Here is the story of our week in Costa Rica, mostly just in pictures. Mostly because I'm too nauseous to form sentences. It turns out that my 14th week of pregnancy might be my worst one yet.
We stayed in this house on 60acres of land, and spent a good portion of our first day exploring. We even found this giant tree, and horses grazing nearby. Adam was determined to forage for food and managed to find grapefruits and (very sour) oranges, and even a tiny pineapple.
On the afternoon of the first day, we decided to trek to Rio Celeste on the recommendation of two separate folks who said it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. We forgot our maps at home (of course), and didnt have GPS, but figured how hard could it be to follow the vague directions from the German fellow at the German bakery in town? So we found ourselves on a very long and windy (and unpaved, very rocky and slightly ridiculous) road through the mountains. Luckily (sarcasm), we arrived at the beginning of a one hour hike to the waterfall about thirty minutes after they closed it for the day (apparently so you dont get lost in the jungle in the dark and then have to find your way back down windy rocky mountain roads without a single street light or road sign).
We did, however, manage to find a part of the river we could see without an hour hike, and the water was indeed very blue and quite beautiful.
We trekked across the hanging bridges, laughing about how all of our boys would certainly refuse to cross them under any circumstances.
We even managed to sneak behind a guide and he helped us find this strawberry poison dart frog. Don't worry, he said, you would have to eat three of them to die. Duly noted.
And finally, we saw these creatures everywhere and were very excited and hopeful they might be some sort of monkey-species. Until said guide told us they were basically raccoons, which is not nearly as exotic and exciting as monkeys.
Plus, the views from the windy road back down the mountain weren't bad either.
The next day, slightly discouraged from our failed trip the day before, we headed to the beach for my favorite part of the trip (mostly involving relaxing in the sunshine with a good view and a good book).
After two days at the beach, it was back to the jungle for more adventuring and rainstorms and foraging for fruit. Adam was obsessed with the bananas the groundskeeper gave him, and Caleb was determined to get a coconut.
On our last day, we checked out of the house and then hiked up a volcano, before heading to the airport for our 2am flight home.
Adam was quite at home in the jungle, in his element some might say. From the guide we met earlier, he picked up a loud and slightly annoying monkey-call. Which he used incessantly: out the car window, while we were hiking, off our back patio. I grew very irritated with him, until it worked and we actually managed to find a monkey in the middle of nowhere on the side of the volcano.
Did I mention we had to cross an even-more-boot-legged suspension bridge in order to make said trek up the volcano. We were the only ones on this hike this day, mostly because we like adventure (well the rest of the group likes adventure, and I like them), and because we were avoiding tourist-y things at all costs. Which meant food at local sodas and roadside stands, always. Which added to the windy bumpy roads didnt do my nausea any favors.
All that to say, if you're looking for fun adventure and beautiful scenery, I would highly recommend a trip to Costa Rica. We stayed in Nuevo Arenal, and the beach we went to was called Playa Carilla (so pretty!)