Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Costa Rica part 3: Splish Splash

Costa Rica is a small country, bordered by the Gulf Coast on one side, the Pacific Coast on the other, and rainforests in the middle. Then there are lakes, rivers, estuaries, swamps, and more running through it. For such a small country, it sure is watery.

Why use a bridge when we can just run through the water?

So naturally, our trip included water-based activities on an almost-daily basis. First and foremost was the pool at our rental, which we used every day. It wasn't heated, but after a day in the sun, that didn't matter.

One them asked for a beer right after this picture was taken. I'm not saying who. 

We spent our first week in Costa Rica in the beach community Playa Grande. So naturally, we also spent a lot of time at the beach, including Christmas Day. Feliz Navidad, indeed. 

Forgot to bring the Santa swimsuit.

The day before, on Christmas Eve, we did a tour of the estuary between Playa Grande and the nearest "city," Tamarindo. On the tour, we got to spot lots of sleepy monkeys, different types of birds, and although I didn't personally see it, the one and only scorpion we encountered on our trip.

Monkey see.

Riding in style. 

Tamarindo itself is a touristy beach town, full of t-shirt shops, ice cream stands and Spring Break-style bars. It wasn't our favorite destination overall, although we did get a pretty view of the Pacific.

Just add tequila.

The day after Christmas, we did our hike at Rincon de la Vieja, which included a look at our first waterfall of the trip. Because we were there during this region's dry season, the waterfall was more of a trickle, but it was impressive nonetheless.

It's higher than it looks

See?

The following day was Chris' birthday. We had planned to spend that whole day at the beach, but Maya was starting to develop a nasty cold and running a low temperature. So instead, we hung out at the house and the pool, drank rum and/or juice, and snacked on some of the area's good eats:

What is this strange fruit?

It kinda looks like an orange.

Yes, definitely an orange. Yum.

We did eventually make it the beach that day to see the sunset. I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful one. 

Happy birthday, Dad.


Probably one of my all-time favorite pictures. 

Three lucky girls.

Sigh.

The next day, we left the beach and headed for the hills. On the drive, we watched the clear, sunny skies of the dry region morph into overcast and clouds of the highlands. 

Not to be confused with Loch Ness.

Those clouds, and their rain, remained with us for the next three days. But seeing as we were in a rainforest, we weren't surprised or disappointed. 

Squish.
Our hotel here also had quite an interesting bathroom, which was supposed to simulate a waterfall, I think. Water came out of both the enclosed shower area, as well as from the top of the rocks in the corner. You could choose one or the other, or both. Either way, the bathroom flooded every time. 

Um, OK.

On our second day in the Arenal region, we headed down to the main city closest to us, La Fortuna de Arenal. Our water encounters continued there. 

Chris gets creative with my iPhone.

Soaked. 
That afternoon, we did a hike at Arenal. To say we got rained on would be an understatement. As Forrest Gump once said, "We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath."

In other words, we got soaked. 

The ponchos do nothing.

His shoes still aren't dry.
The hike included our second waterfall. This one was quite a bit more than the trickle we'd experienced at Rincon:



On our last full day in Costa Rica, we hung out at the hotel pool, which was heated. Rain came and went throughout the day, but it didn't really matter. 

Play areas for Maya.

And a swim-up bar for Mom and Dad. 

I read in some parenting book once that when children are unhappy, just put them in water. In the case of Costa Rica, this was definitely true. Although this was certainly not a tear-free vacation (oh, the meltdowns...), most tears could be dried with a dip in the pool or a splash in a puddle.