Blogs from Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 5

The beach today was such a success we decided to do it again (except for the sunburns). Tiffany decided to rent a surfboard and hang 10! She insisted she didn’t need a lesson and to her credit she did get up a couple of times. For some reason the waves this day were far bigger than previous days. This made for challenging surfing but very fun boogie boarding. After a pizza lunch it was, of course, back to the pool. For dinner was, can you guess? Rice and beans. Was early to bed as we had to get up early the next day for a departure into the mountains. It was Jen’s turn to read some BFG which doesn’t really make the kids sleepy as they get very excited. For those of you that don’t know ... read more

For Alexa’s birthday we decided to take a trip into a beautiful set of waterfalls. There were three options to reach the falls. One - hike 4 km up-and-down steep dusty roads in the 35° heat. Two - ride sweaty hot horses four kilometres up-and-down steep dusty roads in the 35° heat. Three - a pick up truck foor kilometres up and down steep dusty rose In the 35° heat. I’ll let you guess what we chose.The waterfalls were spectacular. There were two of them, one for taking pictures at which was the higher of the two, and a smaller one for swimming which had a large pool at the base of it. The water was beautifully cool, clear and refreshing. The children didn’t much care for it maybe because of the fish swimming around ... read more

After seeing some wildlife near our hotel, our taste for adventure had been whet. The next morning we Headed for reptile Park about a half hour drive away. Sure enough we found dozens and dozens of snakes, lizards, Caymans, tortoises, turtles, fish and frogs (Much to Tiffany’s delight). Lunch with some very nice fish tacos in the town of Dominica, run by an American ex-pats. We then hit the beach again, the waves were much different in Dominica. The beach was much flatter so the waves came in for miles and miles. As they rushed back out, the sand but if your feet would become a wrote it in you to sink into the beach. Dinner once again consisted of rice beans ham and cheese.Bedtime seems to be right after dark for both children and adults ... read more

We left the Nicoya Peninsula and headed south towards the Osa Peninsula. We found a lovely Airbnb to stay at in the ocean side town of Golfito. Samara to Golfito was a 7.5 hour drive according to google maps. Google is not always correct - the road conditions often add a lot of time to these drives. We decided to break up the drive by staying for one night in a town called Quepos just outside of the popular surf town of Jaco. Jaco is a very large, busy with heavy tourist traffic. With it being so accessible from San Jose it has a lot of Tico (the term for local Costa Rican) visitors too. We decided Jaco wasn’t for us. We were looking for quiet secluded locations, not party destinations. Apparently we’re getting old. It ... read more

Caldera the main port and a gateway to some of the most amazing rain forests and national parks in the world. While Costa Rica is one of the smallest countries in Central America, it is naturally diverse, with lush rain forests teeming with wildlife along side pristine beaches which attract thousands of visitors every year. The protection of this remarkable habitat is a priority for the nations government which focuses on ecotourism. The Reserva Biologica Carara offers a gorgeous nature walk. Costa Rica is a peaceful, democratic country which disbanded its army in 1940. Officially the Republic of Costa Rica population of 5 million, land area 333,000 live in the capitol San jose and 2 million in surrounding areas . The country is Republic with stable democracy, they are highly educated. The country puts more into ... read more