Our trip to COSTA RICA

"..how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matt 7:11
Last week, Sarah (my roommate) and I traveled to San Jose, met up with my good friend, Meghan, and enjoyed five days in beautiful Costa Rica. We had a blast! I like what Sarah said about it: "It was a blessing and we acknowledged that, rather than a 'deserved' vacation, it was a gift from God...it was amazing to experience together as the Lord partied with us, answered our prayers and watched over our coming and going."

Here are a few pics and a play-by-play of the trip. Click here to see more pics online in the "costa rica" album.

Day One (Sunday, April 9th, 2006):

We arrived at National Airport around 5:30am and caught a plane to Houston and then onto San Jose, Costa Rica. We turned our watches back two hours and arrived in San Jose around 12:30pm. Meghan met us at the airport and escorted us to the bus station. We caught a bus to downtown and then caught another bus to Quepos, a small city on the southwestern coast.

After five hours of twisty roads over mountains*, cautiously crossing over dilapidated bridges, and passing through several neighborhoods, we finally arrived in Quepos and took a 15-minute taxi ride to Manuel Antonio.

[*I made the mistake of trying to journal while on the bus. I ended up a bit...sick. There's nothing quite as embarassing as having to throw up into a plastic bag with a stranger in the seat next to you. "Lo siento. Estoy bastante enferma." Awkward!]

We checked into our hotel, Costa Verde. We were surprised at our ocean-view bungalow room, complete with a balcony! This pic shows the view. Amazing!



Day Two (Monday, April 10th):

We woke up to a gentle thunderstorm. We enjoyed breakfast (of dried fruit and Costa Rican coffee) out on the balcony and listened to the mixture of waves crashing onto the shore and rain falling on the huge palm-tree leaves.

The sun came out and we walked about 10 minutes to the beach. (On our way we saw a couple iguanas!) We spent the morning exploring the sandy and rocky shore of Manuel Antonio. It wasn't too crowded, and the water was really warm. We climbed the rocks and played in the waves. We also talked with a few Ticos (native Costa Ricans) and checked out the souvenirs and trinkets [wood-carved stuff, jewelry, wraps, paintings, etc.] for sale.






2-6 pm: Sarah and I went on the "Titi Canopy Tour." [Clarification: Titi is a species of monkey.] A canopy tour involves wearing a hardhat and harness and attaching yourself to a zip-line and "zipping" from tree to tree. We did a total of 14 zip-lines, some short and some long. The views were awesome, and it was cool to be smack-dab in the middle of the rainforest. On our journey, our guides pointed out a sleeping sloth and a couple of poisonous frogs.



6:30pm: We met Meghan in Quepos and walked around looking at shops. We stopped by the supermarket and bought some groceries for breakfast. Then we ate a traditional meal (chicken, rice, black beans, salad, and fried banana) at a local restaurant.

Day Three (Tuesday, April 11th):

Meghan cooked an awesome authentic Costa Rican breakfast (corn tortillas, beans, friend plantain, rice, and fruit) for us. She even made the coffee using the official coffee sock (see pic, and email me if you have trouble figuring out how it works :).

10:30am: We walked to the Manuel Antonio National Park. There, we hiked up a rainforesty-trail and saw a couple of sloths, a family of monkeys, a couple of agouti (I kept calling them R.O.U.S.'s; they're weird looking rodents about the size of a big cat), and several interesting trees and plants. The views over the Pacific Ocean were incredible!

After our hour-long hike, we ended up hot and sweaty at the park's beach and enjoyed swimming in its clear water. We hung out there for a little over an hour, until the storm clouds and thunder caused us to leave.

1:30pm: We had lunch in a restaurant on the beach and headed back to the room as it started to storm. We enjoyed the rainy afternoon by sitting out on the balcony, drinking coffee, talking and reading. It was very restful, and after the storm a vibrant rainbow arched across the sky. It was beautiful; a tangible reminder of God's faithfulness to us.

That evening we enjoyed drinks at our hotel's bar and then walked the Manuel Antonio strip, checking out the various hotels, shops, and views. We taxied into Quepos and ate dinner at a Mexican place called Dos Locos. (ask me about the "Dos Locos at Dos Locos" story next time talk with me...hehe.) After dinner we walked around Quepos and got a tour of the fire department (Meghan's a firefighter in Charlottesville, so she had an instant connection with the firemen in Quepos).

Day Four (Wednesday, April 12th):
At 8:20am, we were picked up from our hotel and driven to the Quepos Marina where we boarded the Tom Cat, a long sailboat. We embarked on our sailing adventure and once farther out in the ocean, we got to see dozens of dolphins swimming and jumping around us. It was awesome! Then the captain took us closer to land and we got to go snorkeling (one of my dreams come true). We loved seeing all the various tropical colorful fish. They'd swim so close to us, but every time I tried to touch one, he'd dart away. Sarah and I also discovered that we're able to communicate with each other while talking through our snorkels; we reached a deeper level in our friendship. :)

The weather was nice for our morning boat excursion, but in the afternoon it stormed again. We stopped at a cute coffee shop named Cafe Milagro and I enjoyed a cup of vanilla latte with Baileys (so good!). We dropped our stuff off at the room and then spent some time playing in the pouring rain (if you're in town, you can see the "music" videos we made--we're pretty spazy.)

After it stopped raining (around 5pm), we ventured to the beach for one last time. The Lord blessed us with a magnificent sunset that lasted about an hour. It was a perfect ending to our time at the beach. (be sure to check out my online album to see more sunset pics.)

Day Five (Thursday, April 13th):

We woke up early (as in 4:30am), checked out of our hotel, and caught the 6:15am bus to San Jose. [tip: next time you're in Costa Rica, know that the "direct" buses are MUCH faster than the "regular" buses; it's worth the extra dollar.]

We arrived in San Jose around 9:30am, said goodbye to Meghan, and checked into our hotel (the Best Western). Sarah and I spent the morning trying to explore downtown San Jose. Because it was the Thursday before Easter, everything was closed. We'd planned on going to the National Museum and the artisans' market, but they were both closed. So, we walked around and saw the outside of a lot of buildings. :) We did get to sit and talk in a couple of really nice parks, though, so that was nice.

We spent the rainy afternoon resting back at the hotel. That evening we enjoyed a great dinner and dessert at the hotel.

Day Six (Friday, April 14th):

We left the hotel at 10:20am and headed to the airport. On our way, we saw a local church congregation re-enacting Christ's procession to Calvary. When we asked our driver about it, he said that a lot of churches do that on Good Friday.

Our plane left at 12:15pm and we finally arrived at National Airport at 10:30pm.

It was a wonderful trip; I look forward to returning to the Rich Coast someday! PURA VIDA! :)