February 23rd: Costa Rica Day 10

Mom and I got up around 10 or so to make sure we had time to get ready, re-pack and check out by 11. Calgary was even colder when compared with the glorious heat that was Costa Rica. We had to take a picture of the coldness.

Then we had a bite to eat (mmmm, fries with gravy!) and then Mom dropped me off at the airport again so I could head back to Portland via SLC. The return trip went off without a hitch and my lovely roomies met me at the airport. I chattered at them about how great it was all the way back to the apartment where I then commenced to show them pictures of all the stuff we did and gave them the stuff I got for them.

Even Oregon was mad I was gone - this is the weather I woke up to the next morning when I was headed to work. Blech. Luckily that was all melted by about noon, but still, rude!

And that is it. Now I have been back for a while and I miss it terribly. It was a great vacation and it was amazing to spend some time with my Mom as well. Thanks for sticking with me over the slowness of this recap. And hey, now I can do posts about other things again. Aren't you excited?

February 22nd: Costa Rica Day 9

This was really only a half day, or less. We got up and had our last breakfast in Costa Rica and then we lounged by the pool for the last few minutes that we could. Soaked up the few remaining rays that were soakable. Took one last picture of the view.

 And then headed to the airport. We had a little food in the airport and then we had a long flight back. This is us all sad in the airport because we don't want to leave.

 But we did have a good time.

 This was taken in Panama - we were there for about an hour and a half, just sitting in the plane on the tarmac. That still counts right?

 For anyone interested the movies in the flight on the way back were "You Again" and "Going the Distance" which managed to keep me sufficiently entertained.

Then we got back to Calgary and took a shuttle back to the hotel and pretty much crashed! It was a long day.

February 21st: Costa Rica Day 8

Side note - these guys drove the little shuttle that went around the resort all the time and they were awesome!









So we had to get up and go zip-lining which was postponed from the previous day. We didn't want to go on a huge long bus trip to get to any area really far away, so we did a nearby zip-line trip at this place called the Papagayo canopy and it was amazing. And we ended up going in a small group with only 6 people (Jess didn't want to come, and MaryJane was going to come but she had to pack and get ready to leave so she didn't come so it was just Mom and I from our group). We were with this other mother/daughter group and then a husband and wife duo - all of the others were from England. It was interesting to get to know them and it was amazing to go zip-lining. 

This is us 'suiting up' for the adventure. Don't we look excited? Mom looks cool as a cucumber! No nerves there! And I think I was trying to be sexy, but it more came across ... sad. Hehe.





I was always the first person to volunteer to do the crazy things - like going upside-down or doing the superman. I think my experience with crazy stunts helped in this area (after bungee jumping this really didn't scare me at all!)

 

 

 

Random Howler monkeys we saw right before the last line. Cheeky little buggers ;)




And the pic below is our entire zip-lining group and the two guides who went with us. So much fun!

After the zip-lining trip we got back to the resort just in time to leave again to go on a river boat tour. This was definitely the best trip for seeing wild-life. We were so close to so many different things.

Capuchins


"Jesus Christ" lizards - I am not just being sacriligeous, that is really what they call them because these little dudes can walk on water. The one on the right is the female and the left pic is the male.

Bats. Yes, those really are bats. During the day they sleep in the tree all lined up like that so that other animals think they are a snake and don't attack them. Smart eh?

Birds. A blue heron followed us down the river for a good chunk of time - we would pass him and then he would just get up and fly by us, and then we would pass him again and he would fly past again. It was so funny. We saw tons of other birds too, but I don't know their names - the bottom one is a King Fisher I think, but it is really blurry.

Crocodiles! We got so close to these guys that it would have been scary if the guide hadn't assured us that they don't attack anything bigger than them, and we were in a boat that was MUCHO bigger than they were. Also, they weren't even attacking little birds at the time so I think they were a bit sleepy? Full? I don't know. But it was still way cool. The top pic is one of my favourite pictures from the whole trip.

 

 We also saw more Howler monkeys. These guys are just everywhere!

Then we went back to the resort and tried to get all packed and ready to go. We had dinner, we hung out for a bit by the bar, we said our goodbyes for the most part, and mostly we tried to get some sleep.

February 20th: Costa Rica Day 7

So, originally we were planning to go zip-lining on this day, but there was an issue with the vehicles or something, so we had to postpone to the next day. That meant we were free so we decided to hire a cab to take us in to Coco beach so we could do some shopping and exploring. This was all decided after sleeping in quite a bit - which was very welcome (although I didn't sleep in as much as I would have liked - Mom doesn't really let that happen. Of course, it was good because I didn't want to sleep my whole trip away!)

We asked up at the lobby where we could get a cab and they hooked us up with this guy Carlos, who was really nice. On our way to Coco beach he stopped and showed us some great views of a a couple other beaches in the area that were less touristy and more locals were there, and that was way interesting. The below pics are us on each of those beaches (I don't remember which they were, but they were two different beaches, I swear! Can't you tell by the different backgrounds and the fact that we are in a different order?)

Then we went to Coco beach and we were hungry so we told him to take us a place that he would eat. We had these really good sandwiches at this little sandwich/burger stand thing. Then we just walked up and down the street looking at all the shops - and there are a ton! It makes it a bit touristy, but it was good shopping anyway. Then we stopped at this little bar called CocoNutz that was owned by a guy from Wisconsin. He came and chatted with us for a bit and said that he was on vacation for a few days a couple years previous, and he was totally drunk and the next thing he knew, he owned a bar! It was really a cool place - half covered and half open to the trees. And while we were sitting there, we looked up and right above us in the trees were some howler monkeys! Just chillin'. That was way fun.




 Then we walked down to this little place that is kinda like the Wal-Mart of Costa Rica (I don't remember the name of it) and bought a few more goodies. We saw this giant pac-man on the way so I had to take a photo. Seriously, it was HUGE! I think the mouth came up to my waist or something.







Then it was back to the hotel to make our 8 o'clock Italian restaurant dinner reservation. This is us with Carlos, our cab driver.

The Italian place was really good food. And we saw Oscar for a brief moment - he was busy so didn't chat, but he was carrying wine or something and he was looking at us and he didn't notice a door open into his pathway and he ran into it. Poor guy. It was funny though.

 Then we hung out in the bar again for a while - we had to get pics with all our favourite bartenders (we just decided to do it all at one time!)

Then we went to bed. It was MaryJane's last night so she had to make sure to say a bunch of her goodbye's and whatnot, and Mom and I were prepping to go zip-lining in the morning so we had to be fresh and ready!