Leaving Costa Rica

This is Mike...
We left Costa Rica yesterday for Panama. We had a lot of fun in Costa Rica but since we have been there multiple times we felt good about our decision to move south to Panama. Something we observed rolling into the city of David, Panama is how much cleaner and more planned the city is than anything we saw in Costa Rica. This includes divided highways, street lights, proper bus stops etc. Also worth mentioning is how much cheaper things are here. For example, a six pack of beer is $3.90 ($5 cheaper per six pack than C.R.) gas is $3.20 a gallon ($2 cheaper a gallon than C.R.) and the list goes on. We pondered some of our experiences to date and have formed an opinion that Nicaragua is underrated and Costa Rica overrated.
   We have bumped into a few travelers on the road and most were under the assumption that Costa Rica was safer than Nicaragua. Well, by judging the amounts of razor wire around housing compounds in both countries I recon they are about equal. We never ran into a problem in either country so don't stop a trip to Nicaragua because of safety concerns and don't assume only good things happen to you in C.R.
    Costa Rica does a much better job at managing their natural resources than Nica and as a whole has the tourist experience dialed in. You pay for it though as several times we felt like we were just a number with an endless stream of tourists behind us. The beaches in both countries are to die for, empty, serene, natural beauties to say the least. Many a time we envisioned ourselves throwing in the towel and not getting out of the hammock, ever. We do, however, have a game plan to see some cool spots still, so the motivation to move on always returned.
    Elise spent some time on the Osa peninsula 20 years ago so for her to return to this area was interesting. While driving toward Panama we stopped at the town of Palmar Sur and Finca 6 where large monolithic pre-columbian balls are located. There are only a handful of places in Costa Rica where these balls can be found and are very rare. There have never been unfinished balls found, only perfectly spherical orbs found. The spheres are about 2000 to 3000 years old and most of these rocks were moved from quarries up to 50 miles away. This is an amazing feat when you see the jungle and mountain slopes these up to 16 ton rocks were moved through. I thought the smoothness and exactitude of the spheres was so telling about the artisans who made them, a real sense of amazement. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site so it should be here for all to enjoy for years to come.

This 5 plus foot sphere at a park in Palmar Sur is among 10 or so spheres that are there.

This sphere was buried over millennia and will one day be excavated after sonar imagery of the ground is completed. From just looking at the crown it is a big ball.

Why and how were they created and why aren't there any partially finished balls anywhere?

There are about 300 known balls in all of Costa Rica, some up to 8 feet high and 16 tons.

Some of the balls and other monolithic items were moved by the banana plantation in the 1930s to make way for the crops. Today, greater care is given to these wonders.

      
   
   

 

Life can be easy

This is Mike..
The kids were having a blast today in the water while Chase was busy doing surf lessons. A retired lady came up to me and we began to chat about memories for a while and she asked me, "What do you want the kids to remember the most about this trip when they grow up?" I replied, "I want them to remember that life can be easy too." For some reason she was really moved by that.
I hope we all can remember that life can be easy.

The girls singing songs in the water

The girls were doing a Taylor Swift production

Chase is a natural surfer, got up on his first try.

I hope the girls will be close friends as adults too.

Now that's a smile!

Back in Costa Rica

This is Mike..
We had a great time visiting Lia and her son Chase and are happy Chase decided to stay and see the Central America for the next few weeks. We entered Costa Rica a couple weeks ago so my car permit would not expire midway through Lia and Chase's stay in Nicaragua, which would have been embarrassing. As we re-entered Nicaragua we wondered how we would feel after spending time there previously. As we suspected, our time with the Nicas (Nicaraguans) was great. It is funny how the vast majority of the Nicas find a way to smile and brighten your day. There were, however, the beggars and sort that co-mingle to dampen the day as well.
   We were able to see some cool stuff and experience the fun through new eyes. Life is good and seeing the smiles from our friends reassures us of that. Some of the highlights of their trip were highlights of our as well. For me, it was amazing to swim with bio-luminescence for the first time at the Australians beach house. Yeah that's right, we swam with the bright little buggers and truly was like playing with pixie dust. The kids tried catching the critters in their shirts and was quite amusing since we were all swimming in the ocean under an almost new moon in the dark. I will never forget the shrills and thrills of the little ones having fun that night.
   We are now back up and running on the blog and will continue regular posts. As for now, we are in Costa Rica and will head towards Panama sometime end of the week.            

