• Debra Kooy

Costa Rica

A 19-day adventure by Debra Read more
  • Rancho de Lelo Ecolodge

    January 30, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We love the family-run sustainable farm. The farm was started by the parents and named after the mom. The daughters and their husband's run the restaurant, reception and work the farm. They have 5 dogs that are so friendly and accompany us wherever we go on the property.Read more

  • Venturing into Monteverde & Santa Elena

    January 30, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    Today was action packed and the worst and steepest roads I've ever driven on. Our little rental car is the little engine that never quits. No flat tires so far on these roads is a miracle🤞🤞We had an incredible breakfast at our Ecofarm then took a walk around the property to see what they grow. I found out this morning that the tilapia fish I had for dinner last night was from the ponds on the property. They have so many fish in the ponds. The 6 dogs came with us on our walk. The littlest one we discovered this morning had to be picked up from one of the family because it just wanted to follow us, but it's just too tiny!!
    The family owns a lot of land here and grow lemons, oranges, guava, bananas and have cattle, chickens and likely a lot that we are not aware of. After a walkabout we drove into Monteverde and Santa Elena. We found our Night Tour location, then drove out to the site of the Tigre Waterfall. The tour was too long so we had a coffee and drove the very narrow, steep roads back to town to the main town center and shopped around. Anthony and I bought PURA VIDA rings to renew our vows to live a content, happy and pure life!!!! ❤️❤️ Then we went for coffee because some of the best coffee is grown here in Monteverde. Following coffee, we drove to a restaurant at Belmar Hotel that one of the guests at the Ecolodge recommended. It had such great views to the ocean. We could see the cloud moving in, then clearing, continually. I had an amazing kombucha, locally made with strawberry, watermelon and ginger. It was so good. Then I also had a gin and tonic which was different than how ours typically taste. Anthony had a flight of craft beers. The fish tacos, nachos and snacks with the beers were all really flavorful. Our last adventure of the day was the Night Walk at El Refugio in the cloud forest. This was an incredible experience and the pictures our guide was able to get with our phones was amazing.
    We saw two types of birds that were sleeping and don't move at all when the lights shine on them. We saw a bright rainbow toucan, a tarantula, a 🦂 scorpion that glows with a black light on it, 2 green side-striped palm pit vipers, a sloth, a porcupine, a hummingbird that visits 2500 plants for the nectar as well as fruits and seeds to feed its high use energy to keep warm in cooler temperatures here, army and leaf cutter ants ( saw the massive nest), and a 500 year old strangler fig tree that has another tree that grew inside it and choked the outer tree. It was a giant. We then had to drive these crazy roads in the dark back to the Ecolodge!
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  • Monteverde Cloud Forest Tour

    January 31, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌫 18 °C

    After a poor sleep of under 6 hours for both Anthony and I, I got up and showered at 5:45am. Our hosts are incredible and woke up early to have breakfast ( which is included every day) ready for the guests that have the early morning tours. They had fresh papaya juice, papya and watermelon with eggs and/ or pancakes. We got on the road with a full stomach and ready for another adventure. The guided day tours are at 7:30 am or 1pm. The best time we were told is the morning so we reserved that time. Our guide, Mario, was very friendly and found some special wildlife for us. We saw 3 Quetzal birds which are considered the King of the Forest. The males have a beautiful red breast and aqua and green feathers with a cool crest on its head and yellow beak. They eat small avocados specifically grown in this forest region, fruit, small frogs, insects and berries. We saw a Kawati and a big agouti rodent. We were lucky to see two very small hummingbird nests and one had the babies in it and we lucked out as the momma came back to feed them. We saw another type of hummingbird from afar that nests on the sides of the creeks. It has the longest beak of the hummingbirds. At the end of the hike we saw two more types of birds and some howler monkeys and a huge gathering of army ants that we had to get through quickly or they climb onto you and can bite as we found out with just one bite each, luckily😬 The reserve has a hummingbird gallery where they feed the hummingbirds so visitors can see the many different varieties of hummingbirds in the forest environment. Their colors are spectacular. Again, these guides are amazing to spot these animals. Sometimes they know where things are from the day before or if some habituate to an area, or they just share information and make the best experience for all guests. Anthony was the driver today and got to experience these rough, hilly roads. We stopped at a viewpoint looking to the Pacific ocean (also for sunset viewing) on the way back to the Ecolodge. We had a short siesta, used up some of our food, fruit and beer for lunch and now just enjoying our last afternoon and evening here. We love listening to the winds moving the trees as we are so high up and the sounds are amazing.Read more

  • Costa Rica friendly pets & wildlife

    January 31, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Going all the way back to Tamarindo, I am posting our memorable furry friends🥰😻🐕
    and other amazing wildlife.

  • Costa Rica signs😂 & Memorable quotes

    February 1, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌬 32 °C

    We have had some laughs over some of the road signs and other things we've encountered along our travels. Some good quotes too🥰

  • Toronto to YVR - last leg of our journey

    February 2, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -2 °C

    We had a great sleep and went down for breakfast. We had a hearty breakfast and a coffee. Then we sat poolside and a latte and 2 cappuccinos later we went up and got ready in no time🤪🤭 Not sure what got into us, but I was shaky all the way to the airport!! We had a few hours before our flight so we got some reading in. The flight was good to Toronto and then we decided to stay in the airport until we could check in our bags at 4am. We took turns sleeping, listened to music, read our books and played crib. Anthony skunked🦨 me!! I have not seen high hands like he had in a long time. We checked our bags for our flight to Vancouver.Read more

  • Home Sweet Home

    February 3, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    We picked up Scratch from the Fraser Valley Animal Hospital. She is adjusting to being in her home surroundings again😻 Jacob is also spending a night with us🥰
    It feels great to be home❤️

    Trip end
    February 2, 2024