Central America Part I: Costa Rica

Our visits to Argentina and Ecuador were an amazing glimpse into South America where we saw huge metropolises, jungles, high desert, towering mountains, vast plains, glaciers, and remote exotic islands. However, we only scratched the surface of what the entire continent has to offer and our experiences in South America only added more destinations to our future travel list. Next up on our itinerary were Costa Rica and Nicaragua in Central America - that’s on the continent of North America for those that have not thought about it.

Our People

After over two months of close family bonding, we were looking forward to reconnecting with family and friends and disconnecting from our busy travel schedule with some real vacation time.

Our first set of big hugs came from Lauren’s sister and her family. The kids were beyond excited to see their cousins, aunt, and uncle. They have never waited so long without complaining as they did at the Arrivals area at Liberia Airport. There were smiles all around as they shared news from home and we recapped the details of our travels.

We have come across a few characters in our travels. Our AirBnB host in Nuevo Arenal, Costa Rica, was an American expat from North Carolina. He ran one of the local zip line adventures and rainforest guided tours on the property we were staying. Despite living in Costa Rica for decades, he just couldn’t shake his Southern American accent. We will always remember him telling us, “That fella in the white panel van is here only on Friday nights and he makes the best sir-vee-chee (ceviche). He’ll fill you up a plastic bag from the 5 gallon bucket in the back of his truck.” Being the first day of our time together, we decided not to risk food poisoning, but we have regrets.

The family had a great time exploring the cloud rainforests of Arenal and Monteverde. We spent much of our time hiking and searching for wildlife.

Beyond the sights we visited, we managed to add in a little bit of silliness. As we travelled across Costa Rica, with Jon at the wheel of a rather large van, we had a few long drives. We made the best of it with impromptu topiary mimicking and roadside twerking lessons, compliments of our dance instructor, Cousin Sam.

Despite not having all the creature comforts, including one lodging where we did not have electricity on our first day of arriving, it was great to be close to family. Sharing good food, fun games, and the comfort of each others company, these days went by much too quickly.

Upon our return to Costa Rica following our week in Nicaragua (more coming in Part II) we surprised the kids with a whirlwind 16-hour visit with friends from home in the mountains surrounding San Jose. Although this visit was short, it left us all feeling grateful for the time we had together.

This time was a good reminder of the great support system we have and how everyone in our lives enriches us. For the family and friends we couldn’t physically meet, we have been so happy with the odd hour FaceTime calls and text messages!

Tranquilo

One of the major themes that we have picked up in our travels is the Spanish word, tranquilo. It literally translates to tranquility, but it can also mean: calm, relax, or just, slow down. It is so easy to get stressed about the day-to-day, that we all could use a little more tranquilo. In Central America, we embodied it.

Throughout Costa Rica, hot spring hotels and spas can be found offering $40 day passes and higher per person to use their facilities. In our researching around Volcán Arenal with Lauren’s sister and family, we found information about a free hot spring that seemed too good to be true, but had to be explored either way. The experience seemed sketchy from the start where we had to find parking on a busy roadside near a large hot spa resort with towering perimeter walls. A guy with questionable intent helped guide our 12-person van into a tight parallel parking spot. He then told us that we could pay him an optional (it didn’t seem very optional) 3000 colones (~$5USD) which he was collecting for the river cleanup group he said he was affiliated with. We obliged and he pointed us down the hill to the pathway that would lead us to the free hot springs. The walk down included a set of stone steps to a concrete spillway and then through a graffitied culvert crossing under the road. The water seemed swift through the culvert and we had our doubts about safety, especially with the kids. At this point, at least one in our group was balking and ready to pay the prices at the bougie resort hot springs up the road.

We took a moment to assess what we were getting into and decided to push on. When we got to the other side of the culvert we had some climbing through a jungle where we caught our first glimpse of a huge pool with lots of people soaking in the warm waters from the hot springs. On the banks along the hot springs river, there were a couple bbq food stands and a man selling green coconuts. All of us still had our guard up, but Jon disappeared for a few minutes and returned with three green coconuts. A fresh coconut juice for the kids, and two coconuts spiked with guaro, the local sugarcane liquor, for the adults.

We found a pool large enough for us to spread out and settle into the warm waters and quickly relaxed into our situation. We ended up relaxing and soaking for a few hours while the kids splashed and played. Finding the hot springs was one of the highlights of our time in Costa Rica and showed us how letting go, taking it easy, and embracing tranquilo could make a for great time.

Pura Vida

After we parted with friends and family, we took the time to enjoy the mountains of Costa Rica. First we stayed on a goat farm owned by a Canadian couple. The owner gave us a tour of the porperty allowing us to milk the goats, educating us on his aquaponics system, and showing us his current working project, a treehouse that will be a future AirBnb.

As we crossed Costa Rica, we stopped to visit Espíritu Santo, a coffee plantation and roaster, to take a tour of their facilities. The farm was located on a picturesque mountainside that bordered the nearby village of Naranjo de Alajuela. The kids were not looking forward to a tour about coffee, but our guide quickly changed their moods with free samples of chocolate nibs. As the tour started, his humor and interaction with the kids kept their attention and he volunteered them to take part in some of the activities. Larson got to model the collecting basket similar to the ones that the farmers use to pick the coffee cherries. Then they all played with the beans on the drying beds and sieves. We all got to exfoliate our hands with used coffee grounds, too. Try it at home! Of course, the adults had a chance to sample some fresh Tico dripped coffee during the tour. The day turned into a great experience and the kids ranked it as one of the top things we did in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is flush with bright colors along roadside stands overflowing with fresh tropical fruit. Pallets of fresh mangoes, pineapple, bananas, soursops, and papaya can be found at every stand along with more exotic fruit.

We tried many new fruits, but the ice cream bean stands out as our favorite find. It comes in a long green and brown bean pod. The pod is hard and woody, so you have to forcefully snap it in half to get to the fleshy white fruit on the inside with a smooth pit in the middle. The best way to describe the flavor of the fruit is that it tastes like - surprise! - vanilla ice cream.

We spoiled ourselves with fresh fruit smoothies and juices almost every day. While we dined at a restaurant, our niece was appalled to find ripe mangoes falling out of a tree and littering the nearby car park. Each one would cost a dollar at home! Beyond the fruit stands, you can see all of the tropical fruit growing in the trees everywhere around you.

In our last days in Costa Rica we stayed on a beautifully manicured property surrounded by coffee plantations. It was the most serene setting. Lauren was in such a good mood she let the kids roast marshmallows for breakfast. We used this week to have a little self-care and get back into our travel mindset ahead of our next journey that would take us across the Atlantic.

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Central America PART II: Nicaragua

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Island Hopping In The Galapagos