Emmy did a project on Costa Rica in 5th grade. As we both learned about the country, we thought it would be so cool to go there one day. I don't recall exactly when we made firm plans, but it was sometime during COVID - Costa Rica, Thanksgiving 2022! We picked that time because we have time off of work and school and it was the end of their rainy season. We spent years saving and I spent a lot of time learning about the different areas of Costa Rica, how to travel, where to go, etc., and booked our trip 6+ months ago. Well, after many years of planning - we were finally on our way!
Early flight = nap time
Emmy captured this beauty from her seat
Our first leg of the flight was to Houston and there was no TV. The second leg we were able to watch some but Owen preferred drawing the whole flights!
We arrived late so rented a car and stayed at a hotel near the airport before our 2+ hour drive to the Arenal Volcano. I was prepared with games, ipads, food, etc., to keep everyone occupied but I didn't need any of it. We all looked for animals out the window, enjoyed the lush trees and laughed like we hadn't laughed in a long time.
As we approached the forest it just kept getting more and more lush - it was beautiful!
We all freaked out when we saw this guy on the side of the road so we had to stop.
First stop - Mistico Park! We walked through the hanging bridge trail which was a super cool way to kick off our adventures.
The bridges were about 50 feet long and super high up! They swayed when you walked so Ryan and I had a death grip. Haha. You could see to the lake and the trees were so dense.
We look good on vacation :)
The photos don't do any of the scenery justice - it was so grand, green and big!
At the end we watched about 12 of these littles guys wrestle all over the grass. We were in heaven!
Next up - horse back riding! Ryan was concerned that someone would walk him the whole way and Emmy thought we'd be walking in some kind of circle and I envisioned us casually walking on some grass. Boy were we wrong! Our guide started up by asking if any of us had ridden a horse - Nope. So he told us to pull left to go left, pull right to go right and back to stop. Vamos! And off we went.
We started down a nice slow path.
The only time I was able to take my hands off for a picture.
Pretty shortly after that nice little riad we started hiking uphill through mud and rocks and we just kept going and going and we never passed a sole the whole way! Emmy was a natural and led the pack the whole way we me always behind. I was so thankful for my slow horse!
I mean - OMG - there were a few times I questioned if we were going to start sliding down these hills!
Best picture ever - just look at his face!
We made it to the highest point the horses could go. Look at that view! It was so peaceful I tried to breath it all in.
Our guide was the best. He took mine and Emmy's phones a few times and took tons and pictures and videos.
Now for the journey back down...
Which was terrifying! Going down mud and rocks on a horse is no joke. Owen almost fell off and my horse started running so I screamed and made it go slow the whole way back. Everyone was laughing at me. It was so fun and beautiful and a great way to start our adventures in Costa Rica.
We stopped for some ice cream and then headed to the hotel.
We arrived at the Baldi! It was 25 different hot springs pools, water slides, restaurants, etc., it was awesome!
One of the hot tubs me and Josh frequented often. This one was 105 and had a natural sauna! Others were about 90 degrees so I was in heaven to never be cold! In fact, I was never cold our entire trip. It was about 80-85 degrees during the day and 75 degrees at night and really humid - it was like one big giant hug!
A single room with 2 king beds?! Score!
We checked in mid week so I swear we were the only ones these half the time. It got busy on the weekend.
The water slides looked innocent enough, but they were INSANE! Willl save the details for another post :)
Me and Emmy chillaxing before another adventurous day...