Chase and I buying fish from the fishing boat on the beach. How awesome and fresh is that?

5 snapper $4, experience showing Chase how to prepare the fish, priceless.

They are going native and Chase gathered firewood on a quad racing through the sand.

Big Crocs some as long as 20 feet right below us

Jaco beach

Chase dangling over a 100 foot cliff

Sierra chilling, Zoe wondering if I know how to operate the camera

Chase walking out to some cool waves

Chase liked the open expanse of beach near Estrellios Este

My kids play with any dog

Sierra speaking Spanish to this guy

Zoe singing Spanish to this guy

Dad (A.K.A. Chubby Hubby) with the kids

The girls love a Pipa (coconut)

So many shells so little time

A picture says it all

Playa Papaturro

Playa Papaturro was an unexpected gem for us to see. This gorgeous place is just west of La Cruz in northwestern portion of Costa Rica. We got turned on to this place as we heard so many good things about Guanacaste National Park. We were driving on roads that were not on our map or GPS so we were in uncharted areas for sure. Glad that we did this as some of the most spectacular beach settings are here and that is saying a lot. This area is a hotbed for windsurfers and has some accommodations but nothing like a developed area. There are a few high-end hotels in the area but mostly casual-style accommodations are here. If you like big cats like pumas or jaguars they can be found in this area. Some people have photographed the big cats sunbathing on the roads which I thought was really cool.

Placid and clear waters of Salinas Bay

Not one person north

Not one person south

Four wheel drive is a must here as it is all beach sand.

Zoe using her umbrella to walk as her back still hurts from the bad fall at the playground.

Milk maids

Part of the hacienda experience was working on the farm, in our case we had the girls milk a cow. I have to say that we all gained an appreciation for the milk we drink on a daily basis. The milking started at 6am sharp as we were working hands on the hacienda. The girls were a bit overwhelmed by the smells and all the action that was happening on the farm. In the end, we got our bucket of liquid gold, laughs and all.     

Our target has been spotted.

Elise showing how it is done.

Sierra applying great concentration to ensure receptacle delivery of the milk.

Zoe was grossed out to the max!

The pot of liquid gold.

Rincon de la Vieja National Park

This is Mike...
We went to Rincon de la Vieja National Park for a couple of nights and stayed at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin to have easy access to the park. We had fun in the mineral mud baths and hot springs just outside the hotel. This park is popular for day trips from Tamarindo but we recommend staying a night or two because there is a lot to see in this area. The main volcano trail was closed due to significant activity so we opted to walk a 3 kilometer loop instead. Our first injury for the vacation occurred on the trails here, when Sierra twisted her ankle, and I had to carry her out of the park. We still stopped to enjoy the sights though and Sierra was a trooper. The hot water spouts and boiling mud pits are always fun for kids, even injured ones. Protected spaces like this allow nature to thrive and also allow us a glimpse of what this place was like before development. After the park, we went back to the hotel and that is where our second injury of the trip occurred when Zoe fell on her back at the playground. As the old saying goes, "When it rains it pours."

I am amazed why they like putting mud on them so much, but they do.

No shame here as Sierra goes for the gusto 

Zoe is a bit more methodical with her approach to spreading mud.

Elise just likes the fun of it all, kinda like a kid.

The Rainbow Eucalyptus tree is one of my favorite trees.

The ancient trees of the forest provide the best playgrounds

Boiling hot water coming from one of the many vents in the park

This stream looks so serene but could kill you in moments at 170 degrees Fahrenheit (77 degrees Celsius)

Leaf cutter ants were everywhere doing there work.

 

Who doesn't like to see a waterfall?

Adios Paquera

This is Mike...
We left Paquera knowing that Hotel Vista las Islas was our best hotel experience yet in Central America and would absolutely recommend it to anyone of our friends. We cannot help but remember our night on the kayaks, in the luminescent waters, and how it reminded us of the movie, "Life of Pi." The southern area of the Nicoya peninsula is wetter than we had imagined it to be and are happy to finally have seen this part of Costa Rica. We do like things a little drier though so we have decided to go north to some national parks.

Breakfast was included at Hotel Vista las Islas which is always a plus for a family. We enjoyed this awesome view and meeting the very nice Swiss owners who are living their dream.

Our hotel room under the pool

A common site to see in Central America is the ox drawn cart.

We went to a steak house as we are missing Texas BBQ and Elise decided to mess with a statue