Costa Rica {Day 7} – Playa Tamarindo & Turtle Watching

Justin and I were both up shortly after 7 AM today and went for a little walk along the beach before eating breakfast. 

These tracks in the sand were pretty fascinating.  You could see the little crabs (I’m assuming they are crabs) moving under the sand leaving these trails all over the beach.

By the time we got back to our room the kids were awake had thankfully already starting the process of getting ready for a day in the sun. 

Today we decided to drive out to Playa Tamarindo which is a beach that Sommer recommended for playing in the water. Apparently a lot of the beaches have too big of waves and undertow for safe play, however Tamarindo was perfect. We rented a few boogie boards for a couple hours and the kids enjoyed getting out there and trying to catch some good waves.

At about 2 o’clock the little kids were hungry so we decided to go find something to eat along the beach.  There were several howler monkeys up in the trees on our way to the main road.

Abigail and Carly didn’t get out of the water and so we ended up just leaving them at the beach and walking down the street to a little taco restaurant. The tacos were pretty good and by the time we finished eating the girls had gotten out of the water and walked down to meet up with us. There was a sign that advertised Hawaiian shaved ice and we couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, it was far from the deliciousness of true Hawaiian shaved ice, but thankfully we had only gotten one so we didn’t waste too much money on that. We had to get back to the resort and get cleaned up for a turtle watching excursion this evening. We were supposed to meet up with our guide in a nearby town just before 6 PM. When we pulled up to the designated meeting spot I asked him where we should park our car. He said that he was riding with us. Mind you we are already seven people in a seven passenger car, but there wasn’t much we could do about that at this point so we put Drew in the back with Jason and Katie and I sat in the middle row with Abigail and Carly and the guide got to sit shotgun. Another negative to him not having his own car was that Justin needed to do all the driving and we were taking some pretty gnarly back roads to some secluded beaches. We were one of the first to arrive to a particular spot and he was excited about what he had found. He led us in the dark down the beach where we saw the tracks from the fins of a turtle making its way from the ocean to the beach. We were excited to a massive turtle digging a nesting spot at the top of the beach. 

She took about 30 minutes to clear out an area and dig a deep hole with her back flippers. Once the nest was prepared she went into a trance and started dropping her eggs into the hole. We were all really surprised how large the eggs were. 

A few other groups showed up but we had the best views and were able to circle around and see everything again before we left. We didn’t stay to watch her bury the eggs. Apparently they typically lay between 60 and 80 eggs but they can lay up to 120. Pretty amazing sight to see. Next on my bucket list is to see those eggs hatch and witness some baby turtles making their way to the ocean. Our guide got a ride back to town with some of his buddies but we were able to follow them out so we didn’t get lost on the rough, dark roads.

When we got back to the hotel the kids were pretty snacky so we checked out what the hotel had to offer. We happened upon a game room that we didn’t know about and we were able to play some foosball and ping-pong. It was located near a little pizza place so we ordered a couple pizzas to take back to the room as a before bed snack.

we’re going to miss having someone clean up after us everyday

Costa Rica {Day 6} – Sunset Catamaran Cruise

Justin went to in search of food last night, however the grocery store was already closed so he went back this morning to pick up a few things for the kids to eat for breakfast. 

Because we only had one person assigned to each of our rooms only Justin and I got breakfast at the resort. Sadly, the provided breakfast was nothing to rave about. It seems to take us forever each morning to get ready. I hate sunscreen. It’s the worst part of summer in my opinion. So to be on a vacation where multiple times throughout the day everyone needs to be sunscreened and then on top of that slathering everyone in bug repellent. It’s a process that I dread! We spent today at our pool and at Playa Flamingo, the beach by our hotel. 

We had an excursion starting at 2 PM so we figured we’d stay close which also meant that we ate lunch at the resort. Not really how we roll but we ordered a few baskets of chicken fingers and fries and it seemed to be enough. We were being picked up from our resort at 2 PM for a sunset catamaran cruise. We were looking forward to getting out on the ocean and doing some snorkeling. We’ve done a few of these catamaran trips in the past and it’s a little bit of a crapshoot. You never know if you’re going to get on a boat with tons of other people and because drinks are always provided (including alcohol) you never know if those cruising with you are going to be partiers or not. We just so happened to be the only family on the boat today and even worse was that there was a large group of singles. I heard one man from the UK say to one of the other singles in his group that he didn’t feel like he can be an adult with children around. Which I guess implies that to him being adult is drunk and inappropriate. It was still fun even though there were more people than I would have preferred. 

