What's a trip without a few adventures....

We love an adventure....

We (aaahem... Geoff) accidentally left our keys in the ignition of our cute little rental while we were at a cafe having a coffee. So.... a coffee turned into a few hours and a few beers while we waited for help. Our "help" was the cafes owner's friend from the nearby town who brakes into cars for a living - PERFECT! Just what we needed. So for the price of his cab (which, it seemed as though his friend drove him so that $ was pocketed!) and a tip we were in our car and on the road... everyone left happy!

Here is our amigo breaking into our car. Aaahhhh thievery....

Here are our soda's "para llevar" (To Go). Buy a bottled soda, pour into plastic baggy, insert straw.... you're on your way!

Ok, friends... turn up the volume and enjoy this one! This was called the "tarzan swing". All you have to do is jump off the platform (or get pushed, like me) and hope that your fall turns into a swing. I was scared... can you tell? (Sorry, can't figure out how to rotate the video.)

And to end the trip Geoff had Pinto Gallo from the Burger King in the airport - at 5am! Mmmmmmm~

Pinto Gallo is rice and beans mixed with spices, cilantro, onion and sometimes peppers. This is the traditional dish of Costa Rica, and Geoff's favorite.

Our Costa Rica trip!

Geoff and I liked to refer to our trip as "honeymoon #2" and it really was spectacular! We had a great time, went NON stop and really made the most out of our time there. We found Costa Rica to be an absolutely beautiful country and the "ticos" (Costa Rican people) to be playful and caring.

We flew into San Jose for just a quick stop before we headed out the next morning to La Fortuna to enjoy Arenal Volcano and Tabacon Hot Springs. We splurged and stayed at a very nice resort and even lucked out to be upgraded to a suite!

The view from our room!

Tabacon Hot Springs (Geoff's in there somewhere!)
It was pretty cool to be looking at the Volcano while it was heating the springs!

We hiked to a beautiful waterfall and swam in the crystal clear water!

Our next stop was Monteverde to spend some time in the cloud forest! The drive up was a bit hair raising but it was worth it once we got there! We stayed in a cute little cottage that sat on the edge of a valley with gave us an INCREDIBLE view of the cloud forest.

Enjoying morning coffee in the cottage!

We took a tour of the cloud forest and saw amazing birds, including the Quetzal (not pictured) which is a very rare bird that bird watchers travel long distances to see!

The strangler fig tree - our favorite! This tree is really just a collection of vines which begin at the top of the host tree and then grow down to get the water, eventually strangling the host tree which rots away and leaves the strangler fig hollow! Cool, huh!?

We also did a canopy zipline tour through the rainforest - We had never done it and it was a really fun thrill ride!

After Monteverde we packed up and headed to Manuel Antonio where we were looking forward to sunny weather and more exploration. We spent a morning hiking around the state park and saw a TON of wildlife (toucans, sloths, monkeys, crabs, birds...!) and then rested on a beach for the afternoon. We had a great hotel room with an amazing view of the park and ocean and the best part.... a few family of monkeys lived in the tree out front of our balcony!

Squirrel Monkey outside of our room. Look carefully.... see the baby on her back!! Precious!

Manuel Antonio state park - the view as we hiked into the beach.

Beautiful toucan birds in the park.

White Faced Capuchin Monkey enjoying breakfast outside of our room!

Unfortunately we do not have pictures of our last two activities since they were water based! (We REALLY want to buy a nice waterproof camera.) We rented jet ski's for a few hours and enjoyed the coastline of Manuel Antonio and stopped at a nice place for some snorkeling. We also went White Water Rafting on the Pacuare River which was an exciting adventure of Class 2, 3 and 4 rapids and beautiful lush surroundings! Geoff had a brief moment where he nearly "saw the light" but thankfully he lives to tell!

It was a WONDERFUL honeymoon #2 and we got home Saturday night and found ourselves already planning our next adventure; SE Asia in June!

Pura Vida!

We're getting super excited for our trip to Costa Rica! We leave this Thursday (which means only TWO more days of work) and are going for 10 adventurous days! We're both looking forward to exploring volcanoes, cloud forests and the beaches.... and of course playing with monkeys!

Not sure how much posting we'll do while we are there, but I'll definitely do some good updating when we get back.

Pictured is Manuel Antonio an "impressive combination of tropical rainforest, abundant wildlife and two idyllic beaches."

Yes, please.... we'll see you soon.

ADIOS AMIGOS!