Monkeys and more

 

Sunday Funday

On our last day in Punta Liona we headed to the beach after breakfast. The sun was shining and the waves were crashing. We trekked across the beach outside our resort and headed to Playa Blanco for some bigger waves and white sand. After riding some waves back to shore and getting sand in areas we didn’t know we had, it was time to head back to catch the bus back to San Jose.

Below are some pics from the morning. 

Day on the Beach and Ziplining

Yesterday I spent time poolside while listening to the surf roll in.  I consider it a good day when you wake up, change into your bathing suit and don't change out of it until dinner.
This morning we went ziplining through the jungle.  There were 12 ziplines that we went down.  It was a good time and Justin took some good video.  Now we are going to rest by the pool before we have to say goodbye to the tropics.  I can't lie, its pretty cool to look up and see a flock of macaws fly overhead!

Eyes closed isn't a good look on me!

Yes, upside down was an option!!!

On our Way to the Beach

Presently Justin and I are at the Punta Leona hotel and club.  We arrived yesterday afternoon and finished the day off with a walk on the beach, drinks, and dinner.

There are so many creatures here.  Some kind of furry animal that looks like a raccoon hangs around the restaurant, when you leave your seat it happily replaces you to finish up what you have left behind.

Last night it rained so hard that we called it an early night.

 We stopped along the way to see these alligators.  There was a kid throwing in chicken and selling wooden souvenirs on the bridge.

 We enjoyed some beverages on the road trip.

White Water Rafting Pictures

 The looks on our faces in all the pictures are priceless!

 This one is crazy because it looks as though the entire raft has been swallowed up by the river.

Justin and I are in the middle so, it is kind of hard to see us.

White Water Rafting

Today we travelled about an hour through the winding, narrow, congested streets of San Jose and through the largest national park of Costa Rica to the river Cerro Chirripó.  This river was a murky color and tasted strange (like sulfur) which our guide told us was from volcanos at the river's source.  After the safety instructions we broke up into groups of six people.  Our guide, Victor took us down the seven mile stretch.  There were five commands:  forward, backward, stop, get in and get down.  He added a high five pura vida in there as well.  This man was amazing at navigating the river.  Victor used a whistle to communicate with the other guides, it was a seamless operation.  He told us that two of the rapids (widow maker and another which I don't remember the name) were 3+ rapids.  This means that rafters have a 20 percent chance of falling out of the boat.  Rafters who tackle a 4 have an 80 percent chance of falling out!  Geez that is a jump in percentage.

I wasn't sure that I was going to like rafting just because the safety instructions scared me a bit, but I put on my big girl pants and talked myself through it.  It was so much fun!!!  I am so glad that we got to experience it.  At the end, I was sad to get out of the boat.  Justin said that if we ever white water raft again it will probably be hard to match this experience.   I think that I agree with him.

There was a point when two rivers became one.  There was a divide in the water where the murky brown of the Cerro Chirripo and clearer water from another river lined up side by side.  It was really interesting to see.  

After the rapids we ate lunch at a restaurant and headed back to the hotel.  We are waiting now until the bus leaves for soccer game number 2. 

We have pictures of the rafting but we have to get them from Ryan, we will post them when we get them!  I have a feeling there will be some good ones!!

 View from our hotel room

 Another view from our hotel room

 Stanley made the visit!

 Justin is happy that there is a good fitness center, he can still do lap swim!  

 House for sale

 Pura Vida, it's everywhere!!

 Kids waiting to take the soccer field

 We followed this truck for a while up the mountainside.

 Where we ate lunch today.

Pura Vida!!

Pura Vida...which translates to pure life is a common saying in Costa Rica. We were told it could be used to say hi, goodbye, or anything in between. Our guide simply said to use it like Hakuna Matata.

So I'm sure you've gathered by now but we made it to Costa Rica after a long day of travel. We started our journey early this morning and got to O'Hare around 6:30am. A quick flight to Atlanta and a long layover later, we boarded and were on our way to San Jose, Costa Rica. We touched down around 7:30pm (local time, 1 hour behind CST) and were shuttled to the hotel for a great meal and details for the trip.

We are both tired from the travel but ready to start exploring tomorrow. We have free WiFi in the hotel so we will try to post lots of pictures.

Pura Vida!