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Published: February 8th 2010
Day two journey:
Our day began with a fantastic Costa Rican breakfast at the Pura Vida Hotel with Berni. After our rental car was delivered by Hevor (a fluent english-speaking, amazingly friendly, informative young man) , of Vamos Rent-a-Car, we hit the unfamiliar and slightly intimidating roads of Costa Rica. Fortunately, we received a 4-wheel drive Land Cruiser which we quickly realized is an absolute necessity on our journey across the country. While many of the roads are paved and decently marked, there are potholes that nearly reach the core of the earth that could swallow a vehicle in a moment and times when the road is ridiculously rough (though Shae and Nikki love these unforeseen adventures and you'll hear them hootin' and hollerin' from the back seat for more). We drove for approximately 3 1/2 hours through a myriad of small towns that were rather quaint and quiet up and down the hillsides of central Costa Rica (please see the map for a more clear picture of our journey). The view along the way was breathtaking; many pastures with cattle and wild horses, children playing futbol with their friends, and valleys as far as the eye could see. We'd
heard that this country would be beautiful, but failed to realize how breathtaking it would truly be.
Finally, we reached a very small town named Muelle. It is here that we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Las Iguanas, by recommendation of Berni at Pura Vida. While each of the adults enjoyed chicken and rice, Nikki tried fish nugget and fries and realized that she didn't like it. We hadn't anticipated her having any aversion to Costa Rican food, as typically she's a "try anything" kind of girl. Strangely, she's continued to be pretty reluctant to try new things since this meal. We've remained hopeful that she'll return to her less picky self as the trip goes on. Anyway, below the Las Iguanas restaurant is the home of a couple dozen roaming iguanas. Before and after our meal we spent time viewing and photographing these wild creatures. Of course Nikki was enamored and began to ask if she could get one back at home. "N-E-G-A-T-I-V-E", was Shae's prompt and absolute reply (as has also been the verdict on Nikki's request for a chinchilla over the last near 2 years) : ).
When we hit the road again,
it only took about 45 minutes until we reached our final destination of the day; The Tree Houses Hotel. WOW...this place was awesome! ! ! Our group was split into two tree houses; Mom and Dad in Tree House #1 and Jeff, Shae and Nikki in #2. After we had a chance to explore the tree houses and get our luggage settled, we changed into swim wear and hiking gear for a trek down to the property's waterfall before sundown (which is at about 5:30pm down here). This was quite the adventure! We first encountered an enormous army of Leaf Cutter Ants, who continue to fascinate us, a Toucan Bird, atop a rather large barren tree, numerous termite nests, and best of all.............
a large group of Howler Monkey's hanging and playing in the trees above us (unfortunately not quite close enough to photograph) - http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/howler-monkey.html While we wished we could have stayed to watch the monkey's for hours, of course they're extraordinarily entertaining, we were vying for daylight hours and had to continue on our journey down to the waterfall. Once we arrived at our destination, Jeff, Nikki and Dad swam for about 20 minutes (while Mom and Shae
The Treehouses Hotel
(outside of La Fortuna)
http://treehouseshotelcostarica.com/took pictures a-plenty) and then "back to the hotel" (NtoDeep, for those who can appreciate the old skool flava, hehehehehehe).
After all of this adventure, we realized it was already time to eat, so upon recommendation of Mark the hotel-keeper (who is from Longview, Washington ironically) we ended up at an Italian restaurant up the way named Bella Verona. Muah....was it benissimo! ! ! Giuliano is a fine gentleman who moved to Costa Rica 14 years ago to build his home, Italian bar, hotel and restaurant in this small town just south of La Fortuna. We spent nearly three hours in the care of this gentleman and his son who hand-prepared our entire meal; from stone baked pizzas to pasta dishes. His enthusiasm to serve, entertain and engage in conversation with us was unmatched by any dining experience we've EVER had. OH...and it can't be overlooked to share this service detail: when Nikki asked Giuliano if he had pineapple for a pizza, he said in a thick Italian accent, "Oh, sweet dear, we do not have pineapple at this time. HOWEVER", he exclaimed, "I'll have my young man run down the street to get one for you. You want
pineapple? We have pineapple, my girl! ! !" He then discreetly passed some Colones and spoke a few instructions to the young man who ran off to the fruit stand to pick up a pineapple for Nikki's pizza. What a memorable experience it was to meet Giuliano and his son while spending the evening at Bella Verona.
And then down for the night, in a tree house or two, we went atop the trees with the sound of many-a-rain forest creatures singing us to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
OH, and Happy Birthday Jeff...it was an unforgettable birthday celebration! ! ! You are the best husband, father, son, brother and friend imaginable. We love you!
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Jodi
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JEFFY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Sorry it's late :) Hope you had a most enjoyable day! Hey, you even got to hang out with the monkey's! LOL Should have been a great party! Love you guys!