The area that they took us out to go snorkeling was gorgeous, however the water was pretty murky and we only saw a few varieties of fish. Justin, Abigail, and Jason were able to go out on a paddleboard for a little while which was fun and they had a special board that Drew could lay on and look into the water without really even getting in the ocean.

They provided quite a bit of food and it was quite tasty. The drinks were bottomless although that’s not nearly as big of a deal if you’re not drinking alcohol.  The weather was beautiful and we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset on the water…

Again, more evening swimming at the resort and then showers, an Oreo snack and then an early bedtime.

Costa Rica {Day 5} – Jungle to Beach

Today we were moving from the jungle to the beach. Giovanni and told us that we were welcome to come back to the Bogarin Trail this morning if we wanted to walk through it again. We weren’t sure if we would take the whole family or if just Justin and I would go. Drew woke up around 7:30 AM and since he was in the room with Justin and I we decided that just the three of us to go walk the trail while all the other kids continued to sleep and/or get ready for the day. Unfortunately it had been raining most of the night and morning. We thought it would let up, but it didn’t. We brought along a couple ponchos and did the walk anyhow, however without a guide we weren’t able to see or spot much of anything. And the sloths don’t like the rain anyhow.  There were several birds near the reception area, but overall it today wasn’t nearly as impressive as yesterday. 

By the time we got back to the hotel the other kids had wrapped up breakfast and we’re getting ready back in the room. We ate our breakfast and packed up the car and we’re ready to head out just before 11 AM. We had a seven passenger car, but very little space in the back for luggage – which means we had to get a bit cozy.  Getting everyone in and out of the car was quite the process.

According to the schedule Sommer had prepared, the drive would take a little less than three hours to get to the beach. As it turns out she had made a mistake and it took much longer than that! 

We had a few wildlife sightings along the way.  These are the strangest little animals – terrible picture, but the best I could get from the car.  They typically walk around with their tails straight up in the air.

The first part of the drive was incredibly windy, as much of Costa Rica is driving through very rural areas. Drew was the first one to get sick and Jason followed shortly thereafter. Thankfully we had a barf bag and it wasn’t too big of a deal but still not fun for them. The drive was broken up a little bit by stopping at Llanos de Cortez waterfall. It was a little bit off the main road, but well worth it! Instead of parking in the main area and paying an admission fee per person there were some local gentlemen at the front of the road that guided us back to a separate entrance where we were just asked for a donation instead of admission. We paid a few dollars to park and then we also paid for a guy to take us down to the waterfall and back. Money well spent! The waterfall was beautiful! 

We were able to hike up to the top of the waterfall and look down.

The way to the top was a bit sketchy when the guide had to lift up barbwire for us to crawl under.

We spent some time playing in the water below…

I love this picture of Katie taking a selfie with my phone.  I like that she wanted to take pictures while we were traveling – even pictures of just her ;)

Best Photobomb Ever! 

On our way back to the car we stopped at a separate little pool of water where Jason was the only one up for cliff jumping. 

We spent a little over an hour at the falls before we got back on the road. We stopped for lunch at McDonalds in Liberia.  It wasn’t busy when we got there but it was packed immediately afterward!

Sommer also had a suggested stop in a small town square that is famous for having large iguanas; however it was so late in the day that the iguanas had pretty much already gone back up into the trees for the night. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to catch them any other time. We pulled into the resort in Playa Flamingo after dark. There was a little issue at the front desk because our reservation only had one adult listed in each room and no kids. We were able to get checked in, but it was a bit of a sticky spot. The kids were already in their swimsuits so we headed down to the pool for a little while. While I was sitting in the lounge chair watching the kids swimming I noticed something on the side table next to me. I thought it was a cat so I turned my head to shew it away and came face to face with a huge racoon! Apparently there are several raccoons wandering around the resort and they have no fear of humans. Yikes!