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Costa Rica
  • Stephanie Nawaz

Costa Rica

A 12-day adventure by Stephanie Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 28, 2022
    Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler
    Market in San JoseOrchidsWalking palm tree

    Day 1: San Jose, Braulio Carrillo

    May 28, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Arrived to Costa Rica around noon via plane. Met with Ecoteach tour guides and drove into San Jose. Walked in food market (No pics)--tried fried cheese empanada (not a fan), ceviche (delicious), chocolate-covered coffee bean (two of my favorites foods). Lots of people walking around. Then we got on the tour bus and drove out of town on a windy road through the cloud forest. The second pic shows a field with coffee plants- arabica plants which are a shorter coffee variety that grows well in CR. Apparently coffee is a smaller part of the economy as it used to be, and other fields have grown such as tech. It started raining and the rainforest to the side of the road was filled with fog/clouds. Arrived at our hotel The Tapirius Lodge that is on the edge of the Braulio Carrillo National park. Walked around and looked at nature.Read more

  • Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler
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    Night walk at Tapirius Lodge

    May 28, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Pics from night walk around the Tapirius Lodge. After dinner of noodles, some salad (no dressing), and a frozen chocolate pudding, we set out on the wall. It ended up being an hour long, which was too long after our big day, but we did see cool creatures. At the end we came across a venomous coral snake but no picture. So exhausted after long day and tons of walking.Read more

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    Day 2 cont.: Head to Turtle Station

    May 29, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    After lunch, we rode bus to the Turtle Station. Towards the end we passed banana plantations. Blue bags covered the banana bunches to help them rip me and look yellow.
    We rode a boat to the turtle station. Once there, we settled into our primitive rooms. No A/C, No wi-fi, No fans, no warm water. Just a small dim light for the room and mosquito nets over the beds. Two rooms share a bathroom. It’s pretty rough, but surprisingly Kamran said it was better than he thought it would be. (The negatives were talked about beforehand). I think I dislike it more than they do. Overall I’m proud of them for being flexible and tolerant. We have gotten very little sleep the last couple days, so another night of little sleep will be rough. They told us to hurry and see some turtle hatchlings just coming up. They let a few kids transfer the babies to a container. Later we released the hatchlings to the seas. At night we went to the beach for turtle patrol. Luckily there was a female Leatherback turtle starting to prepare a nest to lay her eggs. We aren’t allowed to bring cameras at night to the beach because the light disorients the nesting turtles. The roughly 45 year old female was huge and the guide set up behind her in the dug hole and collected her eggs. Since she is aquatic apparently she could not hear us or see us since we only had one red flashlight to see. We could see the stars-the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt. I think it may have been the first time I was able to show Kamran and Micah the Big Dipper.Read more

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    Day 2 (1st half): Aerial Tram Tour

    May 29, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    After breakfast we went on a 1.25 hour aerial tram tour through the rainforest. On the way we saw a dart frog on the ground. Definitely a highlight of the day. Just amazing to see all the flora, fauna, butterflies, lizards. It’s funny because I saw plants high up in the canopy, such as ferns and bromeliads. They grow on the trees, but do not hurt the trees. I have seen the same type of plants for sale at the grocery store. The tall trees with yellow flowers are called broccoli trees due to their appearance. They self-prune and the lower branches fall off as the tree grows, leaving only the top part of the tree.Read more

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    Day 3: Stay at Turtle Station

    May 30, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    After getting in bed around midnight last night after the egg collection, the screen windows still allowed all the sounds of the morning to come through. Luckily I was able to go back and forth to sleep until around 6:30am. The boys slept much later, which was good because they needed the sleep. Micah accidentally rolled on the mosquito net and yanked it from the ceiling overnight, so by morning he just had a mosquito net draped directly on top of his body.
    We ate breakfast around 9 AM and the kids played basketball and a soccer game. Are later we walked down the beach as a group and collected coconuts was our guide chopped them open and we all drink coconut juice next to the water. The beach here is not safe for swimming due to strong currents and waves, but all the kids still put their feet in the water. We walked back and had lunch. Overall the kids are in a huge fan of the food here although I think it may be growing on them a tiny bit. There’s basically rice and beans at almost every meal. We have been served plantains, yucca, chicken one night, noodles the first night , Fried plantain patties, corn masa tortillas. Extremely humid here so we spend some time in the hammocks closer to the beach where there’s a little bit of wind. This place is roughing it , but I think it does teach all of us to appreciate what we have at home more.    Read more

  • Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler
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    Day 4: Rafting on way to La Fortuna

