different things to do. We flew into San Jose which is the capital and got super lost trying to find our hotel. We like to blame the GPS which told us to turn in two different directions at the same time. I am sure the GPS will blame the stupid gringos for picking the obviously incorrect direction. Instead of the easy and wimpy 20 minute drive to the hotel, we enjoyed an hour and a half leisurely late night drive getting to know the city. The next day we drove to Playa del Coco which is 4ish hours to the northwest where we had rented a house.

We loved our view from the balcony of the house. Everything was so green and Coco beach had some great sunsets.

May is the beginning of Costa Rica's rainy season. It usually rains twice a day - early morning and then again late afternoon. The temperature stays pretty much the same all year long - mid 70s.

We took a drive to Borinquen which is a resort located near Rincon de la Vieja Volcano. We had heard that this resort had an incredible canopy tour. The rumors were true. We rode horses to the beginning of the zip line. The course zigzags across a canyon with a large waterfall at one end.

We did our canopy tour during a torrential downpour so we couldn't see the volcano. However, we were able to wear some neat helmets.

No Hands!

The perk of doing a canopy tour in the rain is that it makes the zip lines faster. The downside to doing the tour in the rain - dirt and grease flying on your face and clothes.

We took a boat tour on the Tempisque River in Palo Verde National Park. We were able to see many different types of birds, bats, iguanas, monkeys, and crocodiles.

Tempisque river

Howler monkey

White faced monkeys. We were able to get these ones to take pieces of banana from our hands.

Mmmm.... Chicken. We were able to see him jump out of the water a couple more feet so that his little waving arms were visable as he stretched for the food.

Tricked into eating a banana - he didn't think it was too funny and left after eating the banana

Surf lessons at Tamarindo Beach

Conchal - This beach was entirely sea shells (no sand anywhere). It is nice for snorkeling because the shells on the sea bottom reflect the sun and illuminate the water. On the other side of some jutting rocks and a cliff there is a sand beach and not a shell can be found. Our guide kept repeating over and over at how perfect Mother Nature was for being able to separate the sand beach from the shell beach. It was rather impressive.

After a few days at Playa del Coco we drove another 3-4 hours inland to La Fortuna. La Fortuna is a city near the base of Volcano Arenal.

While we were driving to La Fortuna we heard a rumbling and popping noise and looked over to see the volcano erupting. Stone avalanches and lava flows are helping the volcano to grow several feet each year.

At the trail head for the Volcano

This is the closest the park will let people to Arenal. It was close enough that by using our guide's binoculars we were able to watch smoking boulders roll down the face of the volcano.

Pura Vida!!