Trip to Costa Rica - July 14-21

On July 14th we flew off to Costa Rica for our summer vacation.  (This trip would take us to our third continent of the year!)  Dan and I had visited Costa Rica to celebrate our 10th anniversary and we were excited to visit again and this time share the adventure with Emory and Ellie.

We flew into San Jose and started our adventure.  Our first night we would spend in Manuel Antonio which was about a 3.5 hour drive away from the airport.  Along the way we crossed the Tarcoles Bridge which is known for the huge crocodiles that are always found underneath the bridge.  We had to stop and check them out.  It was more than a little scary and these pics don't come close to showing how big these crocs really were!

We arrived at the Falls Resort in Manuel Antonio where we would spend our first night.  This was a neat little hotel tucked into the rainforest.  We had a relaxing evening swimming in the pool and enjoying some wonderful Costa Rican food and drinks.

Sunday, July 15th:  Our first full day in Costa Rica! 

We toured Manuel Antonio National Park.  It was absolutely amazing.  Our guide was fantastic and found so many animals that we had hoped to see on this trip.

 A Howler monkey...just the first of many that we would see up in the trees.  Amazing!

An iguana hidden in the trees.

The illusive sloth.  This was the animal that we had all hoped to see on this trip and we were fortunate enough to see them several times at Manuel Antonio.

 A toucan spotted up at the top of a dead tree.

 A Jesus Christ lizard.

Baby Bats up on a tree...

At the end of the tour of the national park, we had time to swim at the beach.

Emory found a coconut on the beach that had fallen off a tree.  It started off being a ball to play with in the waves but then he decided to peel off all of the outer layers and get all the way down to the coconut so that he could eat it.  His determination paid off.




































Everywhere we visited in Manuel Antonio the views were incredible. We were often at the tops of the tree tops and could hear and often see the monkeys playing in the trees below.

Monday, July 16th:

Today we woke up in Manuel Antonio and were headed to Monte Verde.  This trip would take us from the Rain Forest to the Cloud Forest.  Before leaving though, we wanted to take a couple of pictures in front of a restaurant called El Avion, that is built around an actual airplane.  The restaurant was still closed as it was early in the morning but since it is an open air restaurant we were able to walk through and see the views behind the restaurant.  It was here the we came in contact with three different types of monkeys that were playing in the trees around us and also a sleeping sloth.  This just might have been my personal favorite part of the entire trip.  We would have stayed and watched them play all day!

 

 Soon it was time to start our drive to Monte Verde.  It started off on a wonderful new paved highway but soon took us to the bumpiest and most rural roads that we have ever been on.  They really weren't kidding when they said that the roads were impassable for months out of the year during the rainy season. 

Ellie started off the day with a little nap in the car.  Costa Rica is a small country but getting from place to place often takes a very long time.

The change in scenery was dramatic as we headed up, up and farther up into the mountains.

We were stopped a couple of times by farmers moving their cattle down the middle of the road.

Our home for the evening in Monte Verde would be Cabanas Valle Campanas.  Here we had our own little house on a small farm.  We enjoyed getting to see their animals, fruits and vegetable gardens and even trying out real sugar cane juice that they pressed for us.

 A capybara at the farm.  They had two.

The craziest thing that we did on this trip was take a night tour through a farm in the hidden valley.  What was I thinking when I decided to pay money to walk through the pitch black jungle with only a small flashlight and a guide?  Let's just say it will never ever happen again!  Even though it was super scary we did see some animals that our guide pointed out like a sloth, a few frogs and a tarantula!

 

Tuesday, July 17th:  Monte Verde to La Fortuna/Arenal
Our last morning before leaving we Cabanas Valle Campanas we were treated to some fresh sugar cane juice.  It wasn't the best tasting juice we have ever had but it was neat to see how they make it using a press that is over a hundred years old.

 

Before heading out of the Cloud Forest, we visited the Hanging Bridges for a birds eye view of the tree tops.