    May 31, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We woke up around 6am to pack up, ate breakfast, then head out to our next destination in the Arenal/La Fortuna area. We took the boat back to the bus and loaded up.
    About an hour along the way to the hotel, we hit some traffic on the highway. Apparently a landslide blocked the main highway. Once it cleared, we stopped for white-water rafting. It was awesome! We ate some fresh pineapple halfway through and it was delicious. Pineapple is grown here so this was picked at park ripeness. I found out that pineapple plant is actually a kind of bromeliad plant. We had to leave quickly since a storm was coming. It started raining hard the second half of the rafting trip, but everyone had a great time. Afterward we ate a late lunch ~3pm-it was tacos and everyone was very happy it was finally something other than rice and beans. Then we loaded up on the bus and headed to the hotel- Los Lagos. It is in the Arenal volcano region (La Fortuna is the town) and has hot springs swimming pools, a swim up bar, and a regular pool with a big slide for the kids. after checking into the hotel we went to the pool around 7:30 at night and we swam a bit before 8:30 dinner. Arenal has an active volcano in the region, but it only has smoke coming out now. It had lava coming out of it from 1968 until 2012. Not that long ago!Read more

  • Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler

    Day 5: La Fortuna: cocoa farm

    June 1, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After breakfast we headed over to the Two Little Monkeys chocolate farm. Couple of the photos show the Arenal volcano when the background. Apparently chocolate was first discovered and made in the meso Maya/Costa Rica area. Cocoa beans are fermented for seven days, then dried out, before being mixed with sugar make dark chocolate or with sugar and milk to make milk chocolate. Kids were able to grind some prepared cocoa beans into a paste that was then mixed with sugar and various ingredients to make hot chocolate. We learned that the Swiss were the first people to add milk to chocolate. Also I learned that humans are the only creature on earth that can eat chocolate. Monkeys will crack open the cocoa pods and eat the cocoa butter surrounding the beans but they spit the beans out afterward.Read more

  • Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler
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    Day 6: Arenal Volcano Natl Park & Hotel

    June 2, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Forgot my phone today so did not get as many pictures but we went on a hike in Volcano National Park. Then we went to the town of La Fortuna- ate lunch at a very good seafood restaurant (I had Mahi mahi), did a little souvenir shopping, the kids got some ice cream, then we headed back to the hotel around 3 PM and the kids swim until 730. We are staying at Los Lagos. I highly recommend this Hotel; it is fantastic. There is a swim up bar here in the Hot Springs pool so I hung out there most of the late afternoon today what’s some of the other parents and the kids too. The hot springs water is heated by the volcano and has natural silica in it which is good for the skin. There are waterslides here and my boys have gone down them like 100 times. You also order food near the pool so the kids had pizza I had some fish tacos. Some other people took pictures so I can add more later after the end of the trip.
    In 1968 the volcano had an explosion/eruption that spewed rocks in the air. It also caused the valley area of Arenal to flood. The government built new houses in the hills for residents, creating New Arenal.    Read more

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    Day 7: Guanacaste & Croc River Tour

    June 3, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We head to Guanacaste today. Guanacaste is the driest part of Costa Rica. The trees are smaller and there is more grassland and cattle. It is the wet season now so everything is green, but from November until May there is little rain. Long ago this area was part of Nicaragua, but after a small battle between 30 American soldiers (fighting for Nicaragua I guess?) and 500 CR farmers it became part of Costa Rica. Nicaragua has a similar relationship with Costa Rica that the USA has with Mexico. There are refugees from Nicaragua that come to Costa Rica for the public healthcare. To receive public health care you have to work or be a student (or be married to a worker). Vaccines are mandatory here, especially to go to school.

    Next we got on a boat to see wildlife including white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, baby crocodiles, female crocodiles, bats, lizards, herons. The male crocs are larger, but not around right now since breeding season is over. The females keep the males away to protect the babies.    Read more

  • Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler
    Strangler Fig TreeLittle Volcano

    Day 8: Natl Park & Waterfall

    June 4, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We woke from our first night at the new hotel and set off for our hike. Took a short bus ride to the Rincon de La Vieja National Park for a day hike. The first pic is of the Strangler fig tree, which grows around another tree and eventually strangles it. As the other three decomposes at the strangler tree feeds off of it. Then we walked to thermal pools and thermal mud pools that are heated by the volcano. Apparently they are acidic and 100°C which is boiling. So basically you fall in there you’re not coming out. Then we walked to a waterfall and some people swam at the bottom. The water was very cold.Read more

  • Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler
    Micah's first rideKamran's first ridePlaya Hermosa

    Day 9: Zip Lining & Playa Hermosa

    June 5, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The hotel has a zip lining activity on the premises, so we headed over after breakfast. The younger kids were scared, but after the first zip line they really enjoyed it. Scariest part was the Tarzan swing towards the end.
    Afterwards, we checked out of the hotel and loaded on the bus towards our final destination Playa Hermosa. Along the way we stopped for lunch and souvenir shopping. Shortly after we checked into the hotel which is very nice and a short walk to the beach.    Read more

  • Stephanie NawazCosta RicaTraveler
    Howler monkeys

    Day 10 & 11: Playa Hermosa Beach Days

    June 6, 2022 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We hung out at the beach and hotel Bosque de La Playa Hermosa for three nights. Kamran was here too, but apparently he didn’t stop for pics much. The ocean water was very warm, relatively calm, and there weren’t a lot of rocks in the water, so it was nice to walk in. Kam and Micah enjoyed the beach. We head back home tomorrow. We had a great trip in Costa Rica. Pura Vida!Read more

    Trip end
    June 8, 2022
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